Page 25 of Oh, Hell No

She frowned, and when the realization hit her, she went from looking shocked to flushed.

“That makes your cheeks turn pink? Me mentioning the fact that I’ve been jerking off since before puberty at least once a day? You dated Alec Dart. You can’t tell me he didn’t talk about shit like that.”

She bit her bottom lip and looked so damn shy that it made me want to grab her and kiss that innocent look off her face. Dirty her up a little.

Stop. Easy with the imagination.

The thickening in my cock wasn’t a good thing. Not here and not with her.

“No. I mean, he would get a little crude when he was with his friends and drinking, but he didn’t say that much around me. I just hadn’t expected you to say something like that.”

I grinned into my glass. I wanted to say a lot more to her. See her get all flustered, but I didn’t.

“Did you just never fall in love?” she asked me.

That got a laugh from me. I shook my head. “Darlin’, why would I fall in love with one woman when there is a vast array of tight little cunts to be sampled?”

Her body tensed up as her shoulders went straight. That only made her tits press against the cotton of my shirt. I needed to get the woman a bra. Jesus.

“Oh,” she breathed. “I guess maybe all men think that way. It took the NFL and distance from me for Alec to realize that was what he wanted too.”

Now, she looked…defeated. As if I had just dashed all her dreams. That wasn’t what I’d meant to do. Fuck. I was not good at talking to females who weren’t trying to suck my cock or ride it.

“That’s not necessarily true,” I told her. “My best friend is so pussy-whipped by his wife that he can’t stand being away from her for a goddamn minute. Before Halo, I would have thought that I’d never see the day one woman would be enough for him. But he worships the ground she walks on.”

A dreamy, almost-envious expression crossed her face. “Wow. That sounds…very fairy tale–like.” She let out a small laugh. “I used to love fairy tales.Cinderellawas my favorite book when I was younger. But I grew up and realized that was in fact fiction and not real life.”

Part of me wanted to reassure her that was possible, but it was hard to do when I wasn’t sure I believed that shit myself. Bane and Halo were that once-in-a-lifetime thing, which was rare. Until them, I’d never seen anything like it.

“Cinderella needed a man to save her, if I’m remembering the correct fairy tale. She had a shit life and a stepmother that treated her like a slave. Instead of her standing up to the womanand beating her ass, a man had to take her away from it all,” I said. “That bitch was weak. From what I’ve seen and heard, you’re pretty damn tough.”

She dropped her gaze to her lap, and her lips tugged up at the corners. “I don’t see her that way. She was an abused kid who did what she had to in order to survive. She carried all the weight on her shoulders, having no one to share it with. No one to share anything with. She was basically alone. Then, a prince came along, and they fell in love—although it was a little too instalove.” She lets out a musical trickle of laughter. “But she didn’t ask him for help. She faced her problems and remained brave. Then, one day, he found her. He’d never stopped searching. She was his other half. The one that completed him. And together, they faced life. Fought their battles side by side.”

When she lifted her eyes back to meet mine, she seemed wistful.

I found myself seeing the entire fucking story differently. I mean, I wasn’t going to go read the book or anything, but I did see Cinderella in a new light.

She covered her mouth as she yawned. Although I’d let her sleep most of the day, she was still deprived from the nights spent downstairs. I hadn’t gotten any answers from her tonight that would help me locate her brother, but I didn’t seem to mind. It was the most enjoyable evening I’d ever spent with a female without my cock filling a mouth or cunt. Interesting.

“Go on up and get some sleep,” I told her.

She scrunched her nose. “I’m sorry for yawning. It wasn’t from boredom, I swear.”

No, it was because I left your ass in the basement for three nights.

A sour burn appeared in my throat as I thought about it. We had to find her bastard brother so I could let her go free, and then she could go find her fucking prince.

“You’ve not had a bed in three nights. It’s expected.”

The relieved look on her face hit me in my gut. Fucking hell. Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to me too. Something had to be messing with me because the way I was reacting to her was odd. Different. I didn’t like it.

“Thanks,” she said, looking so damn grateful when I was the one who had abducted her and put her in a basement.

“Good night, darlin’,” I replied.

Her smile was so fucking sweet that I had to look somewhere else. With a nod, I turned my back to her and went to the bookshelf to see if there was anything that might keep my attention. My ears, however, were trained on her every move, like those almost-silent footsteps of hers as she walked. I had become attuned to her so quickly.

Twelve

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