“What would you do?” I keep my gaze locked on his. I don’t want him to see me as weak because I’m not. I need him to look at the woman I am, not the girl. I’m old enough, and he knows it. The only thing keeping him at a distance is his job, which looking at his house, he doesn’t need.
“I’m very restrained,” he tells me. “I can wait this out until you finally admit how you feel. Let me make something very clear, Arabella,” he says, then leans forward. His elbows on his knees, his left hand holding onto the tumbler, and his other hand taunting me as he snakes it through his dark hair. “You will admit it. I love to fuck, and I do it very dirty. I like to toy with the women I’m with. I show no mercy. Is that something you want? Because the moment you say yes, there is no turning back.”
He gulps down the last of his bourbon before setting the glass on the folders on the table. The silence that awaits me is stifling. I need to answer him.
Can I do this? Can I be with him and still keep a shred of my dignity?
“I want to tell you, but …” My words taper off into the space between us, and it feels like my tongue is swollen and I can’t speak. I want to tell him how much I crave everything he’s saying, but for the first time in a long while, I’m scared.
“You have to understand something, Arabella. My job is something I can do without. But if we do this, if you can admit you want me and what I’m offering, then I’m not quitting. And you know why?” he asks. I shake my head no. “Because it’s going to be much more fun fucking with you at school, right under all their noses. I’m going to bend you over my desk and spread those pretty thighs, and I’m going to make you come all over my cock right in the history class.”
My body is flaming with desire. Lust courses through me like lava, hot and fiery. My cheeks burn bright, and I’m almost certain they’re red. My panties are wet. The image of him doing just that causes my clit to throb painfully. I need the friction. Low in my belly, the ache starts. It twists and snarls and reminds me that all it would take is a featherlight touch to set me off.
I lock my gaze with his before I say, “I want this.” Three words. One promise that I’m nervous about, but I can’t take it back. I don’t want to take it back.
Elian’s dark brow arches, his eyes holding me hostage as he regards me. “You agree that you’re mine to do with as I please?”
“Yes.”
“You also agree that anything I say you will obey without debate?” The challenge in his gaze causes me to pause. Elian chuckles. “It’s the only way you get me. I make the rules, you obey. I’m an extremely dominant man, and I like things done a certain way.”
“What about Ahren?” I ask, realizing that he could ask me to be with them both, and even though I wouldn’t possibly say no, I need to know where he stands on it.
“If you agree you’re mine, my brother is off limits. Your friendship is all you’ll have with him. I may have shared women with him in the past, but …” Elian pushes to his feet, gifting me the view of his tall frame, causing my breath to catch in my throat. He doesn’t move for a few moments, and I hungrily take him in as he smirks down at me. He slowly makes his way over to me, each step calculated, as if he knows the effect he has on me. He stops inches from where I’m kneeling, my face right at his crotch. He reaches for my chin. His cold, strong fingers grip me, controlling my movement as he tips my head back, ensuring we’re eye to eye. “You’re mine. And I’m not willing to see you take his dick in any of your pretty holes. I will own every part of you.”
I open my mouth, then shut it again. I look directly into those blue depths and nod. “Fine.”
“Consent is everything to me, Arabella.” There’s a warning in his tone, and I nod once more. “Words. I want your words, your eyes, and every other part of you.”
“I do want this. You. As much as I shouldn’t.” The honesty in my words scrapes at my throat. Usually, I’m confident and outspoken, but with him, I feel like a girl unsure of herself. His blue eyes shine with desire when I push to my feet. It’s time to take my power back. I’m the one who has all the say here. If I refuse, he can’t do shit to me. “And I think as much as you try to be the good teacher, you’re as needy as I am.” My words spark him to life.