CHAPTER TEN

       Imogen

      I SHUDDERED IN Ajax’s arms, mind-blowing pleasure ripping through me, making me feel like I was glowing, lit up from the inside by the sheer ecstasy of his touch.

      Hell, if I’d known sex would be like this, I’d have tried a lot harder to escape Dad.

       It’s not just the sex. It’s Ajax.

      I had my head tipped back against the closet door and my eyes were closed, but now I opened them a crack, half afraid to look at him, yet at the same time half desperate too.

      His eyes were cobalt with desire, his expression feral with possessive hunger.

      My soul shivered in instinctive response.

      I’d told him just before that it was him, that he was different, and that had been instinct. But now I knew for certain. This feeling inside me, this pleasure. It was all because of him.

      For a second I tried imagining doing this with anyone else and I...couldn’t. I’d wanted him from the moment I’d first seen him, on a visceral level, but he also made me feel safe and protected.

      Yet he wasn’t a safe man. He was dangerous. And that excited me for reasons I didn’t understand. There was a physical energy that drew me to him, yet it was about more than that.

      I affected him. I’d seen him trying to resist me and being unable to. I liked that. I liked that a lot. It made me feel powerful and strong, and it had been too long since I’d felt either of those things.

      ‘Still with me?’ His voice was rough black velvet brushing over my skin, dark and sensual with a husky edge.

      And this time my body shivered along with my soul.

      I still had my legs wrapped around his lean waist, the ridge of his cock nudging my throbbing clit. The pressure of his fingers around my wrists was getting me off too, as if part of me enjoyed being held helpless like this.

      I should have been embarrassed by the way I’d clawed at him and climbed him, losing control of myself in a way my father would have despised. But the way Ajax was looking at me made all my embarrassment fade away.

      ‘Um...yes.’ God, I sounded croaky. ‘Unless those videos were wrong, we haven’t finished, though, right?’ I couldn’t quite hide my uncertainty, a part of me worried that this was all he was going to give me. That he might change his mind and leave me here, sated yet still starving.

      He shifted, the hard ridge between my thighs brushing against my sensitive sex, sending a shockwave of pleasure through me, his free hand cupping my bare breast.

      His palm was hot, searing against my skin, and when he brushed his thumb over my nipple, still slick from his mouth, I groaned.

      ‘No, we’re not finished.’ He watched me, gauging my reactions. ‘After all, you’re still a virgin.’

      ‘Well, right?’ A weird reaction was starting to set in, a burst of intense emotion sweeping over me, making me feel like crying.

      Okay, now this was embarrassing.

      I never cried. Not ever. Not even the day Dad had informed me that I’d killed my mother by being born and he’d never forgive me for it. And that if I ever wanted even a crumb of attention from him, I’d have to work for it.

      Not that I’d ever think about that day again.

      ‘I mean, this hymen isn’t going to break itself,’ I babbled, trying to talk away the vulnerability that was getting wider and larger inside me. ‘And it’s not going to be much of a revenge if—’

      Ajax lifted his hand from my breast and laid his thumb against my mouth, stopping the flow of words. His gaze narrowed, focusing intensely on me. ‘Little one, are you okay?’

      To my horror, I felt my lower lip wobble.

      This wasn’t how it went in the videos. The women all moaned and gasped like they were enjoying themselves, but no one cried afterwards. No one talked about feelings.

      I knew that wasn’t the point—porn didn’t have feelings attached—but my reaction still caught me by surprise.

      Why was this happening? A combination of his physical closeness and the unstoppable pleasure he’d given me? The realisation that this was all centred around him somehow? Or was it something else?

      Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. I didn’t want it.

      ‘What’s wrong?’ Ajax took his thumb from my mouth. ‘And give me the truth this time.’

      I swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat.

       Dad would be appalled.

      He would. He hated my tears. He thought I didn’t deserve to cry.

      ‘Nothing.’ Desperately, I tried to salvage the situation. ‘I’m fine.’

      But of course Ajax knew I was lying.

      ‘You’re not fine,’ he said flatly. ‘You were honest with me before, Imogen. Why are you lying now?’

      Shit. I was such a failure. This was why I’d wanted to get away from Dad in the first place, because I could never be what he wanted me to be. I could never earn a place in his heart. And my inability to do any of that only got people hurt in the process.

      ‘Okay, so you’re right. I’m not fine,’ I croaked pathetically, not even trying to hide it because what was the point? ‘I feel...weird. Like I want to cry. But it’s not you. It’s nothing you’ve done. It’s just...’

      He didn’t say anything, simply stared at me.

      ‘Don’t think that this means I don’t want you to keep going,’ I added, angry with myself for ruining the moment. ‘I still need you to take my virginity, okay? I want my damn revenge.’

      He remained silent.

      Great, so I’d screwed up. I’d been too full-on. Too honest. Too emotional. Too...everything.

      I should have remembered that there were always consequences when I didn’t keep myself under control. Consequences such as what had happened to Cameron, the poor guy beaten within an inch of his life.

      My fault. I’d never even thought that asking him out would be a problem, I’d simply gone ahead and asked him, too caught up in my attraction to him. And he’d got hurt because of me.

      Failing. I was