Page 20 of Indecent Demands

“I have all the receipts,” I replied, nodding. “I keep track of everything in a notebook—who it was and how much I gave—so that I can check up on them later.”

Seth eyed me for a moment. I started in on my meal and held his gaze. I wasn’t going to let him see how easily he intimidated me.

Finally, he spoke. “I don’t want to turn you in.”

I nearly dropped my fork in shock. “You barely know me.”

“I know that you’re a good person, trying to do a good thing, even if it’s technically illegal.” Seth dug into his food again. “How long have you been doing this?”

“Ever since I realized how unfair the fucking world is,” I quipped. “Ever since I graduated. I started working for these companies where the C-level executives made multi-millions every year while their workers could barely break even. They don’t need this money. They don’t even use most of it. It’s nothing more than corporate greed. They’re cracking a billion dollars and they’re not even doing any work for it.”

“I’m not disagreeing,” he said after taking a drink of his wine. “But you realize you’re breaking the law, right?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “How else am I supposed to get justice? The IRS? The government? They don’t care. They let the rich stay rich and put it all on our shoulders. I’m just evening the playing field out a bit. If Damien hadn’t looked into things for taking the company public Harcourt never would’ve noticed that we were losing money in that way, and I’m still shocked exactly how he figured it out.”

A strange look crossed Seth’s face, as if he was wondering the same thing.Interesting.

“I help people who desperately need it. Most of their lives depend on that little bit of money,” I went on staunchly. “And these millionaires and billionaires don’t even notice or care. What’s wrong about that?”

Seth tapped his fingers against the table. This wasn’t the first time I’d noticed him doing this. It was almost like he was typing something out with his hand, like he imagined himself at a keyboard. I wondered what he was thinking.

“I agree with you,” he said at last. “And I’m not going to turn you into Harcourt or the law—for now. But Harcourt’s going to want something.”

“What do you want?” I asked desperately. “What would you do—forget Damien Harcourt. What wouldyoudo with me?”

Seth’s eyes darkened. “You don’t want to know what I would do to you.”

“I’m asking you, aren’t I?”

His leg pressed against mine again, and a feral-like smile curved his lips. “If it were just up to me? I’d take you home, and tie you up, and do whatever I wanted to you. I’d punish you that way. You’d belong to me, and that would be how you were punished.”

Oh God. Why did that sound so hot? “You want me that badly?”

Seth chuckled incredulously. “Ariana, I’ve wanted you since I saw you. But I don’t think you understand what I want in the way of sex. The way I want to dominate and control.”

“Well, maybe you don’t understand that I’d like to be controlled in the bedroom,” I snapped back, surprising myself with the secret admission.

Seth stared at me for a moment like he wasn’t sure what to make of me. Then he said, “How about this. I won’t turn you in…yet. I’ll figure out what I want to do with you. How I want to handle this, and also look a bit more into Harcourt and him taking the company public and see what he’s up to.But, in the meantime… in exchange for my silence, you’ll be mine. You’ll belong to me.”

My breath left my lungs. This was a huge ultimatum—and ironically, an unethical one—to give me. But it was this or be turned over to the police. I knew how that would go. Seth had me in between a rock and a hard place.

I should resent him for this. I should be horrified and angry. Instead I found myself shockingly… excited about the prospect of being Seth’s. Aroused, even.

I thought about his foot against the chair, and about how I had thought he might order me to grind on it, and how hot that had made me. I imagined being tied up, and being dominated by him, and there was no denying how much I wanted that, craved it, even.

When it came down to a choice of being arrested, or being Seth’s plaything for a while, it was a no-brainer.

“All right,” I agreed. “I’ll do it.”

Seth’s slow grin told me that I was really in for it now.

Chapter9

Seth

This was probably the worst thing I’d ever done.

I knew that I wasn’t really giving her much of a choice. Between sex with me and jail, what was the best option?

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