AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“To answer your question—again: no, I won’t be claiming you, under any circumstances.”
“Why?” she asks, her expression curious.
“Because you’re trouble, and I have a lot of men in need.”
“And you’re not?”
I don’t know how to respond. A part of me wants to rip her clothes off and fuck her. Another part wants to beat some sense into her.
“How old are you, Amber?”
“Nineteen.”
“Well, I just turned fifty some days ago.”
“So now it’s: I’m not too young to fuck, but I am too young to claim?”
“Do you want to be claimed?”
“Why would I? You think I like being owned?”
“You’d be Kept, which is different.”
She snorts a laugh. “Oh, yeah—how different?”
“You’d be spoiled, cared for, protected, fed the best of everything, pampered.”
“Something tells me Dane isn’t up to being a Keeper.”
I laugh genuinely, because the irony doesn’t escape me. “He’s a tough nut to crack, but I think he’d do anything for the woman he claims.”
“And who will you claim?”
“No one.”
“Why?”
I exhale, exhausted. “Amber, you just gotta believe me when I say we’re not like Gunther and his people. If you’re holding back information because you’re rebelling, you’re only hurting yourself.”
“Looks like we’re both holding back information.”
“My personal life is not up for discussion.”
“Fine, I’ll stop asking about it if you stop asking invasive questions.”
“One day soon, you’ll beg to tell me.”
“What would make me do that? Are you threatening to withhold your dick again?” She bobbles her head from side to side. “Admittedly, a bad example, because you didn’t exactly withhold that. But you have to realize I’ve gone most of my life without orgasming. Withholding pleasure is not the threat you think it is.”
Her words wound me, because some part of me wanted to blow her mind. I keep my face neutral, though, because there’s no point in feeding her vanity.
“Fine,” I set the bowl aside and crack my knuckles, “let’s make a bargain.”
* * *
AMBER
I furrow my brow. “A bargain?”
