AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You need to get ready.”
“That’s what I was doing before you barged in here.Without knocking, might I add.”
“What were you getting ready for, looking like that?” He drops his chin, his amber eyes looking up at me through lashes far too pretty for a man so brutal. “I had my own plans for how to legitimize our marriage. But if you want to get a head start on the consummation… well, your adoring husband would never deny you something like that.”
His words ooze sarcasm, but I burn up with them anyway. My body is on fire from the inside out, and I’m sure he can see it written in the blush coloring every inch of my skin.
“You and I have very different priorities.”
He nods in agreement. “My priority is to keep you alive; yours is to make your own life as difficult as possible.”
He isn’t wrong. I could have stayed home the night of the party.
I could have left after Ivan offered me his jacket.
I could have told him who I really was andnotbegged him to fuck me until I scream.
Again and again, my choices make my life more complicated.
But Ivan isn’t helping, either.
“You can’t just walk into my room. We may be pretending to be a couple, but we aren’t. I’m a guest in your house, according to you.”
He strolls closer and leans against the bathroom door. “I say if we’re playing the part, we might as well get the perks.”
I gasp in disgust and snatch a towel from the cabinet behind me. I wrap it around myself and my “perks.”
“I say we need ground rules,” I fire back.
“Okay, ground rule: you do as I say, and I keep you and your friends alive.”
I clench my teeth. “That’s the deal we made, but we need to set expectations for how we treat each other. If I have to stay here—”
“Which you do.”
I bristle but I don’t let him throw me off-course. “IfI have to stay here, then I need to know what to expect.”
I need to be able to prepare, on some level, for encounters with him. I need to know what’s expected of me when we’re in public—and, more importantly, what’s expected in private.
Living in this gray space of desire and disdain is not an option. I’ll burn to ashes.
Ivan continues to stare, waiting.
I blow out a breath. “First, I want privacy in my room. You can’t come in here whenever you want.”
“Our rooms are connected.”
“Then unconnect them,” I snap back. “You control everything and everyone, right? Lock the door.”
His jaw shifts back and forth. “No need for a lock. I can control myself if you can.”
What if I can’t?I stiffen my spine and nod. “I can, too.”
He adjusts his arms. The muscles flex and shift beneath his smooth skin. I chew on my lip as a lightness fills my chest.Connected door or no… I don’t stand a chance.
Ivan arches a brow. “Is that all, or do you have more—”
“No sex,” I blurt.
