As soon as the two men left my apartment, I felt the nervousness and the anger slowly seeping through my pores, until there was nothing left but the need to protect her and make sure she was alright. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to ask her what was going on. Some part deep inside me was too stubborn, too fucking stupid to ask the simplest of questions.

Are you okay?

The words echoed in my mind, yet I couldn’t bring myself to actually say them out loud. She ripped herself out of my arms and glared at me with big, hurt eyes. I wanted to pull her back. I wanted to choke that offended expression off her face. I wanted to hurt her until she screamed, and then make it all better only so I could break her all over again.

The girl was dangerous. The girl was making me want things I had no business lusting after. She’d signed a contract, and once her time was up, she’d be gone for good. That was one thing I was absolutely sure of. She wasn’t the type of girl who would stick around after she got paid, and she’d made it abundantly clear she was playing this game for the final prize – her money.

I could feel the weight of Rhys’s words reverberating in the room, their dark promise etching worry lines all over my girl’s face.

“What did he mean by that?” she asked in a small shaky voice. “Get rid of me? Were you trying to cancel the contract? Were you trying to get rid of me?”

What pained me the most was the fact that her voice wasn’t accusatory, but instead just hurt. I’d managed to fuck up the sliver of faith she had in me, and now she didn’t fucking trust me at all.

“Rhys is the owner of Empire Sin,” I explained slowly, not making a move to pull her back against me, even though it was the only thing I wanted. “He takes care of everything. I’m not sure you’ve actually met him before, he didn’t mention it. He only handles the bigger tasks, like this.”

She hesitated before parting her plump lips, her eyes finding mine and locking onto them desperately.

“Like what?” she asked softly. “Like you trying to kill me?”

“I wasn’t,” I replied vehemently. “I would never let anyone fucking hurt you. God, babydoll, you really think I’m some kind of monster, don’t you?”

She took a step closer, her small, lithe body only a few inches away from mine. She was driving me crazy like that, just barely out of touch, her scent intoxicating and her presence electrifying. There was nothing I wanted to do more than pull her against me and make her pretty little body submit. But that would have to wait. First, I had to fix her broken mind.

“I had my… doubts,” I finally went on. “You’ve been a fucking nightmare, Charli. You’ve made a mess every single day and I haven’t even fucking touched you the way I want to, because I just…”

“Just what?” she bit out, stepping right in front of me. Her eyes were blazing with dark fire as they locked with mine. “Why won’t you fucking touch me? That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it? So you can live out your darkest, most perverted desires. Yet you won’t even fucking look at me, let alone play with me like you said you would. I think…”

Her eyes seared my skin and she smirked, making me want to slap that expression of her pretty face.

“I think,” she finally went on. “I think you’re the one that’s scared of me. I think you’re too much of a fucking pussy to lay a finger on a girl my age, on a virgin. You’re too scared. You can’t even look at me.”

True to her words, I looked to the side because I couldn’t stand looking at those angry, young eyes that seemed to know me better than I knew myself. I wouldn’t let her see the self-doubt that prickled beneath the surface, the crippling fear that made me think I’d never be able to touch her again. She was a fucking brat, a little nightmare wrapped in expensive clothes, filthy curse words and a halo of fluffy blonde waves. But I could see through it, I could see right to the core, and in there, Charli was just a frightened little girl who wanted desperately to be taken care of.

But that wasn’t something I could give her. I could never be a father figure to her, a man who would keep his hands off her just to make sure she was alright. There was no way I could ignore the voices in my head telling me, begging me, to rape away every virginity she had left to lose, to ruin her pretty pussy until she screamed for someone to help her. Charli awoke something inside me, something dark and sinister that I was too scared of to fully explore.

The part of me that wanted to help her, took a bow before the ugly side. The scarred part. The piece of me that wanted to hear her scream. That wanted to break her and have her beg for more, and cry so pretty for me.

Charli needed help, and I could never give it to her, because every instinct in my body whispered terrible things I could do to her, even as she stood there with her bottom lip trembling and tears welling in her eyes.

“I want to help you,” I finally managed to choke out. “I want you to be well taken care of, Charli. I’m willing to pay you the sum we agreed on, still. But I have one rule if you want to accept it.”

“What is it?” she asked with her eyes blazing. She was angry, and she was scared. The need to hurt her was worse than ever and I had to tighten my hands into fists before I wrapped them around her tender skin to see how much it took to get that milky complexion to bruise in pretty blues and purples.

“I need you to leave here,” I finally admitted. “I need you to take the money and do what I tell you to, exactly. You need to take care of yourself and find opportunities to get away from the mess you’ve gotten yourself into. I’ll help you, but you need to listen, and you need to do as I say. I want you out of this fucking business. I want you safe. Do you understand that, Charli?”

Why did she flinch every time I called her by her name? I fucking hated it.

“I don’t want to,” she said softly. “I don’t want to leave.”

“You better think about it carefully,” I told her with a rough, hardened voice. “If you don’t leave, things might end badly. I know they will, because you drive me fucking up the wall. All I can think about is hurting you.”

She shivered at my words.

“What if I stay?” she asked, her voice soft and needy. “What if I want to stay? Will you take the money away?”

I stared at her. I’d never felt an attraction like the one that pulled me towards this little brat. The need to fuck the brattiness out of that tight little pussy. The need to hear her say anything I fucking wanted, every word in my mind transferred to her lips, spoken in sweet, desperate little whispers.

“Will you stay?” I asked, even though I knew what the answer would be. “If I take your money away from you, will you stay with me?”

She stared at me with those fucking eyes, and I could tell she was going to say no. She chewed on her bottom lip, hesitating, and before I could stop myself, I spoke again.

“I’ll triple it,” I blurted. “If you stay. I’ll fucking triple it. You can leave, take what we agreed on, find a better life. Or you can stay, like you wanted to at first. I’ll pay you a lot of money if you stay, babydoll.”

I knew I sounded desperate and I hated myself for it. I hated the neediness in my voice, and I hated the fact that I was desperate for her to say she’d stay.

“I…” she said in a raspy voice. “I don’t know what I should do.”

“Let me decide for you,” I said roughly, and her shoulders hitched up in fear as I approached her in two quick steps.

My hand wrapped in her mane of blonde hair, and I held onto her hair so tightly I almost lifted her off the floor. She mewled helplessly and I ignored it. I started pulling her head down instead, my mouth locking onto hers. She cried out when I kissed her. She licked at my lips while my mouth claimed hers, desperate, sweet little licks that made her familiar with the way I tasted. The girl made me weak. The way her body writhed underneath my touch from something as small as a kiss made me want to blow my fucking load in her pretty wet mouth.

“Open your mouth,” I barked against her skin, and she did it so eagerly, my tongue slipped inside her with no trouble at all. She tasted sweet, and I wanted so much more. I needed to know which parts of her tasted as sweet as that sinful little mouth.

“Stay,” I said roughly, and her body shivered, goosebumps erupting all over her skin as I practically begged her not to leave.

She made a small move to get away, but my hands wrapped around her wrists and I held her in place while she mewled helplessly.

“Stay,” I repeated. “I’ll let you have anything you want as long as you fucking stay, babydoll. I don’t want you gone. It was a fucking mistake to call Rhys over here. Don’t go. I’m not letting you go. You fucking belong with me, Charli.”

She tensed at her own name again, but I didn’t give a shit. I just pulled her tightly against me and she cried out when I lifted the shirt she was wearing. Her ass felt tight and juicy underneath my fingers as I slid her panties down to her knees.

I put my finger up to her lips and she sucked on it eagerly, having no idea on what I planned on doing with it. When I took it out of her mouth with a soft pop, it was soaked, and her eyes widened at the sight.

“Please don’t,” she cried, but her legs parted and she grabbed my hand, guiding it between her legs herself. She placed my fingers at her sweet little slit, desperately shaking, leaking all over my hand and silently asking me to fuck that pretty cunt. But I smacked her hand away instead, and she whined when my fingers slid across the tender skin under her pussy, right against her asshole. Once she realized what I was going to do, she cried so softly, she barely made a sound. But one look at her sweet face told me everything I needed to know.

“Are you going to stay with me, babydoll?” I asked her gently, and her mouth parted in a sweet little gasp when I pushed my finger against her puckered hole. “Tell me you’ll stay. Tell me you’ll be a good girl for me, Charli.”

“Okay,” she said breathily. “I’ll stay, I promise I’ll stay…”

I forced the tip of my finger inside her and she mewled so nicely. She shivered as my finger fucked her, not savagely or roughly but gently, patiently instead. Her body writhed against mine, whether desperate for more or eager for me to stop, I didn’t know. Either way, I couldn’t bring myself to stop, anyway. She felt too fucking amazing, the tightness of her little asshole so fucking seductive I couldn’t bring myself to stop no matter what.

“Be a good girl for me, Charli,” I told her gently. “Just be a good girl and everything will work out just how it’s supposed to, I promise.”

“Okay,” she said, holding back heavy tears. “I will, I promise. I’ll be good.”

I could tell she was desperate to come, so I let my thumb wander to her clit. The moment I pressed down on her sweet spot, she gasped out loud, rubbed herself all over my hand. So fucking desperate to get off, it was driving me insane. She would’ve done anything to come all over my fingers. But was I going to let her?

I wanted to say no, but seeing her so very desperate gave my hand a mind of its own. I fucked her ass and played with her swollen clit until she dissolved in a fit of moans and whispered promises. She came gently, softly, but her body shivered with an intensity that promised so much more if the right man brought it out of her.

While she was still coming, I pulled my finger out of her and kneeled down. She mewled helplessly as I slapped her legs apart and sucked at her pretty soaked pussy, and she came again with my tongue lapping up the juices between her legs. Her orgasm tasted fucking incredible, and I knew I’d never be able to let her go, even if she begged me for it.

Once I was done, her body threatened to collapse in a useless heap, but I gathered her in my arms and held her close as I lifted her up and carried her into her room. She covered her pretty, tear-streaked face with her hands, embarrassed by the emotions on display there. I didn’t say a word about it, just placed her gently in her bed.

I smoothed down her hair and tucked her in, and she didn’t want to look at me. Her tears refused to fall, and she wouldn’t look at me, but I could tell there was something on her mind.

“Talk to me,” I said, surprising myself with the tone of my voice. She made me go weak, made me soften up because I wanted to comfort her. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, Charli?”

The tiniest flinch, once again, when I said her name. Why did she keep doing that? I couldn’t understand it for the life of me.

“I’m just thinking about…” her words drifted off to nothing, and she swallowed roughly, looking away from me.

“Tell me,” I said, my own voice sounding rough and strange compared to her soft-spoken whispers.

“My family,” she said, choking up on the tears that wouldn’t come. “Just thinking about them…”

“Tell me about them,” I said, somehow curious about the secrets she kept hidden from me. We knew nothing about each other, but suddenly, I felt a bone-deep need to find out more about the pretty girl that lay sprawled in the bed before me. I wanted to know her secrets. I wanted to peel back her layers and stare at her trembling, exposed center. I wanted her to let me do it.

“I don’t want to,” she admitted. “It’s all fucked up, anyway. You wouldn’t even care.”

I glared at her, taking her hand in mine and squeezing it gently. I wanted to comfort her almost as much as I wanted to hurt her. I didn’t say a word, but when her eyes locked on mine, her barriers slowly lifted and she started to speak.