Page 60 of Jagged Line Paradise

“Are you a fucking prostitute?”

Her forehead creases. “I hate that word. Don’t call me that.”

“What else would you call it?”

“I don’t call it anything. I do it when I need cash, or I need…”

“When you need what?”

“Nothing.”

“Fuck nothing. Finish the sentence.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

Her olive eyes keep moving down and up, drawing a line from my eyes to my lips. Her tongue darts out to slip over her bottom lip and she lets her head fall back against the wall with a thump.

What isgoing on with her?

“I don’t owe you any explanations,” she says. “I don’t owe you any justification for why I do what I do. If you thinkthat’s what you’re getting from me tonight, you’re wrong.”

I pinch the sides of her throat, widening my stance to make myself level with her eyes. “Then tell me, what did my money just buy from you exactly?”

“It certainly didn’t buy you time to emotionally terrorize me.”

I snort. “Emotionally terrorize you? What the hell does that even mean?”

Her eyes shift away from my face, looking off toward the living room beyond us. “Please don’t ruin my night, Andrés.” Her tone is even, smooth, insistent.

“Isavedyour night, sunshine. You should be thanking me that you don’t have to spread your legs for three strangers tonight.”

Her head snaps back to look at me and there’s fire burning there. “Iwantedto spread my legs tonight. Iwantedto be fucked, over and over again.”

My jaw ticks.

The way she says the wordfuckedmakes my balls tighten. I don’t know what I thought she would be like as an adult, but I certainly didn’t peg her for being a woman who enjoyed paid sex with strangers.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I ask her, furious at the way she puts herself at risk, but growing harder by the second.

Her face scrunches. “There’s nothingwrongwith me.”

Words fade into non-existence as she sinks into heavy breaths, her body subtly wiggling against mine. I step closer, pressing my cock against her belly, which earns me a breathy whimper.

Shit, I wantto fuck her against this wall.

Maybe she is a little fucked-up, but I guess I am, too.

I lean forward slowly, pushing her hair back and brushing my lips over the shell of her ear. “There’s something wrong with the both of us.” I earn a gasp before I pull away sharply. “Go put your clothes on. We’re leaving.”

She blinks at me, still slumped against the wall. Her cheeks are flushed pink and her lips are parted, her eyes heavy with desire as she watches me. She looks scared, confused, walled-off, and wanting all at once. I know I took something from her tonight, and though I don’t understand what that something is, I’m instantly eager to give it back. I don’t want her to need for anything. I want to give her everything, and I’ve never felt that way about anyone but her.

“I’ll give you whatever you need tonight, Avalon.Anything.Just please, go put your clothes on and leave with me. You’re getting all the cash you need. There’s no reason for us to stay here.”

“Mack won’t let us leave.”

“What do you mean he won’t let us leave?”

---