Page 73 of A Dark Duet

“Okay. Let’s hear it.”

He chuckles at my flat tone, holding the folder in his lap while he removes his gold cuff links from his pristine white dress shirt, rolling them up over his strong tattooed forearms like he’s getting ready to wash dishes and doesn’t want to get his sleeves wet.

Once he is done, he relaxes his posture by widening his legs on the chaise facing me. “Open your robe. I want to see your breasts.” My nostrils flare but I try to mask my annoyance. I swallow thickly because I’m not sure if he is trying to fluster me or wants to remind me that I’m here to pleasure him.

“Okay,” I say flatly, giving him a cold empty stare, opening the sash on my robe and letting it fall open. My head tilts to the side, challenging him.

“Much better. I find you stunning, and I might as well have a great view while we discuss the proposition I have for you. I’ll have you know that I am a very generous man. I will not bore you further. So, I’ll begin. My name is Ethan Carter and when you search my name, you will find that I’m indeed a billionaire owning several conglomerates. I have fathered no children, though the media has tried to look for cracks in my reputation and so do all the women trying to worm their way into my good graces. Your name is Briana Jameson. Born in South Dakota to a drug-addicted mother currently incarcerated.”

Bastard. I squirm in my seat, giving him a cold, hard stare of pure loathing. Rich prick has no right to look into my personal life or my past. He gives me a triumphant smirk.

My eyes widen. “Fuck you,” I say, seething, my breaths coming in and out faster than before.

“I would, but you see, I am still in love with my dead wife, and I think I always will be. She died seven years ago, and I can’t move on. The pussy my cock wants to devour is inside a coffin six feet under this earth. I know these things because I’m in business with the same organization your ex-boyfriend does business with.”

“What does any of that have to do with you and what you want?” I know he is referring to Jaden and his dealings with the Mafia. I don’t know specifics because he is very private but I’m not stupid. It was how effortlessly they handled the Jack situation.

His eyes turn black as night, and I swear they are soulless. Dark like my soul. He licks his lips and his gaze travels slowly over my exposed breasts until it reaches my eyes.

“You’re the first woman that has been able to give me pleasure. I’m not interested in vaginal penetration except with my tongue. I’m interested in other ways you could appease my manly needs. It would only be for a month. I know you are completing a program as a physical therapist, and I will pay the entire cost of your education. I also will purchase a generous mode of transportation. I know you love your motorcycle and the fact that it is a death trap. You are no use for me if you are lying dead on the pavement.”

My eyes widen because he knows a lot about me. Too much for comfort but I remember that Equinox is full of members with money and some of those men are with the Mafia. My hands begin to shake and he sees my nervousness and his face hardens in anger. I flinch instinctively.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Briana. I researched everything there is to know about you because I would like for you to come into an agreement with me. If you are not comfortable with the arrangement, I will still pay for your time. If you are interested in my offer, clothes will be delivered before your session here and it’s for my enjoyment.”

Averting my gaze, I stare at the wall, realizing what he is asking. He wants me to agree to be his toy. “You want me to be your toy,” I snap.

He grins. “Something like that. No emotion.” He sits up and leans his forearms on his knees and I glance at his face, noticing for the first time the smoothness of his skin. His straight nose and dark lashes that frame his dark eyes the color of midnight.

“My guess is that is how you feel these days. Dark, broken, and alone with no room for emotion. See, we share something in common. It’s there because I saw it today and the last time you were in my lap. You also weren’t aroused while you rubbed your covered pussy over my cock. Not a flicker of emotion. It feeds me, and I want to feast on it. It’s like playing in the dark without seeing who is really there.”

“You are sick,” I snap.

“So are you.”

“I’m not sick because I don’t use people, nor do I dig up dirt from their past and use it as a way to break them down. To get them to agree to my sick fantasies.”

“Maybe. But here is the thing. I’m going to get you for a month, and you are going to get something you don’t have.”

“Yeah, what is that?”

His eyes glitter in the dim light, black and sinister as he leans back in the chaise once again.

“Power. Everywhere you go, you will be known as the woman who did the unthinkable. You have gotten the attention of the infamous Ethan Carter. The billionaire that has not been seen with a woman since his wife’s untimely death. You will also understand what it is to have a man treat you like a beautiful woman should be treated. Not just sexually but in the real sense. A glimpse. Not like Jaden Cyprus. I’m sure he didn’t treat you all that well. Maybe sexually but we both know he does that with all his ring bunnies. Especially since you ended up here. Back to where you started after high school before you two met.”

The knife he is twisting inside my chest at the mention of Jaden and how things ended gives me the determination to accept this man’s proposal.

The way he pointed out how Jaden was quick to get rid of me and replace me. He didn’t stop me that day, he let me go, making me realize my love for him is unrequited but that was then, and love isn’t a factor in my life. Not anymore. All that is left is a shattered heart and a broken soul living in a dark abyss. My goal is within reach.

What do I have to lose that hasn’t already been lost? There are certain things I will not do, and I will make sure these things are clear to Ethan Carter.

I cross my legs, exposing my fishnet-clad thigh. He watches my movements intently while adjusting his cock through his pants.

Rolling my eyes, letting him finish adjusting himself, I tell him, “There will be certain things I will not do or allow you to do.”

“Fair enough. Name them.”

“No hitting, slapping, or third parties. Your dick will not go inside me, no blindfolds, bondage, anal, or gags.”

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