“No.” I try to pull his jacket tighter, but it’s already wrapped as much as it can be so I lift my chin hoping that makes me look a little more capable of dealing with a mobster.
Which is probably what he is.
I think.
“Is that why I’m here right now? You want to fu—”
Andre’s damn eyebrow lifts again, the way it always does when I struggle to spit out certain words.
And it’s not the words that are the issue. I don’t normally have an issue saying fuck. Even virginity usually rolls right off my tongue.
It’s just when I’m discussing those things with him that I can’t seem to get them out.
“Say it, Paisley.” Andre comes closer. “Say what it is you think I want from you tonight.”
He does this on purpose. He knows damn well it’s hard for me to say and just loves to point out my struggle.
Maybe he likes reminding me how out of my element I am with him.
Or maybe he wants to call attention to my inexperience. My naivete.
But I know more about this world than he realizes. I know what it can do to a person. How easily it can chew you up and spit you out, turning you into something you never wanted to be.
It’s happened to me more than once but I’m still standing. Still fighting.
So if Andre thinks he can break me then he’s wrong.
I meet his gaze, forcing out the words he thinks I won’t say. “I think you want to fuck me.”
“It’s not a wrong answer.” He’s leaning into my personal space now but I refuse to shrink back. “It’s just not the right answer to the question I asked.”
I was doing so well until he got close. Until the wide expanse of his body teased against mine. Now I can’t even really remember the question.
“I don’t like bashful women, Duchess.” Andre’s lips hover over my mouth. “I like women who own their pleasure as easily as they claim mine.” The tip of his nose slides alongside mine. “I won’t fuck you until I know you’re capable of that.”
If I wasn’t halfway to passing out from lack of oxygen I’d laugh.
Tell Andre the chances of me ever being that woman are slim to none.
Sex has always been the enemy in a battle I could never win.
And I tried to win.
I tried to be good. Kept my legs together and my hands to myself.
I didn’t want them to call me what they called my mother.
And they didn’t. They called me something else.
Prude. Tease.
Stuck up.
“Then you might want to give up now.” My cheeks heat as I drop his gaze. “Because that’s not who I am.”
Andre’s finger presses under my chin, forcing my eyes back to his. His expression is softer than usual, but still so intense I want to squirm. “Why do you think that?”
I manage the laugh I couldn’t find earlier, but now it’s bitter and sharp. “I’m pretty sure everyone thinks that.”