Page 29 of The Cost of Corruption

No wonder I’d ended up so screwed up.

“I don’t want to be obsessed with you,” I admitted. “I never wanted to be.”

My face drifted down in shame, but Matteo crooked his finger under my chin and lifted it up again. It seemed no matter how scandalous my confession, he was going to force me to look him in the eye while I said it.

“Why not?” he demanded.

I considered another lie for a second but quickly dismissed the idea.

It wouldn’t do any good. It was as if Matteo already knew the answer and was just waiting to hear me say it. Anything less than the truth would only prolong this embarrassing conversation.

“Because I didn’t just think about you during the night, Matteo.” I had to force the words out. There was no way that kind of humiliating revelation was coming out on its own. “I acted on those thoughts.”

His chest expanded even wider with another breath. His eyes narrowed just a touch, and the heated expression inside them grew more intense.

“What did you do?”

“I…I…”

“Tell me, Chastity,” he commanded, his patience finally running short. “Tell me the truth, and I promise I’ll kiss you so damn hard you’ll forget your own name.”

Maybe it was obsession because a promise like that was irresistible.

“I’d touch myself.”

His gaze practically caught fire. His nostrils flared as he drew in a sharp breath.

“Between your legs?”

I nodded, too ashamed to admit it out loud again.

“And you’d think of me while you touched yourself?” Even his voice was tight.

I nodded, too ashamed to speak.

But he wasn’t.

“Show me,” he said, stepping back from the edge of the bed.

My eyes went wide. “What?”

“Take off your clothes, and show me how you touched yourself.” He moved across the room and settled into a chair against the wall.

“I can’t do that.”

“You can.” His shoulders stretched wide as he leaned back against the leather upholstery. “And youwill.”

What was it about his voice that held me rapt? That commanding tone was impossible to defy.

Still, I had to try.

“But it’s not right,” I argued. “No one is supposed to see that.”

“No one but me,” he said before tilting his head back and resting it against the chair’s high back. “Trust me, in two weeks, this will seem tame.”

Really? That was hard to believe.

Alone in my bed, touching myself had seemed like the worst sin imaginable. Something that I’d never be forgiven for, no matter how hard I prayed.

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