Page 38 of Captivated By Him

He grips me harder. “You’re not understanding. I’ve already told my father it’s being done.”

“So what?”

“It’s done.”

“Done?” I yank free, stumbling back a step. “What’s done?”

“Tomorrow. A judge is coming, and we’ll be married.”

I blink. “I won’t do it.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“How can I not have a choice? It’s my life!” I yell at him. Everything is spiraling out of my control and no matter how much I grab for it, everything spins further away.

“Do you think your father would want you to spend the rest of it running away from the very people he was so loyal to?”

“My father…” I stop talking because I know he’s right. He pushed for me to date Henry in the first place because he wanted me to find a safe place in the world. Misguided as it was, he was trying to protect me.

“My father isn’t here now,” I remind him, but I can’t help but remember the late nights, the horrible dreams my father had because of the work he did for the Kaczmarek family. He did it to provide for me, to give me a better chance.

“I’m not sure he’d want me to marry into another family.” It’s lame and untrue. My father would probably jump for joy to hear the second son of a powerful family wanted to marry me.

“That’s bullshit. There’s no bad blood between my family and the Kaczmareks.” He takes a step toward me, his eyes turning more into a predator’s gaze. “And if you marry me, if you let me protect you with my name, that remains the same. If you don’t and there’s trouble between you and them, I’ll still protect you, but it will be at the cost of war.”

My shoulders droop, the fight rushes out of me. He’s right. Any action Jakub takes against them could end in bloodshed.

He moves to me, brushing my hair from my face and placing a soft kiss to my cheek. “It’s not bad with us, Nicole. You could do worse than me.” He pulls back and gives me a tense grin.

“So much for a romantic marriage proposal.”

“It’s not a proposal. You’ll marry me tomorrow.”

“Marriage is such a final solution to a temporary problem,” I say.

He lifts a shoulder. “When the temporary problem goes away, we can talk.”

He doesn’t really want me, not for a life together, not because he loves me. He only wants to help, and if he’s open to a temporary situation, it might work.

“Okay. So, when the danger is over, we agree to stop this mess.” I gesture between our bodies.

He frowns. “I don’t think we’re a mess.” He grabs my chin between his fingers and tilts my head back. “So, it’s settled.”

Nothing feels settled. My stomach swirls into knots, my heart has turned into a jackhammer against my ribs, and my mind is lost in a dense fog unable to show me a better path to take.

“Fine. I’ll marry you.” I put up a finger between us. “Just until the danger’s gone.”

He cracks an arrogant grin. “Good. Now.” He moves his hand to my hair so quickly, I barely register it happened. With a fluid motion he spins me around and presses me down over the kitchen island.

I have to put my hands out to stop my face from hitting the countertop. Pushing up gets me nowhere, he’s holding me steady while he works his fingers into the elastic of my pajama shorts.

“Jakub! What are you doing?” I yell, swinging my arms behind me trying to get a hit to his face, or an arm. Anything that might get him to let up on me.

“Twice you disobeyed me today. Did you think I wouldn’t punish you for it?” His voice deepens and my shorts are ripped down my legs. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have bothered to put panties on after my shower.

“Jakub. I’m not a child. You can’t just do this.” I shove harder to get up, but he’s too strong, and I’m practically dangling over the side of the island. I scramble my feet, trying to find leverage, but my toes barely scrape across the tiles.

“You sure as hell acted like a child today.” The jangle of his belt buckle captures my entire attention, and I scramble harder to get away. Another sound, the whoosh of leather against the loops of his trousers, has me frozen.

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