CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Caspian came in and made his point. He staked his claim. It was just like him throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me out of The Chamber all over again. Only this time, I knew what to expect. I knew what it felt like to be owned by him.
The last time I saw him was in my studio when I’d told him to leave. I should’ve known he wasn’t that easy to get rid of. I should have known he’d be back.
I was waiting for him to come back.
He showed up here, out of nowhere, wearing all black, thinking he could hide in the darkness. I knew it was him as soon as I’d stepped out onto the balcony. I felt his presence.
I should have looked him in the eye and told him “No” and meant it.
I should have sent him back to wherever he came from.
But this was what Caspian did to me. He eased his way into my veins like morphine, making me numb to the rest of the world. He crept inside my soul and conjured up my darkest desires.
Now he stood here, his intense gaze searing a trail from my head to my toes. His facial hair had grown out enough to create a sexy shadow along his jaw. I loved the way that shadow felt between my thighs. His plump lips turned up in a smirk. I loved the way those lips felt on my skin. His hair was a mess, but I loved that too, because I knew it was my hands that had made it look that way.
He was still beautiful.
He was still dangerous.
“We can’t do this.” I scooted up the sofa and held my dress over my thighs. The fabric clung to my skin where he’d smeared his cum.
He moved an oversized seashell to one side of the glass coffee table, clearing a place for him to sit in front of me. “Why not?”
“You know why.”
Because you’ll end up leaving again.
Because my father hates you and would never allow it.
Because you get to keep your secrets but demand I tell you mine.
“Because of Brady?”
God, no.
I’d just finished telling Brady that he deserved someone better than me right before I found Caspian in my backyard.
“Brady is a good man.” Too good of a man to be with a woman who pleasured herself to sleep at night with dark thoughts of an even darker man.
“Then let him be good to someone else. You’re taken.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and hypnotizing me with his stare. “Did you forget that already? Do you need me to remind you again?” He ran his tongue across his lips.
Yes. Please.
I swallowed. “No.”
He cocked a brow. “No?”
I shook my head, knowingnodidn’t always meannowith Caspian and wondering what he would do next.
He didn’t do anything, though—just locked his fingers together and held my gaze. “Then tell mewhywe can’t do this.”
“My father and your father would both—”
He cut me off, his jaw clenching at the mention of our fathers. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”