Page 30 of Hearts Of Darkness

I see the spark of hope in her eyes. Keeping her locked away in my bedroom was the cruelest thing I could have done.

I grit my teeth as an unfamiliar emotion claws at my guts. “Of course.” I move toward the door and watch her glance around the room again.

“There are no mosquito nets in here.”

“No. That reminds me…” I walk back over to the nightstand, open the top drawer and take out a pack of antimalarial medication. “Here.” I hand her the silver blister pack, growing impatient when I watch the fear re-emerging in her eyes. “I’m not trying to poison you, my angel. Quite the opposite. They’re prophylactics.”

She takes the blister pack and examines it closely, her exquisite face folding into a frown. “Antimalarials? Butshouldn’t I have been taking them—?”

“I was having them crushed up and put in your food.”

“Of course, you were,” she says, a trace of bitterness souring that sweet, melodious voice. “But these would mean I’m in—”

“Africa.”

“Africa?” She looks stunned. “But I’ve never even left America before. How can I be in Africa?” She pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs them close to her body. She looks like a child again with my T-shirt swamping her slender frame.

“It’s quite simple. I flew you here.”

She gives me a barely perceptible roll of her eyes, and I feel my cock stirring. “Well, I figured that out for myself, smartass.”

Smartass?I’ve been called many things in my lifetime, but never that.

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you,” I say, sounding disapproving.

“And captivity does?”

That’s my sign to leave. “Enjoy the view. I’ll be back in an hour. We’ll have dinner and I’ll introduce you to some of my staff.”

I’m not sure if she’ll agree to this, but it’s a pleasant surprise when she nods.

“I’d like that. It won’t make me feel like such a…”

“Prisoner?” I offer up, coolly.

“Yes, prisoner,” she says, fixing her gaze on me. I see reproach there and my semi hardens into something else entirely.Oh, my angel, was that another flash of defiance?

I need to get out of here before my craving takes a hold of me. Joseph is downstairs pacing. We need to sign off on thisnew merchandise.

“I’ll get one of the girls to send you up some champagne,” I say, pausing in the doorway.

“Champagne?” She raises her eyebrows at me.

“Your drink of choice. You were holding a bottle when Iintroducedmyself to you that night.”

Her mouth falls open. “Introducedyourself? More like barged on in and totally screwed up my life!” Her soft voice rises to an indignant screech.

Seeing the hurt flaring in her eyes, I make my way back over to the bed. I want to appease her. I have no desire to fight.

“It’s certainly been one of my more impulsive decisions.” I lean over and deliver a hard kiss to her lips. “But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Then I’ll make sure to avoid that particular liquor store in the future!”

They’re just words. She doesn’t mean them. This blazing intensity between us does all the talking we need.

“Anyway, I don’t drink… I only buy it for friends and for special occasions.”

I smirk. “Like meeting me.”

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