The Dare Collection April 2019. Nicola Marsh
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He thought I didn’t understand? Maybe I should have told him what I’d decided, but if he was grumpy now, he’d definitely be grumpy about the fact that I wanted to use him purely as a way to get back at Dad.
I gave him an exasperated look. ‘And do you understand that I’m okay with you taking my virginity? I mean, why do you think I didn’t mind any of what you said to me last night in the van?’
‘Little one, you barely know me. And you’ve certainly got no fucking idea what losing your virginity to me even means.’
‘Okay, first, like I told you last night, I’m not stupid. I have some idea what losing my virginity means. Second, I’ve read about you. I know about your reputation.’
He remained motionless beside the bed, his eyes glittering strangely, his big body radiating tension. ‘Whatever you heard about my reputation, just know that it’s twice as bad and twice as fucked up as any of the rumours. I’m not a man you want anywhere near your bed, Imogen.’
That didn’t sound like a ‘no’. More like a...warning.
Too bad I didn’t care about warnings.
‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘The rumours said you once took down a drug ring all by yourself and that you broke the kneecaps of—’
‘Enough.’ His voice was as hard and cold as the look in his eyes. ‘You’ll remain my prisoner until your father leaves Sydney. That’s all.’
I bit my lip, trying to hold my tongue and hide my disappointment.
Except I could see my chance for revenge slipping further and further away and a question came out all the same. ‘So all those threats last night were empty ones?’
His scowl became thunderous. ‘Don’t push me.’
Another warning. Which I also ignored.
If I couldn’t change his mind now, then I’d be returned to Dad like an unwanted present, free to be handed to whomever pleased him the most.
And I would never, ever have this chance, this choice again.
‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘What are you going to do to me? I know you won’t hurt me—’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘Yes, I do. You didn’t last night when you kidnapped me, which means you’re not going to now. I mean, you could have used my life to get Dad to do what you want, but you didn’t. You used my virginity. Which is a whole lot friendlier than, say, actual murder.’
His expression shifted, the look in his eyes sharpening. ‘Tell me why you were so pleased to be kidnapped by me.’
The change of subject caught me off guard. Should I tell him everything? Maybe I shouldn’t.
It said something about me that I hadn’t realised how prescribed my life had become until I was eighteen, and I was a bit of ashamed of that. And then there was the fact that it had almost taken a man’s life to make me see it.
Yeah, I wasn’t too keen to share that with him.
I’d had one attempt at a normal life, where I’d tried to have friends, a job, go to uni—all the things a girl my age should have. And it had been great—until I’d impulsively asked a guy I liked out for coffee, only to have poor Cameron beaten half to death in an alleyway.
Dad had called me into his office afterwards to inform me that it had been him who’d ordered it and that I needed to be more careful with whom I associated. That had been a wake-up call for me about how far he was prepared to go to keep me out of anyone’s reach.
I’d wanted to leave ever since, but the opportunity had never presented itself until Ajax had showed up.
‘I was tired of being a prisoner,’ I said, deciding to keep some of the truth to myself. ‘I’d been trying to figure out how to get away from him for ages and you came along at just the right time.’
His gaze roamed over me and I felt it like the sunlight falling on my skin. No, hotter than that. Way hotter. ‘You don’t act like a woman who’s been a prisoner for years.’
‘How is a woman who’s been a prisoner for years supposed to act?’ I shifted on the bed, restless all of a sudden.
I didn’t want to sit here and talk about Dad and how he’d curtailed my life. Or about how I’d been so desperate for his approval that I’d let him. Or about Mum and the constant reminder of the debt I had to pay.
You can’t pay it now.
And I never would. But surely that didn’t mean I wasn’t allowed to have a life? I wanted to have a taste of all the stuff I’d missed out on. Stuff like exploring having sex with Ajax King.
Surely that was allowed?
Except Ajax completely ignored my slightly pissy tone. ‘Did he hurt you?’
‘Who? Dad?’ I moved to the side of the bed and slipped off it. Not physically.’ Emotionally, yes. Another thing I didn’t want to talk about.
I walked past Ajax and went over to the massive windows that looked out over the sea. It was so beautiful. The only thing I’d seen from the windows of Dad’s isolated house in the Blue Mountains, where I mainly lived, was trees and paddocks and yet more trees.
‘Wow,’ I breathed, staring at the ocean and white-capped waves and the yachts sailing on it. ‘What an amazing view. Can I go outside and see it? Do you have a boat?’
‘No, you can’t go outside, not yet. And yes, I have a boat.’
I could feel the pressure of his stare against my back but I didn’t turn around, keeping my gaze on the sea, enjoying the way he was looking at me. ‘Oh, good. Can I go out—?’
‘What did he do?’ Ajax’s deep voice cut through mine like a hot knife through cold butter.
The damn man had a one-track mind.
‘Can we not talk about that?’ Slowly I turned around. ‘Can’t we talk about what you promised me in the van last night?’
Ajax had remained by the bed, but was now facing me, his arms folded across his chest. The expression on his hard features was difficult to read, but something steely glinted in his eyes. ‘I’m not sleeping with you, Imogen. I’ve already made that clear.’
He said it so...flatly. As if that kiss he’d given me, that small taste of pleasure, didn’t mean a thing.
Of course it didn’t. He just told you he didn’t mean it. The real question is: why does it mean so much to you?
Wasn’t that obvious? Dad had told me what to do my entire life and now I had a chance to do what I wanted for a change, I couldn’t—wouldn’t—give it up.
‘You’re not going to sleep with me yet,’ I amended for him. ‘But why can’t we do it now? Dad will never know.’
‘He will if he demands a doctor’s examination.’
My face went hot because, knowing Dad, that’s exactly what he would demand.
How humiliating.
‘As it stands now,’ Ajax went on ruthlessly, ‘he’s going to have to take my word that I haven’t touched you.’
‘You could...lie, maybe?’ I tried not to sound too hopeful.
But that was clearly the wrong thing to say because the blue of his eyes became ice. ‘My word as a King means something to men like him. And I won’t put that at risk with a lie simply because you want to lose your virginity.’
I blinked, feeling like he’d thrown a bucket of cold water over me, with an extra helping of shame following along behind it. I’d gone full Imogen on him last night, not even bothering