Under His Control (Who She Became #1)
i.
My role was clear.
For the next few hours, I was property of Damian Vale.
The wail of sirens and chaos filled the distance as I prepared my mind and body for the coming events.
Fear and excitement twisted together inside me until I couldn’t separate one from the other.
This job was a big one for him.
I could feel the stress radiating off him as he left the house.
He never had me over before a job, but this time was different.
I felt the tension in his bones as his lips brushed my forehead on his way out the door.
If he came home, I was his.
He could have me any way he wanted.
My whole life I was so controlled, so mature, and so restrained.
My body yearned for Damian in ways I could not describe.
One sentence was enough from him to quiet every instinct telling me to hesitate.
I hadn’t given in yet, but tonight was the night.
Wanting him felt less like desire and more like surrender to the thoughts that were filling my head.
I sat on his couch in silence clutching my thighs as I thought of the possibilities of giving myself to him.
My phone rang and startled me awake from my thoughts.
“I’m safe, I’m on my way.” Five words with such power that heat spread through me so fast my thighs pressed together.
The rough denim heated beneath my palms as I rubbed my hands over my thighs again.
I gazed across the open floor plan wondering what was about to become of my objective innocence I spent my entire life protecting.
Every car door shutting on the street sent a startle through my body.
Then the solid thud of German luxury sedan doors rang through my ears.
My nails dug into my thighs in anticipation.
The scrape of the key sliding into the lock filled the room, followed by the heavy click of the deadbolt.
The knob turned.
“DAMIAN!” I shouted as I ran toward him and threw myself around his neck.
His hand rested on my waist while I embraced him.
His silence should have terrified me, but instead it settled something inside me.
At that moment I noticed a small drop of what appeared to be blood on his white under shirt.
I stared.
“it’s not mine,” he said quietly.
My mind settled.
As I released a breath my head melted into his chest.
I felt his hands drifting and sliding up my back.
His hand came to a rest on my neck where he gave a kiss to my forehead.
His other hand held my face as he tilted my head for access to my lips.
We kissed and my knees weakened so suddenly I had to grip his suit jacket to steady myself.
He pulled away slowly and stared deeply into my eyes.
“Come with me,” his voice was like thunder.
Not particularly loud but I could feel it radiate through me.
“Yes, sir,” I muttered softly.
My response shocked even myself.
I have always been a strong and independent woman, but this just felt right.
He took my hand, guiding me through the labyrinth of his halls.
Each step I took increased my anxiety, but I dared not step out of line.
His guiding hand continued through the hallways.
His grip wasn’t crushing, but the strength behind it was impossible to ignore.
Controlled.
Restrained.
Waiting.
I had been so focused on the weight of his hand that I hadn’t realized we’d stopped walking.
I looked around and saw a door we were standing in front of.
It was an elegant door but nothing out of the ordinary in a house like this.
I could not shake this feeling of an energy radiating from the room.
That room felt heavier than the rest of the house, as though the air itself had changed.
It was at this moment that I realized that Damian’s eyes were locked on me.
“Ready?” he asked quietly.
I contemplated.
I was about to surrender myself to a man people feared enough not to say his name too loudly.
I nodded.
He reached out and as the knob turned I closed my eyes, and heard the ever so slight creak of the hinges as the door swung open.
My deep inhale must have tipped him off to my nerves.
“I’ll take care of you.” And somehow, that terrified me more than anything else he’d said.
My pulse stumbled as I stepped forward, crossing the threshold into an unknown that would change me forever.