Control

Chapter 8

James

I pulled her swiftly onto my lap before she had a chance to even process my words. She gasped and sat frozen in surprise as I dragged my nose up and down her neck breathing in her light lavender fragrance and loving the chills that formed along the same trail my nose travelled.

To say I was pleased was an understatement. I was elated. Ella had been avoiding my calls for the past week and it vexed me to no end. I am rarely ever denied anything and I have never been rejected by a woman. Jack tried to do some digging for me and hadn't turned up with anything helpful, just that Ella is shy, young, naïve and very inexperienced. Thus, I attributed her rebuff to being overwhelmed.

Now I understood.

This beautiful woman was actually terrified of me. Not the fear that elicits excitement and curiosity, but the kind of fear one experiences in nightmares. I instilled terror and my dominance, no matter how sexy it may be to other women, was hammering that horror deeper into her mind at each interaction.

And I loved it.

I chuckled darkly then nipped at her ear. This seemed to bring her out of her daze as she started to struggle in my hold. I only tightened my grasp on her and muttered quietly, "Don't make a scene, baby girl."

She paused and looked around, noticing the curious glances we were receiving. Taking this as my chance I continued, "Today is your lucky day! I am going to let you off easily and require only one small favor. In return, you get your money back and I will be out of your life forever." I saw her head pique to the side in curiosity and could tell I had caught her interest. This would be all too easy.

"My father is convinced that I only date whores. I need you to be daddy's ideal image of a dutiful little girlfriend until after Thanksgiving, which you will spend with me and my family. This will require us to be seen often in the public eye before then so that he is convinced I didn't just pay you."

"Or blackmail me." Ella mumbled bitterly.

This made me laugh out loud as I admired her little show of gumption and felt amused and drawn to her that much more.

"Clever girl," I mused quietly shaking off the last of my bout of laughter.

"Wait...Thanksgiving??" she exclaimed loudly. Quickly changing her tone due to both my glare and other nosy glances, she continued quietly but earnestly, "th-that's almost three months! I don't think I can do that. I have never been a girlfriend before. I don't know what a perfect girlfriend is supposed to do. Surely, there must be someone else- someone better. I mean, I ca-can't do this. I hate you. I can't go on a date with you each week for the next three months. That's crazy. Oh my gosh, would we have to hold hands and stuff? Or ki-kiss.."

I broke off her adorable rambling grabbing her face in one of my hands and capturing her muttering mouth in my possessive lips.

"You are already perfect, believe me. I don't give a f*ck how long it is until Thanksgiving. I don't care if you hate me, in fact, that makes it better. And yes, we will have to kiss, among other things..." I trailed off while smirking at her.

She was blushing furiously as she asked, "why is it better if I hate you? Wouldn't you want to be with someone you love?"

I started trailing my hands along her lovely legs moving up the sides of her thighs. She squirmed uncomfortably and blushed a shade darker. I continued my torture, not phased by her obvious prudishness and discomfort while I muttered darkly, "Love doesn't exist, baby girl. Anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves. Relationships are all about gain. With you, I gain an improved outside perception. My father says I come off as too ruthless, so I need to tone it down. You'll help me appear that way, but I don't have the annoying task of worrying about your feelings or needs as I would in a relationship with supposed feelings."

"What would I gain from this relationship?" Ella asked, trying for a more confident tone which still came out barely above a whisper.

"You will gain experience. I would venture a guess that you've never traveled except out here to school. With me, you'll be required to go on a few trips between now and Thanksgiving. Not to mention, I'll broaden your experience physically. Was that your first kiss, baby girl?"

At this, Ella surprised me with an increase of force as she finally broke from my hold and scurried out of my reach before turning to me, this time a violent shade of red from anger rather than embarrassment.

"I refuse. I don't want to gain any of that. Especially with you!" She whisper-yelled. "I don't have time to travel. I have to keep my grades up to keep my scholarship and when I'm not studying I have a job to help pay for the things my scholarship won't cover. I am only 17, it's not that strange to never have had a relationship or have been kissed. I'm in no hurry to change that and I definitely don't want any of my other firsts to be with you!"

She stood there, seething in anger, and I was surprised at the confidence it brought out of her. A sense of pride and excitement swelled within me as I regarded her adorably angry stance. I stood slowly and smirked as I saw her take a step back.

"Ella," I spoke darkly, "I promise you right now, that I will be your first everything."