I smiled. The expression felt strained, but it was good to have this small connection to my past reality. As I looked around my gilded cage, I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. This was the biggest space I’d ever stayed in – and I felt like a prisoner. Trapped.
Snapping my suitcase shut, I stowed it in the bottom of the closet and reached for an old t-shirt. My favorite for sleeping in; it was worn and soft from years of washing and wear. I held it to my nose, then shrugged out of my blouse, toed off my boots and peeled off my jeans. Dinner might be waiting, but I had no appetite for it. And if he wasn’t going to be there anyway, there was little point in heading into that huge, terrifying place alone.
I walked barefoot to the side of the sprawling bed, not caring that I hadn’t washed my face or brushed my teeth. When I pulled back the covers, the scent of lavender wafted up in a soothing wave. I slid between the downy sheets and felt some of my earlier anxiety slip away. Exhaustion was suddenly descending and as the pressures of this crazy day began to dissipate, I felt the soft comfort of the mattress consume me and I sank in…
∞∞∞
Smooth hands slid along the curves of my feet and up the lines of my calves and I murmured softly. The sheets were so silky, the mattress like heaven. And the hands explored higher, stroking soothingly. My murmur became a moan.
Mmmm…
This was blissful. I smiled in my sleep and pressed my thighs together, feeling those firm fingers gliding past my knees. The sensation was irresistible, and I let my thigh muscles ease and then splay, allowing access to the silky flesh between them. In the darkness, I pictured those strong hands attached to well-defined wrists and tanned muscular forearms framed by crisply rolled back shirt sleeves. Hands that slid higher, fingers that pressed, and then probed, pushed into me. I arched my back and pushed my hips up, legs moving beneath the sheets that must surely have been woven in paradise.
Mmmm… Yes…
It felt so good…those fingers that delved and now began to thrust, swirling in the wetness of me, seeking out the tiny ecstasies…
I cupped a hand over the swell of my breast beneath the soft t-shirt, pinching at a nipple and giving a sharp little gasp of pleasure at the pain.
“Be quiet, Sasha. Be a good girl for me.”
The low words, a voice from the past, hit me like a bucket of ice-water. I shot upright with a short scream, scrambling for the bedclothes that were bunched around me.
“No! I don’t want to, Joe, please!”
Fumbling for the switch of the lamp on the bedside table, I flicked the light on, struggling to find my breath. My vision flared with the sudden brightness, then slowly gathered focus as I tried to make sense of my foggy moments of waking…
Chapter 6
Prince Walker
She was staring at me in abject fear. As if I was her worst nightmare…or worse, some sort of rapist. Any arousal I may have felt dispersed like a cloud in a gust of wind.
I’d lain in my bed for hours before coming into her room. There’d been no way I could sleep with her so close. I’d been aching for her for what felt like a lifetime, and knowing she was so close was fucking intolerable. I’d been convinced my balls would explode, dammit.
But now, those eyes…those fucking terrified deer eyes, welling with tears. It made me feel like some sort of twisted pervert.
Why? For fuck’s sakes, she’s mine, goddammit! I can have her anytime I want.
She’d signed for this very thing just hours ago in a contract that made these details explicitly clear. I’d put in a clause for every possible scenario – I had the right to fuck her anytime I wanted; any place, without warning and with no objection. She’d perused every line and initialed every page. Jane had stood there and watched her do it. Jane, who had packed that closet full of clothes and made sure she’d picked out every possible damn outfit a woman in her new position could dream of. I could make her life a fucking fairytale.
Why the hell is she looking at me like that?
And then she made a sound in the back of her throat and my rage evaporated.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. “I should have warned you…woken you first…”
I couldn’t believe I could hear myself saying these things.What the fuck is wrong with me?The Prince Walker I’d created would never utter such trite platitudes. Soft-cock blathering. I should be shoving her back, spreading those thighs, and burying my cock in that sweet dripping pussy. Because there was no doubt about it, she was dripping for me. The urge to taste my fingers was riding me, but somehow, I knew that would be a mistake.
“I…no…it’s…” I could see her searching for words. Could see her unclenching her fingers from the coverlet using sheer willpower as she became aware of what was going on. She cleared her throat and pulled the sheets away from her body, then settled back against the heap of soft cushions. “I’m sorry. I … was surprised, that’s all. You…you can carry on.” She splayed her knees and spread her legs. If there’d been desire before, there was no hint of it now. The girl was rigid; lying waiting as if anticipating being violated by some beast.
No fucking way!
I may have grown accustomed to getting what I wanted from women, but they always gave it willingly. This? This was bullshit.
I gave a snort of disgust and turned sideways, intent on moving to rise and get up, when I felt her fingers on my arm. I’d come straight from my bed, stripped down to a pair of black briefs, and her fingertips stroked over my bare bicep.
“Please, don’t go,” she continued. I looked down at her hand, then into her face. Her eyes were dark with shadows and fear.Goddammit! Why is she making me feel like this?
