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“I’m not alone. We both know you have men guarding this place. You wouldn’t allow it to be any other way.” I wasn’t under any illusions about my freedom.
I could attempt to walk as far away from his home as possible, but someone would be there to stop me. Earl hadn’t gotten where he was in the world by sloppy antics.
His hands on my hips made me jump. I couldn’t help but open my eyes when his chin rested on my shoulder.
This was too intimate.
I was his captive.
He was my captor.
“It’s a beautiful night.”
“Please stop this.”
“Stop what? Treating you normally?”
“Treating me like I’ve got a choice.”
“You can make this easy or hard, Ashley. The decision is yours.” His lips brushed across my neck.
It felt good.
My stomach chose that moment to rumble.
I tried to pull out of his arms, but he held me still.
“Enjoy the sunset.”
I was enjoying it. Being back in Crude Hill, it reminded me that all of this was a lie. He wanted something from me. All he cared about was popping my cherry. If he didn’t get to do that, he was going to kill my best friend. There was no romanticizing this. I was a business deal. One piece of my flesh was the cost.
On the boat, I’d started to think it was more.
I couldn’t allow myself to sink into the fantasy of love, of something more.
This was sex.
Fucking.
Pure and simple.
I had something Earl wished to claim.
I wasn’t a keeper. He didn’t see me as being the mother of his child. I was a product. I was like the women he purchased and sold as if they were cattle.
The sun set, and with it, reality was back full-blown.
Earl didn’t leave me alone. He held me tightly, and I couldn’t help but feel like there was a threat within his action. He wasn’t going to let me go.
“Give me the woman on the yacht back.”
“I can’t.” It was almost impossible for me to go back.
“Ashely, I don’t want this person.”
I didn’t turn, holding myself perfectly still within his grip. “What do you want?”
“You.”
“You’ve got me.”
“No, I don’t. I’ve got the martyr. I want a woman.” His hands unwound. It was slow, but as he took a step back, I felt the loss right down to my core. “Look at me.”
This was a trap. I knew it was.
I turned to look at him, wishing I had some magical power or some kind of ability to stop myself from being drawn to him. There was nothing.
“Tell me what is going on,” he said.
There was nothing I could say to help this. He was immune to true human feelings. He didn’t get how this felt.
“Have you ever been bought because of one simple thing?” I asked. There was no use in beating around the subject.
My virginity was on the line.
“No.”
“Then you can’t help me, which means there’s no point in talking to you about it. No point at all.” I tried to step back, but he held my arm.
“Do you think after everything I’m just going to toss you aside when I’m done?”
I couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up in my chest. “That’s exactly what you’re going to do.”
“And you believe it?”
“Why would I have reason to not believe it? You’ve made it completely plain to me all you want from me is sex. No, not even sex, just my virginity. That’s all.” I shrugged. “What more could you possibly want from me?”
Now it was his turn to smile, and I started to realize why they called him a beast. It looked sinister. Almost like a promise of what pain would be coming.
“Ashley, you’re a young woman. I gave a potential end in sight to help you, but at no point did I say you were going to go.” He invaded my space.
His hands came up to capture my face, holding me in place. At first, I was a little scared, but he was gentle, caressing. Sweet. I couldn’t get enough of him when he was like this. I was addicted to his touch. Desperate and hungry with equal measure. All I could see was my need for him. How desperate I was to have more.
He was so close, but he didn’t kiss. The only part of him touching me was his hands. Nothing more.
I waited.
“Do you really think I’m going to let the one woman I’ve been searching for, for a lifetime, go? No, that shit’s not happening. Not to me. You’re mine, Ashley, and it’s going to stay that way.” His lips brushed against mine.
So soft.
I couldn’t hold back the moan trapped within my chest, and I let it go. In the back of my mind, part of me believed this was total bullshit. He was saying what he needed to in order to get laid, but at that moment, I didn’t care.
