*Above is Christian Pierce.*
CHAPTER-4
PLANS?
I snuggled into the warmest blanket I'd ever have and it snuggled back to me. I clung to it and wrapped myself in it when something hard poked into my belly. I rubbed my belly against the hardness. That was when I heard a groan-which wasn't from me-and my eyes snapped open.
My eyes opened to stare at a naked chest. A hard, warm naked chest.
I quickly scrambled back in the bed to meet with his amusing dark blue eyes.
"What are you doing?" I clutched the sheets to myself.
"You're a cuddler." He smiled. "You clung to me whole night."
I shook my head. "Bullshit. I didn't do any of that. You are the one who clung to me."
His smile disappeared. "I don't lie. Your body seeked mine in unconsciousness." He then threw the sheets away from himself to point at the bulge in his pants. "You even rubbed yourself on my c*ck."
My cheeks heat in shame as I stared at him, mortified. "I didn't." I tried to convince myself more than him.
He cocked his head to the side as he stared at my red face. "It's okay. You can use me. I'm yours just like you're mine. I can even show you if you-" He went to pull his pants down but I grabbed his hand.
"No!"
He looked up at me. "You can see my d*ck if you want to."
No. No.
I shook my head violently. "No, I don't. Stop it."
He smiled again and laced our fingers together and brought it to his chest. I quickly pulled my hand back from his grip and he scowled.
"I like it when you blush." He said.
I looked away from him. "I'm not blushing."
"Your cheeks are red."
I looked out from the window. "I want to go home."
I felt him shift close to me. "You are home."
I shook my head again and faced him. "No. No, I'm not home, Christian. This isn't my home. You can't do this. You can't just kidnap someone and tell them to forget their past and live here with you. You wouldn't get away with it."
"You are home." He repeated.
My jaw clenched, "Liam would be looking for me. He'd find me and then-"
"No one would be looking for you. This is your home now. With me. You belong right here with me."
"I don't belong with you! Stop all this, Christian. Let me go! I don't want to be here." I shouted.
There was zero effect on him. "There is nothing for you back there. I can give you everything you ask for. You name it and it's yours. Anything except letting you go."
"Money can't buy happiness." I gritted.
"But it sure can buy you the things that make you happy." His calm certainty spiked my blood pressure.
He had the answer to everything.
"You're out of your mind if you think I'm staying here with you. I'll find a way to escape. I'll run."
"You can deny me all you want, but I know you feel it, too." He rubbed his chest over his heart. "For the longest time, I actually thought I was suffering from acid reflux. Every time I saw you and had to let you go, I felt it. Like a pit of lava that was burning me from the inside out. No amount of meds could stop the ache. Only one thing did—you. Just being near you. The feeling is gone and something else lives there, something that fills me up and leaves me needing more of you. Always more."
I kicked my chin up and kept my tone cold. "That's cute."
He winced, and what could have been pain flashed across his eyes. Then it was gone. I'd been cruel, and for once, I was glad. Whatever happiness he felt was nothing compared to the ocean of sorrow he'd drowned me in.
Christian rose, the sunlight gracing his chiseled body. I looked away as he stalked into the bathroom.
"Come in here." The command in his voice had a hint of irritation, as if I were getting under his skin. Good.
"I can't. I'm naked."
"Get in here or, so help me, I will drag you." Definitely under his skin.
A thought occurred to me, an ill-formed burst of inspiration that would shape how I would get out of this prison. If Christian thought I was perfect for him, that we were meant to be together, perhaps if I proved him wrong by being a disagreeable shrew, he'd change his mind. For the first time since I woke up in his bed, I felt a shred of hope.
"Fine." His footfalls retreated toward me. "I'll carry you."
"I'm coming." I stood quickly and yanked at the enormous gray duvet until I'd wrapped it all around me like a puffy wedding dress.
"I've already seen you naked, Stella." He leaned against the bathroom doorframe, his hard body something that I'd only seen in scandalous messages from Camille. Broad chest with dusky nipples, washboard abs, and the 'V' leading down to his bulge in his sweatpants. I gawked for a moment, unable to help myself. The outline of his d*ck was so obvious that I could tell he wasn't wearing an underwear. Prying my eyes away, I stared at the space above his head.
He smirked, "I saw that."
"You saw nothing." I looked away.
He said nothing but just handed me a toothbrush while he brushed his teeth himself. I supported the duvet with one hand tightly as I brushed my teeth. One glance at the mirror and my cheeks heated. My hair was a mess and my makeup was already ruined.
I made no attempt to fix myself. Maybe if he saw me like this, he wouldn't find me beautiful and let me go.
"Come on." He offered me his palm after I brushed. I stared at it and then looked up at him. "Where? Are you going to kill me and then throw my body somewhere?"
He shook his head. "I told you, I don't want to hurt you. I'm not a serial killer if that's what you're thinking. We are just going to have breakfast."
His calmness of this situation made me angry. Why was he doing all this? Why?
He wasn't a serial killer. If he wanted to kill me he'd have done that by now. I was convinced. At least for now. That didn't mean I wanted to have breakfast with him. "I'm naked."
He arched a brow. "You won't eat because you're naked?"
"I don't care what you think, but I'm not eating a single thing until I'm wearing clothes."
"That makes zero sense."
I shrugged. "It is what it is."
"You're so confusing." He said. But then he added, "Come with me."
The warm tile failed to heat me as I edged toward him. I stopped in the doorway and stared around at the clothes and accessories hanging or folded on all sides. A rack of shoes ran along the back of the closet. More shoes than a department store in neat rows. Heels, flats, trainers, boots-everything one person could ever need, all brand new. Toward the top, I noticed a few sets of shoes that didn't quite match the shine of the rest.
I walked forward as he leaned against a high set of drawers, the wood a soft honey color. "These are mine." Reaching up, I ran my hand along a pair of flats that I often wore to the gallery.
"Everything in here is yours. I also had all your personal items brought along. Your medications, birth control, feminine items, cosmetics-all in your cabinets next to your sink. I have also ordered new clothing for you."
I turned and found several items of my clothes hanging on the rack to my right. Mixed in were new clothes. Pulling the tag down, I checked the nearest shirt. My size. I pulled another tag. My size. One look at the shoes told me they were all close to my size. The clothes were similar to the sorts of colors I'd choose for myself. It was as if he already knew what was in my closet, then multiplied it and added designer tags.
I turned to him. "How? My clothes were in Liam's apartment. How did you bring it all here?"
His jaw hardened. "I told you not to take his name. Forget him."
I ignored him. "What did you do, Christian? How did you bring all this here without Liam knowing?"
He looked away for a second then back at me, probably contemplating whether to answer me or not. "I'll tell you when you'll have breakfast with me."
I didn't have any other choice. I grabbed a long shirt and quickly put it on.
Then, I stepped back into his room where a cart was already waiting for us by the bed.
"I know you're hungry. I heard your stomach growl few minutes ago."
I stopped mid-step. "How do I know the food isn't poisoned?"
"Why would I go to all this trouble just to poison you?" He grabbed a piece of bacon from one plate and downed it in one bite, then grabbed a pancake from the other plate, ripped a piece off, and ate it. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing in a sharp movement. "Convinced?"
I said nothing but sat back on the bed. Christian served me breakfast as we ate in silence. And when I couldn't take it anymore, I said, "Tell me, now."
He swallowed his bacon slowly and then took a sip of his juice like he had all the time in the world. "If I tell you, you're likely to get mad. Or lose control is the right term."
"Likely?"
He nodded. "Yes. For many people, not getting what they want feels like a loss of control. Anger is merely an 'active' form of them trying to get what they want. So if someone's initial request or desire is denied, they may natural resort to anger to then get what they want. It's a form of power or control."
I stared at him. "You're talking like a robot."
He shook his head. "I'm not a robot. I'm just stating facts. Rather than losing control, people should-"
"Tell me how you did it, Christian." I cut him off.
He was silent as he took another sip of his juice. "I paid your room service to pack all your things and send it to me."
"And you think Liam wouldn't notice? You think he's just going to let it go that I'm suddenly missing and my clothes are gone?"
He finished his juice and put the glass back without making a sound. "Yes. And it's the last time I'm saying, stop taking his name. I don't like it."
"How are you so sure?" I asked again.
"Because he knows you'd never return."
Color drained from my face. "What?"
"I've left him a letter in your writing that you're leaving him and you'd never come back because you don't want to live with him anymore. That you are going far away from him and he shouldn't even try to find you because you've found someone else."
"What the hell you think-"
He stood up suddenly and wiped his mouth with his napkin. He then turned to me and bent down to drop a kiss on my crown. I leaned back instinctively but it was too late. His lips had already kissed my head.
"As much I'd like to talk to you all day, I have an errand to run. Take a shower, I'll be back in two hours."
And then he left and I heard the digital beep of the room being locked.
*******
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