Page 21 of His Haunted Desire

She probably thinks this is nothing to me, the sort of cash I’m happy to throw away. She doesn’t know that it represents something substantial. I wasn’t planning on paying so much, but after some inquiring I realized her family needs the help.

“Did you write this?” she asks, her lip twitching into a smile.

“How could you tell?”

She quotes. “Any time they are observed, the Girlfriend will behave with complete adoration and commitment to the Boyfriend. She will leave no question in the mind of an observer about her utter devotion to him. If she is unsure if they are being observed, she will err on the side of caution and behave completely enamored, anyway.”

I smirk. “I think I phrased it quite well.”

“Girlfriends don’t usually behave withcompleteadoration all the time, do they?”

“You will,” I tell her.

She quotes again.“The Girlfriend accepts that a certain level of physical contact is inevitable but retains the right to refuseany advances while in private and must maintain a reasonable expectation of decorum and decency while being observed.”She rolls her eyes. “There won’t be any funny business in private, Raiden.”

“There’d be nothing funny about it, I agree.”

“You know what I’m saying.”

Another quote. “The Girlfriend will make every effort to present the most attractive version of herself…How would you like me to do that, exactly?”

She’s doing a fine job right now, even in a big winter coat with her hair tied up.

“However you see fit,” I say. She scans the rest of it, then takes the cap off the pen, hesitating before she signs.

“Problem?” I say.

An ache grips me, but I keep it hidden, not letting the effect she has on me show on my face. The slow way she licks her lips and the wet sheen she leaves behind is way too fucking hypnotic to me.

“This part.The Girlfriend accepts that, while unnecessary, the Boyfriend desires to be called ‘sir’ and the process will be made easier with compliance on this point.”

As she reads, a shiver of hunger touches me. This is all a deal, true, but damn it. I’m a man with hot blood pumping through my veins, and she’s a curvy, beautiful, and charismatic woman.

“Why?” she murmurs.

I lean forward, staring into her eyes. “Because I’m the boss, Aurora. Now–sign.”

She tilts her head with a hint of sass. “Yes… Sir.”

Just like last time, she injects some sarcasm into the word. I don’t care. It still triggers something hot in me. Something hungry. Again, I don’t let it show, just keep staring with hard, unflinching eyes.

She signs, then hands the contract back to me.

Soon, we arrive at the docks. The driver stacks our suitcases next to the small pier and then pulls away. Aurora wraps her arms around herself.

“Are you cold?” I ask.

“I’m fine,” she replies. “I just hope there isn’t another storm. Where is everyone?”

“We’re taking our own private boat,” I tell her, picking up the suitcases and walking down the pier. “Many of the guests like to keep their identities hidden for as long as possible. For the entire Retreat, if they can.”

“So, no one knows what they’ve done on the island?” Aurora says.

“Bingo.”

“Whatdothey do on the island?”

“Whatever we want,” I grunt.