Page 82 of Take the Sub and Run

There was no point in continuing this conversation. She needed to have it with a licensed therapist.

Andrei backtracked. "We need a plan. You can't just go home.”

“Why not?”

“Fuck, Sofie!” The panic that was now at the top of his throat, almost gagging him, made Andrei explode up out of the chair. “You’re just going to go home and pretend none of this ever happened?”

“I won't pretend it never happened.”

“So what? So you wait and hope that someday your father gives you a hint as to where all your art is and then…”

“And then I call Colette and she helps me plan how I get in and steal it back.”

“Then what?”

“Then I have my art and I…I leave.”

“Are you sure about that?” he snarled, aware his words were cruel.

Sofie flinched, but then got to her feet, standing toe to toe with him.

“I don't want to talk about this anymore,” she insisted.

He needed to talk about this because the thought of letting her walk back in that house that wasn’t a home but a guided cage, was going to drive him insane.

“We are going to?—”

“No, Andrei. We aren’t.”

With a snarl of frustration, Andrei gripped her shoulders. Spinning her around, he forced her back step-by-step until he pressed her against the wall.

Sofie’s breaths were shallow and fast, making her breasts rise and fall.

Andrei leaned down until his lips were almost on hers. She inhaled his breath as he exhaled.

“Andrei.”

He closed his eyes, shoulder and arm muscles bunching as he fought for control.

“I've had very few choices in my life,” she said softly. “Never asked for what I wanted.”

“Angel…”

“But I want something.”

“What do you want?”

“And I want to make a choice. Right here and now.”

“What do you want and what do you choose?”

“I want to have sex, and I want it to be with you.”

That wasn't what he expected her to say. For a moment, he considered saying no, not satisfied with the conclusion of their conversation about what she was going to do next. How she was going to be safe.

But then she pushed away from the wall, her breasts brushing against his chest as her lips touched his, and nothing else mattered except now.

Except being with the woman he was worried he just might love.

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