Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I try again. “If you’d told me—”
“Would it have changed anything?” she asks. Kat looks up, finally, and her eyes are bright and blue and roiling with turmoil.
I want to say yes, of course, but I can’t. I shake my head.
“That’s what I thought,” she says, and goes back to eating.
A thousand words fight for space in my head, but none of them are good enough.
I take a breath. “Sweet Lies usually tells me if a woman’s a virgin because it’s an asset. Some men will pay extra for a virgin because a woman’s first time is prized. The opportunity to teach a young girl who’s never been with a man before can be a once in a lifetime experience.”
“Is that how you see it?” she asks.
I nod.
Her fork freezes, halfway to her mouth. “So do you think of me as a research subject still? Just a virginal one, that you need more preparation time for?”
“No.” I rub my face, desperate for her to understand. “Not like that. You’re not understanding what I’m saying. It’s a gift, Kat, and I wasn’t prepared to accept it this afternoon.”
She makes a noise, low in her throat, and sets her fork down, but doesn’t say anything, her beautiful features tense.
I stand up again, walk to the window, stare into the dark. My own reflection looks like a ghost, hollow and lost.
“I’m an asshole by nature,” I rasp, not turning around. “But I never wanted to be—” I cut myself off, try to find the right word. “Cruel.”
She lets that hang in the air, heavy as stone.
When I finally turn, she’s watching me, arms folded tight.
“So what’s going to happen?” she asks in a strangled voice. “Do you send me home now? Is my contract here up?”
I shake my head before meeting her eyes.
“No Kat,” I rasp. “What I’m saying is that I’m happy to pay you for your innocence. You deserve it, and you’re a young girl who doesn’t know what she’s giving up. One hundred thousand, for what happened today, and what’s going to happen later. Double the original agreement. For you, sweetheart.”
Her eyes grow wide as her big breasts heave with surprise.
“One hundred thousand?” she whispers, so low as to be almost inaudible.
“Yes,” I rasp. “Six figures. You’re worth it, Katherine. Never think of yourself as less than that.”
She’s silent for a moment, staring at her small hands.
“I was always going to let you do it, you know,” she says. “You don’t have to buy it.”
“I’m not buying it,” I say, but the words sound cheap even to my own ears. “I just—” I stop.
She stands, walks past me, and for a second, I think she’s going to touch my arm or my face. She doesn’t.
Instead, she says in a wobbly voice, “I’d appreciate a direct deposit,” and goes up the stairs without another word.
I stay there, in the cold kitchen, staring at the empty chairs and the untouched bread.
I should feel victorious because I got what I wanted. Kat accepted my money, and didn’t cry, didn’t run. She even made me dinner, and ate it with composure.
But I can feel that something’s off. The young girl is taking my money, and it’s a lot of money, but I also can tell that she doesn’t want it for some reason.
I sit at the table, alone, as the evening sinks into night. I crave the young woman’s innocence … but at what price?
8
CHAPTER EIGHT – THE HERMIT’S WARNING
Kat
The next day, I don’t see Talon all morning, and I’m grateful. I don’t know if I could look him in the eye at the moment, knowing that I’ve effectively sold my virginity for a hundred thousand dollars. But it’s been done, and I have no doubt that he’ll consummate our relationship sooner or later. When though? How? My thighs squeeze together with hot anticipation because the truth is that I want it. He was painfully big yesterday, but at the same time, I was incredibly aroused by the feel of that large male body and his obvious desire for me. I want my first time to be with Talon. I want to come apart in his arms, shuddering as he makes me a woman once and for all.
But I have no idea where the alpha male is at the moment. The house is quieter than usual, the only sound the fridge’s occasional sigh and the soft tick of the grandfather clock. I make breakfast, eat half of it, and sit in silence for a few minutes. Then, I decide that the only cure for my edgy mood is the cold, sharp air of the forest.
So I take a woven basket from the pantry—one of those fancy French ones with leather handles—and creep out into the woods to gather herbs. The sky is low and gray, pressing the world flat, and the trees look like the veins of a giant, spidery hand clawing at the clouds. The ground is carpeted in old needles and patches of snow. I can see my breath when I exhale. I try to pretend it’s steam, that I’m a dragon, or maybe just a girl whose heart isn’t going a hundred miles an hour.