Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“I love you, too.”
“Then give me what I want,” he said through clenched teeth.
I almost laughed at the ferocity in his eyes. Had he lost his mind? Was this what it was like to be with him, to wrangle this sexual god and keep him at bay as much as my own mind clear?
“That’s not how it works, Chase.”
“Then how does it goddamn well work? Give me the rule book so I can read it.”
“I’ve got a feeling if I gave you the book, you would destroy it and make your own.”
“Not until I’ve beaten the game.”
“That’s the problem with this situation. It isn’t a game. It’s my life, and you don’t get to do anything you want with it, especially without asking and getting my approval.”
“Is this about drugging you?”
Sighing, I climbed out of his arms. “You ask that as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. ‘Hey, baby, are you annoyed because I had a doctor drug you so I could put you on a plane against your will?’” I pounded my chest. “‘I’m Chase Stone, extravagant dominant. I get what I want. I gorge myself on the pleasures of this world. I demand it my way or nothing at all, and I’m an asshat.’”
“Well, I’m certainly not an asshat.”
Huffing, I rushed out of the shower. He watched me the whole time, water streaming down the chiseled rows of muscle on his chest. Fury pooled within those bright green eyes. He kept his hands at his sides in tight fists.
“Have you really thought this through?” he asked.
The question made me stop and face him. “Thought what through?”
“Teasing me.”
“I’m not teasing you. I’m standing my ground.”
“Tesoro.”
I scrunched my face up in confusion. “What?”
“Tesoro, is what I will call you.”
“Is that Italian?”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Well, for your sake, it better not mean bitch.”
“No, I’m not that crazy.”
“What does it mean? I want to know.”
“When I tell you, I’ll be inside of you, and then I’m going to spend the rest of the night showing your body how serious I am.”
I shuddered, but tried to play it off as I hurried to find some clothes. “That’s going to be a long time.”
He grunted.
“I’m serious.”
“Fine. Then let’s discuss this.” He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the one place I’d rather he not hide. “I wasn’t happy with drugging you, either.”
“Well, that’s good.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“But you wouldn’t have left if I had asked you to come.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to. You just said, ‘Hey, she should be here. Let’s drug her ass and put her here. No need to ask her anything. She goes where I tell her to go.’”
“That’s not fair. I didn’t mean it that way. I was in a rush. You’d gotten shot. Benny and his goons were outside of your room. Troy and I came up—”
“That’s your problem right there, going to Troy first, instead of me. All of my brothers are over protective to the point that I hadn’t even had my first kiss until eighteen and only had it then because they all were in jail and it was in another state.”
“Then I think your brothers and I will get along.”
I returned to looking for clothes.
He thinks this all is a joke.
“I’m sorry.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Come again?”
“I’m sorry. That was wrong and stupid. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Done what?”
He sneered, but then quickly changed his expression. “Perhaps, I shouldn’t have had Dr. Scott drug you.”
“Perhaps? Really?”
“I shouldn’t have done it. I won’t do it again.”
“And if you decide to take me on a trip, I would also like you to ask me rather than simply kidnapping me.”
“Okay. I agree. Now, can we get back into the shower?”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I still need time.”
“Time? You would pick the one thing that I couldn’t buy.”
“You would think that you could buy life’s most important things.”
“I can.”
“You can’t buy me.”
“I’m seeing that.” He stormed off to the bathroom and slammed the door.
Chapter 10
JASMINE
My nose followed the food. That was always the best way to find a kitchen in a new home, just let my nostrils be the guide. Putting on my robe, I opened the bedroom door, spotted some stairs, and took my time going down them. I wasn’t sure if this was Chase’s childhood home. From the little he discussed about that time, I learned that his family traveled a lot. I looked around, not sure if he’d rented this particular place just for our trip or if this was in fact where a tiny Chase used to run the halls, screaming Beatles’ songs.
There were no family photos on any of the walls, but I doubted rich folks did that anyway. Mom covered every space with a family memento; even the paper photos she would get from taking my nieces and nephews to Chuck-e Cheese had a place on the surface. There was simplification in mind for the interior decorating of this house—ivory walls and dark brown tiled floors. Each room’s entrance was cut out of the wall in a large oval shape, instead of closed off by a wooden door. Sunlight shone from all the windows.