Chapter 4 Chapter Three

Ara

When I woke up in the morning, my eyes nearly fell from their sockets when I saw the shadow lounging on the armless sofa in the spacious bedroom that would now be mine.

Thayne Slade was in the room with me. His green-eyed stare made me feel naked, made me want to do things like going over to him and straddling him and letting him do dirty things to me.

I couldn't move, or blink, or breathe. It was like he sucked all the oxygen in the room.

He looked like a Greek god in his white shirt with the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

How many men on dear planet earth looked this fine very early in the morning?

His long, muscular legs were stretched out in front of him as if he owned the room, which was true.

Why was he in the room? Was I starting work today?

“Get down from the bed." He ordered in a low, gravelly voice that stroked the insides of my belly.

I remained where I was in bed, too dumbstruck to obey. Thayne Slade was used to people doing as he said without objections, but my name wasn't people, I was Ara, and nobody would order me around as if I was a slave.

He rose from the sofa and started approaching the bed. I held his green-eyed stare as he drew nearer and nearer to the bed.

He stopped beside the bed and leaned down over me, trapping me in the bed and overwhelming me with his spicy, woodsy scent.

He braced his arms on each side of the bed beside me, pinning me in place so I couldn't move away.

“You have only twenty minutes to prepare for work. A minute later than that will attract demotion.” His eyes went to my lips, settling there for a moment before they moved down to my chest heaving up and down.

"I don't have what to wear, I don't even -” He interrupted me rudely.

He shifted, straightening to his full height. "You have only nineteen minutes left. Demotion means lower pay, and we both know what that means.” His voice sounded even deeper this early in the morning, and I wanted him to keep talking.

“Why are you doing this? I can decide to back down from this arrangement." I hated that I sounded like a weakling. I wanted to sound confident, capable of carrying out my threat.

Thayne was already on the bed, pressing down on me and wrapping his hand around my throat. He leaned down so his nose brushed the curve of my neck as he sniffed.

"You're asking for trouble, little lamb.” He warned in a dark, dangerous voice that sent tingling sensations shooting down to my pussy.

"You're mine now. You can't run from me. You're. Fucking. Mine.” He bit into the dip of my collarbone and I moaned, arching my back and pressing myself up into him.

His teeth grazed my pulse and when his tongue darted out to lick the spot, I let out a louder moan.

A sharp knock on the door startled the both of us. A dark look crossed his face before he immediately got off the bed.

"You have fourteen minutes left.” He said in a hard voice as he walked out of the bedroom.

I clenched my teeth so hard they snapped as I got down from the bed and ran for the bathroom.

There were varieties of products waiting for me on the counter beside the bathtub. And it made me wonder if Thayne had arranged for them to be sent in before my arrival.

I had the quickest bath of my life, and I tiptoed on wet foot out of the bathroom to the wardrobe where what had to be a mini boutique hung in beautiful colors, shapes and sizes.

These clothes could buy my mother's restaurant two times!

I picked out a peach chiffon shirt and the short skirt right behind it. On a second thought, I grabbed a net pantyhose to go with it.

I chose a nude pair of heels from the expensive line up in the shoe rack right next to the wardrobe.

So much money in here, and yet I would be working without pay for a man who had turned my life into a nightmare.

Ten minutes later, I was rushing out of the bedroom, out of breath and my wits altogether.

Thane's escorts were waiting right by the door, and I was led to Thayne's in-office where he was having a conversation with someone over the phone.

The room was richly furnished with black and grey furniture with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city main way.

Thayne cursed into the phone before flinging it across the room. I gasped as it landed right in front of me, mere inches away from my feet.

What did I say about his temper? Unpredictable like the New York weather.

And he was to be my boss?! I was totally screwed.

To his escorts, he growled, “Leave us."

Silently, they left one after the other, bowing slightly as they turned to leave.

I resisted the urge to flee as Thayne stepped into the light. There was a scowl on his face, hardening his features so he looked like the Lord of the underworld.

I found it difficult to behave like a normal human being when we were in the same breathing space.

I mean, Thayne Slade had asked me to straddle him yesterday, and today he'd licked my neck like it was the sweetest flavor of ice cream in the market.

“I have a meeting with my father ten minutes from now, and he has decided to change the venue. He'll be here any minute from now." He sounded nothing like the arrogant bastard who had stormed into my mother's restaurant yesterday.

I was about to ask him if that meant I could leave when I heard a loud, authoritative voice barking orders in the hallway.

I felt the tension settle over us like a shroud the moment the owner of the voice stepped into the dimly lit office.

“Father," Thayne said in a hostile manner that told me he wasn't best of friends with his father.

Because I was foolish, I turned and came face to face with a stoic faced older version of Thayne and a familiar face standing behind him.

Holy hell. Maddie Sutton. Hollywood actress and heiress to Anderson Sutton Corporation.

She looked exactly like she did in the movies and Instagram.

She appeared to be sniffling, or pretending to sniffle.

She lifted her head, paused in her acting to glower at me like I had strangled her cat.

Hate at first sight. Got it.

“Madison." Thayne said flatly from behind me.

"You've been cheating on me. How could you?” She spat at Thayne.

I needed to get out of this room. Fast.

If I could teleport the fuck out of whatever was about to happen, I would have done that the moment I recognized Madison.

The likes of me and Madison were not made to stay together in one room.

Where she was tall and beautiful with the perfect Kardashian face and figure, my heart shaped face and curvy figure couldn't come close.

Wait. She said Thane was cheating on her?

Really? With who? I hadn't even thought about the fact that he could be in a relationship.

“Cheating? Don't go around talking nonsense, Madison. We were never in a relationship." Thane's voice was colder, fiercer and harder.

He didn't like Madison, that much was clear.

“What has come over you, son? You left the beautiful thing in front of you to settle for less?” Thayne's father asked, his lips curving with disappointment and disgust.

He'd called me less. They thought Thayne and I were together. No wonder Maddy-hottie was glowering at me.

“I can't believe you're doing this to me. Because of her?” Madison yelled, stepping forward and pointing a red nail at me.

What did she mean by 'because of me'?

"Again, you never cease to disappoint me. You want to settle for an alley-cat who spread her legs up to your front door?” Thayne's father asked, glaring daggers at his son.

And when he finally looked at me, it was with a condescending look that could fry an egg to a burnt crisp.

I couldn't just let them continue talking about me as though I was some cheap slut.

I needed to let them know I was just his personal assistant and nothing else.

Infact, I was yet to even start work.

Madison marched past Thane's father and covered the distance between us in her stiletto heels.

I readied myself to tell her Thayne hadn't been cheating on her with me, but she raised her arm.

Thayne was already beside me, grabbing Madison’s arm and pushing her backwards.

She staggered dramatically and knocked her ankles together, tripping herself and going all the way down to the floor.

I rolled my eyes, nearly sending them to the back of my head. She was such an actress.

Now I understood why Hollywood loved her so much.

“You pushed me!" She cried.

“You can't fight this, Thayne. We have set a wedding date for you and Madison. It is why I decided to come down to your penthouse myself. That being said, end whatever it is going on between you and this lowly girl. She does not belong in our circle.” Thayne's father could have as well slapped me across the face with his derogatory remark.

“I have a name, you know. I'm not some lowly girl, I'm Ara. And I'm just his per….oomph!” I was dragged backwards and I slammed my back against Thayne's hard, muscular chest.

He wrapped a protective arm around my waist and ran his fingers up and down my side.

Madison gaped at us. I was as shocked and confused as she was.

I tried to move out of Thane's gasp but it only caused him to tighten his grip on me more.

What was wrong with him?

His father glared at him even harder and flared his nostrils.

Thayne brushed my thick curls to one shoulder before pressing his lips to my ear and whispering in a sensual voice, “Play along, little lamb."

“She is my fiancée, father. And she is the one I'll wed.” He said proudly, leaning down and turning my face gently to press a kiss on my forehead.

Fiancée??! What?