Page 4 of Pandora's Pleasure

I didn’t want to believe the elite private finishing school I’d attended had been all about preparing me to be his wife and nothing more. But our relationship had come about so two American families could forge a powerful alliance through marriage, hijacking all the power in Washington through this allegiance.

Mine and his.

I had flown into this gilded cage. At first, I’d entered willingly because I didn’t know this man. The papers painted Damien Godman as a modern-day hero. A man who fought for social justice. A senator’s son who was willing to dedicate his time to those trapped in poverty, to see them lifted out of it.

They didn’t know him like I did.

“Damien, please step back.”

He rested his palm on my head as though anointing me. “Do you want me to run the tap for you? Help you pee?”

I shivered at his touch, squeezing my eyes shut.

I finally managed to relax enough to empty my bladder.

After wiping myself, I stood quickly and flushed the toilet. I had to push past him to him to get to the sink.

Damien followed me. “You belong to me now. Let me protect you.”

There was no arguing with him. Not when he was in this kind of mood.

Washing my hands under the warm water, I rallied my courage. All I had to do was smile and play nice. Feign innocence. After tonight, when Damien and I were alone, we could talk and I would remind him that I deserved to be treated with respect. After all, I was a Bardot…American royalty.

I dried my hands on a cotton napkin and turned to face him. “We should get back before your father notices.”

“He noticed.”

I shot him a fearful look.

No one crossed his father more than once.

“Please, explain to the Senator I needed some air.”

“You want me to lie to him?” Damien frowned.

“Protect me.” I straightened my back. “As a husband should.”

“We’re not married…yet.”

I raised my chin defiantly, trying to hide the fact that he scared me.

His fingertips trailed along my forearm. The gesture seemed too tender for him, and a shudder ran through me as an electric spark seemed to pass between us. This man could ruin something sacred if he wanted to. He could possess a soul for his mere amusement and then destroy it.

He’d destroymysoul if I stayed.

“This is the last time you defy me,” he said quietly. “Understand?”

“Yes.” My eyelashes fluttered rebelliously.

He studied my face. “Usually you’re so compliant, Pandora. What’s gotten into you?”

I’d remained under his control because he had the power to see my father’s ambitions realized. Walking away from an alliance this powerful wasn’t what good girls did if they wanted their families to still love them.

“Say something.” He tipped up my chin.

He was taller than his brother and a lot stronger—and if at all possible, crueler.

“You’ve not talked to me all night, Mr. Godman.”