Chapter 6
Peach
“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask Salem as he comes out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel.
Wow.
His body is ripped to perfection, with a slight splattering of hair trailing all the way down. And is that an eight-pack? His abs are so cut that I could dip my tongue between each one.
He’s a warrior.
A killer.
And the sexiest male I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
He has scars on his face, arms, and even some on his legs, but they only add to his brutal, masculine perfection. There’s a rune on his chest and more swirls going over his right shoulder.
“See something you like?” He smirks, raking his teeth over his lower lip.
My eyes drop to the sexy V that disappears under the white towel. “Salem…”
“Yes,” he rasps, turning his back to me as he opens his wooden armoire and pulls out some clothes. My eyes widen as I take in his powerful back and taut ass. Yeah, the back view is just as good as the front.
“Could you hurry and put some clothes on? Please,” I beg, licking my suddenly dry lips.
He pauses and turns around. “Why? You’re looking a little flushed over there, little one. Is something turning you on?” He cocks his head. “Or are you just… hungry?”
Oh, boy.
I’m so in over my head. I’ve never even seen a male this naked and close up before. I bet he’s slept with hundreds of women over the years. “How old are you?” I blurt out.
“A hundred and fifty. Why?”
“I’m forty,” I reply, wringing my hands together. “You have a lot more experience with all…” I gesture to his sexy-as-sin body. “All of this.”
His light green eyes soften, and he comes forward and cups my face in his hands.
“Sweetheart, I don’t care how much experience you do or don’t have.
You are perfect as you are. Yes, I’m likely going to kill any male who’s had you, but we all know I’d enjoy that.
So give me the hit list when you’re ready. ”
“There are no males, that’s what I’m trying to tell you,” I say, my voice getting louder.
He freezes, and then a slow-spreading smile takes over his entire face. My breath hitches at the beauty of it. He looks so much more approachable when he smiles like that.
Handsome.
Devastatingly so.
He kneels in front of me.
Salem. The shifter with a reputation of being unpredictable and bloodthirsty kneels in front of me.
In his towel.
Up close, there are still a few droplets of water on his skin, and I’m suddenly feeling thirsty.
“I’m going to be your first and your only?” he clarifies, his tone low and intimate.
I search his face before I nod.
He growls, low and deliberate, before he pulls me against him, gently yet forcefully.
My head buries against his chest, and his big arms come around me in a protective and possessive hold.
“All fucking mine. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but you’re never going to regret it.
We’re going to have a good life together. ”
I shake my leg with the chains on it, and arch my brow. “Really? You have me cuffed to your bed.”
“You didn’t want to come with me,” he grumbles, his voice so soft I have to strain to hear it. “And I need you here. I need to see you, smell you, and feel you. I watched you for as long as I could, trying to stay away until I couldn’t anymore.”
“You watched me?”
He nods, brushing his lips across my jawline. “I bought an apartment opposite the bakery so I could see you.”
My eyes widen. He did what? “Salem, you know that’s crazy. You bought an apartment just so you could stalk me?”
He shrugs, brushing it off, but it hits me that he means what he says.
He truly does need me.
“It’s not crazy to me,” he replies, now nuzzling my neck. “I was going insane thinking about you and not knowing what you were doing or if you were safe. I don’t give a fuck about anything else.” He takes a deep breath. “Fuck, you smell so fucking good.”
My hands finally come around him, and my body melts into his. It’s tiring fighting this, especially when he says things like that. “So do you,” I reply, closing my eyes and just enjoying being held. I can’t remember the last time I was, or felt, so safe.
“Are you going to let me free now?” I ask.
“No,” he replies, kissing my forehead. He gets up and slides on some shorts, giving me a quick view of his perfect ass. Fates, how I want to take a bite. And then he starts to climb into bed.
With me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, clearing my throat. I know we had a moment, but surely he’s not going to sleep with me on the first night I’m here as his hostage.
“I only have one bed,” he replies with a shrug, sliding down the soft white silk sheets. “And I’m not sleeping in a bed without you from tonight on.”
“We need to talk about boundaries.” I huff out a frustrated breath and lie back on the pillows. “Fine, but we aren’t doing anything but sleeping. I’m serious, Salem. And we didn’t even go on our run. Can we do that in the morning?”
“Yes.”
“And I am going to work. I’m not some pushover you can bully, Salem. If you want me to like you, we need to be a team, not you telling me what to do,” I snap, sitting up and putting a pillow between us.
This is all happening too fast.
I’ve never slept next to a male before, and now I’m doing it with a chain around my ankle like some kinky sex slave.
“Okay,” he agrees a little too easily.
And don’t ask me how, but I fall into a deep sleep.
It’s the best sleep I’ve ever had.