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âAt twenty-three years of age, I would have hoped pouting would be far behind you, Eleanor.â
Eleanor turned her face to the car window and rolled her eyes. She didnât pay any attention to the soft winter woods rolling past her; she simply didnât want him to see her childish response to his rebuke. She was in enough trouble with him already. Himâshe wouldnât even think or speak his name.
âIâm not poutingâ¦sir.â She delayed adding the term of respect for as long as safely possible. âPouting is what I do when you send me to bed without supper. Youâre leaving me for a week and just pawning me off on some stranger. Pouting is not what this is.â
She heard him sigh and felt a tug of sympathy that she quickly forced aside. She knew she was being difficult, but he was being impossible.
âThen what is it?â he asked.
Eleanor kept her jaw tight. âRighteous indignation.â
âRighteous indeed,â he said. âYou realize that Daniel is only a stranger to you,â he reminded her, but Eleanor only stared out the window again. Daniel. something. She didnât even know his last name or anything about him. He was rich apparently. Heâd sent a limo to bring her to him. Sheâd thought the limo was a little ridiculous, but at least it gave her the privacy to vent her frustration at him during the whole drive. âHe is an old and dear friend,â he continued. âOne of the best men I have ever known. As Iâve told you before, his wife died nearly three years ago. Heâs been something of a recluse ever since.â
âSo giving me to him to fuck for a week is supposed to mend his poor broken heart?â she challenged. âYou must think Iâm pretty damn good in bed.â
âAlthough considerable, itâs hardly your prowess in the bedroom that I imagine will help Daniel return to the outside world again. I merely wish you to keep him company while Iâm away. Whether or not he chooses to sample your talents is his decision.â
âSo I donât get a say?â
Eleanor started at the sound of the tinted window separating them from the driver being raised. But she wasnât surprised when he grabbed her by the knees and wrenched her toward him. She ended up on her back stretched across the dark leather of the seat, his hands lifting her skirt and prying her thighs apart. With two fingers he penetrated her quick and hard.
âWho do you belong to?â he demanded, his voice quietly threatening.
She forced herself to breathe, forced herself to meet his eyesâeyes gray and ominous as a rising storm.
âYou, sir,â she answered through teeth gritting against the sudden violation.
âAnd this,â he said, spreading his fingers open inside her. She felt herself growing wet at his touch and had to curse her betraying body for being so endlessly responsive to him. âWho does this belong to?â
âYou, sir.â
âMine to keep?â
âYes, sir.â
âMine to give away?â
She swallowed before answering. âYes, sir.â
âAnd mine to come claim again?â
Tears tried to form in her eyes but she forced them down. She nodded and whispered, âYes, sir.â
Slowly he pulled his fingers out of her. She sat up and straightened her skirt while he wiped her wetness off his hand with a black handkerchief.
âNow,â he said without bothering to look at her, âyouâve had your say.â
Eleanor said nothing else as the limo pulled into the long, winding driveway of a snow-covered colonial manor. At least heâs got a nice house, Eleanor told herself. Sheâd almost expected it to look like a prison. But still, a pretty home was cold comfort for spending a week alone with a man sheâd never met.
The limo stopped at the front door and a man, presumably Daniel, came out to greet them. She stood to the side shivering as she let the old friends exchange greetings and handshakes. Out of the corner of her eyes she studied Daniel. She guessed he was thirty-six or thirty-seven; he certainly looked no older. And, she grudgingly conceded, he was very handsome. Far from the thin pale hermit sheâd imagined, he was well-muscled with a face as chiseled as an old Hollywood movie idol. His blond hair made him seem slightly less threatening but when he turned his attention to her, she stiffened in fear. His eyes were neither cold nor cruel, but flush with sorrow. The sadness rendered him immediately human to her and that was the last thing she wanted or needed. To get through this week, she needed to keep her guard up. Sheâd let him have her body if he demanded it of her. Sheâd give him nothing else.