“Let’s go. I’ll tell you.”
“Who—”
“Theon.” I begged with my eyes. “Please I...I just need a hot bath.”
His gaze went over my head, staring in the direction of Granger’s house. I prompted again, giving his stomach a small push. When his hazel eyes came back to me, they softened just a bit.
He lifted his hand and palmed the back of my head, bringing me close to his face. “Your hot bath, and I need his name,” he growled.
Swallowing, I nodded.
I walked out of the bathroom, and Theon was still sitting there—on the edge of my bed, elbows on thick thighs. Although my bed was small, but hell would freeze before I stopped marvelling at how smaller he made it look by sitting on it. I ignored his eyes as they followed me to the closet where I picked an oversized grey sleep-shirt.
I expected him to give me some kind of privacy, but glancing over my shoulder, he didn’t look like he was ready to. His eyes stayed glued to me, hard and unblinking.
Slowly, I unwrapped my towel from around my chest, turning just a little to observe him. When I let the towel slip from my hands to pool at my feet, giving him my naked body for the first time, he straightened up slightly.
I wasn’t exactly facing him, my back was mostly to him. But the fact that it got a reaction out of him did my inside numbers, my thighs clenching.
I didn’t let his hungry eyes ravish me for too long, knowing what it was doing to him. I wore my shirt and walked over to him, slightly dizzy from the drugs I took after he treated my wound.
“No panties?” he asked, voice rough.
“I don’t wear panties to sleep,” I replied and climbed my bed, trying not to think too much of this new intimacy between us. How we were doing this like it was a normal thing.
I brought my cover over my body, snuggly placing my head on my pillow, very exhausted and sleepy. I told him what happened at Granger’s house, he didn’t say anything. He just listened. I had no clue what the guy’s name was, and he’d told me to describe him instead. Before I did, I forced him to promise not to try anything funny like spilling his blood. I didn’t know why I’d said that, probably because a part of me knew he might be capable of killing someone. He’d shown me that tendency, mostly when he was jealous of the guys I talked to back in school.
He had nodded once.
“Stop doing chores. Don’t ever step into anyone’s place to work. Clear?”
I forced my eyes open—when did I close them?—and chuckled.He can’t be serious.
“I’m very fucking serious, Ainsley.”
I shook my head. “You’re not.”
He cocked his head, a devilish glint flicking through his darkened eyes.
I almost sat up. “You can’t be serious. How else am I going to survive? In case you don’t know, I’ve been rejected by several companies and this is the most profitable work I’ve ever done. I’m not going to back out because one asshole assaulted me. Or because you want me to.”
“What do you want?”
“What?”
“How much would be enough for you to back out?”
“Oh, I’ve almost forgotten how rich and—”
His jaw muscle worked. “I’m not joking.”
“One million,” I replied sarcastically, eager to give in to the sleep tugging me. “I don’t know. I just want to sleep and—”
“Done. You’re not going back there, or anywhere else. Understood?”
He’s just kidding. He’s not serious.
My eyes were closed, and no matter how loud and fast I chanted those words, the truth remained:Theon doesn’t bluff.Particularly when it had to do with someone touching me. During my free time, I googledobsession,trying to navigate and understand his feelings, and each time, I learned something new. Something terrifying, something that always left me thinking if there was a possibility of ever escaping him. Not that I wanted to. I wouldn’t make it far if I tried. Somehow, his type of love fascinated me, and I found my mind going back to him every free hour I did.
