Page 77 of Bought By Sin

I embraced the bliss of comfort in his bed and with these luxuries when I wasn’t hung up on how none of it was truly mine.

I sighed, leaning against the doorframe as I studied the closet. With a towel tied snugly around my body, I roved my gaze over the only tangible things that could represent my presence here.

Of course I want to stay with him and be here at his side.

Not because I have to.

I hugged myself with one arm and pressed my free hand at the base of my neck.

But because I want to.

Every day that passed and I woke up in his arms, my determination to stay deepened. Each night that came and I could listen to him sleep next to me, I fell further into the lure of wanting to finish what we’d started.

I came here as his slave.

But now?

I wanted so badly to open my eyes and my heart to how it was different.

Thoughts about leaving him, leaving this security, seemed like foolish nonsense now. The more I accepted being here and trusting that I wasn’t only a thing to use for assignments, the more I could begin to appreciate that this was freedom.

Being in Lev’s life like this, being his, allowed me the freedom to know I was secure and safe and protected. I was valued.

That need to survive one episode of hellish misery after another didn’t feel the same anymore.

Because as I wondered if this was what it felt like to fully and truly submit to a man, I didn’t experience the flutters of nervousness that came with the urge to run or escape.

I can’t run.

Not away from Lev, the man I wanted to belong with.

Not away from the Volkovs, this family that I’d found and wanted to fit in with.

I want to run to you, Lev.

Swallowing hard as emotions clogged my throat, I dragged my toe over the soft, plush ply of the carpet beneath my feet.

I was idle.

Dawdling and stalling.

Reflecting and sinking so far into my thoughts that I almost didn’t realize that Lev had entered the room. I picked up on the vibrations of his footsteps as he came up behind me in the massive closet.

He wrapped his arms around me, tugging me to lean my back against his chest.

Looking down at his strong limbs enveloping me, I was tempted to smile at the contrast. His thicker, muscle-bound arms showed all the dark ink of his tattoos and tanned skin, so different from the pure ivory of the towel around me. He’d rolled up the sleeves of the white shirt he wore, and somehow, that tease of revealing part of his arms made it so much sexier.

“What’s going on?” he asked, bringing his lips toward my ear.

I let out a deep breath, never shivering at the touch of his mouth on my cheek. Leaning back against him, I set my hand on his arm to hold on. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

I shrugged. “Nothing important.”

“Tell me, and I’ll let you know if I think it’s important.”

So bossy. But with him, it was playful, too. “I was thinking about how I’ve moved in here so suddenly.”