Page 84 of Masked

“Oh.”

“Did Parker never take you to functions?”

She looked at her lap, unsure if she wanted to have this conversation with him.

“He did but he never suggested I use a stylist. I always felt out of place.”

Noah slammed a hand on the steering wheel making her jump.

“Sorry, sweetheart. I just don’t understand why you let him treat you like that. Or why he wasn’t better to you.”

“I let you treat me all kinds of awful ways.”

His hand shot to the back of her head and he tugged at her hair. “You think the things I do to you are awful?”

“I don’t, but the average Joe on the street would.”

“I make you feel good about yourself even when I’m degrading you don’t I?”

She thought about it for a minute. Even when the filthiest words were coming out his mouth about what a slut she was, they were said with pride and a sense of ownership that made her feel good about her role as his toy. And when they weren’t playing, he treated her like a fucking queen.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I shouldn’t have said it that way. You’re right. And I don’t know why I let him treat me that way either. It was just easy and I was in a bad pattern when he came along.”

“What kind of bad pattern?”

She looked out the window. “Every person I went on a date with was never good enough for me to give more than a first date. I was picky and had to make a pro-con list for even taking the date in the first place.”

“Reva, that doesn’t sound like a bad pattern. That sounds like a woman who knows what she’s worth. Don’t you get it, little siren? The fact that you know your value but still play with me the way you do is what makes it so hot.”

She stared at him. “I’ve never thought about it like that before.”

“You break me sometimes, Reva. You have this impressive backbone, and you know how to stand up for yourself, and you set your boundaries and stick to them, but you still don’t know why you do those things. You’re just doing what you were told was the right thing. And now that we’re exploring, you’re starting to question yourself. I don’t like it.”

She shook her head. “No. I started questioning myself a few weeks before I met Parker. I’m not going to go into the details, but I was in a dark place. And he was… normal. Even though I thought he drove a douchey car and was way too particular about his apartment decorations. He bought me dinner and told me I looked nice in my dress and usually managed to give me an orgasm. That was all I really felt like I needed. I had no idea what else was out there. And then I have to go and find it with his fucking dad which means I can’t keep it. And yeah. That makes me sad.”

They couldn’t keep it, could they? It would be terrible for his relationship with the children who did still speak to him. Mandy and Jacob deserved to have a relationship with the man who’d adopted them as his own. And they deserved to have that without her making things awkward.

At the same time, she was silently begging him to tell her they could keep doing this after the end of their contract. That they could go until they were both done. He didn’t even have to promise her forever. She just needed to know the end wasn’t less than three weeks away.

But he didn’t say any of that. He just brought her hand to his lips and kissed it and they continued the drive in silence.

Chapter 21

Noah

Noahstoodintheapartment and looked around for signs that Reva was home. But all the lights were off and things were eerily quiet.

She probably got caught up at the library and lost track of time.

The stylist was due in twenty minutes, and he’d told Reva to meet him here at five-thirty. But a call ran late, so he was ten minutes late.

He pulled out his cell and called her, but it went straight to voicemail, so he called her security detail.

“Where is she?” he asked when Gage answered.

“She disappeared into one of the little study rooms by herself about four hours ago and has been there ever since.”

“She was supposed to be home ten minutes ago, can you go get her?”

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