Page 13 of Bred

“But?”

Dark-blue eyes were serious as they met mine. “I gave you until tonight, princess, to decide what you wanted from me. If it’s this, if it’s this life, this deal, this dirty fucking contract, then I want you to tell me.”

I opened my mouth, but his hand slipped up to cup my jaw and press our foreheads together. “Because after tonight, I will take what’s mine. I ,will breed you sweet girl. I will lavish you in love and cum until you don’t remember a life before my cock was inside you. And then I will hoard you away for myself. Do you understand?”

My heart was hammering in my chest. My pussy clenched desperately, feeling empty and bereft as I stared into my husband’s handsome face. I wanted that. God, I wanted it so badly. But he was right, this was forever, and I didn’t want him to think I hadn’t considered everything.

So I stepped back, limping only slightly now.

“Tonight, then?”

Loren’s gaze was hot on mine. “Tonight. I’ll be in for dinner at six thirty.”

“I’ll see you then.” I turned to the door but only made it a few feet before powerful arms swept me up and carried me into the foyer.

“I’ve got it from here,” I whispered, my body still thrumming from the nearly constant assault of him on my raw nerves.

“Six thirty,” he said again, his chest expanding as he breathed me in one more time before ducking back out to grab Bosco’s reins.

I stood, leaning on the windowsill and watching until both man and horse disappeared back down the ranch’s road.

And then I slunk down, my bones melting into a pile right there in my new home’s entryway.

I wanted him, more than I wanted anything else I could ever remember. Other than being offered a choice.

But then, he had offered me a choice, hadn’t he? Perhaps for the first time since I moved in with my grandfather, I had a choice with Loren.

The thought was satisfying, empowering. But did absolutely nothing to take away from the fact that there really wasn’t a choice at all.

Because I already belonged to Loren Thanes.

And tonight, I would show him.

I’d elevated and iced my foot, but honestly, the pain dimmed only an hour or so after Loren left me at the house. I would probably have an ugly bruise pop up, but for now, I had much larger fish to fry.

Or rather, man to seduce.

Loren had said he wouldn’t be back until 6:30, so I had only had a few hours to get my act together. I made myself a sandwich and wandered around the house, picking up a few things as I did. And when I reached the master bedroom, eyeing my suitcase on the ground by the dresser, I had a horrible, wonderful idea.

The man doubted I could handle him. That I would run scared. But that wasn’t anywhere close to how I felt so far.

Awkward and a bit nervous, absolutely. But scared? Not at all.

With a content sigh, I stared down the length of the massive walk-in closet. Loren’s clothes were sorted by color and started out the most casual towards me and ended up with a very large portion of suits at the end.

The vision of my silver-headed husband in a dark Armani suit made my belly clench and my skin heat. I wondered briefly if I could come to one of his meetings someday, to hear about the future of Ehlers Co. and then stay after to see if he would bend me over his conference table.

Shaking my head, I forced my mind back to the present. Then I stepped into the closet, my arms gathering a bundle of them, hangers included, and marched to the back of the room.

It was my house; he’d said it himself. I was ready to make it look that way.

Finally done, I tossed my suitcase into the closer as well. I had no idea what time it was, but I still needed to shower and get dressed for tonight. Biting my lip, I turned on music and hopped into the shower to shave every inch of my body. I giggled, dancing around in the hot water and letting the steam fill the small room until I could barely see myself in the mirrors.

While it was oddly romantic, I didn’t do me any favors on understanding how long I’d been lingering in the hot water. But when my music cut out a few minutes later, I turned, squinting through the glass shower doors.

To my shock and more than a little embarrassment, there stood Loren, shirtless and staring.

“Oh my God,” I squealed, leaping back and trying to cover both my breasts and my crotch at the same time. “Loren! What are you doing in here?”