Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 121696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
He speared a hand into her hair, holding her in place. “Not before you tell me what that bastard did to you.”
“Let it go.”
“What did he do?” His voice dropped a level as he accentuated every word. “Do not make me ask again.”
She was too exhausted to fight this war. She was still sore from anal sex and the afternoon’s ordeal. All she wanted was to fall into bed and sleep.
Blowing out a shaky breath, she said, “He used an electro-stimulator on me.”
His arms dropped to his sides. “He electro-sexed you?”
“He sent volts through my body for hours because I told him he was keeping me against my will.”
He balled his hands into fists. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”
“You’re protecting him?” he asked with barely disguised anger.
“I’m protecting you. Do you have any idea what he’ll do to you if you confront him? Not only will he punish me again because he’ll know I ran and told you, but he’ll hurt you.”
“Nobody touches you,” he said with a clenched jaw. “Nobody touches what’s mine.”
The comment made her hackles rise. “This is about you now? What am I? A piece of furniture? Between you and Juan, you act like you have a right to me because I’m property.”
His voice turned hard. “What do you want me to say? That it’s not true?” Sparks flashed in his eyes as he closed the step between them, putting them toe to toe. “I won’t lie to you, kitten. You are mine.”
“It’s good to know that you perceive me as nothing but a piece of meat on which, God forbid, you should detect the scent of another man. You don’t care about how I feel. You would’ve done what you did when Jeanne pointed a gun at me for anyone, right? Isn’t that what you told Juan? You don’t mind fucking me, but you don’t give a damn about my feelings.”
“Care?” His blue eyes flared. “Do you have any idea what I wanted to do—still want to do—to those people? The men’s eyes on you… I wanted to rip their eyeballs from their sockets. That fucker groping himself… You know what he was thinking? He was imagining your hand on his dick. I wanted to turn that gun on him and blow off his balls.” His voice rose with anger. “I wanted to smash Jeanne’s head against the wall, and you dare to tell me I don’t care?”
The stress of the day was getting the better of her. If she was wise, she’d shut her mouth before she said something she’d regret, but the words that rushed from her lips were unstoppable. “You told Juan you’d fuck me but not like a lover. Like just another random person. And now you want to lay claim on me like you own me? That doesn’t make you any better than him.”
His eyes flashed as he grabbed her shoulders. “If he had any idea, any idea at all, how much I actually fucking care, my body would’ve been on the bottom of the ocean next to Jeanne’s, and I’d be useless to you. When he touched your face, it took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to kill him.” His expression turned darker still. “When he said you belonged to him, I saw red. It was like blasphemy to my ears.”
She struggled in his hold. “I don’t belong to anyone.”
“You do.” He shook her softly. “You’re mine.”
“Since when?” she cried out.
“Do I have to spell it out?”
“That’s what last night was?” She gaped at him. “You marked me?”
“Yes.” His mouth set in a hard line. “I would’ve left my seed in your pussy too if you’d let me.”
She slapped his hands away. “That’s just primitive.”
“Call me primitive if you like, but my dick was in your pussy first, and if he sticks as much as a finger inside you, he’s dead.”
Her anger spiked. “This isn’t some kind of a primal contest. Belonging and owning are words used with objects, not people.”
“Not in Juan’s book, pussycat.” His look was wild, furious. “In his world, there’s no distinction.”
Her breath caught. “Then you’re saying you’re the same as him.”
“I’m saying that I want you exclusively, and you’ve already showed me you want me, too. That’s want with mutual consent, and exclusivity is non-negotiable.”
“You forgot something crucial.”
He widened his stance, looming over her. “Oh, yeah?”
“Affection,” she said, nostrils flaring. “You don’t simply decide you own me. You work for my affection.”
“Affection comes with time,” he deadpanned. “You like my body. You’ll learn to like me, too.”
“I’m talking about you, Sean.”
“I do have affection for you—lots of it—or I wouldn’t have been consumed by mind-fucking, raging jealousy.”
“Jealousy and ownership go hand in hand. That’s not the kind of affection I want or need.”
“You want to hear that I love you?” He put his face inches from hers. “Love takes time. Anyway, it’s overrated. I’m not the falling-in-love type of guy.”