Alistair steps into a darkened doorway and props me against stone.
“Pull up your dress, baby,” he grits out. I do as I’m told, gathering the hem up to my waist—and a moment later, I hear his zipper being jerked down. “God, you look like a fucking princess in this dress. And you are, aren’t you?” He uses his steel erection to move aside the barrier of my panties, wedging himself inside me roughly, groaning, thrusting the remaining distance and making me whimper. “Daddy’s tight little princess.”
I can only nod as I’m bounced fastfastfast on Alistair’s thickness, his groans muffled by the side of my neck. I tighten and release the muscles of my womanhood, the way I’ve learned he loves, the friction sending ripples of pleasure through me. Our mouths find one another and mate frantically, the pace of his hips picking up even more until the slap of us joining echoes loudly in the streets, along with our moans.
“Tell me you want my come,” he growls into my ear, his fingers biting into the cheeks of my bottom, one of his palms cracking down onto my backside, sending a delicious rippling sting to my core. “Tell me you need it to live.”
“I’ll die without your come,” I gasp, my legs beginning to tremble, all my nerve endings racing around and buzzing, pulling taut. I seem to reach this point sooner and sooner every time we make love, because I know what to do now. I know how to tilt my hips just right so Alistair’s sex will drag up and back against my sensitive nub and oh, oh God. “I’m g-going to…I’m going to…”
“Ahhhh. Fuck, baby. Me too.”
“I love you. I love you.”
“I love you, too. God, so much.”
We fall apart together there, in the shadows of Paris, kissing in between gasps, love thick in the air around us. And I never imagine for a second that we can be torn apart…
* * *
It’s when we land at the airport that dread begins to build in my belly.
Paris was a fairytale, but reality is intruding fast.
Alistair carries me off the plane and keeps me on his lap in the back of the limousine. I cling to him, inhaling the masculine scent from his neck like a lifeline. I’ve allowed too much time to pass without telling Alistair the truth. But I have to believe he’ll understand. I have to believe that the man he’s become will be compassionate and patient. He’s not the devil anymore, right?
I close my eyes and snuggle closer, praying with all my might that our love is strong enough to survive the truth about who I am. Why I was on that road in the first place the day he picked me up.
“You haven’t talked to your family since we left,” he says, kissing my neck, licking it in the shape of a heart. “If you want to invite them over for dinner tomorrow, I can start preparing myself to be irritated now.”
Despite my worry, I have to giggle. “You’re so sure you’ll be annoyed?”
“Yes. That’s an hour I could be spending inside you.” He stokes my bottom beneath my skirt. “We have to swing by a couple of my buildings on the way home,” he murmurs into my ear, unaware that his words set a bomb off inside of me. “There are a couple of changes I need to make in day-to-day operations.”
My hand curls into a fist on his shoulder. “Changes?”
“Yes.” He hesitates briefly. “I think I’ve been a little harsh with my tenants. I’m going to institute a grace period for paying rent.” There’s a smile in his voice now. “I’m going to call it the Shelby Clause.”
Tears swarm my eyes. “That’s lovely.” I ignore the sense of foreboding in my belly and gather my courage. “I knew you would change the rule on your own. I knew you would do the right thing.”
Alistair’s muscles tighten beneath me. “What do you mean by that?”
Finally, I lift my head and whatever he sees on my face causes him to go pale.
“Alistair, I have to tell you something.”
He visibly braces himself. “What is it, angel?”
“I…I…” My heart is going to break free of my chest. “Will you promise to listen start to finish and try to be calm?”
His eyes take on a sharper quality. A hint of panic. “Out with it, Shelby.”
Oh, God. I haven’t even told him yet and he’s pulling away from me emotionally. As if he expected this blow to come sooner or later. “I live in one of your buildings.”
“What?” Dark eyebrows slash together. “Why…why didn’t you tell me that?”
I’m going to hyperventilate. “After my father lost his job, my family couldn’t pay the rent this month. You sent them an eviction notice and…and…” I press a hand to my chest to stop the fearful rapping of my heart. “We were desperate and my mother, she thought I could…she thought you might be lenient if I offer m-myself in exchange for the money we owe. My virginity.”