Page 14 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

A question I couldn’t answer. I shook my head. The beautiful monster above me smirked.

“Please stop or perhaps… please don’t stop?”

The answer to that question was so complicated, it made my head hurt. Yes, I did want him to stop, but no, my body didn’t want him to stop. My body was a fucking traitor. It was time to get a grip and pull this right back.

“Please get off me. I won’t fight you.”

He cocked his head to the side.

“No? I don’t trust you, Daniels.”

“Seriously, you’ve made your point. Do I look like I’m in a position to argue with you further?”

His eyes roamed down my chest.

“Well, no. In fact, you’re rather compromised right now, aren’t you?”

I wanted to glare at him but I didn’t think it would help my case.

“Just a little.”

He shifted back, sitting up on my legs. I could finally breathe again. The tension between us slowly dissipated.

His hands found the top button of my jeans.

“What are you doing?”

“You might have given in for now, but you’ve still disobeyed me more than once.”

For now.

So he knew I was only giving in now because I had no other choice. I didn’t stop him tugging off my jeans. He had to unlock the cuff so he could remove them completely.

His eyes fell on me lying there with my hands behind my back in my underwear. It was uncomfortable and cold now he’d got off me. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how embarrassed I was being so exposed in front of him.

He didn’t say a word for a long time. The two of us stared at each other. The muscles under his shirt rippled as he shifted on his feet. Did he always wear a shirt? It seemed so at odds with his nature. Almost as if he was hiding behind a façade of civility.

I knew he had tattoos on his chest because I’d seen one under his collar. Curiosity pricked at me. How far did they extend and where else were they lurking?

“I didn’t come in here to fight with you,” he said.

“Why did you?”

“Mostly to make sure you hadn’t done anything stupid like hurt yourself again.”

I wanted to say, ‘thanks for the vote of confidence’, but instead I settled for rolling my eyes. Hurting myself wouldn’t help me get through this ordeal with him.

“Mostly?”

“You are alone in here with nothing but your own thoughts. It can do things to a person.”

“I’m fine.”

Liar.

I wasn’t fine at all. My entire world had changed in the space of a day. I had no idea what was up or down any more. Nothing made sense. Nothing seemed real. I knew it was because my imagination wouldn’t dream up something as twisted as this.

“If you say so.”

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