Page 29 of His to Possess

When she doesn’t answer the second or third knock, my worry reaches a peak and I push the door open without much thought. What I see makes my breath catch.

Lilah is curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed, looking tiny and so vulnerable on the large mattress. She’s wearing ear pods and her eyes are closed. From the steady rise and fall of her chest, I’m pretty sure she’s asleep.

Her face is puffy around the eyes. Fuck. She really was crying. And it’s my fault.

I should leave her to her rest but my feet seem to move of their own accord, drawing me across the room. I sit on the edge of the bed, staring down at her. More of her hair has escaped the braid, curling madly around her face. The black of her eyelashes are stark fanned out against pale skin. Even with the redness by her eyes, she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I’m in so much fucking trouble.

As if sensing an intruder, her eyes flutter open. For one moment, she seems happy to see me. Then the brightness in her eyes shutters and I curse myself all over again for what I said.

“Sorry to wake you,” I murmur, unable to stop my fingers from reaching out to brush a curl behind her ear.

“It’s fine.” But she’s rigid under my touch.

“It’s not fine.” I swallow hard, regret coursing through me. “Jesus, Lilah. I’m so sorry. I was an arse. I shouldn’t have said that.”

She shrugs. “It’s true though, right?”

“No.” When she won’t look at me, I reach out again and tilt her chin toward me. “You don’t owe me anything. Especially not your body. That’s not why I bid on you last night.”

She sighs. “I know. You have no interest in me like that.”

The sound that erupts from my throat is half-disbelieving, half-derisive. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”

Her eyes go wide, some of the hurt tension in her expression giving way to surprise.

“However I might feel about you,” I go on, “doesn’t give me the right to disrespect you. I’m truly sorry.”

She studies my face for a beat before nodding. “Thank you.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief. The feeling is short lived.

“However, it is very important to me that you stay safe,” I say, and just like that, her shutters go back up. Damn it.

“Fine,” she says tightly. “I’ll stay in the house this week. I’ll be a good girl and follow all your rules.”

I don’t want her to follow the rules. I want her to challenge me, to fight with me. I want her fire back and I feel sick to my stomach at the knowledge that I’m the one who dampened it.

“I can be a controlling asshole,” I say bluntly. “I apologize for that, too.”

She seems to relax a little. “You know what I don’t need right now, Philip? An older brother.”

Brotherly is the last thing I feel towards this woman, but I merely nod. “I’ll try to be less domineering. But I’d really like you to stay here this week.” I’m not sure what I’ll do if she refuses. I can’t let her go off on her own. At least not until I know what it is she’s facing.

I can see the battle raging in her eyes so I press forward. “You don’t have to decide right now. But can you at least agree to stay tonight?”

“Okay,” she says softly. “I’ll stay tonight.”

Thank fuck for that.

“Wonderful. Now that’s out of the way, I could use a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“I have a dinner scheduled tomorrow evening.” I feel strangely nervous, like a teenager asking the girl he fancies on a date for the first time. Jesus. “It’s a business thing, but a close friend of mine will also be there. Since neither of us is in the mood to be bored to tears, we thought we’d make it more of a social outing.”

She blinks up at me. “If you’re asking if I mind you going out while—”