Page 26 of Captive Vows
And when I realized we’d entered a routine, I grew irritated with this sameness. The lack of change. The challenge she presented was still there, but this waiting game, this distance, was stagnant.
That night, I entered her room before dinner.
She blinked, sitting upright from a nap. “What— Why…” She cleared her throat. “What’s going on?”
“Dinner.” I extended my hand toward her.
She frowned.
“Get up.”
She slowly swung her legs over the bed but didn’t fully put her feet on the floor. “I’m not hungry.”
“Too bad.” I thrust my hand out more.
“I don’t want dinner.”
“Do you think you’re privileged enough to get what you want here?”
She stood, getting in my space and glowering. “You’re an asshole.”
“I’m your owner. I’m the Boss.” I snatched her hand and tugged her out of the room with me. With every step I took, I seriously wondered if she’d attack me. And if she did, how far I’d take it to remind her who was in charge. “If I say you’re accompanying me to dinner, you are.”
“Why?”
I pushed her against the wall near the door to her room. Once those dark eyes locked on me, I leaned in closer. “Because you are mine to do with as I please.”
She licked her lips and glared at me. Only because she was so young, I doubted that she realized what a fucking tease she was, wetting those plump lips like that. “And dragging me to sit through dinner pleases you?”
“Maybe.”
When she rolled her eyes and shifted to get free, I put my hand back on her hip and yanked her in front of me. “From now on, I expect you to be near me.”
“Why?”
“Don’t question me,” I warned. I took her hand again and led her out of the room. Merely feeling her soft, warm skin against mine was a thrill. Handling her at all was a challenge to beat. I had no doubt she’d slip away the first second she could.
“Why?” She persisted, asking again in the hallway as she tugged to wrench her hand free.
“Just because.”
She growled, and I almost smiled.
“That’s not a reason.”
“I don’t owe you a reason.” I glanced at her, wondering why a defiant pout was suddenly so sexy from her. “But if you want one, consider this. You will accompany me to every meal?—”
“Everymeal!”
“—for no other reason than to remind you that I own you.”
10
GABRIELLA
Iset my water glass down and exhaled through my nose. Three days now, I’d been dragged out of my room for meals. For three mornings, afternoons, and evenings, I’d been “released” from my room to sit through a meal with Luka.
Luka Dubinin.
