Page 56 of Guardian
A hissing noise escapes through Liam’s teeth.“You wanted to do this, so we’re going to fucking do this.Get inside and get upstairs.Now.”
The command in his tone makes me scramble, shoves me up the steps to the front door, makes me punch in the door code with shaky fingers twice before I get it right, and then up to the second floor.At which point I realize I’m not sure what else he wants me to do.
At the base of the stairs, he glares up at me with hateful eyes.“My room.Get your clothes off.”
Is he serious?Is he fucking serious?“Are you fucking serious?”
I’m not sure if I want to scream or cry or fall to my knees in gratitude.
“Do I look like I’m fucking around here, Ravi?”
No.Liam has never looked less like he was fucking around in his life, and I’ve seen him torture a man to death.
For a second I can’t move.All of my nerves are vibrating.
“Ravi.”My name is a warning.
I dart into the room I haven’t set foot in since my eighteenth birthday.Someone had illegally set off some fireworks in a nearby field, and it had reminded me too much of my parents getting shot.I’d been two doors down when they died, thinking I’d heard fireworks that were really gunshots.
It was the last time I turned to Liam for comfort.
I’m so frantic I can hardly breathe as I enter Liam’s private space, pulling my tie and my jacket off haphazardly.This must be some sort of horny fever dream, right?Liam Masters, the man who’s been awful to me for over a year because I had the audacity to let him know I wanted him, is now ordering me to…
“Take everything off, Ravi.”
“I’m working on it, Liam.”
“In this room I’m ‘Sir’ to you.”
Oh boy.Why does that sound ridiculous and also hot as hell?
It doesn’t help me that I’ve been hard since the second he told me to take my clothes off.Really, I can count on one hand the number of times Liam has sent me upstairs to my room since I’ve been living here.He was never much of a disciplinarian.Until he found out I was working for Brennan.Until I gave him a reason.
Thank fuck, because I think I would have been hard all the time.
“W-why am I doing this?”
“Sir.Why am I doing this, Sir.”His expression is expectant.
“Why am I doing this, Liam, sir?”
“Always such a fucking brat,” he murmurs.“You’re doing this because you insisted on this goddamn auction.This is what you wanted.”
“What?”Is this what I wanted?Now that I’m here, I realize I never actually considered this scenario.
“It was the only way to make sure you didn’t go home with some psychopath who wanted to murder you,” Liam growls.
“I really don’t think?—”
“Right now I don’t give a shit what you think, kid.Since you’ve been intent on acting like an unruly asshole for weeks now, it’s time I punished you like one.Get your clothes off and get on the bed.”
I’m stripped down to my socks and about to climb onto the king mattress when he stops me.“Don’t you dare leave that pile there.Pick everything up and fold it neatly.Put it on the chair.”He gestures to the little reading nook by his window.
There’s this searing sensation under my skin—embarrassment at having to bend over in front of him and pick up each piece of clothing before standing there and neatly folding it all while his sharp gaze never leaves me.
It’s more than that, though.It’s the chill of the air conditioning, pulling up bumps on my flesh and tightening my nipples.It’s the heat of his gaze.It’s the way I want him to consume me.
“Now you may get on the bed,” he says when the last item is folded, and I’ve sort of awkwardly balled up the socks on top.
