Page 10 of Sold to the Investor

She trembles in my arms, and whimpers as my thumb moves rhythmically over her clit. I keep circling and stroking until her stomach heaves and her hips buck against my hand, asking for release.

I stop abruptly, pressing a kiss on her neck. “I need to be inside you,” I say urgently, flipping her onto her stomach.

I place a pillow beneath her, arching her ass in the air, leaving her pink, swollen flesh wet and exposed, ready for my cock. I line my erect length against her pussy and bend to gather her hair in my hands. Stealing a kiss over her shoulder, I slowly rotate my hips against her sex. She shudders, mewling softly as I trail my lips down her left shoulder. And that’s when I see it. It’s a raised line of scar tissue right under her shoulder blade.

I freeze and pull back. The scar is the length of a pinky finger and the flesh is a bit darker than the rest of her skin. The injury must have been deep, because it looks like it healed without proper care.

My blood roars at the thought of Sophia in pain. A dark possessiveness consumes me, and the cold predator in me rises to the surface. Arousal is far from my mind as I push to my knees.

She senses the change and turns. “What? What is it?” she asks, scrambling to look at me.

Her eyes widen at the darkness in my eyes. She slowly sits up and arranges the sheet around her without fear, and I almost growl in approval.Good. She needs to know that I’ll never hurt her. I would sooner hurt myself than cause her pain in any way.

Which is why the thought of her in pain makes me clench my teeth in anger.

I inhale slowly. I don’t want to scare her. “Where did you get the scar?” I ask.

She ducks her head and sighs. “It happened a long time ago,” she finally answers. She looks back up and there’s resignation in her hazel eyes.

“How?” I ask, trying my best to soften my voice.

“Promise you won’t be mad,” she says, and my chest tightens at her shaky voice.

My jaw clenches and unclenches. “I can’t promise that, baby,” I reply gently.

She nods, understanding my torment. “I got it from my brother, but it was an accident.”

“Sure. An accident.” I go with her statement. Maybe if I agree with her, she’ll keep talking. “What happened?”

“You have to understand that life hasn’t been easy for him—he had to take on so much responsibility when he was just a kid. He’s the reason we survived in a harsh environment, and it made him harsh too. It’s not his fault.”

I settle opposite her and cover my now-flaccid cock with a pillow. I stay silent, watching her hazel eyes darken. The hurt and pain that she tries to hide while she defends her fuck of a brother pulls at my soul.

“When I got my first job, Daryl thought I’d use all the money for us, for our bills. But I wanted…I’d fallen in love with photography and it was my dream to own a camera of my own. So I gave Daryl some of the money, but saved the rest for over a year until I had enough money to buy a cheap camera from a secondhand store.”

She sighs, lost in the memory. “The first picture I took was of Daryl while he was sleeping. I thought he would be happy when I showed him, but he wasn’t. He…accused me of being selfish.”

I can’t help it. I growl slightly at the wordselfish, and she jumps. I reach out to reassure her. “Baby, I’m not sure you could be selfish if you tried.”

She blushes, leaning into my touch, but shakes her head. “The next day I wanted to use my camera and couldn’t find it, so I asked him. I shouldn’t have even asked, because he had just lost some money while gambling, and I know how he gets when he loses,” she says softly as if it was her fault.

My anger is a dark force, but I force myself to stay calm as she continues, “But I was so mad that I didn’t care. I didn’t think. He told me he’d sold the camera. I yelled at him. I’ve never yelled at Daryl. I’ve never wanted anything else for myself and he sold my camera like it didn’t mean anything. Just to spite me.”

She wipes a tear from her face. “He got angry and pushed me hard. I hit the edge of the table. His beer bottle broke and I fell back on it as I tried to get away from him. It was deep and needed stitches but we didn’t have money for the hospital and besides, we were running from social services. Daryl didn’t stitch it well, so that’s why it’s such a messy scar.”

I growl. “Your brother is a fucking pussy,” I say darkly.

Sophia shakes her head. “He just has his own demons, and his addictions, but on his good days, he’s the same brother who took care of me when our mother overdosed.”

The fury in me is barely leashed but I nod, knowing I can’t change her mind. “So, how did you get to be at the chapel?” I ask.

With every word that leaves her lips, my anger grows. So I sit with my fists bunched as I listen to Sophia tell me how her fucking brother tricked her into going to the chapel. In her voice, I can hear the love and affection she has for him even though he did fuck all to deserve it. Not many could forgive something so cruel as what he did to her. My Sophia is so pure and good that it takes my breath away.

One thing I know for sure is that she’s never going back to that asshole of a brother. He thinks he’s sold her, but his actions have only given me the greatest treasure of my life and I’m going to keep her. She’s mine.

“I understand that you think your brother truly didn’t mean to harm you, and I won’t fight you, but you should know that he’s my least favorite person in the world and I’ll be damned if I let you go back to him,” I growl softly.

“I know. Still, I’m thankful to have met you,” she answers with a shy and beautiful smile.

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