She pales… "B…but we had an arrangement."
"Consider that void."
"You can’t."
"I can."
“So what…does that mean?” She glances around her, "All this, bringing me on a shopping trip and stuff… Wh…why did you do it?"
"Felt like the thing."
"You wanted to catch me off balance?"
I peruse her features. She’s quick, all right. Not that I had expected anything less… Not after the way she’d maneuvered herself under my skin in such a short period of time.
She wriggles around on my lap. My cock jerks in my pants.
Her breath catches. Her pupils dilate.
I smirk. "No denying that our bodies communicate with each other on a completely different level."
"That’s the cause of all this…this mess." She holds herself rigid, not moving an inch. Her shoulders knot; her eyebrows twist together. "I think it’s time to put an end to this…stupid arrangement. Don’t you think?"
"I agree."
She opens and shuts her mouth. "You…you do?"
I nod, "I have a completely different arrangement in mind."
I peel back my lips.
She pales. Her throat moves as she swallows.
"What?" Her voice quakes… "What is it?"
"Marry me."
16
What did the female giraffe ask the handsome male giraffe?
Answer: Wanna neck with me?
Victoria
After that pronouncement he’d shoved me off his lap… Literally. I’d fallen on my arse again. It was getting to be a habit around him, that. When he wasn’t spanking me, I seemed to be constantly swept off of my feet—pun intended. I can’t remember the last time I’d gotten this physical so many times in a day and I’m not talking about down and dirty sex… Not that I’d had any of that either.
He’d brought me to the edge again, so close, so near to exploding all over that wicked tongue of his, and then he’d pulled back. He'd denied me the orgasm. He’d left me angry, frustrated, horny as hell… and I’d lost it. I’d wanted him like a bitch in heat… An addict who craved one last teeny tiny hit… He’d known exactly how to throw me off kilter. I’d lost my equilibrium. I had stumbled and made a mistake and he had pounced.
Marriage?
I’d assumed he’d meant a fake marriage…but he’d clarified it would be real, all right. I’d be tied to him, unable to escape him. Bound to him. I couldn’t divorce him…not for a year. And during that time…he’d train me as his sub. At his convenience. "Of course," I snort. Everything is about him. About what he wants. How he decided to change the tone of our relationship with a flick of those thick, elegant fingers. I huff. Straighten my shirtdress down my hips.
It’s crumpled, but hell, not like there is anyone in this entire godforsaken building to notice.
I could refuse him, of course. I haven’t accepted his proposal yet. I could turn him down. You won’t. You can’t.
This entire arrangement suits my needs even more. It is a bondage from hell. I squeeze my fingers at my sides. Don’t have a choice, but to go through with it. Besides… I want it. I want to be a real wife. I want to belong to someone, to have someone to call mine… Soon…very soon, I’ll have the real thing. Until then… If I have to make do with Saint… Face it, it isn’t a hardship, the things he does to me. The response he elicits from every pore of my traitorous body…is everything. It is what I have always hoped to have one day… If I can get even a small portion of this crazy, weird chemistry that traps us and turns everything about us to ashes? So be it. I will burn.
But I’ll ensure he shatters too.
I may be going down, but I’ll be taking Saint with me.
He changed the rules completely, but if he thinks I am going to back off now? He has another think coming.
He doesn’t know me.
I swipe the hair back from my face, survey my flushed features. Hell, I don’t know myself anymore.
I am losing perspective. Everything I had fought for, what I had thought I’d held dear to me, all of it gone… Thanks to one overbearing, over-the-top, Beatles-hating, complete wanker of an alpha male. My insides clench and sweat beads my forehead. What am I going to do? What can I do? My heart begins to race. I need to get out of here and into the open air. I march to the door, out into the corridor. My footsteps echo. I glance around at the brightly lit aisles, the racks of clothes, the displays. All bloody creepy, without the sales people.
The asshole didn’t even wait for me. He’d merely told me to take my time to adjust my appearance and he’d left. That’s it… No word, no explanation about when we’ll meet next. Nothing.
I walk up the corridor toward the escalators. The hair on my forearms rises. I am alone, aren’t I?
I glance around. Nothing…except the bright lights, the rows upon rows of designer wear. I hurry my pace. Footsteps sound nearby. What the—? I break into a run, reach the escalator, race down it. My heart begins to thud. Adrenaline laces my blood. Who could it be? I have time to deliver on my part of the deal. I am doing everything I can about it. I reach the second floor, the first. By the time I reach the ground floor, sweat beads my forehead. I clutch my bag close, reach for my phone and pull it out… Who should I call? Amelie? Summer…? Saint... No…not him. He’d simply gloat about how helpless I am. I am just scaring myself; it happens. Especially after everything I’ve been through over the last few weeks.
I reach the exit doors, push them and burst onto the sidewalk. A man passing by eyes me curiously. I glance away, stagger toward the bench on the sidewalk. I need to catch my breath, consider my options. I sink down onto the platform, hunch my shoulders. Think, think. I can deliver my end of the bargain. By marrying Saint, I’ll
