“Great.” Alaric smiles, getting up from the bed, and runs his palms down his button-up shirt. The gesture is simple, but something about it is off. It’s as if he… is nervous or something. I haven't known him terribly long, but we have been through quite a lot together, and not once have I seen him nervous. That fact is more than unsettling.
“Are you okay?” I ask, a sliver of fear running up my spine.
“Yes, I promise. You have nothing to worry about.”
I really hope so.
We leave the house and get into his car. Even with him assuring me multiple times, I can't help but feel uneasy. We drive for about ten minutes, and I spend every second of it searching our surroundings for a clue where we could be going. I still come up empty.
Alaric suddenly turns onto a small road, which leads to a gate of some sort. “I don’t think you can drive through here,” I tell him when I realize it’s one of those upscale gated communities. There is a golf course on the right, and I can see a fancy-looking white building, which I’m assuming is their country club sitting on top of the hill.
“I think we’ll be fine,” Alaric quips, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
We pull up to the gate, where a man in a dark green uniform smiles widely and waves us through without asking a single question. The large iron gate opens automatically as we drive through.
Okay, that’s weird.
I stay quiet while Alaric drives us through the neighborhood. The houses are large, with huge yards surrounding them. Many have pools and small playgrounds behind the houses, and I can’t help imagining what it would be like living in a place like this. It’s every person’s dream, isn’t it? White picket fence, a husband, two kids, and a dog.
I’m so lost in my own head that I don’t even notice when Alaric pulls into a driveway until we are stopped, and he cuts the engine. Confused, I look around. “Where are we? Who lives here?”
“We do,” Alaric explains casually. “I bought it for us.”
My mouth falls open in shock. I blink slowly, then gawk at him for what feels like ten minutes, waiting for him to tell me the truth. But all he does is stare back at me with a facial expression I can’t read.
“You mean it?” I ask when I finally find my voice again.
“Yes, I bought it for us. I saw it and thought it would be perfect since there is a large guest house in the back that would be perfect for your grams and a live-in caretaker.”
I hear his words, but it feels like each one has to trickle into my brain for me to really understand what he is saying.
“I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to try to get away from me, even if I want to do fucked-up things to your body. I want to give you everything you want because I want you to give me everything I want in return.”
“Okay,” I say without having to think about it.
“Okay?” He looks at me like he is not buying it.
“I know we met in the most unconventional way, and yes, you do fucked-up things to me, but you also take care of me, you protect me, and… I love you for that.”
“I love you too,” he tells me right away, like that huge fact is not new to him like it is to me.
Unbuckling myself, I climb across the center onto his lap. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him into a searing kiss that has my core tighten. He snakes his arms around my torso and pulls me against his body. I moan into his mouth when I feel his cock hardening between us.
“I’m going to fuck you in every single room of this house by the end of the month,” Alaric promises.
“I can’t wait,” I answer breathlessly.
“Careful what you wish for, little girl.” Alaric smirks, his pupils dilating. “I’ve been holding back, Monroe, but I still have urges…”
“I know, and I want you to do it to me… whatever you want. I trust you.”
“Good, because I might have put something in your coffee earlier,” Alaric admits. This time, instead of fear, excitement fills my veins. I don’t know what kind of dark and depraved things he is going to do to me, but I know I’ll be safe.
I’ll always be safe with him.