His Possession
“I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
“Who was she?” she asked, frowning at how calm she sounded. While staring in the mirror she’d thought about giving her body to him, only to witness the bitter way he treated his ex-lovers.
“An old friend.”
“By old friend you mean girlfriend?”
“No. I wouldn’t go that far.”
“But you slept with her?”
“Not the way I do with you.”
Her anger rose with his evasion of her questions. “Did you sleep with her?”
He stared at her. “I f**ked her.”
Anne walked inside the room. Violet turned away from him, struggling to breathe.
“Not now, Anne,” Cadeon said.
“I hope you’re not taking your problems out on the girl.”
“You can take the rest of the day off.”
Violet kept her back to them. She wanted nothing to do with the way he was speaking to Anne. Closing her eyes, she tried to fight the pain in her chest. Cadeon was older than she. He had a past, a much longer past than hers.
“Olivia was a long time ago. I never slept with her. It was purely physical.”
“You must have made an impression to have her begging like that.”
“I take pride in making love to a woman, Violet. I’m no monk, and I’m not going to insult you and pretend that I was.”
“I’m very much aware of how skilled you are. I mean, take a look at me. I was in your office for two minutes, and now I’m all but living with you. I can’t go back to my house, and every time you put your hands on me I give in. I’m nothing but a slut.”
He took a step toward her, and she moved back a step. “Don’t ever call yourself that.”
“How can I not when a woman you’ve been intimate with was here begging and you throw her out? What makes me any different?”
“Listen to me, Violet. She meant nothing to me. None of the women before you meant anything.”
She stared at him in shock. For the past two weeks she’d been sharing his bed, allowing him to touch her as she touched him.
“Once you’re done with me you’ll just throw me away. Is that it? I’m only good while I present you with a challenge?” she asked as tears fell from her eyes.
Cadeon didn’t have the best business reputation, but she’d never seen him be cruel. They way he dealt with that woman, an ex-lover, had been nothing but cruel.
“No, you’re different.”
“How?” she screamed. The words he kept repeating going off inside her head like a large red flashing light. “Why am I different? What makes me so special? I’ve done nothing in my life. I’ve been nowhere. Whereas you’ve known women who’ve lived their life and yet you want me to believe I’ve got something they don’t?”
“I don’t know how to explain it to you,” he said.
“What’s to explain? You sleep with women – no, forgive me – you f**k women, and when you’re bored you get rid of them as if they mean nothing. I’m not staying around to become a hopeless fool who falls at your feet.” Violet went to move past him, but he caught her before she could get to far away from him.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I refuse to add you to the list. I’m not letting you go.”
“I don’t want to stay here.” She lied. In the short time of being with him there was nowhere else in the world she wanted to be.
“You’re lying. I know you want me as much as I want you. Don’t you feel it between us? There isn’t a moment that goes by where I don’t think about you.”
“That’s just sex.”
“Is it? Because I’ve had that, Violet. I’ve wanted women, and the moment I’ve f**ked them the intensity has gone. With you, I’ve felt this burning inside me since the moment we met on the elevator.”
She frowned, not recalling the time he talked about.
“You don’t remember it?”
“I’ve never met you.”
“We rode in the elevator together. You wore a black pencil type skirt and a white blouse. You stood on my floor waiting as the doors opened. You stood staring at the ground before riding the lift down to the bottom floor. Do you remember? I told you it was ground floor.”
The scene played out in her mind. She remembered the day vaguely, as she hadn’t been working in the building long.
“I see you remember. I knew that day you’d be mine.”
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“I love you, Violet.”
She gasped as he pushed her back against the wall his body crowding her. “I looked at you, and my world fell apart. I knew I wanted you, and I’d do anything to get you. You feel this?” He placed her hand over his heart. “It beats for no one but you.”
****
Her hand pressed against his chest. Eyes bright with tears, Cadeon prayed she would believe him. Being with her meant more to him than anything else. Seeing her face as she saw Olivia had cut him deeply. Telling her the whole truth about the other woman could send her running from him. He wouldn’t blame her. Being a dominant man could send the most experienced women away. He would give it all up if he could.
“How can you love?” she asked.
“Because I do. I know how I feel.”
“I never thought anyone could ever fall in love with someone like me.”
Cadeon slammed his lips down on hers. Showing her with everything he was how much he loved her. Violet submitted to him, her arms circling round his neck bringing him in closer. He wanted her badly. To feel her soft skin against his own. Pulling away, Cadeon knew he had to stop now. Otherwise he wouldn’t have the strength.
“I can’t do this. If you want me to stop, Violet, then pull away from me.”
“What happens if I stay?”
“Then I’m spending the rest of the day making love to you.” He let his words sink in, watching her expressive brown eyes widen. She stared back at him, and he waited for her response.
She wrapped her arms back around his neck, her lips pressing to his. Cadeon gave in for a few seconds before pulling back. “I’ve got to hear you say the words.”
“What?”
“I won’t touch you until you tell me with words that you want to be with me.” After the high-handed way he’d treated her, he couldn’t bring himself to take the answer out of her hands.