Page 6

My heart is racing with panic. My skin is cold, and my head is spinning with fear.

I can barely get a breath of air.

My lungs are screaming and aching, and my vision has gone blurry.

That was so stupid of me. I could have hurt myself badly.

I don’t know what would have happened if Nestor hadn’t caught me.

His arms are wrapped around me right now—they feel so good. His body feels so good.

Oh my fuck, he’s not even wearing a shirt. Okay, this is okay.

Don’t panic even more now. Just breathe.

I close my eyes and the sensations of being held against him get more intense, distracting me, but not in the way I want to be distracted, so I quickly open them again.

He smells amazing.

Like pine forests soaked in fresh rain. And dark musk. Tempting and masculine.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice soothing and deep.

The panic is beginning to subside, and I manage to take a breath, my lungs filling with air.

But the memory of what happened all those years ago is too sharp in my mind.

“I broke my ankle,” I blurt out.

“Uh. No, you didn’t,” he says, confused, his hand drifting over my body, along my leg, and wrapping around my ankle as he carefully looks at it.

“Not now, I mean before. When I was younger, I think it was the first time in my life when I realized my father was selfish and didn’t always have the best intentions for me.

My father made me deliver something to this really horrible guy.

He had three massive dogs, nasty, biting dogs—and my father made me do the delivery because he didn’t want to go onto the property.

But he didn’t tell me that it wasn’t the right thing.

Whatever it was, I was dropping off. It wasn’t the right amount or something, and the guy got so angry he told his dogs to get me.

They all came snarling and running after me and I climbed a tree to get away.

I was crying and I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I slipped.

I broke my ankle. Since then, I’ve been terrified of heights—and falling—I was so stupid to try and climb that gate, I just—I just—"

My voice trails off.

Why in the world did I just tell him all of that? That had nothing to do with him. The memory just flooded through me now, and it spilled from my mouth without me having a chance to think about it.

Nestor pulls me close to his chest, running his hand up my back, along my neck, knotting his fingers in my hair. I close my eyes and rest my cheek against his shoulder. I forget my worries for a moment, enjoying his hands on me.

“You’re okay, little one,” he says gently. His voice vibrates in his chest, rumbling against my body.

I take a deep, slow breath and let myself feel safe. My heart is beating a little slower now, the fear subsiding.

It really was stupid of me to do that. I know I’m scared of heights. I was just so desperate to try and get away.

Nestor sits down on the single sofa in the living room, still holding me on his lap. I snuggle into him.

But then I realize what the hell I’m doing, and I bolt upright.

My eyes are wide with horror.

In a flash, I wiggle off his lap and onto the sofa next to him.

My cheeks are flushed bright pink.

His low chuckle annoys me. “Are you feeling better, little one?” he asks, his eyes bearing into me.

“What do you care?” I snap angrily.

“Hey, don’t be angry at me. You’re the one who was trying to climb the damn gate, not me.”

“ And I wouldn’t have had to climb the damn gate if you didn’t lock me up in here.”

He rolls his eyes. “This again,” he huffs.

“Yes, this again. You have to let me go. I need to get to work. I have a job. I have to go home and change. I have to go to work like a normal person ,” I shout angrily.

“The only thing you need to do is calm down,” he says dryly.

“You might have the luxury of living in this crazy house and driving a ridiculous car, but I have bills to pay, and if I don’t work, I can’t pay them. You aren’t being fair.”

I fold my arms across my chest, glaring at him.

The corner of his mouth curls downwards, and a spike of fear shoots through me when he stands up. Not wanting to show my fear, I stand up too and face him boldly.

He tilts his head to the side.

I set my jaw tightly and continue to glare. “Let me go.”

The smile that spreads over his face is not friendly. It’s dangerous and it sets my heart racing, both with warning and desire.

I take a step away from him, but my legs are against the sofa and I can’t move away anymore.

Nestor steps closer, the heat from his body warming over me.

My breath catches and I stammer for a moment. “Leave—leave me alone,” I blurt out.

He reaches up and traces his fingers over my cheek, a gentle, slow movement that leaves a heated trail on my skin.

“I don’t have to leave you alone, sweetheart. You belong to me. Don’t you remember? We’re married.”

I press my hands into his chest and shove him hard.

“No, I refuse to accept that. You still haven’t told me what any of this is about, but I will not be your wife,” I shout. “Whatever my father owes you has nothing to do with me, and you need to let me go and deal with him directly.”

He laughs at me, shaking his head.

“You already are my wife. And technically, your father owes me nothing,” he muses, taunting me with scraps of information that don’t make sense.

“What? I heard him talking about his debts to you. That doesn’t make sense.”

“He paid the debts—with you.”

My brows knit together in frustration and confusion.

“What does that mean?” I say nervously.

“Your father sold you to me as payment to settle his debt. You are mine now, and your father’s debt is cleared.”

“No,” I say in shock. The word spills from my lips as nothing more than a breath of air.

Laughter rolls from his chest.

Nestor leans closer to me, his lips hovering inches away from mine. “You belong to me, Lara,” he says darkly. My body spikes with desire at the proximity.

He leans even closer, and I don’t move away. I’m frozen by his advances.

Even when his lips press into mine, the heat flowing into me, I don’t move.

The kiss happens so suddenly that I have no time to consider what’s going on, and instead of reacting with anger or pushing him away, I kiss him back.

My hand threads around the back of his neck as I stand on my tiptoes.

He growls against my lips, sending a heated shiver through me.

His mouth presses harder over mine and his arm slips around my waist, tugging me into his embrace.

I gasp, and he kisses me deeper.

Nestor’s hand brushes over my back, down my body, cupping my ass as he lifts me into his arms. Still, I don’t even consider stopping him. I’m completely lost in this moment.

The desire I’ve had pulsing through me has blinded me completely, and all I can think about is the things I want him to do to me.

He wraps my legs around his waist and I almost lose my mind when I feel his massive cock, rock-hard and pressing into me through his pants.

My nails dig into his shoulder, and I moan softly against his mouth.

He pushes his hips forward, rubbing against me.

Heat pools between my legs.

The intensity of this moment blinds me to anything else.

All I want is him. I have never felt such a desire to be with someone before.

Nestor groans deeply, and the sound snaps me back to myself.

I gasp, this time in shock instead of desire.

What the hell am I doing?

I quickly unwrap my legs from around him and drop to the floor. When I look up at him, he appears just as shocked as I am. His eyes are wide and bright, the hazel appearing more yellow-gold than before.

“Um,” he stammers in disbelief.

We both step away from each other in awkward silence.

I brush my hands over my clothes, straighten my skirt, pulling my top down.

What the hell just happened?

My eyes rise and lock with his. We stare at each other, neither saying a word for the longest time. The longer I look at him, the angrier I get for what he did.

He needs to apologize for kissing me. That was completely out of line. He had no right to do that.

Nestor tilts his head to the side and narrows his eyes at me.

“Next time I want more than just a kiss,” he says, his voice so dark it stops my breath.

My mouth drops open in horror.

“Excuse me.”

He steps closer.

One corner of his mouth curls upwards as he reaches for me, his hand cupping my cheek. I turn my head away from his touch.

“You heard me, Lara. Your father’s debts were staggeringly high. I want more than a kiss.”

“You’re a psychopath,” I shout, bashing his hand away from me.

He chuckles, dangerous and delightful.

I can’t even look at him anymore. The conflicting emotions shooting through me are driving me crazy.

He’s making me completely insane.

Turning my back on him, I take a deep breath, trying to clear my head, but it isn ’ t working.

How can I hate someone so much, but have my body screaming to be touched by him?

I storm away from him, desperate to create space between us before I do something stupid—again.

“Where are you going, little one? Why don’t you stay and have breakfast with me?” his invitation is more of a taunt than anything else.

“Go to hell,” I snap, marching up the stairs towards my bedroom.

***

Over the next week, I try numerous times to escape, and it becomes a sort of game to him, which infuriates me.

He makes me feel like a little mouse in a trap, and he’s the tiger, toying with me, letting me run to the edge before slamming his big paw down on my tail.

I think I am some kind of toy to him.

Nestor has filled my bedroom closet with beautiful clothes, my bathroom has the most luxurious products in it. Anything I could possibly dream of, he’s provided. But I don’t want to be here.

I’m not his pet.

I have to get away.

This can’t be happening. People can’t just kidnap other people without getting into trouble for it.

I’m so worried about my jobs—and my debts. And what the debt collectors are going to do to me when I eventually get out. I need to get back to my life before everything falls apart.

And more importantly, I need to stop being so attracted to this asshole. I still can’t stop thinking about the stupid kiss, and it’s left me wanting more, even though the last thing on this planet that I want is to be turned on by that man.