Page 21 of The Thorn's Kiss

She holds her hands out. “Okay, I’ll do all of it. Tend to the bedding, the drapes, and the floors. I can cook too if you want me to. Oh, thank you, Mr. Molotov, for providing us with this choice. My father will be so happy to know I’ve lightened his burdens. I’ll be the best housekeeper I can be. I’ve scrubbed a few houses in my time. You won’t believe all the places I’ve…”

I raise my voice above hers. “I do quite like the idea of you on your knees, but you see, Olivia, I don’t need another housekeeper.”

“Oh,” she says, looking down at her hands. “Well, I can tend to your horses if you like. They respond well to me.”

Laughing at her naivete, I walk into her personal space once again. “I don’t need another stable hand.”

She shudders. “Then what kind of job would you have me do?” She swallows and tries to avoid looking at my lips as she licks hers.

I grab hold of her hair. Something I’ve been wanting to do since I stepped in here. Tugging on the back of it, I expose her neck to me, burying my nose there. I pull my nose from her neck to her hair, and she shivers, grabbing hold of my coat as she loses her balance. “Those scents smell divine on you,” I whisper before brushing my lips against the edge of her ear.

I hear the shakiness of her breath, though she doesn’t speak. “Tell me, Olivia, why haven’t you given your virginity away yet?”

“N-no particular reason,” she whispers hoarsely. Her gentle breath stirs the hair on my neck.

“Has no man ever thrown themselves at your feet?” I ask.

She moans and gulps. “I’ve never been interested in them.”

Pulling myself away from her, I study her, shaking my head. “How old are you?” I ask.

“Twenty-two,” she admits.

I smile. “You intrigue me, Olivia. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you. Allow me the honour of awakening the whore in you.” I lower my brows.

She pulls away. “What?”

“I’m sorry. Was that too harsh?” I ask with a chuckle at the disgust on her face. “Pardon me. Let me adjust my words. For the next thirty days, you’ll be hired as my entertainment.”

“I-I don’t understand,” she mutters, and I groan.

“How naïve can one woman be?” I ask, before grabbing a fistful of her hair again and pressing my lips against hers. Roughly at first. But I’ve never kissed lips so soft and full. It’s like kissing a cloud, and I can hardly get enough. Groaning against her lips, I move slowly, trying to savour the sensation, but the more of it I get, the more I feel as if I might lose my mind. I can’t lose control here. She can’t wield any sort of power. So as agonizing as it is, I pull my lips away from hers, feeling a part of me break as the sound of our lips detaching shoots straight to my groin.

Clearing my throat, I straighten. “There. Do you understand your role now?” I ask. “I have a feeling you’ll keep me entertained for quite some time.” Peeking into the neck of her nightdress, I catch a glance of her full, soft cleavage, and I must pull myself away.

Sex is about dominance. It’s about ensuring my own pleasure while reminding the whore of my choosing who’s in control. Women must never have the power to play me like an idiot again. I’ll never fall victim to their traps. If I’m not in control, I refuse to have sex. So, as much as my ball and hammer tightens for her, shooting monstrous pain through me, begging for release, I won’t give in. Not until I regain control of myself.

Releasing her, I rush through the doors, slamming them behind me. My blood moves so fast through me, it’s as if my body might just lift off the ground and fly away. Swallowing, I open the door to my chambers, right across the hall from her. Panting with my back up against the closed door, feeling her warmth and curves still pressed up against me, I reach into my pants and squeeze, hard, before tugging in swift, repetitive movements until I’m grunting and losing vision. My chest is about to explode, and I barrel over as waves crash through my abdomen, causing me to cry out as ejaculate shoots off into my carpet. I come alive, touching my dampened chest, and needing more.

Chapter Nine

Olivia

Isitsafeformy heart to race so hard?

That rogue. That horrid, contemptible swine. I should be furious at him for dishonouring my body and leaving his breath on my skin. I should be repulsed by the man who hurt my father over measly blunt.

And I am. I want to rip him apart, and I curse the day I was born female, wishing my hormones would measure up to his, so he could feel my rage as much as he can see it. But I also feel something else. It’s foreign to me, and my hand surrenders to the feeling, needing more as I move my fingers across my neck where his beard scratched my skin, already tender from the bath. Never touching myself before, I startle at the tenderness in my breasts and the hardness of my nipples. They spasm. The simple act of stroking my own breasts commands a wave in my belly that’s all so new and exciting.

Oh, what am I doing?! I gasp, dropping my hands and smoothing out my dress. He has defiled me. He might as well have stripped me naked and sexed me on the bed. I bring my fingers to my lips, stroking it softly. Dear, goodness. My face tenses, and my brows wrinkle. Something twitches between my legs at the thought. Would I have wanted that?

Of course not. He’s a rake. That’s all. He uses his sexual power to do something to women’s minds. I don’t know what that is, but it won’t work on me. That bastard won’t have me. He’ll have to find other arrangements for entertainment. I groan, flopping back on the bed. I don’t have that luxury. I’m at his mercy. He owns me, and I loathe him for it.

My eyes drift toward the wall where he had me pressed up against it. My breasts hurt being squished up against the hard surface, but it’s a sweet pain. Unconsciously, my hand falls to my breasts again as I recall the moment I felt a breeze on my backside. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen. My mind told me to scream at him, but my body, oh my body, it begged for him to touch it. Dragging on my nightdress, I pull it up over my thighs just as he did, letting my nails scratch against my tender skin.

I wonder what it would feel like to be touched down there, and I take a deep breath in. Closing my eyes, I lower my hand.

Knock knock

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