Page 60 of His

She whipped her head back towards me.

“You said—”

“I won’t kill him today. We made a trade.”

“A trade.” She whispered it.

“Not sure if it was worth it? Well, kitten, you can always change your mind.”

“No.”

“I’ll bring you back a present. No trades, just a gift.”

“Untie my hand, please,” she said. “One hand, that’s all I need. That’s all I—”

“Later,” I said. “But not when I’m gone. I can’t leave you untied. Surely you understand that.”

The rejection rippled through her body. I put my hand on her stomach and she winced.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Not if you’re going to leave me.”

I lifted my hand away from her.

“I’ll be back,” I said. “And… thank you.”

She looked up at me, confusion quirking her beautiful arched eyebrows.

“For giving me a measure of relief. It’s not enough, not for me, but you tried. I—thank you.”

I turned and left before she could respond.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kat

He came back later and threw a few books down next to me on the bed. Then untied my hands and feet. An hour earlier, I would have been ready to throw myself at him in a desperate attempt for either an orgasm or an escape, but I had calmed down a lot since then.

He had, too, it seemed. He smiled comfortingly at me.

It was histhank youthat had really made me look at him differently. Strange that such a little thing could make me feel so much better. But I felt that I’d given something to him that he couldn’t take himself. In a way, he needed me.

That was good and bad at the same time. There was no way he would ever let me go, but maybe I could convince him slowly to give me more space. More freedom. And then—

Then what? I couldn’t risk trying to kill him again. I would take it slowly, I decided, rubbing my wrists. Try to gain his confidence back. Then I could decide on my next move.

I picked up one of the books.The Billionaire’s Courtesan.The cover was one of those pink and gold numbers with raised lettering. I always wondered why they didn’t do the bumpy lettering over the woman’s breasts. It would be a heaving bosom. Get it?

Yeah, I didn’t make myself laugh, either.

“I thought you might like these,” Gav said.

“Romance novels?” I tossed the book down and looked at the others.The Cowboy and the Bride.Her Last Virgin Night.

“There was one on your cart when we first met.”

“That’s… sweet of you.” I picked up the cowboy one and rifled through the pages. The second chapter started with him “exposing his throbbing member” and only got worse. I giggled, cupping my hand over my mouth. The wordmemberseemed so funny at that moment that I had to suppress a burst of laughter.

“You don’t like them?”

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