Page 30 of Blood Lust

“He didn’t actually steal from you,” she feebly argued.

“Then where is my money?”

“I—well—He has an illness,” she stammered. “I believe he truly thought he was briefly borrowing the money and would be returning it immediately.”

“Borrowing without permission is stealing,passerotta” I clarified.

She startled at my statement.

“Why did you call me that?” Her lips parted, and she looked like she was about to cry.

I placed my weight on my elbows as I moved into her space over the bar top. With one hand, I reached up and gathered some of her dark hair between my fingers. I stared at it as I stroked my thumb down the silky strands. Then I gazed into her wide eyes. “Because while you seem small and fragile, you’re actually bold… and more than a little wild, if memory serves me correctly.”

She wet her lips and I wanted to taste them. Ravage them.

God, I wanted to wrap her hair around my fist as I drove my cock into the warm, wet, heat of her tight cunt. The one I remembered like it was yesterday.

“Do you expect me to sleep with you?” she asked with a light tremor to her tone. It was difficult to tell if it was from fear or desire, but if the darkening of her golden eyes was any indicator, I’d say it was the latter. Not that I thought she would admit that.

“You don’t need to sleep in my bed, no. But you are here to do whatever I want.” Slowly, I moved my hand to wrap it lightly around the front of her elegant throat and pulled her closer. Her pulse pounded wildly against my thumb and fingers, like the little sparrow I’d referred to her as. “For the next six months, you belong to me. Surely, you don’t have complaints about my performance. Would it be such a tragedy to have a repeat of that night… every night?”

“If you had met me again in a bar, or a coffee shop, or on the corner waiting for a cab, no. It wouldn’t. But I’m your prisoner.That changes everything,” she whispered, her heated breath washing over my mouth.

The temptation was too much. I leaned in and brushed my lips over hers. Using the tip of my tongue, I teased at the slight separation of her lush lips. She took a shuddering inhale and opened more. Using that unspoken invitation, I swept in and stroked against the side of her tongue, tracing the contours of her mouth, refamiliarizing myself with every detail.

When she gave an almost imperceptible whimper, I smiled as I continued to devour her. When I reluctantly ended the kiss, I glanced at her lust-filled gaze. “That tells me nothing has changed.”

Her nostrils flared and she glared. She tossed back the rest of her drink, then she coughed and wiped the back of her hand over her mouth as if she was trying to wash away my taste. Then she slammed the glass down and hopped off the stool.

“Go to hell,” she ground out and stormed off toward her room.

A wicked grin curved my kiss-swollen lips. “Oh, my sweetpasserotta,I’m the king of hell.”

As I repeated her actions, the taste of the whiskey mixed with the taste of her kiss.

And I began to plan my assault.

“Never Say Never”—The Fray

The next several days passed in a blur. I’d woken up the first morning and decided I should put my clothes away. When I’d opened the closet, I gasped. It was full of outfits for every occasion. Except when I checked the tags, even the casual ones were designer.

I’d been stunned.

Where the hell would I wear half of that? I was his prisoner. Maybe the best-dressed prisoner on the planet, but I was still trapped in a cage of my own making. Well, my father’s making and my agreeing.

Defiant, and a little curious, I did exactly what he told me not to. I went to the master wing. One door opened easily, and I saw the huge king-sized bed in the center of the pristinely kept room. There was nothing that seemed so out of the ordinary that he wouldn’t want me in there. Then again, it may be that he just wanted his privacy. Still, I went to the door across the hall, but it was locked.

Frowning, I rattled the knob again, but yep, it was locked. When I looked at the door more closely, I realized it initially looked like the rest of the doors in the penthouse, but it was metal. There seemed to be weatherstripping in the seal, and there was a seal at the bottom as well.

“What the fuck?” I went back down the hall and looked up and around. The only thing I could figure was it was an entry door to maybe another patio.

Huh. Weird.

When he hadn’t returned by the time I was ready for bed that first night, I left him a note on the table telling him I needed my computer and phone because I had work to do. I hadn’t seen him once since the first day. Late at night I would think I heard him moving around, then there were muffled noises that I couldn’t place, but there was no way I was leaving my room going in search of him.

When I woke up on the fifth morning, I was momentarily disoriented. Not that it was new, as each morning had been the same. The sinfully luxurious memory foam mattress was a far cry from my second-hand lumpy mattress in my apartment. I sure as hell wasn’t used to feeling like I was sleeping on a cloud. Glancing around, I saw the beautiful room done in red and black.

That’s when my reality came flooding back to me. I closed my eyes. Each night I prayed I would wake up and discover that ithad all been some crazy dream. Each morning, I woke to find I was still here.

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