Page 31 of Burning Beauty

"I don't want any other beautiful woman, I want you," he admitted, bringing his hand up to her face and running his knuckles down the soft resilient skin. "From the moment I saw your photograph I knew you would become mine. Meeting you has only deepened this desire."

She swallowed and asked the question that had been bothering her. "Will you.... will you let me go when you're done with me?"

He frowned fiercely and the hand at the back of her neck tightened in her hair. "No, I won't let you go."

"But why?" she asked, a plea in her voice. "What if I'm good, what if I give you everything you want? Why not let me go when we're finished?"

"Because we won't be finished." His voice came out as more of a snarl, which took her by surprise. He was always so calm, cool and collected. But something about her seemed to shake him, especially when she spoke of leaving.

"How do you know?" she asked hesitantly.

He stared at her for a long time, until she thought he wouldn't answer. Then he released her and stepped back. "No woman has intrigued me the way you have. This... attraction has only strengthened, not waned. You will remain with me until I figure out why I'm feeling this way."

She was shocked at how forthcoming her captor was being. Up until now, he hadn’t explained himself to anyone, not even Cassandra. Yet he was telling Maria how he felt, he was admitting to being confused by his feelings for her. Part of her was elated, but the logical part of her knew she needed to find a way out of this situation, whether she did that through begging and cajoling, or good old fashioned escapery.

"You say it yourself, Nic. You'll find out why you're feeling this obsession, and then we can deal with it. You can let me go."

"I don't think so," he countered grimly. "Obsessions usually grow over time, they do not go away."

Maria's heart sank. He wasn't wrong. She'd dealt with obsession before. Marc had been obsessed with money, power, position and having a beautiful obedient wife. That obsession had led to his death. Now this obsession Nic felt for her could too easily lead to her death.

"Can I go?" she asked quietly, assuming he was done with her since he wasn't making any more moves to grab her.

"In a few minutes, we need to discuss the house rules first." He stepped to the side and waved her toward the guest chair. She gritted her teeth and slid off the desk.

When she was seated comfortably again, her wrap firmly tied back around her, he spoke. "You will not leave the grounds without permission and an escort. You will not approach the wall for any reason, you will not engage with the guards or the dogs."

"You already told me that," she muttered.

He continued as though she hadn't spoken. "You will join me for dinner every evening at 6pm, you will not be late. You will make yourself available to me every evening though I will not require your presence every night. You will be free to do whatever you like the rest of the time as long as you stay away from my men, the wall and stick to the main parts of the house. You have access to the library, entertainment rooms and sitting rooms. You may not venture into any of the outbuildings."

"Is that where you kill people?" she asked sarcastically. He didn't answer, just gave her the dead-eyed stare that terrified her so much. "Oh my god, you do kill people on the property, don't you?"

Again, he ignored her. "You will stay away from the beach unless you have a bodyguard. You will not enter the water for any reason."

"Why?" she demanded, unwilling to just blindly follow his rules.

He didn't answer, but said, "That is all for now. Tomorrow you will be given a credit card. You may make whatever online purchases you wish. If you need any help, ask Cassandra."

"That's another thing," Maria said, her voice rising with accusation. "You plan on keeping your mistress under the same roof as your wife and you call me crass? That's a fuck boy move, buddy."

Nic grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her chair. He hauled her to the door and opened it.

"Ouch!" she snapped, rubbing her arm when he let go.

"Do not call me either fuck boy or buddy again," he said distastefully and then slammed the door in her face.

Chapter Seventeen

Maria chose to avoid everyone as much as she could for the rest of the day. She had no desire to run into Nic or any of his men and she wasn't prepared for the mental gymnastics involved in hanging out with Cassandra. The other woman wanted to be pals with Maria, but Maria just wanted out of this whole situation. She didn't want to make friends. She didn't want to get comfortable. She just wanted out.

With that thought in mind, she spent the next few hours scouring the house, getting an understanding of the layout and taking note of all exits. She studiously avoided any areas with people in them. She wandered outside too but didn't go far. Nic had told her to stay away from the wall, the gate and the guards, which wasn't easy when all three things she was supposed to avoid were on the grounds.

She wandered toward the beach and stood for a moment watching the ocean. It was at this point that she realized she had a shadow. The wide-open space between the house and the beach made it impossible for him to stay concealed. She turned around and stared at him with her arms crossed over her chest. He stared back through aviator style sunglasses. She badly wanted to go and confront her babysitter, find out who he was and exactly what his job entailed, but she also couldn't shake Nic's words. He didn't want her fraternizing with his men. Normally she'd ignore the rules and do what she damn well wanted, but she was too much under Nic's power to blatantly disregard his rules. At least for now.

Maria turned her back on the guard and watched the ocean, soaking in the intense beauty of crashing waves, beach and huge stretches of sky with fuzzy floating clouds. She had to admit, Nic had great taste in homes. The mansion itself was stunning, but the grounds and the beach were her favourite part. She spent the better part of the afternoon hanging out on the beach, her new shadow about twenty feet behind her.

At 5pm she picked up her beach bag, packed up her towel and returned to the house, determined to be showered and ready for supper on time. Maybe if she played ball with Nic, she would be able to lull him into a sense of security making escape easier.

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