Good.
I take the lamp and bring it closer to the pedestal. The heavy, alluring weight of her gaze follows me the entire time.
The back of my neck itches. My cock stiffens.
My heart?—
Fuck my heart.
The base of the lamp lands harder than it should on the floor. I chalk it up to years of anger, nothing more.
“Stay here,” I order.
She doesn’t answer my command.
I don’t repeat myself or ask if she’s heard me. Instead, I tilt the curved metal neck of the lamp toward her chest and chin, no higher. I’d never risk hurting her eyes.
“Duncan.” Her brow furrows at the added, unforgiving light.
“Strip.” I walk to the side of the pedestal.
“Listen.” A scowl turns her confused expression into something I’ve never seen on Elowyn. A deeper kind of stubbornness than before, one that’s too fucking beautiful. “I don’t know what’s happening here, but it has to stop.”
“Youhave to stop.” I pull my lips in. Curse under my breath. “Stop arguing.” I return to her front, fingers digging into her chin. “Stop talking, period, unless I tell you to. You hear me?”
“Yes, I hear you.”
“Good, we’re getting somewhere.” My voice is cold, my blood is anything but.
Unable to take another second of the intimate moment, I tear myself away from this temptation.
That’s better, these three feet of air. Better, but still awful.
Years and miles between us didn’t hurt as badly as this. As being within reach and not devouring her lips.
“But here’s the thing.” She takes one foot off the pedestal and places it on the floor. “I still have things to say.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” I warn. “You’re being paid to serve me. Your brother is currently functioning, thanks. To. Me.”
“Just hear me out, okay?” She stays in place, half on the floor, half on the pedestal. “I’m grateful for your help. I want this to work out as much as you do.”
A scowl twists my features because…helping her was all I’d ever wanted as a teenager. To be her hero.
Even now, years later, hearing her thank me stirs something primal inside me. Something warm that feels a lot like pride.
Un-fucking-acceptable.
“Elowyn, if you don’t get back on that pedestal and stay quiet, so help me, I’ll call off the nurses. Barclay will get the wire transfers, sure. Only so I can watch him blow the money away.”
She gasps as if I struck her. By mocking her brother’s gambling addiction, I might as well have.
With tears lining her eyes, she climbs back up the pedestal.
“What happened to you?” Her arms pull tighter around her.
“Nothing.” I ignore her gorgeous tits as she squeezes them. “Now. I remember giving you an order.”
My greedy eyes take in her thighs clamped together beneath the gown. The red staining her cheeks.
