Page 23 of Captured Desire

That seemed unfair and it made me afraid of men for a while after that. It frightened me that my future was so fragile and so easily lost.

And it took me years to consider that perhaps, it wasn’t true.

Perhaps I could have my own opinions about my body.

My eyes were wet. I ran the heels of my palms over them and pushed back my thoughts. I’d spent a long time trying to unlearn the things my parents had taught me about my body. But they were so deeply ingrained in my brain that he’d triggered me just by talking about my virginity.

I slid back and closed my eyes. Forgetting that he’d never answered my question about the birth control.

CHAPTER NINE

DURAN

She took forever to come down the next morning.

I sent housekeeping up to let her know to meet me for breakfast out on the deck, but an hour later, I was still sitting alone watching the waves roll against the shore. It was irritating and I knew she was doing it on purpose. I kept my face grim, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of knowing she’d gotten to me.

The door slid open five minutes after eight. I glanced over and she stepped out, chin up and mouth set in a little pout.

Her feet were bare except for a thin, gold anklet and I wondered if she just liked going without shoes or if Adriana’s sandals didn’t fit. Whatever the reason, I didn’t care. She had great legs and beautiful ankles, so the less coverage the better in my book.

“Hi,” she said flatly, yanking out her chair and sitting down.

“Good morning,” I said coolly.

She picked up a plum from the bowl and bit into it, chewing as she stared at me with a narrowed gaze. She did have gorgeous eyes, I could admit that despite my annoyance. They reminded me of a geode, glittering when the sun hit them, shifting shades as she turned her head.

“What? No cuff today?” she asked.

I shook my head once. “Not yet. I’m going to put an ankle monitor on you for when we go into town.”

I saw her face change, a shiver of excitement at the prospect of freedom and civilization. It bothered me that she was so eager to get away. I didn’t enjoy this side of her as much as the other one—although I did find it stimulating. I’d never been one to shy away from a challenge and she was giving me a run for my money.

“I’m not wearing a monitor in front of other people,” she said. “That’s embarrassing.”

“Would you prefer that or being hauled back over my shoulder after you try to run away?”

That glare lasered in on me as she took another bite of plum. My eyes flickered down. God, she was an irritating little thing, but the way her mouth moved as her teeth sank into the purple fruit was doing things to me under the table. She reached up with her middle finger and wiped the juice from her lower lip.

I shifted, the front of my pants tighter than they’d been a minute ago. Annoyance rippled through me and I bit it back. Ever since I’d brought this woman here, I’d been nothing but irritated and hard. It was driving me crazy. Usually, I prided myself on being easygoing.

But since I’d laid eyes on her, I’d found myself feeling…rebellious. Fuck what my brother, my boss, or the rest of the outfit might say when they found out. This was about me and her and everyone else could go to hell.

“You’re following your dick again,” Lucien would say.

He didn’t approve of how much I slept around, of the money I spent with Ahmed and Cosimo, my colleagues. We worked hard, but we also played hard and partook of the finer things in life.

Lucien didn’t reward himself with money, women, or other tension relieving activities. He didn’t even sleep with his fiancée. He just worked and schemed.

That was probably why he was the boss’s right hand. But I didn’t give a fuck anymore, I was never going to be the heir. I was always the younger brother, unloved by our late father, with only my mother as my ally during my childhood.

I checked myself.

That wasn’t fair to Lucien. Despite his ice cold way of loving me, he’d always protected me. In fact, he’d sacrificed a great deal to ensure I didn’t have to taste the worst of our father’s abuse.

A ripple of guilt moved through me and I pushed it down. Focusing my gaze back on the woman sitting just a few feet away. She was my most immediate problem and she had to be dealt with before I dealt with the problems that kidnapping her would bring about.

“Adriana’s sandals didn’t fit?” I said.

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