by Violet Haze
She rolls her eyes.
Dexter walks over and places his arm around my shoulders. “Look, no matter what, I want you safe. People used to arrange marriages all the time to better their situations and fortunes. You’ve said there is no other way to save the restaurant — that you’ve run out of options. This isn’t the same thing as what you did as Luna.”
I scowl and shrug him off. “I’ve gotta get ready for work.” I start toward my bedroom when Iris gasps.
“Wait! Come here!”
I turn around and walk over to the table, then look down at papers. “What?”
“Did you even bother to read these?”
She is grinning at me. For what, I don’t know. I don’t really feel like smiling at all.
“I glanced at them, but…”
Okay, not admitting that I’d been too busy trying to subdue my lust to really pay attention to the papers.
When I don’t finish my sentence, she laughs. “This is a pre-nuptial agreement!”
“Wouldn’t it say that at the top of the papers?”
She pulls a sheet out and holds it up. Sure enough, there it makes very clear what these papers are.
“Why didn’t I see that?”
She cracks up. “He put it on the bottom, most likely on purpose. You never got through them all.”
I sigh. “I’ll have my lawyer look them over, but—“
Iris cuts me off, mouth set in a straight line. “You know it’s only for a year, right?”
And just like that, I’m fuming.
I stomp off like a petulant child, vowing to tell Tobias exactly what I think of him this evening.
CHAPTER THREE
I’m wearing jeans when Tobias arrives for our date.
Of course, he’s wearing a suit.
He doesn’t even comment at my attire, looking me up and down before smirking. “Ready to go?”
Maybe he forgot. Don’t remind him!
I smile. “Yes, I am.”
And just like that, we’re on our way.
I don’t wonder how he knew where I lived or which apartment was mine. My address had been on the papers I’d shown him.
What I do wonder is where the hell we’re going, but not enough to ask.
It’s not long before we’re pulling into his driveway.
“I thought we were going on a date?” I ask, taking off my seatbelt as I glare at him, irritated in the uneasiness creeping in. “I could’ve driven myself over here.”
He doesn’t answer as he turns off the car, then gets out. I scramble to do the same as he completely ignores me and heads to the front door.
I want to consider this rude, but I’ve the sudden feeling he remembers exactly what he told me.
And I didn’t listen.
Crap!
I run to catch up, closing the door behind me as he continues walking toward his office.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, tossing a look back at me over his shoulder. “Stay right there.”
Confusion fills me. He doesn’t look mad. Actually, he looks amused.
And gleeful.
Something tells me I’m in trouble.
So, I nod as he enters his office, and my heart starts to pound.
I should leave, but my feet won’t move.
Two minutes pass.
Three.
Yep, definitely in trouble.
When he finally comes back out of the office, I smile at him. He holds out a hand and I take it. He interlaces our fingers, gripping my hand firmly as he leads us up the stairs.
He doesn’t say anything as we reach the tops of the steps and turn right.
I gulp as we enter a bedroom.
His, no doubt.
“Take a seat,” he says, pointing at the edge of the bed. “I’ll be just a moment.”
I stare at the huge bed against the wall. He turns to walk away and I whisper, “Tobias?”
He pivots, his face expressionless except for a lifted eyebrow and a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Is there a problem?”
I swallow. “Um…”
It figures I’d struggle with what to say right in this moment, when I need my words more than ever.
He grins, stepping close and sliding his right hand along my neck, cupping the nape of my neck as he commands my gaze with his own.
I am mesmerized.
It’s terrible really. I’ve no idea what to do because I’ve never allowed things to get out of my control. And even though I’ve done all I can, researched and studied every other avenue possible to save the diner, he’s truly my last option.
There’s no running, but I’ll put up a fight the whole way; screaming, if I have to.
“You’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.” His lips get close to mine, making my body ache with his proximity even as my brain screams ‘danger!’ and to run away. “And intelligent enough to know what’s coming.”
He backs away without giving me anything, then points to the bed.
Shit.
I lift my chin in defiance. “Make me.”
“Come? Oh, I will. Eventually.” He starts to walk away once more, then throws me a look over his shoulder. “You’ve got one minute to do as I’ve asked — oh, and now I want you to come up with your own personal safe word, too.”
Unable to resist the urge, I flip him off as he disappears into an adjoining room.
Then, I consider how I can throw him off his game.
I thought challenging him was the way to go, but maybe I am wrong. He didn’t take the bait when I said ‘make me’, and nothing I do seems to ruffle his feathers in the slightest.
Seems being obedient to the extreme may be the way to go.
With that decision made, I strip off all my clothing and sit on the edge of the bed, crossing my legs and placing my hands over top one another on my knee.
As he steps back into the room, he pauses when his gaze falls on me. His stance tightens, subtly, as if his senses are on high alert. Usually not something I would notice in anyone else, but I’d been serving him for months now.
Okay, who am I kidding — I’d been watching him all that time too. He’s not the only one who keeps their eye on people.
Then, he walks toward me, hands in his pockets. He’s taken off his jacket, his shirt unbuttoned halfway. He stops just to my left and angles his head a bit to the side, eyes filled with…amusement?
“What are you doing?”
Ever the smart-ass, I say, “Sunbathing.”
He’s not amused. Scowling, he moves to stand in front of me, using one finger to tip my head up meet his eyes. “You disobeyed my request to wear a skirt, and by doing so, derailed the entire evening I had planned. Why is that?”
Here I am, sitting completely nude in front of a man, and he wants to discuss my choice of clothing?
Fine.
I bring my arms up, crossing them over my breasts as I glare at him. “Tell me: what’s the point of trapping a woman into marriage by holding her business over her head if you only intend for said marriage to end in a year?”
And, cue the return of his amusement.
He chuckles and moves to sit next to me. “Is that what this is about? Now you tell me why that bothers you, considering you don’t want to marry me in the first place.”
I open my mouth, then close it again.
Damn him.
“We’ll discuss this later.” He grins and pats his lap. “Right now, I need to smack your ass.”
I want him to smack it. Chances are, the smacking will turn into fucking.
And after three days with no sex, I’m more or less ready to beg for it. But I can’t let him know that.
So much for being obedient.
“I don’t think so.”
Grinning wider, he pulls me onto his lap. I don’t even struggle; I am no match for his strength and we both know it.
He adjusts my body across his legs, making it necessary for me to use my arms to brace against the floor to keep my balance, an
d chuckles while caressing my ass with one hand.
Hit me!
I would wiggle along with the thought, but he’s holding on to my legs pretty tight. I want his hands on me in a bad, I-haven’t-been-fucked in days kinda way. Even if it’s in spanking form.
Please, please touch me more, I want to pant.
“Safe word?”
He’s worse than a woman sometimes. I don’t even talk this much!
I let out an irritated sigh, then laugh. “Oompa loompa.”
The caressing stops.
He makes a sound somewhere between a cough and a laugh. “What?”
I deliberately misinterpret his question. “Yeah. You know, from Willy Wonka?”
He smacks my ass, and I yelp before grinning. I know he can’t see my face, which makes this even more fun than I could’ve imagined.
“Let’s try this again.” He goes back to fondling me. “Are you sure that’s the word you want to use?”
“Absolutely. It’s perfect. An unsexy safe word. Especially since nobody thinks an oompa loompa is sexy.”
His hand grips one cheek as he busts out laughing.
“Oompa loompa it is.” His hands leave my ass. “Ten smacks.”
I barely have time to process it, let alone ask why ten when he lands a firm slap on the right side.
The thing about having my ass hit is that even when I expect it to happen, I’m still shocked when contact is made. My instinct is to gasp, to try and wiggle away. But his grip is unyielding, as is the hand that lands again on the left side this time.
It doesn’t hurt. If anything, I find it thrilling. I’ve been turned on since I first laid eyes on him this evening.
A third smack. A fourth.
I shut my eyes, the pleasure and slight sting from his hand rushing through my body. Up, up, up until it hits my brain.
Five.
I really hope he’s counting.
Six.
My body is wound tight, practically humming with desire.
Seven.
Eight.
His voice interrupts, low and guttural. “Spread your legs.”
I rush to oblige, conscious of what he’s about to do.
“Wider.”
I moan as I do as bid. He runs his hand down between my legs, teasing. Then, his land leaves me bereft and I feel like weeping.
One second. Two.
Three.
I yelp when his slap makes contact with my pussy. I restrain myself with every bit of energy I possess, my legs quivering as they tire of this position already.
He strokes my back, gliding his hand up until he wraps it in my hair and pulls my head up. My hands leave the ground and my legs shake harder.
“You should see your ass. It’s red as can be.” His other hand rubs me; a sob escapes my throat. “Delicious.”
I don’t know how many seconds pass as I wait, keeping my body as relaxed as possible. I’m so turned on I know that one touch will send me over the edge.
I also trust that he will give it to me.
I swear my senses are so attuned in this moment that I hear his hand swinging through the air just seconds before it makes contact with my pussy once more.
And I scream as I orgasm, my whole body shaking with so much force I grip his leg with my hands to hold on.
When I go limp, he lifts me up and places me in the center of the bed. I watch as he divests himself of his clothes, then welcome him with open arms as he joins me. He kisses me, melding his mouth to mine as his cock enters me in one swift thrust.
I wrap my legs around him to bring him closer. Keeping his cock inside me, he goes immobile, leaving my mouth to trail kisses down my jaw and onto my neck. Then, using one arm to brace himself, he uses the other to cup a breast, taking the nipple in his mouth and sucking hard.
When he pauses to thrust, I moan, sliding my hands up to grip his hair. He returns to giving my body his undivided attention, moving to the other breast to do the same. Having his cock inside me unmoving is torture, though. Just as I’m about to beg for him to move, his lips come back to mine, and he thrusts.
I whimper as his hand moves up to my neck, resting lightly against it as he dominates my mouth with his.
Each plunge of his cock is met with a lift of my hips, my legs tightening around him, begging for more. I disentangle one hand from his hair to slide it in between our bodies, to find where we’re connected, before touching my own body in just the right way.
The noise he makes into my mouth is indistinguishable, his hand tightening around my neck just enough to send me over the edge.
It’s not long before he follows me with a whisper of my name into what I consider the best bliss in the world.
A girl could get used to this.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I have to return home. My papa will be waiting for me.”
I don’t want to leave him. He’s my friend — my only friend. Papa doesn’t let me visit with children from other families. He says they are all heathens, and not fit for proper company.
So when I met the stable masters’ son, who is only a few years older than me, we became instant friends in our mutual loneliness.
It wasn’t long before that friendship turned to love.
Love I know my father would never approve of. I am several years away from being old enough to marry, but I am positive that I will never love anyone as I do Thomas.
“Jane,” he whispers, tucking a disobedient strand of black hair behind my ear, “I hate that we must sneak around. I wish our love mustn’t remain a secret. I desire you and ardently dream of you being my wife, where you may sleep in my bed.”
His words make me blush.
“Kiss me then.”
My words are daring, yet I know he loves when I am bold.
His dark eyes don’t widen in shock. Instead, they blacken with desire, with a passion I know burns for me and me alone. I know he wants to tackle me to the grass, lift my skirts, and plunge deep inside me until we are so connected we shall never be torn apart.
No distance between us ever again, even when we are out of reach of one another.
He does as I demand.
Passion ignites. Even though I know I must leave, I take one more moment with him.
One more second where our lips combine in a fervor we cannot and do not want to deny. One that leaves us aching for each other.
And when he pulls back, I see the regret that he must leave in his eyes.
I know he loves me.
My papa is wrong.
And as Thomas walks away from me, I vow in my heart to do whatever it takes for us to be together the rest of our lives.
Only he vanishes, never to be seen again.
~*~
The sound of an alarm jolts me out of my sleep, the dream disappearing before I can make sense of it.
Opening my eyes to a completely dark room, I wonder where I am for a second before I remember.
I slept at Tobias’ place.
Even more, I slept with him. Again.
Now, he’ll always be my first ‘second time’, and I’m not quite sure how to feel about that.
His phone lights up from his side of the bed, the shrill tones making me wince as I finally notice that his arm is across my chest, pinning me down. And the same for his leg.
Matter of fact, if he got any closer, he’d be lying on top of me.
Mortified, I realize we fell asleep right after sex, when he snuggled up against me and I’d been too spent to push him away.
Ugh! Snuggling!
Not sure whether to laugh or cry at this discovery, I poke his arm as the phone peals again. “Hey, wake up. Your phone is pissing me off.”
He doesn’t move.
The phone goes off once more.
He snores.
What’s a girl to do?
I scream as loud as possible, and he jerks upright.
“Wha—?” His hand grabs my arm. “Joce—?”
God, I love the way he calls
me that. I especially enjoyed the way he moaned it last night as he came, the low growl in my ear filled with desire and a contentment I didn’t understand.
“I’m fine.” I yank my arm away as the phone trills. “Shut that thing off, will you?”
Climbing out of the bed, I head to the door, using my arms to guide my way and prevent any stumbles in this unfamiliar territory. I glance over at Tobias, his face illuminated by the screen as he taps on it with his thumb. With his other hand, he swipes down his face, no doubt trying to recover from his rude awakening.
Reaching the door, I glare at him. “What fucking time is it anyway?”
He laughs, returning the phone to its previous position on the nightstand. “Four. Forgot to change my alarm.”
Oh, I could kill him right now.
I turn the knob and exit to use the bathroom, returning a few minutes later.
I pick up my cell, waking up the screen to use it for a light as I search for my clothes.
“What are you doing?” His mumbled words come out of nowhere. “Get back in bed.”
“Don’t be demanding,” I huff as I pick up my discarded shirt. “We’re not even married yet.”
“So? Get back in bed. It’s early.”
“Maybe it’s early for you, mister ‘I-can-afford-to-sleep-in’,” I retort as I squint, looking around for my underwear, “but since I need to go in at six anyway, I might as well stay awake.”
He sighs. Since my experience with men only involves one night stands and Dexter, I err on the side of Dexter and assume I’m exasperating Tobias.
He claps his hands and the lights turn on. I cover my eyes with my arm.
“Asshole. The light is too bright!”
I don’t even waste my time clapping my hands to turn them back off. He’ll just do it again.
“You’ll adjust. Just use one eye at first and slowly open the other,” he responds with a chuckle. “Also, you need to get a manager to either open or close the diner. No need to work yourself to death.”
“You know I can’t afford it.” I grumble as I lower my arm and begin dressing. “I don’t understand why you’d even suggest such a thing.”
“I didn’t get where I am by doing it all myself. You need help.”
It’s his parting shot as he gets up and exits the room. I finish putting on my clothing, and look down at my phone to see a text from Iris.
