“I don’t—” He laid a finger against my lips. I wanted to draw the digit into my mouth and suck on it. What was wrong with me? I needed to find a way out of there. Would he really hold me against my will? I knew something was off when Jimmy sent me here. I knew the job was too good to be true.
“Do you understand what it means when I say you’re mine?”
“I… I don’t know.” But I thought I actually did, and it made me want him when I should have been terrified. I’d hidden from danger and conflict ever since that night when… I pushed the memories away. They still had the power to make me sick, and I needed to focus so I could find a way out of this.
“Kneel.” Mr. Marchesi pointed to the floor in front of him.
No, this wasn’t happening. I glanced toward the door. It seemed much farther away than it had moments before. I doubted I could outrun him, and he had men outside the door anyway. I wouldn’t be able to get away from them, and while Mr. Marchesi wasn’t as big as they were, I was certain he was stronger than me. Fuck. He was watching me, like a cat waiting for a mouse to make a move before he pounced.
When I didn’t move, he cupped my chin. Heat raced through me as his fingers pressed into my skin, firm but not hard enough to hurt. “I don’t give commands a second time.”
He let go, and I went to my knees, heart racing. This was wrong, and yet, looking up and seeing his lips curve up in approval made my cock start to swell.
“See. That wasn’t so difficult.” He held out a hand, palm up.
“Wh-what do you want, sir?” I hated how my voice trembled, but at least my fear was justified this time. Mr. Marchesi was the kind of man who would scare almost anyone.
“Your hand.”
I frowned. “I don’t—”
“Your hand, Peter.” Why did my name sound so sexy on his lips?
I laid my trembling hand over his, and he pulled me to my feet. “Aren’t you going to make me…”
“Do you want me to make you?”
I shook my head. “No, sir.”
He ran a finger over my lower lip, pressing until I opened my mouth slightly. “Are you sure?”
It was one thing to be forced into taking this job, but to be… I didn’t want that, did I?
“I don’t need you to do anything else today. I simply needed to prove a point.”
“That you’re scary?”
He gave me a true smile then, and it made him even more beautiful. “I’ve proven that you will obey me.”
“You didn’t give me a choice.”
“Is that true, Peter? Did I threaten you?”
“Maybe not technically, but—”
“Did I hold a gun to your head?”
“There are guards outside the door.”
“Who are there to protect me. Did I say they would prevent you from leaving?”
He’d implied it. He’d said he always got what he wanted, and… he had. I’d done what he asked and part of me had fucking wanted to.
He smiled as if reading my thoughts. “So now I know you’ll do what I ask. As long as you remember what I expect from you, you and I will have a lot of fun together.”
“What do you mean exactly?”
He laughed, the sound unexpected. “You might be the most innocent man to ever enter this office, but I think even you can figure that out. You know what I want to do to you, and I don’t think you’re going to fight me.” His gaze ran over my body until he was looking at my erection pressing against the front of my pants. The room wavered. I needed to run, but I was too scared to move.
When our eyes met again, he held my gaze. I felt my rapid heartbeat pulsing in my ears, and the edges of my vision began to darken.
He clapped a hand on my shoulder, steadying me. “I’m a scary man, Peter, but you have no reason to fear me as long as you do what I ask.”
What he was asking was wrong. So very wrong. He stepped away suddenly, and I wavered.
“Easy. Take a breath.”
I did, obeying him without even thinking about it.
“That’s better. I want you to get some water in the lobby before you leave. Be back here at nine tomorrow morning. You’ll be here until six at least. I have a lot for you to do.”
“Wait. You really are hiring me as your receptionist?”
He gave a slight nod. “I already told you that.”
“But I thought…”
“Goodbye, Mr. Kelly. I have work to do.”
Somehow I managed to leave his office without tripping over something or passing out. When I passed by a water fountain in the lobby, I stopped and drank from it, just as I’d been commanded. Then I walked out, grateful for once for the cold since the sting of it snapped me out of the spell Lucien Marchesi had me under. I wasn’t going to obey any more of his commands. I wasn’t going back there. I didn’t belong in his world. I wasn’t a plaything he could own, and I knew better than to think I would ever be anything more to him. Danger was something I ran from, not to. I’d learned to keep my head down and stay out of trouble, and that’s what I would continue to do.