Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 78026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Every day, I’ve gone back to the house, shaking in anticipation of what he’ll do next. What buttons he’ll push. What ludicrous demands he’ll make.
Every dinner and breakfast, Jonathan sits me on his lap and makes me eat my entire plate.
It’s not even about the food anymore.
The way he touches me so unapologetically, or spanks my arse when I defy him, has become a habit. Worse, it’s become something I look forward to.
I shouldn’t.
Jonathan isn’t the type of man I can get lost in or even allow close.
However, the moment he yanks me down on his lap, I don’t even protest anymore.
It’s become the most natural place to be.
After every session of fingering, torturing my nipples, and holding my throat hostage, Jonathan leaves me in the dining room alone with my scattered thoughts and my shaking limbs.
Sometimes, he’ll fetch me from my room when I’m late for breakfast, or lay me on the bed and spank me for giving him the attitude he hates so much.
Other times, he’ll send me emails — no texts, because in his words, those are juvenile. The last exchanges were between last night and this morning.
From: Jonathan King
To: Aurora Harper
Subject: I’ll be Late but Don’t You Dare Sleep
Lie on your bed, face down, and don’t put any clothes on.
From: Jonathan King
To: Aurora Harper
Subject: Second Reminder to Not Fall Asleep
You better be on your fucking stomach when I walk in, or that arse will pay the price.
I did fall asleep, more out of defiance than actually being tired, and my arse did pay the price before he wrenched a dizzying orgasm out of me that knocked me out for real.
Today, I woke up late because of how exhausted I felt.
From: Jonathan King
To: Aurora Harper
Subject: Your Morning Will Take a Turn for The Worse in Exactly Sixty Seconds.
Every minute you’re late for breakfast is extra punishment. In case you want to sit at all today, come down. Now.
I went down, ten minutes late, and true to his word, I’m sitting sideways to not put pressure on my arse.
In no time, I’ve grown attached to his emails and the orders in them. The way he demands my attention and confiscates it as if it’s always been his for the taking.
It doesn’t help that I hear his commanding voice when reading them. Jonathan’s authority is one of the few things I’ll freely admit is attractive.
There’s something about a man who takes what he wants with powerful self-assurance. I’ve always known I had a tendency to connect with dangerous men, but this is the worst possible scenario to practise that.
Other than the email exchanges and the power games, it’s almost like we’re living completely separate lives. Jonathan never invites me to his room or spends the night in mine.
And I’m thankful for that. After all the sexual stimulation and the explosive orgasms he coerces out of me, I need some time alone to come down from the high and the guilt trip I always find myself drowning in.
The shame of enjoying his touch when I shouldn’t, and the reality of what Jonathan actually is always slams into me afterwards.
So to make myself forget about that, I’ve been sneaking into Alicia’s room whenever he’s not here — and behind Margot’s back. She’s as stand-offish as her tyrant master. The butler, Tom, doesn’t speak either. Seriously. If I hadn’t heard him ask Margot about something once, I would’ve suspected he was a mute.
There’s also Harris, who joins Jonathan in his office or sometimes interrupts our breakfasts with a snobbish expression smearing on his face. He’s the man in smart glasses who came with Jonathan to our office that first day. His bland eyes have the same disregard for humans as his CEO.
I swear the tyrant handpicks those who orbit his haughty arse so that they’re an extension of him.
Anyway, my snooping in Alicia’s room hasn’t been useful. I can’t bring myself to continue reading those books either. I just…can’t.
The moment I open them, I get dark flashbacks filled with vacant eyes and duct tape. There’s a reason I don’t read thrillers and keep to chick lit. I spent a long time slamming Pandora’s box shut, and I can’t willingly open it again.
Not that Jonathan would leave evidence behind. Next up, I need to go into that locked room, which I assume is his office.
I haven’t mustered the courage to go up there when he’s home. I might enjoy the spanking and how my arse feels afterwards, even now, but I’m not stupid enough to purposefully bring out his wrath.
Self-preservation has always been my strength.
Besides, the more time I spend in his company, the more anxious I get about why he’s not taking the next step.
Jonathan has never tried to fuck me. Not even once. He seems content with owning my body, then turning it against me in the most brutal way possible.