Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ASTRID
What. The. Fuck?
I stared with wide eyes as Cairo pulled into the driveway—gated driveway, to be exact—of the biggest house I had ever seen. House wasn’t even the right word for how huge the mansion and the entire estate was.
My heart raced so hard that I could feel it beating against my rib cage. I peeked over at Cairo, who continued to drive up the hedge-lined driveway, which was longer than my street, toward the mansion.
How is he so unbothered?! Is this normal for him?!
“Where are we going?” I asked, shuffling my feet.
“I told you that we were going on a drive.”
“But … where is this? What is this place?”
He looked at me, one hand on the steering wheel. “This is my house.”
What did his parents do for a living?! My dad was one of the top doctors in the state, and he didn’t even earn this much money to have an estate this large. It almost didn’t seem possible that this was someone’s house.
“Oh,” I whispered, heat growing between my legs. “What are we doing here?”
I didn’t know why I was suddenly all shy with him. I had been a brat in the car when I thought I had the upper hand over him, when I thought that there was no way innocent little Cairo would actually bring me to his house to treat me how I needed.
After Cairo parked out front, a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “You know why we’re here, Astrid. This was what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“But we have school,” I said.
Cairo placed his forearm on the center console and leaned closer to me, his brown eyes glowing underneath the sunlight. “First time skipping school?” he asked, his smirk turning into a small, innocent smile. “Me too.”
Warmth flooded through my chest now, making me feel all gushy and gooey and … God, he was only supposed to be the cute, innocent guy in The Crew that I could take advantage of, and now he was making me feel all these weird things. If he was—
Mid-thought, I jumped up when someone suddenly opened my door.
“Miss, right this way,” a tall man in a suit said, holding out his hand for me.
What the hell is this?! Talk about old money …
Cairo didn’t seem bothered or, you know, like, amazed by any of this. I peered over at him to see him stepping out of the car himself and handing off the keys to someone else. I scurried out of the car, feeling so out of place here, and Cairo took my hand from the man.
“Do you actually live here?” I asked. “Like here, here?”
With my hand engulfed in his, Cairo led me up the center stairs to the double-door entrance. “It’s my grandparents’ old house. Back in the day, they did something with oil. My parents inherited it. Anyway …”
Something with oil? Anyway? We can’t just skip past that entire part …
But Cairo didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it. He might live like a king—no, like an emperor—but he definitely didn’t tell anyone about it or even show off his money at school, like a lot of filthy rich students did.
“Where are your parents now?” I asked, spotting several cars in the driveway.
“Probably in Europe somewhere. I don’t know.”
Wow, rich people problems …
“Oh,” I murmured, stepping into the house and trying to play it off like these enormous rooms were completely normal for me, like it didn’t look like I was trash inside a golden castle.
If Cairo didn’t want to talk about money, that was fine with me. I didn’t care that much about it because we had come here for one thing.
“So, it’s just us here?”
Cairo shut the door behind us and dropped his head to look at me through his brows, that innocent expression suddenly gone. He stepped closer to me, and I moved backward, heart racing and pussy pulsing.
“It’s just us,” he said.
“Oh, yeah?” I whispered, nipples so hard that they hurt.
When Cairo finally closed the distance between us, he wrapped one hand around the front of my neck. “Us and a couple of the staff,” he murmured against my lips, his dark gaze locked on mine. “But I don’t mind if they see you bent over the couch with my collar around this pretty little neck.”
Holy fucking shit.
“Would you like that?” he asked.
A whimper left my mouth, and I pressed my legs together.
“Words, Astrid. I need you to use your words.”
I clenched and nodded. “Yes, I would like that.”
“Good girl,” he praised, dipping his hand between my thighs. “That’s my good girl.”
He moved his fingers in effortless circles against my clit through my pants, and my knees nearly buckled. Yesterday morning, he had been so rough with me as he pounded into my mouth, and now he … was so soft.
“Wait here,” he said, releasing me. “By the time I return, all your clothes should be off, and you should be bent over this couch.” Cairo stepped backward, his gaze soft but stern. “Do you understand, Astrid?”
I looked over my shoulder at the room we had just walked through, knowing that there had to be more staff. Wouldn’t they see me?
“Do. You. Understand?” he asked again, snatching my nipples through my shirt.
Pleasure exploded through my body, and I moaned softly. “Yes, I understand.”
“Tell me what you’re going to do.”
“I’m going to be naked and bent over the couch by the time you come back.”
He squeezed on my nipples. “And if you are, you’ll be rewarded, understand?”
I stared up into those brown eyes that had always, always, always been so innocent. “Yes, I understand. I’ll be naked and bent over the couch by the time that you come back, Cairo. I promise.”