Page 23 of Tamed
Once, when Atlas had joined us for dinner one night, I’d tried to ask him, see if he knew anything, but he’d only given me his trademark charming smile, and told me he’d once heard that Caleb was the devil himself and lived in a castle in the Ninth Circle of Hell.
Atlas was also a card-carrying member of the asshole club.
Anyway, when Caleb had told me about the man who’d killed his family, I’d made some sarcastic comment because at the time I hadn’t believed him. But later, I kept replaying what he’d said over and over in my head. It had the ring of personal experience to it, I couldn’t help thinking. Though, that wasn’t the only moment I kept replaying.
There’d been that other moment, when I’d stared at his reflection in the window, and he’d stared back. And I’d wanted desperately to look away because there had been something in his black eyes, something darkly ferocious that I’d found both frightening and unbearably exciting both at once.
An electric feeling had hung in the air, sending delicious chills through me, and I’d had the impression that if I moved, I’d have generated sparks.
But that wasn’t me and I knew it. It was all him. Him standing not far away, all six foot five of hard, heavy muscle wrapped in one of those perfectly tailored suits of dark charcoal wool. He’d been wearing a black shirt with a blue silk tie, and he was just… oh my God, so fucking hot. Dark and dangerous, and the epitome of every fantasy I’ve ever had. And the way he was looking at me. Almost as if he—
But no, I couldn’t think that. I couldn’t think about how the force of his will, the sheer intensity of it glittering in his eyes, had made me finally drop my gaze. Or about how the moment I had, something inside me had relaxed.
I didn’t understand it, not at all, and I really needed to stop thinking about him. Fixating on a man I could never have was a great way to ensure I’d stay a virgin for life and there was no way I was going to do that.
I also needed to convince him that I was a good girl who never put a foot out of line and who’d never had one single call from some mysterious person who was going to reveal all about my mother. Who definitely wasn’t planning on ditching her security so she could go to a secret sex club with her best friend from work.
Dad texted me as I went diligently to work that morning, with J, J, and M flanking me like border collies shepherding a recalcitrant sheep. It was only a ‘hi, how are you doing, not sorry for putting you in the equivalent of a prison btw’ text and so I treated it the way it deserved, with a cheery ‘it’s okay, love you’. I only just stopped myself from adding a kiss emoji, which would have made him deeply suspicious.
There was no point arguing with him, not given how inflexible as he was, though I’d debated telling him what Caleb had told me about mom. In the end I’d decided against it since I couldn’t be bothered dealing with any fallout. Dad was nothing but dramatic when it came to her and if he discovered Caleb had told me about her, he’d almost certainly turn it into a massive deal.
Not that it was Dad I should have been worried about.
No, what I was really worried about was Caleb.
He knew me too well and he could read me like a book, and I was sure that my apologetic speech to him the night before hadn’t convinced him of anything, no matter how much I’d meant it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate his talk about enemies and danger and how I’d be a target. I knew that already. I’d been a target for Dad’s enemies ever since I was a day old. But therehadto be a better way that didn’t involve me being treated like a newborn chick who had to be protected at all costs from basically the entire world.
Anyway, I knew that if I was going to go out with Zara and lose my security sheepdogs, I was going to need averygood plan indeed.
I went into Cross International that morning as per usual, making sure to be on time since drawing any Caleb attention wasn’t what I wanted, especially today. But the eye of Sauron was clearly somewhere else since I spent the morning working in my cubicle without a single royal summons.
Zara put her head over the top of my cubicle mid-morning and jerked her chin in the direction of the kitchenette, so I finished up what I was doing and met her there.
“You still on for tonight?” she asked, as I came in. She’d already gotten out my favorite mug and it was currently sitting in the coffee machine, waiting for my usual latte to fill it.
“Absolutely.” I leaned against the counter and gave her a concerned look. “You’re still going to….you know….?”
“Auction off my virginity?” Zara grinned. “Hell, yeah.”
“Your virginity?” I echoed dumbly. “That’swhat you’re auctioning off?”
She regarded me with some amusement. “What did you think I was auctioning?”
I couldn’t hide my shock. “I don’t know, like a striptease or something.”
“Uh no. If all I wanted was to take my clothes off, I could get a job in a strip club.”
“Zara—”
“Look, I know you’re worried,” she interrupted, before I could list all the reasons why this was a very bad idea. “And I appreciate it, but it’s all good. The club is legit with the application process and all the prospective bidders have been vetted. It’s safe, okay?”
A secret sex club where people could auction off their virginity to the highest bidder? Safe?
“If you need money, I can—”
“We’ve already had this conversation and I believe I was clear.” She gave me a very direct look. “I know what I’m doing, Izzy, okay?”