AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The message is clear:It’s my way or no way at all.
Pretty sure that was a clause in that damn contract. Meh. I should have gone over it word by word. I should have had a lawyer look at it first. I should have negotiated.
In the event either party is a brooding asshole and the other party regrets selling their firstborn daughter, the second party may withdraw their consent, rip up the contract, and dance upon the ashes while the brooding asshole watches on… preferably with tears of yearning in his eyes.
But I didn’t and now, here I am, caught between a rock and a surly set of abs, spiraling in front of an audience of stuffies while pain flares in my hip.
I could go take my pills, but I did this to myself. I deserve this pain. So maybe I deserve to?—
“Laila.”
I whirl around to find Arsen standing in the doorway, his blank gaze trailing over the additions I’ve made.
“I decided to add a few new things to the nursery.” I blurt it out like an alibi. Like I’m actually stuffing illicit drugs in the stuffies to ship them over state lines. Not that Arsen would have much of an issue with that kind of thing…
Arsen’s eyes narrow as he shuts the door behind him. “Your hip hurts.”
“How do you know?”
He doesn’t bother answering. The tilt of his head says he knows everything about me without even having to ask. “You should take a break.”
He’s right, which makes everything worse. “I think I know my body better than you do.”
“Where did all of this stuff come from?” He looks around the nursery, stopping in front of the tapestry I hung over the crib. It’s a textured sunset, streaks of pink and purple in front of a golden sun.
“I have the right to buy my daughter things if I want to.”
He glances at me over his shoulder. “Someone’s looking for a fight tonight.”
“You look for a fight every other night, so I figured it was my turn.”
“I’m never looking for a fight with my pregnant wife,” he scoffs.
“Stop calling me your ‘wife.’ It’s a lie.”
“You’re tired,roza?—”
“And stop acting like you know me!” I jab a finger at his chest. “I’m not your wife or your friend or yourroza,whatever thehell that means. I’m not even the mother of your child, as far as you’re concerned. I’m just a means to an end.”
A vein in his forehead stands out in stark relief. It’s the only indication that anything I’ve said has had any impact on him.
“We’re here again, are we?”
Here again, he says. As if we ever left!
“Oh, silly me, I forgot I’m not allowed to have any regrets. I signed the contract and sealed my fate. Now, I just have to lie back—” I jab him again in the chest. “—and let youfuckme. In more ways than one.”
My finger is halfway to yet another jab when he grabs my hand and drags me towards him until my body is flush against his. “You signed that contract because I offered you everything you needed.” His green eyes simmer. “Money, security, care for your mother. What else do you want from me?”
It’s not a question. Not really. And Arsen doesn’t expect an answer, but I have one poised on the tip of my tongue.
Everything.
That’s what I want.
Everything.
I want you to kiss me like you mean it and then tell me you mean it afterwards just to be sure. I want you to make love to me while you look me in the eyes and then hold me afterwards just to be kind. I want to see you smile, not smolder, and I want to be able to pass you in the hall without having to hold my breath so your scent doesn’t invade my nostrils and make my brain do crazy, stupid things.
