Page 29 of Bought (BOUGHT TRILOGY #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Erin

I think he’s finished. I believe I’ll get a moment to breathe. Then he tells me he’s changed his mind.

“I want to know more. And I won’t wait till tomorrow,” he says as he shifts beneath me, adjusting my pliant body to his liking. I’m boneless and trembling, thighs slick and sore.

“You told me we could talk tomorrow?—”

“Not tomorrow. Now.”

“We need to get back,” I protest. “We’ve been gone forever.”

He’s ignoring me, dragging my naked, welted, come-covered body over his strong lap, in the most vulnerable position possible.

I love it.

I’m in over my head. I’m Princess Leia, minus the gold bikini, chained to him. Weak for him. Willing to let him do whatever he wants. To whatever part of me he wants to do it.

Weak, weak girl. I need to get my clothes, leave, and put an end to this madness.

I can’t.

Don’t even want to.

Instead, I lay over his lap and tremble with anticipation.

He drags his calloused hand over the curve of my ass. He raises his hand in the air, making me clench with nerves. His hand comes down, sharp and stinging. I bite my lip to hide the moan, but it still comes.

He gives me another spank, the bottom curve of my right cheek, then my left. That sensitive area where the tops of my thighs meet my ass. The tingling sensation travels between my legs, a wet heat pooling there.

With his two fingers crawling down the cleft of my ass, I tense. He’s headed to that spot he earlier explored. I shift my weight over his lap, wanting to get away. His hardness presses into my belly, and knowing I turn him on makes me even wetter.

Then he asks the question that has loomed between us, heavy like an impending meteor about to destroy us both.

“When Cass was at university, Bambi came as an exchange student. She was fun and funny, and they got along. They’ve always kept in touch.”

“Then?” he smooths his hand over my ass. I hesitate. He spanks. Hard enough to take my breath away.

I hiss, stammering, “Then—then we got in trouble back home…”

Another volley of spanks tells me it’s not a request. It’s a command. He will make me tell him everything.

But I can’t.

I shake my head, looking down at the ground as I hang over his lap.

It feels strange to confess in this position, but I’m too far gone to care.

“We had to get out of England, and since Bambi and Cass stayed close, Cass contacted her and asked if the three of us could crash. Her gran had just passed away. She was sad and lonely and had an extra bedroom.”

“Win-win,” he mutters.

For everyone but him.

I feel lighter now that I've shared part of my story.

I no longer need his harshness to push me.

“We had enough money for the flights, but nothing more. She fed us, sheltered us, and helped with Ryan. I took every job I could find on my visa, like bartending and bottle service, and I gave all my earnings to Bambi for household costs. Thanks to you, I was able to pay her back and stop working while I look for a real job?—”

“That’s all real nice.” He moves in quietly and purposefully.

I feel the heat and anger radiating off him as he leans over me, chest pressed against my back, too close. I can’t breathe as the low growl of his demand caresses my ear, “But what about the part where you’re living with the sister of a man who blew up my family’s entire world here in the city?”

I freeze. Self-loathing flows through me, hot and sticky. I want to tell him everything, and I will.

But not like this.

I want to tell him on my own terms, not with him forcing the truth from me. I want to see his face when I tell him. I’ll make sure Mack takes Cass and Ryan home in the van, then he can drive me home.

I’m pretty sure there’s an extra Porsche at Blaze’s place, or he can take us to get the Cabriolet.

Then, when the fire is out and the embers have settled, and we’re driving, I’ll tell him.

Everything.

Then I’ll have him take me home.

And I’ll watch him drive away.

He’ll never want to see me again.

He’s decided that enough time has passed, and he drops his hand, peppering my skin. “Answer me.”

“Stop!” I shout before he can reach his destination, exposing my vulnerability. “Stop. Please.”

His hand freezes for a moment. Then, he gathers me up into his arms, so that I’m sitting on his lap, facing him. He’s holding me close, brushing my tangled hair back from my face, and kissing me.

“I don’t want to have this conversation this way.”

“Okay.”

I cup his face in my hands, kissing him deeply before pulling away. “Thank you for understanding.” Tears shine in my eyes, but I’m sure he’d dismiss them as sensory overload.

But they aren’t. The tears come from knowing something awful.

This, all this, feeling alive every moment I’m with him, feeling worshiped, like the most beautiful woman in the world…

And my time being the only woman in his world with that privilege…

It’s over.

“This is why I don’t do this,” he says, talking more to himself than to me. “Because things get complicated.”

“I know.” I stroke my fingers over his face, whispering, “Let me tell you tomorrow,” pleading for him to believe me, “Everything. I promise.”

“Okay.” He squeezes my thigh. “But until then, you and Cass and Ryan should stay here.”

“No,” I shake my head, “I’m going to take them home. I need to decompress.”

“I get it.”

A heavy silence falls between us, neither of us knowing what the future holds.

He cocks his head to the side. “Come back to my place after?”

“I can’t.”

“Fine.” He slips his hand into his pants, pocket, wriggling under me, fishing for something, then draws his hand back out in a closed fist. “In case you change your mind.”

His fingers slowly peel back to reveal something astounding. Something I’d given up on finding.

Apparently, the security at the Village once rivaled that of the military.

They had thumbprint, eye, and facial recognition systems. The Morettis hacked into all that.

The Bachmans had to return to basics here.

A door unlocking system from the 90s that can’t be hacked.

A simple mechanism not connected to a computer.

My vision closes in until all I see is the thing he holds in his hand.

It’s a plastic key fob. You hold it up to the black box above the door handle, and when you see the green light, the door opens.

He holds out the black circle to me, dangling from the silver key ring that hangs around his finger. I stare at the key as if it’s a live grenade hovering between us.

A little black key fob, the gold Bachman Brotherhood emblem sparkling on its flat front.

Something the Morettis told me I would have to steal.

Because there was no way he would ever hand one to me.

That’s what they said.

I take it. It’s light and cool in my hands. Almost insignificant.

The power it possesses is immense.

This small plastic circle symbolizes the potential for destruction.

Either his. Or ours.

keep reading…

I broke all my rules for her. Now betrayal could destroy us.

She gave me her body. I gave her my heart.

She’s been keeping secrets.

I need answers, and she’ll give them to me.

Bare, bound, and begging.

With each heated encounter, I feel her submission.

But she’s guarding more than her heart.

Protecting her family, fighting for her sister.

A battle for her could tear my world apart.

I’d risk it all for her.