She’s quiet on the ride over to my apartment. I try to draw her out in conversation, but she clearly doesn’t want to talk, and I don’t want to press.

Something happened. That’s pretty obvious. Something has been happening, but this is new. I don’t know what it is, but I do know that I have to wait until she’s ready to talk. I don’t want to push and risk upsetting her further.

We get back to my apartment and head right upstairs. Once inside, I pour her a glass of wine and I get myself a whisky with a single large piece of ice. I swirl it around as she goes and sits on my couch.

“You’re quiet tonight,” I say.

She shrugs a little bit. “I guess so.”

I walk into the living room and go to the fireplace. It has a little gas nozzle in the back with a starter and a fake log. I just have to hit a single button and the fire starts up.

“You don’t have to talk,” I say to her. “If you don’t want to.”

She gives me a little smile. “Oh yeah? What should we do instead?”

I shrug. “Do you like puzzles?”

She gives me a look. “Like what kids do?”

I grin and nod. “Sure. We could do a puzzle. Maybe we could play Yahtzee.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

I laugh and sit down on the couch next to her. “Do I really seem like the type of man to play Yahtzee?”

She smiles a little bit. “You never know.”

“Ouch. That’s almost insulting.”

Her smile grows. “You’re the one trying to make a puzzle.”

“I’m willing to try anything to get you to quit sulking.”

She crosses her arms. “I am not sulking.”

“You are. I don’t know why, and you don’t have to tell me, but you really are.”

She sighs and looks down at the couch. She sips her wine.

“Remember the guy you were bidding against?” she asks.

“Vaguely,” I say.

“His name is Milo Fitzwilliam.”

That sounds familiar. “Old family, right? They own that bank?”

She nods. “Our families are very close, or at least they used to be.”

I can feel a tingling in my toes as I start to understand. “And your family, they like this Milo guy, right?”

“Right,” she says. “It’s so awful, Gavin.”

“What did they do?” I ask her softly.

“I’m like a piece of furniture to them.” She stands up, looking angry, and paces across the living room. “They want me to marry Milo, not because I want to, but because it would be good for our family politically.”

I watch her silently, but inwardly I can feel my anger growing. Her fucking family is unreal. They’re like some ancient dynasty from Europe or something, trying to marry off their daughter to better their family’s position. It’s so fucking strange and inhuman.

She’s a goddamn person, with wants and needs and desires and dreams, but her father seems to think she’s just a chess piece to be used as he sees fit. It’s so infuriating.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” I say, standing.

“That’s the thing,” she says, whirling on me. “They don’t care what I want. They already went behind my back and told Milo and his family that I agreed to the marriage.”

That hits me like a blow to the chest. “They did what?”

“They tried to marry me off behind my back,” she says softly. I can see the tears spring to her eyes.

I go over to her quickly and take her in my arms, pulling her against me. “You don’t have to do it,” I say.

“Then what?” I ask him. “My family will disown me, and everything I am is tied up in them. I don’t even have an education because they wouldn’t let me.”

“We’ll figure it out,” I say, totally at a loss.

She shakes her head and I hold her tightly, trying not to let the anger that’s rolling through my body show too much.

They really don’t care about her at all. But she’s right, everything she has is totally tied up with her family. They were smart when they wouldn’t let her go off to school. She doesn’t have any independence because they’ve made her that way. Now that she’s finally seeing what they did to her, it’s almost too late.

But not totally. I can help her. I just need her to know that she has other options.

I tilt her head up toward me. “So that’s why you’re here,” I say softly. “Why you said you’re ready.”

She nods slowly. “I am ready.”

Desire slowly floods through me. “Are you sure?” I ask her. “I don’t want you to rush into anything you’re not prepared for.”

“I’m sure.” Her eyes are gorgeous and I can’t help myself.

I kiss her full and deep. I let myself get lost in the moment, and for a second, I forget all about her family. I forget about the fact that they want me to stay far away from her, and can probably hurt me pretty badly if they want to. I forget about Silas and about Chuck warning me to stay away from her. I forget about it all.

There’s only Sadie in this moment.

I kiss her deep, my tongue in her mouth, her taste in mine. I slowly pull her shirt over her head and toss it aside. She’s wearing a gray bra and I feel her breasts as she presses tighter against me.

I cup her ass and pull her tight, kissing her deeply. She doesn’t resist when I step back slightly and unbutton her jeans. I tug them down over her hips, getting her partially naked.

She stands there in just her bra and matching panties, and my cock is hard as fucking hell. I step back and look at her, which only makes her blush.

“Turn for me,” I say.

She obeys, turning around. “I’ve never let someone look at me like this before,” she says, a little shy.

“I know that,” I answer. I slap her ass and she seems surprised.

“Gavin!”

“No,” I say, taking her hair in my fist. I pull her back against me, her ass against my hard cock. “Right now, I’m your Daddy.”

She gasps as I reach around her hip with my other hand and slowly slip my fingers down underneath her panties. She’s dripping wet, just like I knew she would be. I slowly begin to rub her wet clit in circles, causing her whole body to tense. I grip her hair with my other hand, and I know that I’m going to dominate her.

I want to destroy her fucking pussy, fuck her hard and deep, make her scream. But I have to hold myself back, at least at first. She’s a virgin, and she’s not used to a man like me.

But I’ll teach her.