“So many fucking problems,” I snap. “But I need you to come and stand guard.”
“I’m sorry?” he says, glancing around. “Has Mr. Lockwood left the property?”
“He’s eating dinner, but if I want to shower alone, I need to make sure he knows I’m not trying to climb out the window, so can you please come with me? You can check and lock the bathroom window, then stand guard by the door to make sure I don’t escape.”
“Starling,” Sebastian says my name from the doorway into the kitchen.
“Don’t worry, there will be no flying free tonight. Tom over here is going to make sure of it,” I chirp sarcastically, grabbing the fabric on Tom’s suit sleeve and towing him up the stairs toward the bedroom.
“Mrs. Lockwood, all of the windows are secure,” Tom assures me as I practically drag him through the house.
“Honestly, I don’t care. They could be wired to explode if I try to open them, and he’d still believe that I’m capable of learning how to defuse a bomb just to get away. So, this is the way it’s going to be from now on.”
Opening the bedroom door, I push Tom in front of me, pointing through to the bathroom. “It’s through there, but I’m guessing you’re familiar with the layout of the house.”
The security guard’s eyes flash with guilt, confirming my suspicions. “Yes, ma’am.”
He allows me to shove him into the bathroom while I stand in the doorway with my arms crossed.
“Go ahead and check,” I demand.
Reaching for the window, he checks that the lock is secured, then steps back. “All secure, ma’am.”
“Great. I want you to stand guard outside the bathroom door. I’ll leave it open a crack so you’ll hear if I try to smash through the glass.”
His jaw twitches as he nods. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And if my husband tries to come in, feel free to do to him whatever he told you to do to me if I try to run away.” With those parting words, I storm into the bathroom, closing the door almost all the way, before I strip out of my clothes and step into the shower for the third time today.
Some of my ire has lessened by the time I turn off the water and dry myself with a towel, but I’m still hurt and angry and frustrated when I wrap myself in my robe, glad that I don’t have to walk back into the bedroom in just a towel.
“Can you check the bedroom windows and the door to the terrace, please?” I ask Tom, whose back is to the door, his line of sight into the bedroom and nowhere near the bathroom where I was just naked with the door partially open.
“Yes, ma’am,” he says, striding to the windows, then the terrace doors, checking each one in turn even though we both know they’re locked and secure.
“Happy I’m going nowhere?” I ask him sarcastically.
“All doors and windows are secure, ma’am,” he answers.
“Perfect. I’d like you, or one of your colleagues, to stand guard outside the door for the rest of the night. I’m not sure when you change personnel, but I’m assuming you have a key, or access, so it makes no difference.”
“Mrs. Lockwood, our orders are to?—”
“I don’t care what your orders are. This is what I need you to do, if not, I’ll come and sleep in that car of yours in the driveway. I want to make sure you can keep an eye on me, and I’ve slept on my dad’s tiny boat, so the back of a car probably isn’t much worse.”
“I’ll inform the morning team of the change of plans,” he says, nodding once before he leaves the room, closing the bedroom door behind him.
The moment I’m alone, all of the anger drains from me, leaving me exhausted and sad. Slipping off my robe, I put it back in the bathroom, then climb beneath the cool bedsheets, closing my eyes and falling asleep.
I don’t know how long passes before the rustling of sheets and the dipping of the mattress wakes me. Sebastian climbs into bed beside me, desperately reaching for me the moment his skin touches mine. His hand pushes between my thighs, cupping my pussy and pushing a single finger into me. Moaning, I close my eyes, chasing the connection we share that feels ragged and shredded after the events of the day.
“Shh,” he hisses angrily. “You posted a man outside our bedroom door, so I’m going to fuck you hard and deep, but if you make a sound—if you let the guard hear how desperate you are for my dick, I’ll stop.”
“Okay,” I whisper, my body already reacting to his stern, authoritarian tone.
“Open,” he orders, pushing something hard and rubbery into my mouth the moment I part my lips. “Do you know what you’re sucking right now?” he whispers.
I shake my head.
