Page 16 of Unwillingly His

So to see a family who took what they wanted instead of waiting for someone to give it to them, was intriguing.

My father, in particular, had hated Lucian Manwarring. I never knew why exactly, just that my father said he was a brute and did not operate by the rules of polite society.

The rules of polite society were built to keep those born with privilege on top and those not under their heel.

While Luc Manwarring was absolutely born into the same privilege, I wondered if he felt the newness of his money, only a few generations from poverty.

If my grandfather had been the one to build the Deiderich name and fill its coffers, would my father have been the same?

Was it the generations of wealth that bred the primal savagery out of the other men in my class?

Was that what made Lucian Manwarring Sr.’s blood run so much hotter than anyone else’s?

Was that why he could break through the ice still on my skin when nothing else could?

My mind drifted back to the things he had done to me, the way he’d touched me, and how even as he’d spanked me with that belt, it hurt, but the sting of each strike faded into a warm, soothing heat.

And then the way he made me react to him, that explosion of heat and pleasure he drew from my body as my own wetness trailed down my thighs.

Just thinking about it lit a small fire in my gut that melted the ice again. I had to push the feeling down.

Extinguish that flame with shame and regret.

Ladies like me were not supposed to feel like that.

It was the way he’d almost put his cock inside my core that filled me with the most shame.

Not only that he was about to push inside of me and take my virginity, but that I’d wanted him to. I was seconds away from pushing back into him myself when that knock sounded at the door and brought me back to reality.

Had I done so, I would have destroyed all of my plans for the future.

How could a man have made me feel so completely out of control that I would have discarded everything I believed in, for more of his touch?

The very idea of someone having that much control over me was terrifying.

“I just don’t know what to do!” I said again, stopping the conversation at my table that I had completely lost track of. Again.

My mother would have been ashamed of me for that outburst, and I knew it was rude, but I just couldn’t hold it in.

“Do you need to do anything?” Charlotte asked. “You still live in your own home. You still have access to some money. You just need to hold out for three years.”

I didn’t want to tell Charlotte that I was pretty certain her father intended to marry me himself well before those three years were up.

I also didn’t want to point out that I was in this position because of her. It was her wedding we had been leaving when the accident had happened.

It was her father who had taken my money because she ruined his plans.

She disobeyed her father, and now she was living happily ever after with her husband, and I was paying the price.

I chided myself. Such thoughts were immature and churlish and completely unfair to sweet, kind Charlotte.

“I can’t just do nothing. There is no telling what he will do in three years.”

“Let me reach out to Harrison and his wife. This isn’t the kind of thing they handle, but I am sure they know someone.” Amelia reached across the table and put her hand on mine.

I clasped her hand and gave her a grateful smile.

Maybe I could get out of this before Lucian made too big of a dent in my lifestyle or my father’s money.

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