Page 10 of Claiming Candy

“Oh,” I say, unable to process the fact that apparently those gorgeous decorations were only for one night.

“Anyway,” he says, opening up the door to his bedroom, “let’s talk about the ceremony.”

I’m not sure how many times his words are going to give me whiplash. My mouth opens and closes, and I feel a little like a fish out of water. Finally, I croak out, “Ceremony?”

“Ah, I guess I didn’t really tell you my plans, did I?” he says, pulling me onto a loveseat – how did I not notice that his bedroom had alounge arealast night?

“No,” I breathe. He’s so close that his expensive cologne floods my senses. “What– what plans do you have?”

“I’m going to marry you, Candy,” he says frankly. I want to believe he’s joking because there’s no way that someone like him wants to marry someone like me, at least not so soon after meeting me. “I told you I was going to make you mine, and I don’t say things that I don’t mean.”

His declaration is so full of conviction that I have no choice but to believe it. My soul is on board, knowing that this man is perfect for me, that I’ll be happy with him. My head points out all of the ways that we’re different – the biggest is how it feels like this is just charity. I’m some broke girl that he met and feels like he can impress with the way he throws money around.

“Isn’t that a little fast? You don’t even know me, Ethan,” I say, squeezing his hand as I speak. Why would a man like him want to marry me?

“Maybe,” he says with a shrug, threading our fingers today. “But I know that I want to be with you, Candy. That’s enough. We can figure out the rest as we go.”

I like Ethan a lot. I like him more than I’ve ever liked another man. Sure, there are some things that I don’t understand about him, but my gut feeling tells me that he’s a good man. Still, I can’t help but question is motives.

“Ethan, you don’t even understand what you’re getting into. I come from nothing, like literally not a thing to my name, and you have all of this,” I say gesturing around his room that is bigger than any place I have ever lived. “Am I a charity case to you?”

Ethan raises his other hand to grasp my cheek and the show of tenderness makes me melt. “Candy, I knew you were meant for me the second I saw you last night. Sure, it might be a little fast, but when you know you know. You’re not a charity case for me, I would choose you no matter how we met.”

“Okay,” I say, staring into his eyes. The blue-green depths are ever-changing and always light up when he looks at me. I believe him, despite my reservations, I think I should give him a chance.

“I guess we should give it a whirl,” I add after a few moments.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he says with a grin, leaning over to kiss the tip of my nose. It’s a surprisingly tender gesture from a man who I understand to just take whatever he wants.

“Is that why you bought me all of that stuff?” I ask, furrowing my brow as I try to make sense of all of his behavior. From what I can tell, he’s stingy with his money. He might have an expensive home and expensive decorations, but he didn’t seem too happy about decorations that were only for a one-time use. “So that I’d marry you?”

“I wanted to buy you all of that,” he says. “You deserve the world, and I want to give it to you. Money’s no object when it comes to you.”

Before I can ask why, the weight of his words settles over me. It ignites something in my belly, and I see the moment that Ethan realizes what he’s done to me. The moment sizzles between us, then he presses forward into my space, kissing me so hard my world turns on its head.

I reach out, grabbing onto his elbows to keep myself from floating away. My lips struggle to keep up with the intensity of his kisses, but I do my best. He takes care of me, though. His tongue swiping across my bottom lip, urging me to open up for him.

Without thinking, I let my mouth drop. Ethan takes advantage of the opening, and I think he might be counting my teeth. I let my tongue touch his, whimpering at the feeling of the wet slide. He huffs, the noise sounding almost like a laugh.

He grabs onto my hips, pulling me even closer to him. I let myself be yanked forward, enjoying that he’s strong enough to move me around without much effort. My mind provides images of him throwing me around and holding me down. I feel myself getting wet between my legs at the mere thought of being used like that.

After a few more minutes of heated making out, Ethan pulls back. I’m leaning forward, chasing him before I even realize what I’m doing. He smirks at me, clearly amused by the way I’m so easily affected.

“I want to try something,” he says, squeezing my hips before standing up.

“What?” I ask, confused as to why he’s getting up in the middle of something so heated. I can see the obvious bulge in his pants – it’s clear that he wants this.

“I picked something up while we were out today,” he says, grabbing one of the bags from his bed.

I watch with unsealed interest as he digs through the contents. My eyebrows shoot up when I see the box he’s holding – it’s a toy. I’m not sure what it does. It looks like it might be a dildo, but I think I see the word “vibrating” from here.

“I think you’ll like it,” he replies as he opens the package and slides the device out. He pops batteries into the toy before turning back toward me. “What do you say?”

I can’t find the words to respond, so I nod. The smile on his face gets wider, and he looks almost sinister. It should scare me, but instead it just makes the anticipation in my stomach grow even hotter.

“Go ahead and take off your clothes for me,” Ethan says as he starts to cross the room.

I’m quick to oblige, tossing my dress to the side and peeling off my panties. By the time he gets to me, I’m totally naked. When he sits back down, I settle in next to him.

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