Page 36 of Power and Possession

“Please tell me you’re clean,” I said, the fear clear in my tone.

“Of course I am. I’m regularly tested. Besides, I’ve never fucked a woman without a condom. Well, before last night.”

I blushed, but my panic was still at the surface. “I haven’t been taking my birth control—”

He frowned, but then brushed it off. “I’ll have a doctor come around today and we’ll get you the shot. It takes a while to be effective. I’m not going to apologize for what I did, though.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The chances were pretty slim, based on where I knew I was in my cycle, but to hear Steele’s lack of fear freaked me out. What the hell was happening?

He pulled me back beside him, pressing my head to his chest, stroking my hair. “Relax, Ashlynn. There’s ways to ensure we don’t have any lasting effects from our night together.”

I nodded, the panic slowly starting to dissipate. But now that the fear was gone, I was back to analyzing what the hell happened last night. I knew we were going to have sex again—it was a no brainer considering how the evening had unfolded.

And even worse than that, I didn’t know how I was goingto stop.

It turned out that Steele ran his London house incredibly lean compared to his Parisian manor. As soon as I emerged from the shower, Steele had a full breakfast spread in his room.

“Did you make this?” I asked, a towel wrapped tightly around my body.

“I have a cook here. A housekeeper, too.”

“Holding out on me, huh?”

Steele just smiled, and I returned his grin. I was trying to keep things light. I knew once we had ‘the discussion’ about what exactly happened, things would change.

“I have to go into the city today,” he said, suddenly sitting up against the headboard. He hadn’t gotten dressed and was still naked. It took great restraint to pull my eyes up from his chest when he talked.

“What for?”

He looked down at his phone for a few seconds before answering. “How are we going to play this, Ashlynn?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, knowing the conversation was coming.

“Do you want to pretend like I’m not a thief and a criminal? Would you like me to lie to you so you can convince yourself that what is happening here between us is healthy?”

I frowned, not sure what he was getting at. “What exactly do you do? And how did my father get wrapped up in it?”

He met my eyes, watching my reaction. “There’s no going back after this. If you become involved in my affairs, that’s it. I can’t ever let you go. Even if I wanted to, you’d be in perpetual danger. You’re in danger being around me right now. The only difference is that I’m practically untouchable and can protect you.”

I gulped, buying myself some time by looking around the floor for where I’d left my pajamas.

“Ashlynn. Look at me.”

I didn’t want to look at him. I couldn’t think straight when I looked into his eyes.

“I can’t, Steele. I can’t get involved with you. Not like that. Yes, we have passion, but it’s nothing but lust. We’ll never work.”

His face was a mask of impartiality.

“Will you let me go?” I whispered, frightened at what the answer would be.

He ran his fingers through his hair and got out of bed, pulling on his boxers and looking for his shirt.

“Steele. Will you please let me go home?”

His face slowly morphed into one of restrained anger. “What home, exactly, Ashlynn? The pitiful flat you were just evicted from? The penthouse in New York where your father takes his barely legal trophy girlfriends? Do you want to go back to being the Harringtons’ live-in nanny? What the hell is waiting for you out there except your asshole father who won’t lift a finger to save you?”

My own anger welled up to the surface, hurt at the way he was describing my life and my relationships, as if I possessed nothing of value and he had saved me from mediocrity.

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