“When?” I breathe.

“Tomorrow.”

“What do you mean you’re leaving tomorrow?” I blink at her. “Where are you going?”

“Um, abroad. It’s for my student exchange program.”

I furrow my brow. Aurora leaving far away from me should make me happy. It’s the best way to end this nonsense that turned me into someone I’m not and that has me wanting things I shouldn’t want.

But I’m not happy. I’m only a step away from kidnapping her because I don’t want her to leave. If she leaves, it’ll be all over between us, and I don’t want that.

I study her face. The corners of her lips are twisted up, but her eyes are full of sadness and anxiety.

“You don’t look happy about it,” I say.

People are usually excited to go and it’s all they talk about—or at least the son of one of my guards couldn’t shut up about it—but Aurora has only mentioned it now.

“I am. It’s what I want, but we won’t see each other, so...” She shrugs.

“Is your friend going with you?” The thought of Aurora alone somewhere is unbearable.

Who’s going to keep her safe?

“Um, yeah.”

“Where are you going?”

“L... London,” she stammers.

Is she lying to me? Is she scared of whatever the hell is happening between us? Maybe it’s all too fast, too hard for her too, so now she’s looking for an excuse to get away from me.

Or is she worried about the person who hit her? If it’s a jealous ex who’d lose his mind if he saw her with me, then maybe she wants to put some distance between us, even if she doesn’t really want to do it.

“I should go.” She gets to her feet. “I have to pack and prepare, and my friend is waiting for me at the club, so...”

“Okay, we’ll go back to the club, but before you leave, I’d like to show you something.”

“Sure.”

She’s not going to forget this night. Ever. I’ll make sure of it. My cock is already hard just thinking about it.

And then I’ll let her go.

But I’m going to find out everything about her too.

CHAPTER15

Aurora

I should’ve refusedto stay a little bit longer with Luca. I should’ve gone home. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Now I’m strapped facedown to what Luca calls a spanking bench. I’m only wearing my panties. My arms and legs are tied to the bench. My hips are propped up, my legs spread.

Luca can do whatever he wants to me, and I love it. I trust him. I know he’s not going to hurt me, and I wish so, so much that things were different.

Maybe it’s crazy, but I can picture myself with him as my boyfriend. I can see us moving in together. Living together. Enjoying every moment of it. Maybe we could even travel. See the world. I wouldn’t have to be afraid of anything.

A moan tears its way out of my throat as Luca’s palm connects with my ass. I wiggle my hips, not even a little bit ashamed to show him just how much I like what he’s doing to me.