Page 131 of A Dark Duet

She smiles and motions toward the pool. Jaden’s house looks like it is made entirely of glass. You can see everything from any point of the house except the bathrooms. When I look over at the pool, Jaden is under the waterfall coming from the second story. It is breathtaking in the light of day to see the water cascading into the pool with Jaden and his shirtless body under the water as it sluices down his chiseled back.

“Brie? Brie?” I turn my head to look at Clara. She gives me a knowing look and heat creeps up my cheeks as she catches me openly staring at Jaden. “I’m sorry, you were saying?” My cheeks must be beet red because she smiles warmly. She was calling my name, and I was too busy ogling Jaden in the pool.

“I was asking how you like your eggs, sweetheart?”

“Umm—scrambled. Please,” I tell her and I see the way she effortlessly moves around the kitchen. I am quick to notice that she does not cook here often because the pan and everything she opens is brand new like it was just purchased.

Looking back over to where Jaden is in the pool, looking hot in his long board shorts with a body like it has been carved out of granite. His tattoos accentuate his arms and chest on his tanned skin, making my legs squeeze with need. Last night, sex with Jaden was different. It was fear mixed with pleasure and it is an experience only Jaden can give me. He wants submission and control over my fears. It is something I agreed to give him last night. He wants control, and to be honest, it scares the shit out of me.

He looks over at me through the glass and gives me a wink catching me staring at him like a lovesick schoolgirl. My attraction to Jaden is strong and always will be but trusting him with all of me is something else entirely.

He appears from behind the glass by pushing it and it slides forward. His house is practically made of glass with minimal walls and furniture. You can see everything from almost every angle. It is a true work of art, like it was designed to hide nothing. It is all white, glass and marble with a touch of birchwood accents in the kitchen and pool area. The second floor has a waterfall that overflows into the pool, creating the sound of a waterfall that is calming.

“Did you sleep well?” he asks.

“I did.” My bottom teeth catch my lip at the mention of last night in the club as he blindfolded me and tied me up. “I need to head home and change. I’m afraid I don’t have any of my clothes.” I wave my hand down my body, wearing his T-shirt and boxers I found in his drawers.

Ever since I met Jaden at the Porcelain Dollhouse in South Dakota and we hit it off, we have always slept naked. This house has no privacy and I’m surprised Clara didn’t see me sleeping naked in the bed.

The smell of buttery scrambled eggs and buttered toast permeates the kitchen and the light sound of a plate hitting marble lifts my head toward Clara. Her expression is a look of surprise, and I realize it’s because of what I said. Her brow furrows and she looks at Jaden with confusion and then back to me.

“She hasn’t seen it. She doesn’t know,” he says to her. My brows pinch and I look from Clara to Jaden, wondering what they’re talking about. What don’t I know? What haven’t I seen?

“Eat and then I’ll show you,” he says before he turns toward the hallway to probably change out of his wet swim trunks. Clara mops the droplets of water on the marble floor.

I scramble to help her. “Oh. Let me help you with that,” I say, trying to dry the floor. She places her hand over mine on the steel mop handle.

Her eyes soften before she says, “Please, eat. He gave me strict instructions that you don’t have to lift a finger. He doesn’t want you to clean or trouble yourself. He wants you to feel welcomed and relaxed. He said you would be here from now on and I really need this job.”

My eyes soften, and I release my grip on the mop, knowing the feeling of needing work and then a feeling of warmth at her soft words. I give her a nod and she wastes no time cleaning up the water on the kitchen floor. Jaden wants me to feel welcomed and relaxed in his home? He wants me here, he made that clear last night.

After eating the most delicious breakfast and fussing with Clara, trying to wash my plate and tidying up the kitchen, she assures me that she can manage. She gives me a wink and tells me to go get changed.

Making my way through the glass hallway, my bare feet pad on the pristine white marble toward the master bedroom. When I reach the double doors, Jaden is already showered and dressed with black sweats hanging off his hips and a white tank top. He looks clean and deliciously hot. His gaze travels down my body dressed in his clothes.

“I love the way you look in my clothes, but I know you would rather change into your own clothes,” he calls me over to him with his finger and I take four steps forward. “I want to show you where your clothes are kept. I’m sorry I left you alone this morning, but Clara was here early to make you breakfast and I couldn’t risk putting on a show and her freaking out and leaving.”

The thought of Clara seeing Jaden and me having sex causes me to shiver in embarrassment. “I suppose that wouldn’t make her feel comfortable working here.”

He gives me a smirk. “I needed to cool off so I took a dip in the pool.” He slides his fingers through mine and tugs me toward a white wall and a frosted glass door with a flat silver knob. He pushes the flat knob and the door opens to a room that is supposed to be a closet. The lights along rows and rows of shelves and glass drawers turn on, giving every piece of clothing, pair of shoes, and item a glow like it was in an art gallery.

“Wow. This is your closet?”

He nods and walks forward into the room and then to another frosted glass wall. He presses a button and the tinted frost on the glass disappears to reveal a clear glass wall that houses a closet fit for a celebrity. Rows and rows of designer purses, shoes, and clothing is highlighted by bright lights. Some of the items catch my attention because some of them are the same ones I left behind three years ago. The Chanel outfits with the matching handbag and shoes I wore to a dinner the first night Giselle and I went out with them. The Balenciaga knife boots he gifted me when I mentioned them to Giselle jokingly because of the ridiculous price tag one day when a magazine came in the mail at the gym.

“I moved all your stuff here you left behind because I knew I had made a mistake in having you live at the apartment when you should have been living with me. I know you can tell I bought you more items. Everything else besides the items that were in the apartment when we were together is brand new. I had the boutiques ship me the latest trends and Clara organized them. I hope you like them.”

My eyes go wide, and I don’t know what to say or how to react. Jaden has always been a flashy guy because he said he worked hard and wanted to have everything he never had or always wanted.

“You didn’t have—”

He interrupts me and pushes the glass door open. “I did, and I wanted you to have a dream closet like a Barbie. I know it sounds corny but you remind me of a beautiful Barbie.”

I give him a grin. “Barbie?”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “Yeah, like a platinum-haired Barbie. I’m glad you like white though, I don’t think I could deal with pink everywhere.”

I swallow a lump in my throat because when I was little, I never had a Barbie to play with, so I imagined I was her with a dream closet and the jeep. I loved the Barbie jeep but knew I would never have one, ever. It may be silly or trivial, but I never had a birthday party or Christmas. Hell, I never had a Christmas tree. I was lucky I had water to take a shower and clothes that were from donations people would leave outside the doorstep of the trailer.

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