“You’re a beautiful woman who deserves far more than what you’re getting out of life, and I’m going to make you see that, no matter how long it takes. You’re a woman any man would be on his knees to have. And you’re as attracted to me as I’m attracted to you. I didn’t imagine you coming all over my mouth last night.”
Her face went beet red and she hastily averted her gaze, but he reached with his free hand to cup her chin, gently forcing her to face him once more.
“You were so fucking beautiful and so wild, and I want to be the man who gently brings you to heel. I want to be the man who takes care of you, the man you ultimately answer to, the man who controls you.”
“Controls?” she asked incredulously. “Do you even know how obscene that sounds? No one controls me!”
“I do—I will. But you’ll blossom under my care. Have no doubt there. There will not be a more spoiled, adored woman on this earth, because what is mine I take care of in all ways, and your happiness, your protection, your life comes before all else.”
She looked at him in utter bewilderment. “Why would you do this for a woman like me? You could have any woman you wanted.”
She broke off, blushing furiously, her eyes dropping in shame and God only knew what else. Fury rose inside him, and he was forced to loosen his grip on her hand or risk hurting her.
“Explain what you mean by a woman like you. And be careful how you word it, Angel, and how you say it, or I’m not going to be very happy with you.”
She swept her hand down the length of her as if that explained it all. Then she sent him a helpless look that suggested she had no idea how to explain what in her mind was a very obvious fact.
“You have no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed,” he said through clenched teeth. “And you will be neither with me, because that will not please me. Who you are, what you are, is what Iwant. Not your fucked-up idea of who and what I want. I know when I see something whether I want it or not, and I wanted you the minute you walked into my club. Your not believing me or thinking otherwise is bullshit. But you’ll figure that out in your own time.”
“There’s no way I can ever pay you back,” she said desperately. “I’ll never be your equal. I’ll never be able to pay back the kind of money you’re talking about.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said in a soft voice that made her shiver.
In that moment, she looked very much like prey being stalked, and he was the predator closing in on his prey. Hunted. He could deny none of those things when that was well what he was doing.
“Nothing is ever free,” he continued, taking advantage of her momentary silence as she grappled with the things he had said and was saying. “The price is you. All of you. I’ll own you. Every inch of you. I’m a man who is always in control of everything in my world. My world, my rules. And you have to play by my rules. I especially demand control when it comes to the women in my bed. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“N-no,” she stammered out, clearly not understanding.
He swore softly. “Such a fucking innocent.”
For a moment he simply trailed a finger down the line of her cheek and then brushed the pad of his thumb over the full curve of her lips. He could feel the sudden exhalation of her breaths as they sped up and the trembling increased. But it wasn’t fear. She was aroused.
“Dominance, Angel. And your submission. Your complete and utter submission. In all things, but especially in my bed. You don’t deny me anything. What I want, I take. What I choose to give, I give. You don’t have a choice, and you don’t get to tell me no. Ever.”
“You’re talking about rape!” she said in a horrified voice. “About taking my choices completely away from me!”
Drake scowled, allowing her to see how angry her response made him.
“Now you’re just pissing me off. You’ll be willing. I guarantee you’ll love every single thing I choose to do to you. You’ll beg me for more. You won’t even think about saying no. When you step into my world, I own you. I possess you. There isn’t a single inch of your beautiful skin that will go untouched, unworshipped. No part of you I won’t fuck. You went up in flames on my desk, all laid out like a gift, and never once did you say no. You lit up the minute I touched you. You were wild, uninhibited, and you held nothing back.”
Her eyes became dull, shame and embarrassment crowding into their depths.
“Goddamn it, Angel. You will not be ashamed of anything that occurred between you and me. Ever. You will not take something that fucking beautiful and twist it into something shameful and ugly.
“That motherfucker who did a number on you and made you feel like you were nothing was a fucking idiot. He had something that men would kill for and he pissed it away. He’s an inept bastard who wouldn’t know what to do with a woman. He’s the inferior fuckwad and he knows it, so he lashes out to make himself more than the fucking coward heis. He gets off on belittling others so he can feel better about himself. He knows he’s a piece of shit and the only way he can deal with that knowledge is to knock down everyone around him, especially women. It’s a high to him because it’s the only time he feels like anything other than the worthless piece of shit he and the rest of the world knows he is.”
Evangeline’s look turned to one of absolute wonder, her eyes filling with something that made Drake uncomfortable. She looked at him like he was some fucking hero, and that made him wince. He wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t a good man. He was a selfish bastard willing to go to any lengths to make this woman his.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.
Drake inhaled, realizing he was about to do something heneverdid.
Ask.
“Give me a chance, Angel,” he murmured. “Give me the chance to prove to you all I’ve said. To do all I’ve said I will do. Will you at least agree to give me a chance?”
She studied him for a long moment, clear indecision warring with hope, fear and... curiosity. Finally, she closed her eyes, but when they reopened, resolve shone like a beacon.
