6. Safe
Faith
I woke up against Cassius’s chest, his arms wrapped around me. It was warm, and I felt… safe. It was an utterly unfamiliar sensation. I’d been running for so long, dealing with my crazy, drunk mom, scrambling to make a life for myself and my brother, desperate to keep us off the streets, that I hadn’t felt this way in years. Or maybe… Maybe I’d never felt this way.
It was a false sense of security. I knew that.
Still, it felt good to be held, particularly by someone so much older and more experienced than me. Cassius was gorgeous, established, successful, wealthy, and secure beyond my wildest dreams. He’d ruled me in the bedroom just now. He was my king. He’d unlocked the secrets of my body and brought me to a new, shiny kingdom filled with promise.
I knew it was all a mirage. But still.
Cassius hadn’t taken my virginity yet, but he had claimed me that afternoon. As far as I was concerned, I was his, even though it would only be for a little while. Even though the feel of his muscular arms around me would evaporate into only a memory, a hazy sheen of burned-off heat, nothing I could ever fully grasp or hold on to.
His chest rose and fell rhythmically as he slept. I nuzzled against him and replayed the events of our afternoon in the grotto room.
Cassius had shocked me when he’d rescued me from that other patron. I hadn’t wanted to go with that man, but I would have. I’d resigned myself to playing my role at the club. I was a hired plaything, and hired playthings played. I’d just been about to take my top off when Cassius arrived, smoke practically pouring out of his ears, and dragged me off to the grotto.
The billionaire’s moods were all over the place. One minute, he was telling me to get down on my knees and coming on my face; the next, he was firing me and walking away. Then he ignored me by the pool, acting like I didn’t exist. But when another patron approached me, he snatched me away.
I didn’t know what Cassius wanted from me. That is, until he’d made it crystal clear.
He’d taken me to the grotto room and done things to me. And I’d done things to him. I’d enjoyed every second of it. I would relish the memory forever. We’d been together, a tangle of limbs, skin against skin, our orgasmic cries mingling with the rest of the club on the sunny, sexy afternoon.
The pleasure had been intense, unforgettable. Even after last night, I hadn’t believed that my body was capable of the sensations I’d experienced today. Cassius had taken me to a place I didn’t even know existed, and we hadn’t even left the compound. Still, it was a whole new world. A brand-new aspect of my life had opened up for me, and I was eager to explore it.
But I wanted to explore it with him.
As if sensing my thoughts, the slumbering billionaire tightened his grip around me. I sighed happily. His muscled arms held me close. I’d never had someone I could rely on, someone who made me feel safe and taught me things. I’d always been the one taking care of myself. But to relinquish that to my billionaire, let him have control, and show me so many incredible things… I didn’t want it to stop. I wanted him to take me. And then I wanted him to hold me in his arms, never letting me go.
It was silly, of course. Cassius was the club owner. He was a billionaire who lived a life beyond my wildest dreams. I was nothing, no one. I didn’t even have a home to go back to.
Even if he held me, what was there really to hold on to?
Cassius had bought platinum rights to me, and the rules were clear: I was his, but only for three encounters. This was number two, and I was painfully aware of that. The billionaire would take my virginity, I felt sure. I couldn’t wait for it to happen—I couldn’t wait to give myself to him, to be taken by him, to have Cassius penetrate me, to have Cassius be my first.
But then soon, probably tomorrow, he would release me. I’d be just another girl dancing by the pool, just another club employee getting banged in a semi-private room.
I’d be no one to him. Nothing.
But he would forever be my first.
His cock stirred against me, growing rigid as his skin brushed up against my naked thighs. Because he was asleep and he couldn’t see me, I let myself smile.
I felt safe in his arms, and it was my secret.
No one had to know.