Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
I feel deliciously vulnerable. I am naked, my nipples puckering in the chilly air. I cannot move my hands. The way they are chained behind my back thrusts my chest out. He cannot seem to take his eyes off my breasts. It is so odd. I am naked, and he is clothed. He looks like a perfectly powerful vampire, proper, even in his business suit, though his erection tents those expensive pants of his. I will still call Meg when this is over, but I want this time with him.
He runs his fingertips over my nipples. “I have responsibilities. Can’t you see that? I have to provide for you. I have to not be a fuckup.”
It is important to him. He takes his work seriously, and I understand he needs to have a place in this society. Appearances are very important on this plane. I am going to ruin his. I am never going to be the lady consort he needs, but for tonight I can be his comfort, and he can be mine.
I lower my head. He sighs, and I can feel him open. His relief at the fact that I am submitting practically pours across my skin. He does not want to fight—not me. There is a fight building in my Dante, but I do not sense that it is a fight with me. He is genuinely surprised at my anger.
Oh, it is getting so easy to read him when we are truly intimate. When we are together and open, I do not want to run. When I can feel his soul brush mine, nothing can keep me away. But the times when he holds it back from me, those times cause an aching chasm to open inside.
He pulls away, his hand running through his hair. “Sorry. I was pushing myself at you, wasn’t I?”
I bite back a sob. “I didn’t mind.”
“I don’t understand this connection thing. I wasn’t raised to expect it the way Beck and Ci were.”
Mates on my plane, true mates, can speak without talking. We will never have that because Dante fears the binding. I will always be alone. It will not work if he never wants it. None of this will work. I should remember that. When he finds a place for himself inside my brain, I am in his. It cannot be nice to be me. I will never force that on him. “I will behave. I will go and have my supper and cause no trouble.”
He curses and pulls my hair back. “See, I’m fucking up again, and I don’t want to. I want to do what’s right. I just haven’t figured out what that is yet. You want this? You want me to flood you with myself?”
I look at him through a veil of tears. “I think you are so beautiful, but it does not mean anything if it is not shared. You do not want to see me. My essence is not lovely. I understand.”
He growls at me. “You don’t understand a thing, but I am beginning to.”
He kisses me, his mouth covering my own, his tongue plundering. He hauls me against his body. His erection prods at my belly.
“I’ll give you what you want, Kaja. You give me what I need first.”
I gasp. His desire sparks across my skin and into my brain like lightning striking. He wants so much, all of it from me. He wants me soft and willing. He wants my trust and my submission. He wants to be in charge of me because no one thinks he can handle anything. I am important to him. I can feel it.
“You threw a priceless vase at my head,” Dante says, his voice deepening.
Yes. I did do that. At the time, it seemed like a good thing to do. Not so much now. I glance around the room. There are some very odd toys lying about. I bite my bottom lip and attempt to look apologetic. “I’m sorry.”
His fangs gleam in the low light. “Not going to do it, sweetheart. You’re in for some serious punishment.”
There is that word again. Punishment. It makes me nervous and excited all at the same time. He has not punished me since that day under the waterfall. He mentioned that he went easy on me then. “You said you had a meeting with the scary vampire. You do not want to be late.”
He laughs outright. “Nice try, Kaj. Trust me, when Julian Lodge finds out I’m late because I was disciplining a bratty young lady, he’ll forgive me. Nothing is more important to that man than discipline. Show me your ass and be glad I don’t use a ball gag on you. The next spiteful words out of your mouth will cause me to stuff something in there. Do you understand?”
I understand the desire that comes off him in waves. It is easy to submit when I can feel how much Dante craves this. Just talking the way he is got him hard. Every word pulses in his cock. Gods, I can feel it in my pussy. He isn’t hiding, and the connection between us sparks and crackles. I do as he asks. I turn awkwardly on my pedestal and kneel over, leaving my ass exposed. My hands are chained together behind my back, so I rest my cheek against the soft velvet of the ottoman.