Page 22 of His Pretty Little Duet

His gaze falls to my bare feet before sliding up, a slow pursual of the entire length of my body. Like, it's his turn to make a show of checking me out. Being alone with him, in the quiet, surrounded by shadows and darkness, is even more intimate under his attention.

Shuffling, I manage to whisper, "Sorry." I don't manage to elaborate, but that's okay. Sorry will suffice. Sorry for being in the same space as you. For catching you half-naked. For being here. For?—

"Sorry for what?" he says, his voice unaffected.

I'm trying to work that out. "Um, for... being here?"

Staring at me, a soft grin moves across his lips, and it startles me, because he's calm in our encounter and I'm ready to explode. "She doesn't eat. Hardly sleeps." He pauses, and my heart becomes an erratic drum between my ears. "If you were my property, I'd bend you over my knee."

In shock, my lips part.

Then he walks off, and I'm left speechless. Wordless, confused, with a barely functioning body that is uncomfortable and wrapped in burning skin.

"Sorry," I whisper as he disappears.

I head towards my room, dashing around the hallways, hoping I find a direct path while the spindling shame reminds me how inappropriate my arousal is. I'm pregnant. Here for my dad. Here for Benji.

But that man is brutally hot.

Of course, I'm going to look, appreciate even.

I find my door, deciding I'll stay on the other side of it and forget all about the way his voice was outright erotic when he threatened to take me over his knee?—

Yep, I'm going to forget all about that.

Fawn

Stayingin my room was good in theory.

In practise, the idea lasted half a day before encountering a huge, always-hungryproblem—Jasmineand her perpetual need to coax me into things she so desires.

She is hungry.

We get food.

She wants to swim.

Here I am, tiptoeing down the stairs, but I have no idea why because Jasmine's feet hit each step like lead hooves.

I cringe, saying, "So, you're sure it's okay we hang out by the pool?"

She jumps the final two steps and peers up at me as I hover awkwardly in the middle of the staircase. "You're his guest. It'd be weird if you just stayed holed up in your room all day and night."

But I'm not on holiday here.

When I don't respond, she says, "What exactly happened that has you all nervous now?"

The image of his torso, slick with sweat and carved with muscles, comes tumbling to mind. Front and centre, actually.It's been there all night, this morning, in the shower. Too often. That, and his words,"If you were my property, I'd bend you over my knee,"seem far too eager to monopolise my brain space.

She lifts a brow at me, and I relent. My knees wobble slightly as I follow her out to the poolside.

Outside, we slump down on the pool loungers. The thick breeze tousles the blonde strands around my shoulders while the sun strokes my flesh, a light mist of perspiration forming a film over my skin. The pool's surface is like a rippling metallic silver sheet beneath the rays.

Three-Months-Ago Fawn would not believe Present-Fawn if she was to describe this sight. I try not to allow my mind the luxury of finding too much comfort in my current lifestyle. Although, it is hard not to enjoy it.

And Jasmine is relentless.

The white bikini I have on is the only one I own, but it's pretty, with a square-shaped neckline, thin straps, and a tube style coverage across my chest. The bottoms sit high on both cheeks and hips, the design making the sight of the taut skin at my lower stomach barely distinguishable, offering a little too much of my arse to the breeze and world, but I've never been a prude, and I like my body.

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