“I don’t sleep with men I’ve known less than a day.”
“As I told you, sleeping is the last thing we are going to do.”
“Let me rephrase my statement. I don’t fuck men I’ve known less than a day.”
“We have a year to get acquainted.”
“The risks of anyone finding out are too much.” I shook my head. “I won’t let you trap me into a marriage. You get too much by marrying me. You admitted it yourself.”
“You think sex is going to mean I will force you to the altar. Believe me when I say I’ll stick to the bargain. I get plenty without the bonds of matrimony.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“I never go back on my word. Besides, I’ve picked the woman I plan to marry, and you aren’t her.”
“Interesting. I find it hard to believe that she’ll willingly wait it out while you fuck me out of your system.”
“As far as she and everyone else is concerned, this is the real thing. If she’s available at the end of this, I’ll proceed with my plans. Otherwise, I’ll select another candidate.”
“It’s all business with you, isn’t it?”
“Life is business. Cleaner that way. Less complications.”
“What if I change my mind and decide to marry you?”
“Then I guess I’ll have a beautiful wife with a fetish for blades.” He smirked. “But we know that won’t happen. You’ve shown your cards already. You’re desperate to keep this life you’ve built. You’ll run before showing up at the altar.”
I closed my eyes and dropped my head back against the door. I’d done exactly what he claimed.
Fuck. I’d played my hand too soon, instead of feeling him out.
Lifting my lids, I found him standing directly in front of me. When the hell had he moved, and why hadn’t I noticed?
This man’s presence wreaked havoc on my senses. Of all the people in the world to affect me this way, why was it him?
Getting involved with him spelled disaster on an epic level.
I had no experience in anything like this. Hell, I had no experience in anything. Much less a sex bargain.
“I’m not any man’s whore.”
He moved closer, his intoxicating scent of spiced cologne and soap teasing my senses. “You haven’t been mine. You may like it.”
“Not happening.” I tilted my chin up, holding his stare and refusing to let this lure toward him overwhelm me, all the while knowing I was failing miserably.
“Tell me, Nyx,” he crooned, a second before his palm closed over my throat, making me gasp and sending a spasming deep inside my core. “Would it really be so bad?”
His hold felt too good; the pressure made me crave things I shouldn’t want with this man.
He ran his thumb over my lips, as a wave of desire flooded my cleft.
“Sex isn’t supposed to be transactional.” I grabbed hold of his muscled forearm and set my other hand on his chest to push him back, but instead, I curled my fingers into his shirt.
He tugged my neck to the side and ran his stubble along my jaw as he caged me with his body. “What else would you call it? You want out of this marriage. I want to do every dirty, delicious thing imaginable to your body while giving you extraordinary pleasure. Agree and we both get what we want.”
“It’s never that simple.”
His teeth grazed the shell of my ear, right before he bit, giving it a delicious sting, and it took all my strength not to whimper and beg for more.