Page 24 of Power
“Don’t be afraid, Alice,” he purrs. “I won’t hurt you.”
“I—I know.”
“Do you?”
I nod, and he copies my movement.
“Why do you call me Alice?” I blurt out suddenly as the tension rachets up more than a notch.
He chuckles softly. It’s barely audible over my pounding heart. “You will find out soon enough. For now, I just want to look at you.”
I blink.
His intense gaze is freaking me out.
He steps back, his hand hooked around my bag strap. He pulls it down and lets it drop on the floor. I remain frozen in place when he reaches out to push my jacket over my shoulders and down my arms, his light touch barely trailing down my bare arms.
I shiver, but I find it’s not out of fear. Well, mostly not. I should stop him. I have my limits on where Iwillstop him, definitely preparing my lungs to scream like a banshee if he tries to strip me naked. The jacket makes a soft noise as it hits the floor at my feet.
“So beautiful,” he murmurs, sliding his fingers back up my arms.
He surprises me by dropping to his knees in front of me. I gulp when he grasps my ankle, lifting my foot off the ground. I cringe when he removes my shoe. The very shoe that my sweaty foot has been sitting in for the past half a day. If it stinks, he doesn’t comment, he just places the shoe next to him and replaces my foot on the floor. Then he removes the other one with the same precision as the first. He rises again and peers down at me, vastly shorter than I was before.
“Better,” he murmurs, reaching out to trace my jawline with the back of his finger. “I want to sketch you, Alice.”
I gulp. “You draw?”
“Mm.” His fingers go down the side of my neck. I turn my head away, my breath catching when he hooks his finger into the collar of my blouse. His finger slowly slides down to the top button. He flicks it undone with his thumb and forefinger, spreading the material so he can gaze at my cleavage.
“Stop,” I murmur.
“You don’t want me to look at you?”
I force myself to meet his hazel-eyed gaze and nearly swoon. They have changed color from what they were only a moment ago. They are the palest of green. How does that work? It’s sexy, and I lose focus for a moment.
“How much more do you want to look at?” I mumble.
“All of you.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“No.”
He says it as if he is unfamiliar with the word.
That’s when panic sets in.
I’m at his mercy now. He can do whatever he likes, and my screaming won’t stop him. If anything, I feel it might encourage him.
I clamp my lips together, forcing myself to hold his steady gaze.
“You do not have to fear me, Alice,” he murmurs close to my ear. “I am incapable of what your fear is now.”
“Wh-what does that mean?” I ask, intrigued despite myself.
“You fear I’m going to take your body without your consent.Mybody doesn’t work that way. You needmyconsent. Do you understand now that I won’t hurt you?”
My lips part as I nearly drown in his eyes. His words, while not exactly reassuring, at the same time, are. I know in my soul that he means them with every cell he has in his body. He finds touching, intimacy,sexas unarousing as most would feel the opposite.
