Page 7 of Unbreakable Vow

“Married people live together. You’ll move into my home immediately.” He moves closer to me. I think he knows how much his presence messes with my thoughts.

Rent is due.

Bills are waiting for payment.

Mom needs to be in a full-time care facility so I can be sure she’s safe and well cared for. She deserves so much better than what I can give her right now.

There’s no choice to make here, not really.

“Yes. Okay.” Immediate relief mixes with an immense terror of what I’m getting myself into.

He lifts my chin with one finger and brings his mouth down over mine.

Sealing the deal with a kiss.

All right.

But this isn’t a simple peck on the lips. His hand opens, cupping my cheek as he deepens the kiss. A soft whimper escapes from my chest as his tongue brushes across my bottom lip, demanding entrance. And I’m too caught up in the whirlwind of arousal to do anything other than give him what he wants.

A sigh falls from me when he breaks the kiss.

“Now.” He runs his thumb over my bottom lip. “I’m going to teach you what happens when you put yourself in danger like you’ve done today, and when you disobey me.”

“What?”

“Your punishment. It’s time for your punishment.”

My eyelids flutterwhile my stomach does a nosedive.

“My what?” I lean back in the chair as far as I can go, which is almost nowhere considering he’s practically in the damn thing with me.

“Your punishment. I warned you, if you were mine, I’d teach you not to disobey. And you put yourself in a lot of danger barging in on a man like me with your extortion attempts.”

“But I wasn’t yours then. I mean, I didn’t even know you when I got here.” That has to count for something. Hell, it counts for everything!

“You don’t know me now either,” he points out. “But you will.”

“You can’t really expect me to let you… punish me. You didn’t say anything about that being part of the deal.”

He moves away from the chair, leaning his ass against the desk and folding his arms over his chest.

“You didn’t ask.”

“I did. I asked if it was just on paper.” I push the chair back a few inches, needing more space.

“I don’t like disobedience.”

“Disobedience?” I scoff. “I didn’t disobey you. I got up to leave.” I harden my tone. No matter how much his unholy attractiveness makes my stomach flutter, I am not giving in.

He deadpans for a long pause.

“I want to punish you for many things. I want to punish you because you disregarded your safety today by coming into the office of someone you believed to be dangerous and tried to extort me. I want to punish you because if anyone else finds out about what you overheard, you could be in danger. And as my wife, you’ll be mine to protect. I can’t do that if you are going to make a habit of disregarding your safety.”

We stare at each other in a tension-filled standoff.

“Oh.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Oh?”

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