Dollars (Dollar #2)

by Pepper Winters

  So your kiss would’ve been a charity?

  Yes.

  No.

  Ugh, I don’t know.

  It would’ve been a token of my gratitude. A kiss—no matter how chaste or half-hearted—was an agreement that I trusted him enough to get close, press my mouth to his, and let him hold me.

  He could so easily have pulled my hair, forced me to speak—drowned me, for all he cared.

  But he didn’t.

  He’d held me safe with no pressure, even though his erection pressed against my belly, hard and throbbing with things I wasn’t strong enough to survive.

  Unable to withstand my colliding thoughts, I whipped out the notepad and pen.

  Dear No One,

  Is this my life now? Riddled with questions and doubt?

  I thought the moment I was away from Alrik, things would be easier, not harder—

  A loud clunking noise wrenched my head up.

  My heart donned her sneakers and took off sprinting. I dropped the pen as a lifetime of worry and self-preservation kicked in, expecting the worst. Whatever progress Elder had made with me was deleted with that one sharp bang.

  Alrik’s face sprang into my head, laughing and cruel.

  It took all my willpower to stay seated on my bed and not hurl myself to the floor and my knees.

  It came again—clunk, clunk, clunk.

  Clutching the sheet, doing my best not to slip into a panic attack, I glanced around the room. There was no tyrant ready to beat me, no werewolf in the shadows.

  Wait…

  I tilted my head.

  I recognise that noise.

  A chain.

  The metal links clinked together in an awful remembered time when something similar was used to string me up. Only, this wasn’t a small chain but massive and lots of it.

  The anchor maybe?

  Climbing out of bed, I darted to the door only to notice I was naked (like normal) and not suitable for gallivanting around in investigation. Jogging back to the haven I’d just climbed from, I grabbed the sheet, not caring my unfinished note to No One scattered on the floor, and wrapped it around me.

  Racing back to the exit, ensuring my temporary clothing covered the right places and didn’t flutter open, I charged down the corridor and up the flight of stairs rather than take the lift.

  I’d been on Elder’s ship for over a week. In that time, I’d battled against recovery then given into it. Once I rested and ate correctly, my body had taken full advantage. The bruises were still there, only now more green moss rather than purple thunderstorm. My broken hand was still bound with a plastic cast and bandage that I’d replaced after my swim last night. However, I hadn’t tethered my ribs again, and a minor twinge let me know I probably should have.

  My muscles had regained enough mobility to propel me upward—not just skin and bone anymore—but tentatively filling out as if afraid the slight curves would be punished for showing health.

  I panted and puffed by the time I climbed onto the top deck and squinted in glorious early morning sunshine, but I didn’t collapse in a broken heap.

  I was getting stronger every day.

  Thanks to him.

  As if thinking about him, Elder materialized, standing on the deck with a cup of coffee in his hands. He wore faded jeans with a white t-shirt and casual linen blazer slung over his shoulders.

  My gaze drifted down to his feet where masculine toes were free thanks to thin black flip-flops.

  He didn’t notice me. Or then again, maybe he did but enjoyed me staring at him as much as I enjoyed doing it.

  What time had he woken to be showered and dressed and so damn immaculate?

  Striding forward, my sheet billowed behind me, doing its best to snap and vanish in the warm breeze.

  Stopping beside him, he glanced in my direction. “Morning.”

  I merely widened my eyes and gawked at the view. He was no longer the centre of my attention. The open sea had miraculously changed from open horizon to busy, dusty port.

  “Morocco,” Elder said, offering me his coffee.

  I held up my hand, automatically refusing his gift. My tongue was feeling much better, but I didn’t want to undo that healing with scalding coffee.

  He smirked. “You’re getting more comfortable with me, Pimlico.”

  I gulped. He’s right. I hadn’t thought twice about reacting. Breathing through my cymbal smashing heartbeat, I ignored him as the sun glittered on trucks and cranes and the mania of a working harbour.

  He chuckled quietly. “First, you’re disappointed I didn’t kiss you last night, and now, your body language speaks before you can censor it.” Raising the mug to his lips, he deliberately licked them before sealing them around the porcelain. His throat contracted as he swallowed a mouthful of caffeine. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re beginning to trust my promise.”

  I don’t know what you’re talking about.

  I kept my eyes glued on a crane hauling a container into the sky.

  It didn’t stop him from muttering, “My promise that I won’t hurt you.”

  I didn’t know if he’d ever hurt me, but with fresh energy came clear-headedness and confidence to face whatever came next. My anger had given me a backbone, but his peace had given me sanity.

  I turned to face him. I didn’t know why. To finish what we started last night? To surprise him that maybe I was disappointed and ready to play his game.

  Elder’s gaze locked onto my mouth and every electrical spark between us fizzled with fireworks. I stopped breathing as my stomach became master of my body, clenching in answer to the dark question on his face.

  I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. I didn’t know what he was doing to me.

  Either kiss me or stop—

  A handsome older man interrupted our moment, his eyes crinkling against the sun’s brightness. “The anchor is in position. She’s all put to bed, sir.”

  Our connection severed like taut twine cut with scissors. I sucked in my first inhale in so many heartbeats.

  Elder cleared his throat, tossing the remaining coffee overboard, an arc of brown liquid splashing in the small gap between the dock and the ship. He showed no sign of being affected by whatever had happened.

  A large gangway cracked open the shell of the Phantom a few decks below us, extending to the mainland, ready to disembark.

  Elder said, “Excellent. Thank you, Jolfer.”

  “We’ll wait here until we hear from you. We have mooring rights for seventy-two hours.”

  “We won’t need that long.” Elder placed the coffee mug on a bolted-down table by the railing. “Tell Selix to drive out and meet us by the west warehouse.”

  “Us, sir?” Jolfer’s forehead furrowed. “You’re not going alone?”

  Elder turned to face me, his eyes black and guarded. “Not this time.” He held out his hand. “Pimlico this is your first choice of many.”

  I froze.

  “Be my guest. Explore an exotic city. Come meet a member of the royal family and begin to live a little. Or stay. Simple.”

  I jolted back a step.

  Me?

  Allowed to wander with strangers, inhale aromatic flavours, and…meet royalty?

  I didn’t understand.

  Wasn’t I his possession? Shouldn’t he keep me hidden on his ship, far away from the prying eyes of people who might see what I was and rescue me?

  Rescue you from what?

  Him, of course.

  The thought of running the moment my feet touched land filled my heart with helium. I could vanish in this helter-skelter city and be gone.

  Elder laughed, his hair gleaming like a crow’s wing in the sun. “If you come with me, fair warning. I won’t put a leash on you; you’ll be treated like a human being who is there of her own accord. But if you run…I won’t stop you.”

  I sucked in a breath.

  What?

  “I won’t stop you because I don’t have time to chase an unappre
ciative brat.” He stepped forward. “You know enough to decide if you want to stay with the devil you know or sprint to one you don’t. Realistically, it would be better for me if you did run. You’d be off my ship and out of my life, and I could go back to the way things were.”

  His eyes shone with a fury I rarely saw. “I miss my regimented existence, silent one. Don’t think you’re the only one struggling with this arrangement.”

  If you’re struggling why take me in the first place?

  Elder rubbed his mouth with the same fingers that’d made me origami-gifts and stroked me in the sea. “For now, you’re my responsibility. And it’s up to you to decide. First, you make the choice to come with me. Yes or no. Then, if that choice is yes, you make another choice.”

  His fingers looped sensually around my elbow, dragging me forward a step in a purely dominating move. “You come, and you agree to return. Running will only get you killed—especially in this country. You’re a white female with no money, passport, or voice. Do you honestly think you’ll find safety?”

  My chin came up.

  I might.

  Not all men are monsters.

  He pursed his lips. “Are you willing to risk what I’m offering with the hope that someone out there will take pity on you, buy you a plane ticket, track down your mother, and send you home?”

  My body froze as he stepped closer until his flip-flops brushed my bare feet. “People want to be good, silent one, but they’re lazy. The novelty of helping you would wear off quickly and then where would you be? Jumping at shadows and running for the rest of your life.”

  My heart became a landmine, just waiting for one more push to explode.

  “I’m willing to break your past and give you a future you deserve, not the world you were stolen from.” He let me go. “Remember that if you ever get the urge to leave.”

  Turning around, he stalked toward the lift. “Inform the chef I’ll return for dinner, Jolfer.” He didn’t give me a backward glance.

  His words rang like a gong inside my ears. I knew he’d read my notes to No One but having him talk about my mother…that hurt to the point of destruction.

  Would Elder find her for me if I asked him?

  I hadn’t even contemplated that he would want me gone eventually. I was the one who wanted to leave. The one who wanted this to be…temporary.

  It messed with my mind to have him admit the same.

  Elder wrenched to a halt a few metres away, snapping his fingers in impatience. “Yes or no, Pim. Decide, right now.”

  Was there any correct answer? Was I doomed if I did and doomed if I didn’t? Either way, the thought of a day in Morocco after a lifetime of England and then white-captivity was no choice at all.

  Striding forward, the sheet rippled around my legs.

  Elder smiled as I slowed beside him. “We’ll see if you made the right choice soon enough.” His strong arm wrapped around me, the hardness of his bicep pressing against my spine. With the tiniest pressure, he corralled me forward into the glassed area where the lift waited.

  His fingers branded me through the fine cotton. My heart suffered its final push, and the landmine exploded with shrapnel. The pieces fed into my bloodstream making every breath, twitch, and awareness of Elder Prest agonising.

  Whenever he touched me, it was more than just a touch. It was possession. In every sense of the word. But it was never a threat. And I couldn’t unscramble how he could be one without the other.

  Pressing the button to summon the elevator, he murmured, “I haven’t made a fuss of your lack of wardrobe while on Phantom. However, since you’re accompanying me on business, it’s time you grew accustomed to wearing clothes.”

  I blanched at the thought of tight clinging material in the Moroccan heat. He’d switched my life upside down—torn everything I’d known into shreds. The air conditioners that’d dried out my skin and kept me chilled no longer existed on his yacht. The heat was dispersed by natural breezes with open balconies and portals.

  I’d never stopped to think about why that was.

  And just how much Elder had studied me. How did he make my knees tremble when he was close? How did he take a normal touch and turn it so weighty and hot and…dare I admit, delicious and not disgusting?

  I tried to read him as he stared into my face, both of us seeking answers to whatever riddles the other caused.

  Straightening my spine, I hugged the sheet tighter in delayed answer to his dressing command.

  His eyes lingered on my collarbone, dipping to the small amount of visible cleavage. “Do you want to come?”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  The way his voice feathered over the word come made it a sexual not innocent question.

  He already knew I’d go with him. That despite myself, I was excited to see new things and be around people and adventures.

  He didn’t need an answer to his question. Especially the sexual connotation.

  He only wanted me to respond.

  Fine.

  Cocking my chin, I sucked on my bottom lip. Two could play at this game.

  I think.

  His muscles locked as his eyes became obsessed with my mouth.

  The power he granted as lust filled his gaze allowed me to step outside my self-imposed rules and nod.

  Just once.

  Yes, I want to.

  He never looked away from the glisten left by my tongue on my lip. “See, replying wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  Hard physically? No. Hard psychologically? Yes. A thousand times yes, especially when he looked at me as if he was no longer a man but a ravenous beast with an appetite for mute prisoners...

  “I like it when you respond.” His voice was ash and rubble. He swallowed hard. “Let’s try another question. Do you want to come? Or do you want to come?”

  That isn’t a yes or no answer.

  But I’d keep playing. I’d pretend I was mentally strong enough to flirt, even if the tangled heat he caused couldn’t retrain my brain from withdrawing in horror at the thought of his fingers on my breasts, his hands dropping down my body, his cock pushing inside my—

  I gulped, squeezing my eyes against the lewd picture in my head.

  I thought I was strong enough.

  I’m not.

  Not yet.

  Elder sighed heavily as I stiffened in his hold. “For a second, I saw someone I wanted—someone capable of withstanding what I need.” He let me go as the lift chimed and opened wide. “Pity she’s gone again.”

  His words were visible things. Four words, four fingers swatted across my cheek.

  He’d told me I was weak before. He told me I was broken. But that was to earn a reaction from me. This…it was just a statement of truth.

  It ripped out my heart and threw it overboard as chum.

  “Are you coming?” Elder stepped into the elevator, holding the doors as they tried to close. “Time to dress.”

  Whatever heat he’d sparked simmered into smarting discord. I held my chin high and stalked into the lift.

  The doors hissed closed, trapping every unsaid animosity and desire tight around us.

  Elder exhaled through his nose, his gaze bouncing from the mirrored door to mine.

  Don’t say anything.

  Let me go to my room without another figurative slap in the face.

  My request went unanswered. He lowered his jaw, watching me beneath his brow. The fact the mirror was a third party, linking our eyes while standing side by side didn’t stop the spiralling heat from rekindling and crackling all over again.

  He breathed, “Last night was…interesting.”

  I swallowed as his gaze dropped to the sheerness of my sheet. “It erased a few of your walls. We should do it again sometime.”

  A strange intoxication filled my veins until I swore my blood had turned to wine, filtering through my heart, making it drunk.

  My knees locked as he bit his lip, the mirror showing every etch of his face, every shadow of his throat
and jaw.

  How much longer would I have to stand in this electrifying torture chamber with him?

  My nostrils flared as his hand moved to capture a corner of the sheet. He never turned to face me, but his face darkened. “Don’t hate me for what I said before. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  I bowed my head. Not out of respect or acceptance of his so-called apology but because I couldn’t look at him anymore.

  I couldn’t stare into ebony eyes and try to read what he kept hidden. It gave me a headache.

  Agreeing to go to Morocco is a mistake.

  “Look at me, Pimlico.” His fingers tugged the sheet, forcing my fists to tighten to keep it in place.

  My face pointed at the sky with fake bravado, but I refused to meet his eyes.

  “Christ,” he muttered under his breath.

  I shook with adrenaline but not fear. I’d been in his company long enough now not to expect a fist, but I couldn’t read him. I couldn’t pre-empt or stall whatever it was he was about to do.

  What is he going to do?

  His grip on the sheet turned aggressive. Yanking hard, he caught me by surprise, spinning me on my feet like a carousel. The white cotton escaped my broken hand while I held on with my other as tight as I could.

  But it was no use.

  Half-naked with the sheet draped over one shoulder, I crashed into Elder’s arms only for him to turn around and slam me against the mirrored wall.

  My spine screamed as the bite of coldness activated the humming sensitivity in my body. I gasped as his face twisted into a tortured mask.

  He breathed hard and harsh, my inhales and exhales in total sync with his as our eyes locked in shock.

  “Goddammit.”

  Goosebumps broke all over me as his hands suddenly landed on my shoulders, kneading me like a cat. His nose brushed mine as he bowed closer. “What is it about you that I can’t ignore? Why do you have this power over me?”

  I daren’t move. Even though I couldn’t.

  I didn’t know what he meant. The one with the power was him. Only him.

  He bit his lip again as his fingers trailed from my shoulders to the hem of the sheet covering my left breast. My right was exposed, totally vulnerable to the brush of his chest just like our midnight swim.