Free Sold to the Sheikh by Chloe Cox

thoughts to hold the side of her face, and took a moment to inspect her arm. He frowned, then locked his eyes with hers. “A Dominant doesn’t just assume control, Stella. They assume responsibility. You are under my control, and thus your safety is my responsibility. I came very close to failing you.”
    His fingers brushed lightly over the red marks that Creighton had left on her skin; Stella could tell she would probably bruise. “I did fail you,” he said sadly.
    But his touch electrified her. Every point of contact between them provided a focus for the nervous energy that bubbled inside her, for all the fear, the adrenaline, the anger. It all rushed to the surface where he touched her, much like the blood forming a bruise under her skin, and suddenly, she wanted him. She wanted him to want her. She wanted him to know it.
    “You came back,” she said. “And you protected me.”
    Stella paused; that wasn’t what she’d meant to say at all. It just came out. She had never expected anyone to do either of those things, and yet, a man she’d only just met had done them, and now she was piling on the pressure like some kind of clinger. She looked down at her feet, ashamed.
    “I’m sorry,” she said again, “I didn’t mean—”
    Sheikh Bashir’s hand, moving down from her face to her breast, silenced her. He pushed his warm hand under her dress, brushing his thumb over her nipple, kneading the full, swelling flesh. Stella felt her back arch slightly as her breath hitched.
    “Only apologize when you have done something wrong, Stella,” he said.
    Stella closed her eyes. She could feel the Sheikh’s eyes on her, could tell they once more saw more than she ever wanted to reveal. She didn’t want to be the bitter, wounded, broken divorcée with him; she didn’t want to be the little girl everyone was always leaving. She wanted to be the glamorous, sexy, daring woman who could sell herself for a weekend and not give a damn.
    The Sheikh pushed her against the bookcase, kicking the books at his feet out of the way, and pulled her breast free of her too-expensive dress. He took her wrists gently in hand, and pinned them above her head.
    Then he just looked at her. It felt like her whole body seemed to shake and shiver, pulled taut for him, like a string he could pluck at his leisure.
    “Stella,” he said, and his voice had gone deep, guttural. He ran his hand down the length of her body, up and down, returning to her aching breast, and claimed her mouth with his.
    Stella arched into him, needing to feel his body against hers in as many places as possible. She’d never wanted anyone so badly, never felt the need for completion more in her entire life. There were too many things built up inside her, and they needed release.
    “Please,” she said.
    He kissed her neck, and she felt it in her clit. She felt everything in her clit.
    “Tell me why you would apologize for that, Stella,” he murmured into her skin.
    God no , she thought. Don’t make me be that person. Just…please…let me be…
    “Please,” she said, feeling completely helpless. “Please just take me back to the hotel. You can do anything you want.”
    I can’t believe I just said that, she thought. Have I begged? Is that good enough?
    He laughed, and hefted her leg up around his waist, running his hand up the underside of her thigh.
    “No, Stella,” he said, tightening his grip on her wrists. “I do not need your permission, remember? I will do anything that I want. I will do everything that I want. But first, I want you to answer my questions.”
    Stella shook her head, and then moaned as he rolled his hips against her swollen clit.
    “Please…” And she had to stop herself, because suddenly, insanely, she felt like she might cry from the frustration, and the stress, and everything that had happened to her in the last six months. Actually cry, in front of him. And that was unacceptable.
    “Stella,” he said. “Look at me.”
    She