Page 46 of Degrading Her

I shook my head. “Sawyer.”

“You need it for school, yes?” He grabbed my hands, forcing me to hold the box. “If you win the game, you can give it back. But if I win,” he cocked a brow, “then you have to use it for the entire year you work for me. You’ll have to work for it.”

Seconds passed, the universe was crushing us closer together. Every time I objected, every hopelessly lustful reaction—it was like he knew me. And I didn’t understand why.

“Are you coming to dinner tonight?” he asked, breaking into my thoughts.

“Dinner?”

My lips parted, and a smirk traveled over his lips. “I told you, plaything,” he said in a low voice, “As much as I want to devour you, we’re not doing that right now.” My shoulders sank, and he laughed. “Such disappointment.”

“Well…” Skipping underwear had made me more sensitive than I had ever been before, but I didn’t admit that out loud.

“Dinner?” he asked again.

“I have class,” I said reluctantly.

“I’m actually impressed that you’re in school,” he said. My heart fluttered. “Despite a full-time job and a hard-ass boss.”

“You meanassholeboss,” I said.And an infatuation with that asshole boss.

“Don’t tempt me, plaything,” he winked. “I’m eager to show you what an asshole I can be. But this is your place, for now.” He pushed his chair back. “When it’s mine, I’ll take you wherever I want.”

My stomach twisted at those words. So help me, Iwantedto know what he meant. Wanted him to say ‘screw it’ and take me right there. Everything inside of me craved his control, and yet he didn’t move.

Then the realization flashed through my mind: he wanted to make me beg. To say those two words.

Please, Sawyer.

And then he would give me what I wanted.

It was getting harder to resist.

“I’ve got to get going,” he said. I let out a breath, somewhat relieved, and a little discouraged. But his expression wasn’t arrogant for once; it was something else. Like he was seeing me for the first time.

Maybe he wasn’t touching me because he respected me.

Maybe he wasn’t as conceited as I had originally thought.

He put a finger under my chin. A wave of shock radiated through my body. How did he have so much power in one touch?

“Your sister has been bugging my brother to arrange a family night out,” he said. “So the next time you have a night off, we’ll meet in Pierce.”

“You’re not asking me; you’re telling me,” I tried, even though I secretly liked that he was demanding me, like he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, because he wanted me that much.

“You don’t want to go?” he joked. “Even when I ask, I always get what I want.”

His mahogany scent consumed me. I wished he would press his lips to mine, swallowing me down into his depths. “Then ask me,” I breathed.

“Please, Fiona,” he chuckled, “Let me take you to dinner with our families.”

I smiled, satisfied with this small win, but the expression quickly dropped. What would I do when Maisie was around? Did she know I had been seeing Sawyer?

WasI seeing Sawyer? Or was this another game?

“All right,” I said, unsure of what else to say.

He walked me out to my car, then watched as I drove away. At the apartment complex, the gate was broken, and consequently, permanently opened, so I entered without using the remote. The gate was mostly for show, anyway. It was an element to make older apartment complexes more attractive.

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