Page 14 of The Rise of Saint (The Sins of Saint 1)

“I’m going to pretend that’s a trick question.” Sarcasm was the only weapon I had to hide my fear behind.

“It’s a long flight. I have something more comfortable for you to wear. I’ll just leave it outside the door.”

I straightened my legs out in front of me, staring at the black high heels on my feet. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

There was no answer, and I thought she had left. But then I heard her soft voice. “Because no matter the reasons for you being here, you didn’t ask for any of this.”

“Why is he doing this to me?”

“It’s just the way things are supposed to be.”

I glanced down at the floor next to me. “He’s going to hurt me…isn’t he?”

Silence followed, but she was still there. I could see her shadow from underneath the door.

But then her shadow disappeared, leaving without answering. She knew it as well as I did that Saint would hurt me, and I had every reason to fear him, to want to stay as far away from him as possible.

Pushing myself off the floor, I unlocked the door and found a pair of black tights and a white dress shirt neatly folded on the floor. The pile of simple clothing she left for me was probably worth more than my entire wardrobe back at the crummy apartment I shared with my roommate. I would have been more hopeful that I’d be missed if my roommate wasn’t tripping on cocaine half the time. My absence wasn’t something she’d notice. I wasn’t even sure she was aware of me living there half the time.

I sighed and picked up the clothes before closing the door. Just like the rest of Saint’s private jet, the bathroom was the epitome of perfect architecture and design. Brown marbled countertops complimented the tiled floors. The glass shower door was clear, and a large mirror covered the entire wall on the inside. Two gold rings caught my attention, and I stepped closer. It looked like towel rings, but what would towel rings do on the inside of the shower? I walked up to the glass door as the gold rings piqued my curiosity. Bolted to the wall, I couldn’t figure out its purpose.

I glanced around, looking for anything else that seemed out of place. But everything else seemed like normal bathroom fixtures.

The cabinet beneath the sink practically begged to be opened. I probably should have known better than to snoop around, but given the circumstances, I figured I couldn’t get into deeper shit than I already was.

I glanced at the bathroom door, knowing it wasn’t locked, but my curiosity got the better of me and I crouched in front of the cabinet. The round brass handle was smooth to the touch, the click of the clip causing me to swallow hard as I opened the cabinet door.

Inside were bottles of shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, and a vast range of aftershaves and shaving cream—all expensive brands, of course. Pursing my lips, I reached inside and moved the bottles around to see what else was in there. My fingers brushed against something rough, like rope, and I paused, looking in deeper. With reluctant fingers and a sudden surge of rattled nerves, I picked it up and held the black braided rope in my hand.

“What the hell?” I murmured and took another look inside the cabinet. In the back corner, I found a gold bottle, and when I picked it up, I read the front label. “Liquid gold. What the hell is liquid gold?”

“Has no one taught you not to snoop?”

My heart about jumped out of my throat, and I shot up, still clutching the rope in one hand but dropping the bottle. It rolled across the tiled floor until it came to a stop right in front of his expensive Italian leather shoes.

Saint’s brows slanted, and he crouched to pick it up, rubbing his thumb across the label before focusing his gaze on me. “Do you know what this is?”

I eyed him with caution. “Should I?”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

He took a calculated step forward, closing the distance between us. His presence made the large area around us seem so much smaller than before, and my heart was on the verge of exploding inside my chest. Saint held the bottle up, and the veins on his arms bulged with the strength that pulsed through his body. “It’s meant to make fucking so much more…pleasurable.”

The word rolled off his tongue like liquid seduction, twisted temptation dripping from his lips. I swallowed hard, taking a step back as he kept stalking closer, blue eyes holding me captive.

“Have you ever been fucked before, Mila?”

With another step, I felt the countertop bite into my back, and I grabbed hold of the edge. “That’s none of your business.”

His eyes flashed with something primal. Threatening. And I knew the hunt had just begun. “Answer my question.”

Deadly ripples lurked below the surface, and I wondered what kind of sick, twisted pleasures he was into—what kind of woman he preferred in his bed.

I lifted my chin to continue looking him in the eye as he towered over me. Crowding me. Stalking me. “I’ve had sex before.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

My breath hitched when he leaned in, placing his hands on the countertop behind me, cocooning me, trapping me between his arms with nothing but a breath of distance between us. “I asked have you beenfuckedbefore?”

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