Page 63 of Owned

I blinked. “What, never? Seriously? You’ve never?—”

“No. I didn’t like how it reminded me of my fucking father and how he couldn’t stand not being the center of attention. How he liked to flaunt his power over people, how he could make them do whatever he wanted.” Atlas’s gaze was searing. “But I’m done with fighting what I want now. That’s my fantasy, beauty. I want everyone to see you being desperate for me, craving me, pleading for me. I know you don’t like that part of yourself, that it makes you feel vulnerable, but that’s what I want. Them watching you break and knowing that only I get the privilege of giving you what you need.”

That was a very discomforting thought. To have people watch me not only having sex, but be at my most vulnerable… Ugh.

“I know it’s basically the opposite of what you want,” Atlas said, reading my discomfort loud and clear. “And that it’s a big demand on your trust.”

I wanted to deny it, to tell him that I was fine with it, but…

Maybe he was right. Maybe I wasn’t ready.

Yet deep inside, the contrary part of me didn’t want to give in. It was clear he didn’t think I’d do it and so of course now I wanted to show him that he was wrong, that I could do it no matter what he thought.

I swallowed and pushed away the fear, and said, “You could order me to do that and I’d have to do it, wouldn’t I?”

“I could,” he agreed. “But ordering you to do it would make the whole thing pointless. My fantasy consists of you doing it willingly, despite your fear. Of you trusting me enough to give me what I want, even though it’s my fantasy, not yours.”

My heartbeat sounded loud in my ears. “You don’t know what my fantasies are,” I said, unable to disguise the edge in my voice. And of course he picked up on it.

The gold in his eyes glinted. “Neither do you.”

“You’re wrong,” I said before I could stop myself.

He lifted one tawny brow. “Am I? What are you fantasies then, beauty?”

Your fantasies are whatever he wants and you know it.

I didn’t want to break his gaze. What I wanted to surprise him, unsettle him, maybe even shock him. I’d been able to do that sexually before, so maybe I could again. And maybe in giving him this fantasy he didn’t think I was capable of, I’d be able to do just that.

“Maybe my fantasy is exhibitionism too,” I said, my voice only slightly unsteady. “I’ve never done it before after all. It might be just my kink.”

He studied me for a moment then, when he spoke, his voice was hard. “Don’t play with me, Rowan. This isn’t a game.”

“I know it’s not a game. But it’s true. I’ve never done it before so maybe I’d like it.”

“Really?” His gaze bored into mine. “You really want to get naked in front of a group of people, have me break you down until you’re screaming for me the way you did last night, and then have them watch me fuck you? You really want that?”

“Why not?” I took an unsteady breath. “No one’s ever given you that before, so why not me?”

“Because you don’t want it,” he said as if he knew the inside of my head better than I did. “Because you’re afraid of it.”

“You don’t know me, Atlas Blackwood. You don’t know what I think.”

“So that wasn’t fear in your eyes I saw just now?”

Damn him. He could read me like a book and why didn’t I remember that? I gritted my teeth and lifted my chin. “No, it was. But you can be afraid of something yet want it too. I mean, I’m afraid of you, for example. Of what you can make me want, of what you can make me do. Of how you can break me down and how you can own me. So yes, I’m afraid of what I want. But my fantasy, Atlas, is you. That’s it. That’s all. Whatever you want, I want too.”

His gaze flared and then narrowed, the intensity of it stealing my breath. “Be very careful what you say, beauty. Be very, very careful. Because I warned you what would happen if you allow me even a bit of that inch.”

I swallowed. “Yes.”

“There’s not a bit of you I won’t take, Rowan. Not a piece of you I won’t demand. Everything you are I will own.”

“I know that.” I held his gaze and steadily this time. “So what are you waiting for? Take it.”

Atlas shifted, so fast I didn’t even have time to gasp before he’d ripped the sheet away, gripped my wrists and forced them down onto the pillows on either side of my head. Then he was on top of me, his hips forcing my legs wide apart. He didn’t spare me his weight, crushing me into the mattress as the zipper of his jeans ground against my sensitive clit.

He bent his head, his mouth on mine in a rough, devouring kiss, leaving me no option but to open up to him and to take what gave me. His tongue explored me as his hips ground against my clit, the grip of his fingers around my wrists and the weight of him adding a delicious feeling of constriction.

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