Page 57 of His to Possess
“Jesus.” I scrub my hands roughly over my face. “I have no idea what we’re even talking about right now.”
“There are always strings, Philip,” she whispers. “Always. Nothing comes for free.”
I stare at her. “So you would rather…what? I wait and fuck you at the club to fulfill a damn contract?”
She lifts her chin. “At least that way we’d both be aware of the terms. When it was over, neither of us would owe the other. We’d be square. Even.”
“And if I don’t want to take your virginity in a room full of sick bastards? What happens then?”
Her face crumples and I’m sure she’s going to cry. But she manages to hold it together, keeping those damn shoulders straight and proud. “Then I guess I’d re-enter the auction.”
I’m over her in two seconds flat, my face shoved right in hers, invading her space. “Fuck that.”
“Philip—”
Blood is thundering in my ears, rage coursing hot and overwhelming through my body. The idea of her back on that stage, showing herself off for someone else…I want to break things.
My voice is low and filled with every ounce of command I possess as a Dom. “No other man is going to touch you, do you understand? You’re mine.”
“I’m not—”
“I’m going to be the first man inside this tight, sweet little body, Lilah,” I hiss. “Whether it happens right here in my bed or at the club with a room full of strangers as our audience. You fucking belong to me.”
Before she can do more than gape at me wordlessly, I’m off the bed and stalking out of the room. I need some air, some space. If I stay in that room with her for a second longer I’m pretty sure she’s going to be tied to the bed within a minute. I’ll use my mouth to make her come again, leaving her precious little hymen intact. Then I’ll do it again, and again, and again, until she’s so boneless with pleasure that she won’t ever utter the wordscontractorauctionever again.
But I can’t do that. I refuse to manipulate her with pleasure. I refuse to take away her choice. So instead I slam my way out of the condo, praying a walk around the park will be enough to calm me down.
No amount of walking will change the truth, though. I meant what I told her—Lilah is mine, and no one else is going to touch her.
Lilah
Ilie there in Philip’s bed long after he stormed out, trying to process what in the hell just happened.
I feel like I spent the last hour careening over a roller coaster track. It all happened so fast—my irritation with him at the restaurant, his dominant claiming of me the second we walked through the door, then our argument in his bed. I’m feeling a little dizzy, to be honest. And completely overwhelmed.
And now I have no idea where he is. I heard the front door slam seconds after he left me laying here panting in his bed, the aftershocks of the most amazing orgasm of my life still shuddering through me. Philip wasfurious. I’ve never seen him so angry. But even though he was clearly pissed at me, he still seems to want me.
“I’m going to be the first man inside this tight, sweet little body, Lilah. Whether it happens right here in my bed or at the club with a room full of strangers as our audience. You fucking belong to me.”
I shiver at the memory of his words. He’d sounded so…intense. Completely, one hundred percent serious. Philip Matthews is not the type to throw around idle threats and promises. He’s the type of man who goes after the things he wants full force, no hesitation, until he wins.
Am I one of those things he’ll stop at nothing to acquire? Or is it merely a matter of his male pride being bruised at the suggestion I might end up with another man at the end of the week?
I finally pull myself from his bed, rearranging my clothes before I wander into the living room. I already know he didn’t leave a note—there wouldn’t have been time—but I still foolishly hope for some sign of where he might have stormed off to. No luck. And there’s not a message on my phone, either.
I walk to the guest room, deciding to shower while I wait for him to return. Maybe hot water will do something to soothe the pounding tension and confusion I’m feeling.
He won’t be gone long, I tell myself as I walk into the amazing marble shower stall—which is probably bigger than Michelle’s living room where I’d been crashing for the past few months. But even the dreamy rain shower head can’t make me forget what just happened. And it does nothing to ease the slightly sick feeling his leaving has inspired.
Philip is likely just blowing off some steam. He’ll come back soon and we’ll talk things through. I’m sure it will be easier to have a rational conversation about this when I’m not lying half naked under him in bed. I close my eyes briefly, inundated with memories of exactly how it felt to lie half naked under him in bed…the things he’d done to me. I hadn’t known it was possible to feel that good. Nothing in my limited fumbling with other guys had even hinted at so much overwhelming, world-shattering pleasure. Hell, even the times I’d made myself orgasm hadn’t come close. Philip Matthews might just have a magic tongue.
And if you hadn’t been such an idiot, he probably would have found many more ways to put that magic tongue to use.
I lean my forehead against the cool marble. I’m frustrated with myself for how I handled that. I’m also angry at Philip for his inability to understand where I’m coming from. He knows the money is the most important thing to me right now. Why the hell would I do the auction in the first place if I wasn’t desperate?
He offered to give you the money,I remind myself.
Even thinking the words have defiance rising in me. I can’t accept money from him with nothing in return. I just can’t.
