Page 21 of Curiosity

“And you don’t think you fit that?”

I smirked. “I think I work too hard for that. And I think that I’m not interested in it either, being a man’s trophy.”

“Not even if it meant having all your needs met, all your wants fulfilled, all your dreams brought within your reach?”

“It sounds amazing, but I’m not naïve enough to understand there’s not a trade-off with something like that. And the tradeoff is rarely worth it.”

“You think so?”

“I do.”

He remained quiet for a long moment after I said that, long enough that I spoke again.

“So what now?” I asked. “Does that disqualify me from whatever little… poor working-class beauty fantasy you wanted to act out?”

He shook his head. “My plans for you are still very much intact.”

“What if I walk out that door?”

“What about dessert?”

I scoffed. “What, your face in my pussy again?”

“Key lime pie, actually,” he chuckled. “I believe it’s your favorite. What you named though – that’s mine.”

I ignored the second part of his words, knowing they were a distraction. “How do you know my favorite foods?”

“I know many things about you.”

“That’s not an answer to my question.”

“I guess not, is it?” he asked, sitting back in his chair. His penetrating gaze swept over, settling with his eyes pinned to mine. “I know your favorite foods because I make it a point to know as much as I can about people I’m interested in.”

I nodded, uncomfortable with his scrutiny, but not willing to let him know. “And you’re interested in me because when you saw me on the boat that day, you felt a “shift”. Right?”

“Correct.”

“How do you know it wasn’t just heartburn?”

Elias tossed his head back, laughing at my comment – Ihatedthe way the sound hit me, warming me like a sudden gust from the fire.

“You are a delight, you know that?” he asked, as the server returned to replace our dinner plates with dessert – a beautifully garnished individual key lime pie, just like he said.

“You just like my pussy.”

“Likeis a gross understatement, Celeste.” He leaned in, over the table. “But I assure you – in-depth exploration of your pussy is the least of my plans for you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You have plans for me? What are they?”

“You’ll have to stick around to find out.”

Such an ominous statement.

Not overtly threatening enough to make me scared to eat that – phenomenal – key lime pie, but enough to make me askafterwards, “So what’s next? You’re going to set me loose on the property and hunt me or something?”

“You’ve watched entirely too much TV.”

“Perhaps,” I said, shivering as a sudden gust of frigid wind swept by us, strong enough to make the flames dip low. “But I noticed you didn’tquiteanswer.”

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