Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Ilya
There was blood on my dick, smeared on her thighs as well, and I couldn’t stop looking at it.
"What the hell?" I took a deep breath, my hand hovering over her and shaking, but I didn’t touch her. What the hell had I just done?
"You’re a virgin?" I couldn’t help the bite in my voice, and she heard it. Yanking up her shorts, she straightened. Her spine was stiff, but her whole body was shaking.
Was she trembling because I had hurt her? My nose wrinkled ruefully. Of course I had hurt her. She’d been untouched, and I had been—I swallowed hard.
Fuck.
Reaching out, I touched her shoulder gently, straightening the thin strap of her tank top.
"Why?" Moving her towards me, I took her in for the first time. When she had first arrived, I had noticed a pretty face. Clean from makeup and kind of sweet-looking, but I hadn’t really looked at her properly since.
This close, I could see the smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. The way her lashes had a natural curl that kind of gave her a cat-like appearance.
She was beautiful. Naturally stunning.
"You’re a virgin?" I asked again.
She shrugged. The smallest movement of her slender shoulders. "Not anymore, I guess," she whispered.
I couldn’t help the twitch of my lips. Even now she seemed to have a sense of humor. So at least one of us did.
"Why didn’t you tell me?" My voice came out more angry than I meant. Sure, I was angry. Angry at her for not telling me, but mostly angry at myself because I should have asked. I just hadn’t thought.
She was in her twenties. What woman who looked like her had never had a lover? It didn’t make any sense.
She moved her shoulders up and down again but didn’t raise her eyes to me. "Would it have made a difference? It wasn’t like I had much choice."
Again I reached out, my knuckles sliding across her trembling cheek. "Everyone has a choice, even if we don’t like the options." I dropped my hand to my side, curling my fingers into my palm. "But I guess in a way you are right. It had to be done. It wouldn’t have made a difference."
I saw the shock on her face. She hadn’t expected me to say that. Ignoring her, I went around the desk, watching her out of the corner of my eye as she bent down to retrieve something from the floor. It gave me an almost perfect view of her ass in her little shorts.
Of course, I’d just had my hands all over that ass, but this was different.
"What are you doing?" I snapped.
She straightened slowly. Rumpled papers clutched in her hand. "These fell on the floor. I didn’t want to leave a mess."
I stared at her for a second, and for the life of me, I didn’t understand her. "Leave them. The staff will clean it up. Let’s go." Jacket over my arm, I headed to the door. Only stopping when she didn’t move.
"Are you coming?"
She remained standing exactly where I had left her. "Where are we going?" she whispered.
"Home."
I watched relief flood over her features.
"My home. There are showers here, but," I shrugged, "I would like to get some sleep tonight."
She still didn’t move. "You want me to live with you?" Her voice was getting quieter and quieter. "Why can’t I go back to my home?"
I crossed the room in three long strides, grabbing hold of her arms, and I yanked her to my chest. "Because." Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and with each breath she took, her breasts brushed against my chest. "I am going to need access to you day and night."
Her cat-like eyes widened. She swallowed hard.
"And I also need to make sure you are looking after yourself.
There will be doctors and vitamins, and," why was she looking at me like that? Like I’d grown a second head.
"I need you to give me a healthy heir, Daisy. So it’s now my job to make sure you are healthy.
" My hands flexed around her upper arms hard enough to leave white fingerprint marks on her skin. "You’re too thin. I’ll have to look into your diet. "
The entire time I was talking, she had stared straight ahead until I said the last bit, and then her head snapped up, her eyes narrowing. "Everyone does exactly what you tell them all the time, don’t they?"
My lips curved up in a grin. "Yes. Now let’s go."
The elevator opened straight onto my massive open-plan living room. The lamps had all been turned on before the staff had left for the night, so I didn’t hesitate to move inside and head straight to the decanter on the table by the huge floor-to-ceiling windows.
Daisy moved in slower. Her sneakers moving silently on the carpet. "This is—"
She trailed off.
I watched her reflection in the windows. The way she turned around in a stunned circle, like she had never seen anything so beautiful.
"You have a beautiful home, Mr. Popovitch," she murmured.
Still with my back to her, I frowned. Mr. Popovitch? Had she really just used my formal title when only an hour before I had been balls deep in her sweet pussy for the first time?
"You should call me Ilya." Downing the drink in the glass waiting for me, I turned to her. "And I will call you Daisy. Would you like a drink?"
"I didn’t think," she stuttered. "No, thank you. I am not a big drinker," she admitted finally. "But thank you."
Nodding, I strode towards her. "That’s probably for the best. There will be rules after tonight, so this is a one-time offer." I held the glass out to her again. "Do you want a drink?"
Grabbing the glass, she downed it in one, her face twisting at the taste of it.
Shaking my head, I took it from her. "Well, I meant your own drink. Let’s go.
" This time I did take her arm. This was going to be her home for the foreseeable future, but I didn’t want her wandering around unsupervised.
I would give her the grand tour in the morning when she had signed the contract I knew would be waiting for her.
"That is my room." I pointed to a closed door to the left. "You are not to go in there. Ever. Is that understood?"
I heard her swallow before she nodded her head.
"There will be other rules, which we will discuss tomorrow.
I expect you to follow them." Flinging open the next door, "This is your room. There’s a bathroom and a dressing room.
" I let my eyes travel down her simple cotton shorts.
There was absolutely nothing sexy about what she was wearing, but at the same time, there kind of was.
Slowly I glanced down at her shapely legs, and I frowned.
Dammit, I could still see the shadow of blood on her thighs.
I let go of her so suddenly that she tipped forward. Only catching herself in time before she slammed her face into the doorframe.
"Get some rest."
"Ilya?"
I froze, turning to her slightly. "What is it, Daisy?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
Frowning so hard that I could feel a headache starting, I nodded. "If it’s important, sure."
"Why?"
I did a double-take. "Why what?"
She hesitated, wringing her hands together nervously.
"Why me? I mean, I know I’m not special.
But you’re rich and handsome and could have any woman you wanted.
" Her eyes flicked across my face almost like she expected me to blow up in rage.
"You are literally the most eligible bachelor in the city," she continued in a rush.
"You could marry royalty if you wanted to, so I guess what I’m asking is—"
I cut her off. "I won’t get married. Not ever. It’s not in my nature to love someone, and I think most women want that. I need an heir, so this arrangement is easier."
She opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and opened it again. "If you are incapable of love, then do you think it’s a good idea to have a child? They need a lot of love."
I stared at her in absolute disbelief. No one, and I meant no one, ever questioned me like that. Not ever.
My eyes narrowed into slits. "Go to bed, Daisy." I walked away without looking back to see if she had done what I had asked. Hearing the small click of her bedroom door, I let out a sigh of relief.
Tonight had been a disaster. Right from the second my grandfather had told me his plan, I had argued against it.
Hard. Not that it did any good. I knew the rules.
I couldn’t take over without either being married—something I would never do—or having an heir.
One with a surrogate that wouldn’t expect anything from me. A woman paid to do a job.
I poured another drink and looked out at the city. Daisy wasn’t what I was expecting. Especially the virgin thing. She wasn’t a professional hooker. She was sweet and pretty and completely out of her league with me.
Like I was tuned into her, I cocked my head to the side, listening to the muffled sobs that seemed to rip through the silence of my penthouse.
Grumbling, I knocked back the drink again. Usually, I didn’t have more than one after work, but today I couldn’t seem to stop. There was a woman in my home; already I could smell the scent of her perfume everywhere.
And I could hear her crying. Spoiling the perfect silence I liked.
Slamming the glass down, I went back to her room. Swinging open her door, I opened my mouth to tell her to shut up and froze.
She was on the side of the bed furthest away from the door. Curled up in the fetal position as she buried her face into the crook of her arm and sobbed.
"I—Daisy?" Something twisted inside of me. A strange feeling that I didn’t recognize. Her spine stiffened. "Are you ok?"
She sniffled loudly. "Yes, sorry."
"Tell me what’s wrong," I ordered. I’d never had a woman cry after being in my presence, and it was throwing me.
Another loud sniffle. "Nothing, it’s silly. I’m sorry—" she jumped when the door slammed behind me.
"Tell me. Now."
"I miss my home. And I’m sore and—"
My eyes widened. "You’re sore?" I hissed, but of course she was. She had been a virgin, and I hadn’t exactly been gentle with her. In fact, I had been the literal opposite of gentle. "I see."
"I’m sorry—" she went to say, but I was already moving. Quickly I grabbed the things I needed from my room and bathroom and went back to her.
"You never need to apologize for telling me the truth.
" I moved around the bed to stand towering over her.
"Especially when I have asked for it. Here, you can sleep in this, and I’ll have your clothes washed and ready for you in the morning.
" Holding out one of my tees, I watched as her trembling fingers took it. I only wore those kinds of clothes when I was at home or training, so I wouldn’t miss it.
"Do you need my help?"
Slowly she stood, the black material held loosely in her hands. "I’ll be fine."
"Let me help you." Not giving her a chance to say no, I grabbed the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head. The bra went next, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to stare at the small, high breasts I had recently had in my mouth.
Popping the button of her shorts, I pushed them down her legs. Her underwear bunched in them. Within seconds, she was naked and trembling in front of me. All sun-kissed, smooth skin.
My cock twitched.
"Lay down," I said raggedly and watched the fear filter into her eyes. She thought I was going to take her again. Force my aching cock between her shuddering thighs. And I wanted to. God, I wanted to.
I wanted to be the monster everyone said I was. Unfeeling and cold, the man who cared about no one but himself, but she deserved better.
She lay flat on her back, her eyes glued to the ceiling above.
"Open your legs, Daisy." Kneeling up on the bed, I watched as she did exactly what I asked. Her throat working as she tried to fight back the sobs I knew wanted to escape her.
"Good girl." One last time I let my eyes travel down the length of the body of the girl who had given me her innocence and her first orgasm, and then I dipped my hand between her thighs. The warm, damp washcloth made her jump, and she flinched back.
"What are you—"
"You’re sore, Daisy. I was too rough with you. Let me at least clean you up." I wiped the warm cloth everywhere. Up and down her thighs, across her mound, and finally across her swollen lips.
I didn’t stop until every drop of blood was gone, and even then, I couldn’t seem to stop.
I wanted her.
God, I wanted her so badly I ached.
A small whimper escaped her lips, and my eyes snapped up to her. She hadn’t moved, but her chest was rising and falling a little too rapidly.
Tossing the cloth to the floor, I stood. "There. Get dressed, and I’ll see you in the morning."
I couldn’t stay in this room, not when her breathing was changing like that. There was only so much self-control I had.
"Thank you." Kneeling up on the bed, she pressed her lips to my cheek. "That was very sweet of you."
Sweet? My eyebrows slammed down. I was many things, but sweet wasn’t one of them.
"Don’t get used to it," I threw over my shoulder as I headed towards the door. I needed to get out before she poisoned me with her sweetness.