“Are you even listening, Ella?” my stepmother barked at me, and I snapped out of it, my cheeks the color of beetroot as I looked into her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled distractedly. “I’ll just finish up the hall with you if that’s alright.”
She turned around, huffing and puffing, and I carried my bucket of water into the beautifully done entrance hall. Two large staircases descended from the upper floor, the whole room done in beige Italian marble that seemed so expensive I was almost too scared to touch it. Under the dirty rag I scrubbed it with, the marble gleamed and sparkled, making me stare at the beautiful stone.
I’d never been in a house like this. It was incredible, truly incredible. From our small house in the grounds, I could see the mansion from a distance, but I never dared step foot inside. It was forbidden, my stepmother had told me that plenty of times before. So, I stayed away, keeping to myself and my books. I’d just finished school, and I had gotten accepted to NYU in the fall—my dream university.
But before I could step inside the halls that had taught so many people I admired, tragedy had ruined my life forever.
My father, the man I was closer to than anyone else, passed away the summer before I was about to start school. He’d just gotten married a few months prior, and he left me alone with a stepmother I barely knew. We’d never been close, but after she found out he left us the house together, she decided to sell it.
I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I came home one day to find a big SOLD sign on the front lawn, and Martha told me the house was gone, and I’d be able to get half of the money when I turned twenty-one. Until then, she was going to keep it in a trust fund for me.
Two weeks later, she told me about her job. She also told me that because my money was tied up, I’d have to wait before I went to university. Just like that, she shattered the only dream I’d ever had. She moved me into the small house on Mr. Goldwyn’s estate and I lived there in absolute misery, with nothing to do but help her with whatever she wanted.
It quickly became obvious Martha liked Mr. Goldwyn. It wasn’t just the incessant talking about him. She managed to include him in every conversation we had, talked about him with anyone and everyone she knew. That was how I came to know more about him, and the more I found out, the more intrigued I became.
He was loaded, a billionaire according to Martha—and Time magazine.
He was also a complete playboy, seen with a new toy every time he made a public appearance. He was notorious for changing his escorts, and even more infamous when it came to models. He loved those, and he’d kickstarted many a career just by being seen with a new model.
He ran a family company, and he was also distantly related to some royalty, which made him even sexier in the public’s eyes. His family members were famous jewelers, and he had more money than he could ever spend.
I lived on his estate for minutes before I ran into the man himself. Now, it was already December, with the holidays coming up soon. And I’d never felt sadder.
It would be the first Christmas without my father. I’d gotten used to my annual holidays with him. My mom passed away during childbirth, and I’d never known her. But Dad made sure I felt taken care of and special around Christmas. It didn’t seem like Martha had any plans for us, especially not of the special sort.
I’d been miserable for months, ever since I’d lost my father.
That day, finally meeting the elusive Mr. Goldwyn, I found my long-lost spark. It was still inside me, faintly glowing in the back of my eyes, waiting for someone to ignite it and light my fire.
And maybe, just maybe, Rafael would be the one.
I remembered the way my body felt under his—vulnerable, exposed, desperate for the lightest of touches. His fingers brushing my skin, entering me, ridding me of the one piece that was left of my virginity.
Eighteen, and a virgin… I kept to myself in high school. Nobody knew, and it was better that way. I never got any attention from boys, anyway, not until this spring when my boobs grew to a full C-cup and my hair reached my butt. Then, I was the center of attention for the last few months of school.
But I kept away from all of it, kept to myself.
I didn’t want a boy to have my virginity.
I wanted it to be a man.
A real man, just like Mr. Goldwyn…
“Ella!” Martha was staring at me, and I blushed deeply, soaking my rag in the bucket again. “Snap out of it. I swear to God, you’re the worst helper I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with.”
“I’m sorry,” I muttered under my breath. “So sorry. I’ll keep working.”
“You better,” she grunted.
I fought the urge to sigh and kept working under her watchful eye. She made me do everything twice, but even I had to admit that by the time we were done, the mansion sparkled and shone with a beauty I’d only seen before in interior decorating magazines. I felt jealous of the man who owned it all, the beautiful house, all those jewels. He could have anything he wanted. I bet he looked at every other girl the way he’d looked at me. There was no way he’d want me permanently. He’d just use me and toss me aside like he did with all those models.
“Martha.”
I gasped lightly, and my stepmother gave me a dirty little look as we turned to face the man that had spoken.
Rafael Goldwyn stood at the top of the stairs, staring right at me with that impenetrable gaze of his. He came downstairs, taking the stairs fast and efficiently and coming to a stop only a few feet away from me.
“You are done for the day,” he said to me, and my stepmother let out an annoyed moan.
“We’re nowhere near done, Mr. Goldwyn,” she said. “We haven’t even started on the first floor!”
“I don’t care.” He turned towards her briefly, giving her the once-over.
She smoothed down her uniform. I hadn’t gotten one yet, I just wore an outfit I’d had at home, but I felt raggedy and ugly next to him. He was dressed in the latest fashion, with expensive fabrics and brands I could only dream of owning. And me… I was just wearing leggings and a top I’d owned for years. I blushed deeply, turning my face away so he wouldn’t notice.
“You may leave, Martha,” Mr. Goldwyn told my stepmom, and I leaned down quickly to pick up my bucket. “Not you, though.”
My eyes shot up, right into his, and his dark gaze cut straight to my center, making me melt.
“Mr. Goldwyn, I really think–” Martha started, but he held up a hand in her direction, his focus remaining on me.
“The girl stays, Martha,” he said with a rough edge to his voice. “I have some things to discuss with her, and I’d appreciate if you’d let us do that in peace. We don’t need you here.”
We.
As if I could ever be a ‘we’ with a man like that.
“Alright,” my stepmother said with an exaggerated sigh. “But after that, straight to the house, Ella. You have dinner to cook, and I will not be kept waiting.”
“Yes,” I mumbled, keeping my eyes downcast.
I was too terrified to look up at him, feeling his hot gaze on me, searing my skin every time he moved them to a new spot on my body. I heard my stepmother’s retreating steps, and I realized we were all alone in the huge entrance hall of Rafe’s mansion.
“Look up,” he ordered me.
I bit my bottom lip and shook my head no, and he laughed at me.
“Oh, I’m going to have so much fun with you,” he said, his voice holding a dark promise.
S HE LOOKED SO FUCKING GOOD with her eyes downcast. I could barely imagine what she’d do to me once she looked up.
“Ella,” I said, tasting her name on my lips. “Look up at me. I’m your boss, aren’t I?”
“Yes, sir,” she mumbled, and my cock responded instantly, twitching and standing to attention.
“Then look up,” I ordered.
Slowly, so slowly, she raised her eyes to meet mine. Her baby blues shone with hidden wishes and unsp
oken needs. I wanted to devour her. Make my lips connect with hers and suck every single taste of her body from her mouth like an addict. Because that’s how she made me feel… Like I needed a lick, a taste, a view of her body, or I’d be cursed forever.
My body ached with the need to feel her against me as she blinked, swallowing so hard I saw it in her throat. It turned me on so much I had to fight the urge to palm my cock through my pants. But I resisted and instead kept looking at her, keeping my gaze firm, even though my hands were fisted, the pain of not grabbing her almost palpable in the air between us.
“That’s a good girl,” I grinned at her, and her bottom lip jutted out in what looked like a mix of annoyance and need. It made me chuckle.
“Why did you want me to stay behind?” she asked.
I was mesmerized by her. Everything that made her the perfect little vixen stood in front of me, from that naturally blonde hair that reached her ass, to the round curve of her tits and her tiny waist. Addicting, she was fucking addicting, and I wasn’t going to last a long time with her flaunting herself in front of me like this.
“Because I wanted to do this,” I muttered, then raised my hand and untangled my fingers from the fist they were forced into.
I wrapped my hand around her hair, letting the silky light strands fall through my fingers, mesmerized by the sensation of feeling her, finally knowing what that hair felt like when it touched my fingertips. I rubbed it between my fingers and brought my hand back, lifting it to my nose and smelling her.
“Fucking delicious,” I told her roughly, and she shivered under my heavy gaze. “You smell perfect, little Ella.”
“What are you going to do to me?” The question slipped from her lips before she could stop herself, and she blushed deeply, averting her gaze.
“What do you want me to do to you?” I asked her, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
The real answer was, I wanted all of her, from her little toes to the pretty hair on her head. And I was going to have her, too, even if my little princess didn’t know it just yet. But I was going to make her submit, fall on her knees and pledge anything and everything to me and me only. I couldn’t wait for the moment she broke for me when I put a pretty collar on her perfect throat and made her mine forever.
“I want to kiss you, little princess,” I told her in a rough groan, and she blushed even deeper. “Will you let me kiss you, princess? Will you let me have what we both know is mine already?”
She looked up, finally letting her beautiful eyes connect with mine. I could see the fear in her gaze, coloring her eyes and making them so much darker than they were before. She was truly beautiful, not like the models I usually took with me to events, but in a soul-crushing, heart-wrenching way that felt like she’d taken hold of my heart in her fist and squeezed hard.
She looked away again, and then gave me the smallest of nods, barely moving her head. If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. But it was definitely there.
I took a step closer and she breathed in deeply as I took her chin in my hands, making her look at me once again. Her eyes connected with mine and I stared at them, her beautiful sparkling irises reminding me of the deepest midnight blue sky.
“Ask me to kiss you,” I told her gently, and she shivered under my touch. “Do it, princess, I want to hear you say it…”
“Kiss me,” she whispered. “Please, Mr. Goldwyn. Kiss me.”
I lowered my mouth to hers, forgetting about all the formalities between us and focusing solely on the kiss I’d wanted to steal from her since the first moment I’d laid eyes on her. She let out a little whimper, the softest of sounds that made all the blood rush to my cock, pumping it so hard it was fucking painful. I kissed her.
Her plump little mouth molded against mine, opening eagerly when I forced it, letting me slip my tongue inside. I kissed her deeply, because I could find no mercy for this girl. I needed to give her everything she deserved, every single broken piece of me so she could taste it and know exactly how much I wanted her, how much I needed her.
She responded like a good little girl, kissing me eagerly but shyly. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and she mewled at the sensation, sucking on my tongue, her body responding so desperately to my own. She was delicious. Spun sugar and hard candy melting in my mouth when she kissed me. I couldn’t get enough of it, of her.
“You’re mine,” I muttered against her mouth. “You’re mine, princess Ella.”
“Yes,” she whispered needily. “Please, I need to be yours.”
I reached up to her, wrapping my hand around her throat and possessively clenching my fingers around her neck, making her gasp lightly.
“I’m going to collar this sweet little throat,” I promised her. “And once you’re owned, you’re never going to get away from me.”
She broke away from me, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Her eyes were dark blue and wild, her hand trembling as she raised it to her lips as if to check if I’d really kissed her. Of course I had. I still had her sweet taste all over my mouth, and I couldn’t get enough. I needed so much more of her until she was just a little mess in my arms desperate to do anything I told her to.
“Don’t run,” I warned her. “Don’t run away from me, princess. I’m going to find you wherever you go, remember that.”
“Mr. Goldwyn,” she begged, her voice raspy and filled with need as she took a step back, away from me.
“Rafe,” I corrected her. “You can call me Rafe.”
“R-Rafe,” she muttered.
Then, her beautiful face paled and she took another step back. Before I could stop her, she ran, getting away from me as fast as she possibly could.
Her dainty little feet carried her out of the hall, through the main door and far, far away. And I didn’t chase after her, because I knew she’d be back for more. There was no way she could fight the attraction between us. We both knew she’d soon be begging for more. And I couldn’t wait.
I grinned to myself, buttoning my suit jacket and making my way upstairs towards my study. Sweet little princess Ella.
She was exactly what I needed, the sugary sweetness to my own bitter heart. God, I wanted so much more of her. I was already addicted to the way her lips tasted, and I had to fight every instinct that made me a man, so I wouldn’t rip those leggings off her and taste the forbidden fruit between her legs.
I passed several members of staff on my way up to my study, flashing my smile until I was safely inside and locked the door behind me.
I needed to find out more about Ella Monroe—that was her last name if she shared it with her stepmother. But it wasn’t enough information for me, there was so much more that I desperately needed to know.
Powering up my computer, I searched my employee database for more information on her stepmother. I’d had extensive background checks done on every member of my staff. My personal PI called me paranoid, but I didn’t give a shit. I needed to know.
A search on Martha Monroe told me everything I needed to know.
Recently widowed, one stepdaughter that still lived with her. Ella had just finished high school but hadn’t gone on to university for whatever reason. Her grades seemed good enough, so I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t chosen to continue that path. I wondered what her hopes and dreams were. Surely she didn’t want to keep working in a stranger’s house with her stepmother. It didn’t take a PI to figure out she wasn’t very close with Martha. The tension between them was palpable, her stepmother acting almost as if Ella was to blame for their situation. I’d seen her snap more than three times at her stepdaughter, and I’d been with them for less than half an hour.
The background check wasn’t giving me all the information I wanted though. There was so much more to find out, so many layers of Ella to peel back until I revealed her sweet core. And when the idea came to me, I broke into a grin—I would have to go inside their house.
My cock hardened at the thought of snooping through her things, filing through her underw
ear drawer and filling my nose with the scent of her panties. God, it made me so hard I had to unzip, bring my cock out and stroke slowly, thinking about sweet Ella in my arms.
What was the girl doing to me? I was possessive at the best of times, but in her case, Ella had turned me into an animal, filled with basic instincts and the need to make her mine completely.
“Princess Ella,” I muttered to myself. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
I raised my hand to my nose, still smelling her golden hair on my fingers. It smelled like caramel apples, a crisp scent but still so sugary sweet it made me lick my lips hungrily.
I stroked my cock with my other hand, her scent filling my nostrils as I brought myself closer. I jerked my cock and stroked it until I felt like I was going to explode just for her. God, the girl was making me obsess over her. I had never been like this. Never so… animalistic in my needs. But I already knew that if I didn’t get my hands on her and a collar around her pretty neck, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
I brought myself to release, my hand working my shaft hard until I spilled hot cum all over my fist. I groaned at the sight of it, imagining my little princess at my feet, desperately drinking me down like she should have been doing.
Grinning to myself like a fool, I made a decision, just like I always did in my business. And once I had my mind set on something, I did everything in my power to make it happen.
At the moment, there was only one thing on my to-do list…
Ella Monroe’s sweet little pussy.
I RAN ALL THE WAY home, my legs barely able to carry me with the speed I was going at.
My heart was beating frantically, and I was shivering from the cold outside. In my rush to get away, I’d left my jacket at the house, and the early winter air of the afternoon was cutting straight to my bones. I felt the winter chill in every cell of my body, but it still didn’t make me feel any less hot. The kiss we’d shared, the crazy sparks that flew between us, were enough to warm the pit of my tummy.
Collaring Cinderella Page 2
