A Debt Owed(27)

I know my lips and touch can be overwhelming. She’ll get used to it soon.



Charlotte

A few days later



“Stay still. It’ll only hurt for a few seconds,” the man says as he sits down on a stool beside me.

My hands clench together in an effort to stop the tears from forming in my eyes. Easton’s standing right in front of me, and he watches while the man places the wet cotton against my ear and then a sharp tool. I can’t look away, but I don’t want to look at Easton either. Instead, I close my eyes as the sharp tool punctures my earlobe and a piercing pain emanates throughout my ear.

“All done. Easy, right?” the man muses as if it’s nothing. “Now the other side.”

I don’t even know his name or why he’s doing this to me. Doesn’t he know I’m not here because I want to be? That he’s doing something against the law?

Piercing my ears without asking me if it’s okay … exactly what I’d expect from a man like Easton. Vicious to the bone. He glares at me like a man obsessed. As though he’s marking his property. I’m like a cow getting branded, and it makes me want to explode.

But Easton’s vigilant eye stops me. He’s only here to keep watch, in case I try to say something to this man piercing my ears.

Still, I hate sitting here without saying a word while my second earlobe is pierced. It burns like fire, and my whole body shakes with rage when it’s over. With a tepid smile on his face, the man picks up a small mirror and holds it up so I can see. Two sparkling diamonds flaunt my ears. I’ve never had earrings before, and if you ignore the stinging, they don’t look so bad. Except for the fact that no one asked me what I wanted, of course.

“Perfect,” Easton says to the man.

“Clean it every day with this solution,” the man says, handing a tiny bottle to Easton. “And make sure she doesn’t touch them too much.”

Easton nods at the man, and says, “My assistant will take care of the payment. She’s downstairs.”

“All right,” he says. “Thank you for your business, and I hope you enjoy your new earrings, ma’am.” He smiles once more before packing up his things and leaving the room.

While I remain seated on the chair, Easton goes to close the door. I fiddle with the earrings while my eyes are fixed on the small hand mirror. I’m only a prize, a part of Easton’s collection adorned with diamonds and gowns. A pretty little doll he can dress and play with.

A hand rests on my shoulder. Easton appears in the mirror, wearing a lopsided grin. Like the devil himself, he brings his lips to my ears, and whispers, “Beautiful.”

The sound brings chills to my skin, causing all the hairs on my neck to rise.

Suddenly, he places a soft kiss on my neck. I freeze, my muscles tightening. His lips drag up all the way toward my earlobe, where his tongue dips out to lick up a tiny speck of my blood.

Fuck.

Why does my body send out such mixed signals? I hate it.

“They look riveting on you,” he murmurs into my ear. “Don’t you think?”

I can’t even focus on what he’s saying. My mind is still reeling from that kiss. But it’s wrong, so wrong … I can’t give in to his demands, no matter how sinful those lips felt on my skin.

I swallow away the lump in my throat. “It’s fine.”

“You don’t like them?” he asks, swiping aside my hair as he watches me through the mirror. “There are plenty of other earrings to choose from once these have healed. I can arrange for Jill to bring them over so you can choose. Would you have preferred pearls?”

“No. This is fine,” I lie. I don’t want to spend any more time on this. I don’t want to be happy, and I don’t want to make him happy either.

“Good.” He squeezes my shoulder. “I want you to be happy.”

That’s not true, and he knows that, but he doesn’t care. He wants to think I’m happy so he can live with what he’s doing to me, but I won’t ever forgive him.

He leans forward and kisses me on the cheeks again, adding, “Soon, you’ll be mine alone just as you were meant to be from the start. And then you’ll beg me to take your cherry, princess.”

My eyes widen as he leaves me and closes the door behind him, his last words repeating in my head.

Cherry … my virginity.

Something I’d completely forgotten about because I never dated guys. I was too busy working to make a living, and I was afraid my father would find out and hurt them, so I never even tried.

And now my first time ever having sex will be with my captor.

Fuck.





Chapter 12





Charlotte



I can barely breathe.

Not just because my corset is on so tight so they can hoist me into the wedding dress he selected for me … but also because I’m terrified. Terrified of the sparkling studs on my chest, the high-heeled peep toe pumps on my feet, the tiny silver tiara on my head, and the veil that hangs low over my curled hair.

These past few days have felt like a blur. I’m shaking as I stare at myself in the mirror, at that woman I’ve been forced to become. A woman who’s about to marry her biggest enemy. A man who took her as a prize.