AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s as if some candy has been tossed inside and tempted even the most despicable demon and I hate that I want to step in front of her and warn the others off.
There is so much tension in the room, as we all struggle to do the right thing. My men are respectful, but theyaremen. Ryan has been affected by Chastity and given the go ahead would be in there like a shot. However, she is business, and I must remind myself of that and try to distance my mind from what is happening right in front of me.
One hour later and my clothes are drenched in sweat and desperation. Two soldiers have increased to five and the usual huge space now seems small and cramped. Chastity swapped the running machine for the mat and is currently working out some kind of gym routine that ties her body into the most interesting knots.
It’s the most sadistic form of torture for every man in the room, but I realize she is merely playing with us. She has done this to provoke a reaction, and I’m the stubborn bastard refusing to give her one.
As soon as my work out is complete, I rip off my vest and flex my muscles, the sweat flowing like a river down my back. Chastity’s cropped top is similarly drenched and her nipples strain against the scrap of fabric that is fighting a losing battle trying to contain them, which I am trying hard to ignore.
Ryan mutters beside me, “Fuck this. I’m off to the shower.”
His anguished expression irritates the shit out of me and as I catch the eye of the remaining soldiers in the room, my expression tells them to follow him.
One by one they stop what they are doing and leave and as the door closes behind them, I head to the cooler and fill a glass, chugging down the contents, loving the cool liquid’s attempts to douse the flames burning inside me.
I catch sight of Chastity in the mirror. It’s impossible not to see her at every angle and she is bending to the floor, her ass waving in the air, causing my cock to twitch with desperation.
Grabbing a nearby towel, I mop the sweat from my body and run my fingers through my hair, for the first time unsure how to play this.
I want to pounce. To knock those legs out from under her and spread them wide on the mat before driving inside hard and relentlessly. However, knowing she has put on a floor show to test my limits brings the stubborn bastard inside me out to play.
The music is thumping in my head along with my blood and, far from being exhausted at the extreme workout, I’m invigorated. As if I could take on the world and so I chuck the towel in the laundry chute and say gruffly, “Seven am, Miss. Blake. Good night.”
As I leave, I chalk round two to me and it amuses me to think of that. I can play games too and I’ve proved a worthy adversary for the woman by beating her at her own game of poker already.
I’m not sure why, but I already feel as if I’ve lost this one as I head to my room in desperate need of a cold shower.
CHAPTER7
CHASTITY
Thank God he’s gone. I couldn’t concentrate with him around. From the moment I walked inside the room, I could only focus on one thing. Leonardo Ortega.
I could see his reflection in the glass, and it made me squirm. Those muscles that flexed every time he moved. The dark flashing eyes that caught the light and the sweat dripping from his body only served to attract rather than repel.
I blanked out every other man in there because they were invisible to me, anyway. It’s always him and I wonder about that.
I’ve met many dangerous men during my time, but none of them have affected me as much as this one has. There is something familiar about him. As if he’s the one I dream about at night and therefore, by default, is the man of my dreams. Is he though? I mean, he’s mafia for Christ’s sake and I hate everything that represents.
I want an honest man. A good, kind man, who will treat me with respect. Not the kind of man who tore his heart out at birth and sacrificed it to the devil. I know a lot about men like that because my parents were murdered by the biggest one of all and as the demons circle, I try so hard to close my mind against the horror of my past.
The music is loud, but my fear is louder. It’s always there. Spinning and consuming every thought I have, impatient to end the madness I have lived with what appears to be my whole life.
When I came to the gym tonight, it was to tease Leo even more. To tempt, to titillate and to gain the upper hand. I failed and I don’t like how that makes me feel.
Sighing, I grab a towel and chug down some water, much like the man occupying my mind did a few seconds ago.
I have an overwhelming sense of failure where it concerns him, and I don’t like it one bit.
The fact I want him so badly scares the shit out of me, because I don’t want anyone. I’ve trained myself not to want but to take and discard. I have no room in my life for developing feelings and I’m angry with myself.
I spy the bags hanging in the corner of the room and the nearby gloves. With determination, I head across and waste no time in pulling them on and punching out my frustration on the bag. All of my demons hang before me, and I kick and punch them all into touch, save one. The mocking tormented eyes of the one man who appears able to push my buttons and no matter how hard I try, I can’t punch him out of my mind.
* * *
One hour later,I almost crawl to my room. Exhausted and unhappy. Happiness isn’t something familiar to me, anyway, but for some reason, when I was serving Leo his food in the dining room earlier on today, for the first time since my parent’s death I felt free. It was nice. Almost domestic and it shocked me a little. In my mind, I pretended we were a normal couple, taking lunch and talking about our respective days. Not a bastard and an assassin, and it makes me smile when I think of it as the title of one of Ruby’s romance novels.
Now that’s one I’d like to read.
