Page 27 of Tower

“If I slip my finger through your pussy lips, will I find them wet?” he asked. She jerked her body farther away from him. He chuckled. “I think I have my answer.”

“Asshole,” she muttered under her breath, still clutching her chest.

“Guilty.” He grinned at her. Seeing the mixture of arousal and fear in her eyes made his cock hard. If she were on her knees giving him the same look, he’d probably lose his load.

“But I didn’t come in here to argue with you.” He sighed, pushing the loaf of bread closer to her and giving her space by walking around the island. “I have to work tonight. You’ll be coming with me.”

“Why?”

“Mostly because I want you to, but also, you didn’t get a chance to see much at Tower during your last visit. I thought you might enjoy exploring instead of sitting in my room.” And he wouldn’t be leaving her behind at the house to snoop around for an escape.

“Will I be going naked?” she shot at him.

He laughed again. Such fire from a woman who he had no doubt had spent most of her existence being locked away from life.

“Depends on you.” He said nothing more. Let her figure out what she needed to do in order to get clothing. She didn’t know that there was no fucking way he’d be letting her walk around Tower nude. No one would set their eyes on her naked form until he had a chance to truly see her.

No one.

Chapter 9

The noise of the club didn’t drown out the thudding of Azalea’s heart in her ears. The pounding of the music, the swell of the people dancing, the laughter rising and falling around her kicked up her anxiety.

She’d been in the middle of all the crowd days before, yet this time, she couldn’t get her heart rate to calm, or her breath to catch.

Maybe it was the form-fitting black dress with the plunging neckline and nonexistent back that Peter had given her to wear. Or perhaps the way the men all but licked their lips when she walked through the crowd, behind Peter. He’d given some protection—no one would dare mess with him—but once he passed the men, their stares went straight to her. She gripped Peter’s hand harder as they made their way to his office.

Once they were in the back of the club, out of the crowd, she felt the breath come back to her lungs. Peter paused, turning to her with concern.

“There’re more people than before,” she said lamely.

“You don’t like crowds?” he asked, running his thumb over her knuckles. She hadn’t let go of him, and she wasn’t quite ready to.

“I’m not used to them. The music wasn’t as loud before, either.” She placed her free hand over her chest, trying to gain control over herself again.

“We reach capacity nearly every night. Maybe tonight’s different for another reason.” He pushed a loose strand of hair from her face.

She swallowed hard and let go of his hand. His lips curled into a smile, but he didn’t reach for her again.

“You sure bringing me here was a good idea? I mean, there’s a lot of people. I could ask for help, get lost in the crowd, and slip out onto the street.” All possibilities she’d already run through her head but knew wouldn’t work. He had too many men, and she didn’t know who or where they were.

“Yeah, there are probably at least a dozen ways for you to get away tonight. But, you won’t. Because you know you’ll be caught, and you know what happens when you get caught.” He reached around her and grabbed her ass. She clenched her teeth together at the soreness, but she would not show him her discomfort.

After he’d given her the dress along with the order to get ready for a night out, she’d examined her backside in the mirror. Three bruises had already formed on her cheeks. She wasn’t looking to add to them. He had that much right.

“I think you like beating women,” she shot at him. Getting that handsome confident grin off his face became a priority. Being attracted to him needed to stop, and the more he gave her his half smile, the more that little crease on his left cheek popped up, the more she wanted to have his lips on her again.

He chuckled at her accusation. “I don’t beat them. But I do enjoy disciplining a naughty submissive. It rights the ship, if you know what I mean.”

“No. I don’t know what that means,” she argued, knowing exactly what he was talking about. After he’d strapped her and put her to bed, she’d had plenty of time to get her head wrapped around the incident. When she should have been angry and plotting revenge, she had been calm and aroused. The strapping had hurt, and she would feel it at least for the rest of the day, but Peter hadn’t been overly cruel. In fact, it was his darkness that drew her to him. The confident way he simply took control and gave her no leniency for what she’d done.

But she wouldn’t admit any of that to him. No. She may have felt calm settle over her after he strapped her, but she knew it was wrong. She should want him dead for touching her. She should want to kill him herself for the hungry way he kept looking at her.

She should.

But she didn’t.

Peter leaned in closer to her, caressing her cheek. “Such a stubborn girl.” He patted her. “But I know how to deal with that.”

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