Page 16 of Dark Surrender

Poppy slides her hand up my thigh and teases the edge of the towel. “But I want to.”

“Want to what?”

Leaning in conspiratorially, Poppy tucks a strand of windswept hair behind her ear and whispers, “Fuck you.”

Not believing a goddamn word, I hmm. “I see. You.” I point to her. “Want to fuck me?” Then I point to my bare chest.

With her pupils straight up dilated, Poppy’s eyes round in that cute, innocent way that probably gets every man hard. “Yes.”

“Why?”

Her nose wrinkles. “What?”

“Why do you want to fuck me? Because my wife told you to? Because you’re bein’ paid to?” I think that’s a fair question, don’t you?

“Wait. What?” No longer emboldened, Poppy slides her hand back down to my knee.

“You’re being paid for this weekend. My wife wants you to ride my cock. She probably told you to climb onto my lap and seduce me, then what? Get me nice and hard for you?”

Poppy gasps.

“Is that what you were talkin’ about earlier?” Of course it was. They were palling around the poolside together like best friends. Penelope doesn’t do that. She doesn’t have friends. Not really. They’re all chess pieces she uses to her benefit, including me.

“I…”

I sit forward. “You what? You wanna fuck me because you wanna ride my dick? Since you already know what it looks like and tastes like… You want it… Why? Hmmm?”

Poppy flushes and stares down at her lap. “Mr. Drake.”

“Answer the question.”

“I…”

“You what?” I push harder than I should. Does it make me a prick? Probably. But I’m sick of these games. “Got taken advantage of by a rich bitch, who asked you to come here for the weekend to moan my name and put on a show for money? How much is she paying you?”

Poppy rips her hand into her lap and wrings her fingers together. “Mr. Drake.” My name is a plea upon her lips, and part of me knows I should feel bad, but I don’t.

“How much?”

“I…”

“Poppy.”

“Fifty thousand,” she whispers, staring at her lap.

“Right. She’s paying you fifty thousand dollars to pretend to want her husband, so it’ll make her daddy happy.”

“But you had me suck your dick. I… I don’t understand.” The sting of rejection drenches her broken words, and a small sliver of me feels sorry for her. I don’t know her story. That’s a lot of money for anyone. Desperation makes all of us do stupid shit. I can respect that.

“That was before I knew that’s part of your job description. Do you get a bonus every time I come down your throat?”

Her bottom lip trembles. “I… I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Poppy. You’re a beautiful woman. You deserve better. Fuck. So do I. I’m not in the mood to be used as a pawn this weekend, and I’m assuming you probably don’t really wanna fuck me either. So, we’re gonna go inside together, raid the goddamn kitchen for whatever snacks they have, and we’re gonna go back to my room, where we’re gonna watch a movie on my phone, eat snacks in bed, and pretend we’re fucking.”

Poppy’s head snaps up, and she stares at me like a deer in headlights, like she’s seeing me for the first time. “That’s…” She clears her throat and dashes a tear from her eye. “That sounds nice.” A soft smile ghosts her lips.

“Yeah. It sounds good to me, too.”