CHAPTER7
Mila
I didn’t know why I’d opened up to Jon the way that I had. Maybe the sex was just that good or maybe he was a decent man under all that crime, but I found myself wanting to be around him. A part of me had feared that maybe he would send me away after I answered his questions, that somehow, he’d set out to ruin my life because I’d made the mistake of taking a contract that targeted his organization without knowing about it.
I thought he might hold it against me or treat me like an enemy forever, but he wasn’t doing any of that.
Instead, he was taking care of me.
There was something about him that made me feel safe. I’d only known him for twenty-four hours, but I knew he wouldn’t really hurt me. Lesser men might have killed me. Jon was different.
I’d been in the criminal circuit for a long time. I’d interacted with some and knew better than to meet up with others, but Jon wasn’t anything like that.
I thought, at his core, that Jon was a good man.
Even when he’d punished me in front of his men, there had been a certain firm gentleness during it. His belt had been terrible, but I’d peeked at my bottom in the mirror this morning. As hard as my spanking had been, there was barely a mark from it today.
Now that I knew more about his position, I understood why it had been so harsh, at least on the surface. He’d needed to punish me, and it had needed to be enough to satisfy his men.
I shifted in my seat, struggling intensely with the sudden arousal surging through me. Sure, it had been harsh and cruel, and it hadn’t ended until I was sobbing, but for some strange reason thinking about it now only aroused me.
A normal girl would have been angry. Instead, I was thinking about all the ways I could get him to take me back over his knee so that he’d touch the needy place in between my legs.
“Come here, Mila,” he murmured.
I put my coffee mug down on the table. It had grown cold.
We’d been talking for hours. I’d long finished my breakfast plate and had refilled my coffee a second time, only to drink about half of it. My belly was full, along with my heart.
I stood up and took a step toward him.
Did I dare allow myself to fall for this man? Should I love a man like him? Could I?
My feet moved of their own accord, bringing me closer to him with every step. He held out his hand for me and I took it.
He pulled me into his lap. His arms wrapped around me, one hand cupping the back of my head gently. I wound one arm around his shoulders and the other around his waist. I pressed my ear against his chest.
The steady beat of his heart was mesmerizing.
For a while, he just held me, and I savored it. I kept telling myself I shouldn’t be doing this, that I should be finding some way to escape or run away, but I didn’t want any of that. I just wanted to be around him, and I couldn’t really explain why.
I knew that I shouldn’t.
But I didn’t care. This was my life, and no one would tell me what to do with it.
I clutched at him more closely. His fingers squeezed the back of my head possessively and I decided I liked how it felt.
“So how are we going to do this?” I whispered.
“We’re going to work together. I’m going to trust you and you’re going to trust me,” he answered quietly. He kissed the top of my head.
Undoubtedly, it was one of the most romantic things anyone had ever done in my life.
Somewhere in the room a clock ticked, and I lifted my head. It was already past two in the afternoon.
“I’m going to need a few things to get my process started,” I began. His fingers slipped beneath the robe.
“What do you need, little girl?”