Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
She guessed she was going to work out.
The lord and master had spoken.
14
Liam kept his face impassive, but on the inside, he was grinning as she dragged her feet into the gym.
“You’re late.”
“It’s five in the morning, you can’t be late when it’s this early.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Nothing makes any sense at this hour. If Regent comes in here, he’s going to know that something is up. There’s no way I’d be in here. One of the guards could see us.”
“If they do, tell them you’ve decided to take up exercising. They’d have to come in here to see you.” This room was in the basement and only had windows high up on the walls.
Still, he knew she was right to be cautious. They were playing with fire. It was only a matter of time before Regent found out what was going on under his roof. He just hoped to be in a place where she trusted them enough to leave her safety net. To find it with them instead.
She’d contacted the therapist her cousin had talked about last night, so he hoped that would help.
Walking over to her, he grasped her chin, tilting it up. She was getting far better about letting them touch her. And he was grateful for that.
“Leave the worrying to me, all right?”
“Liam, you can’t take on all my worries.”
“Try me.”
“You shouldn’t take on all my worries,” she amended. “I’ve got to take care of myself.”
“No, you don’t need to do it all yourself. You can lean on other people and still be strong.”
“Oh, yeah? Do you do that?”
“I lean on Nico when I have to. You can lean on both of us and still be your own person, baby.”
“Okay. All right.” She nodded. “So, what are you doing here?”
“First, it’s what are we doing here,” he told her. “You’re here to work out as well. We’ll go slow. Here, I brought you a protein drink. It will help give you some energy.”
She gave him a wary look but took the drink. After a sip, she looked pleasantly surprised.
“This actually tastes good.”
“Drink it down.”
After she’d finished, he took her through a few stretches.
“Here, like this.” He carefully took hold of her hips. “Now lean forward. That’s it.”
Fuck. This was probably a bad idea. She was wearing yoga pants and an oversized T-shirt. Nothing too revealing. Until she bent over. That ass in those pants . . . fucking hell. He already had a hard-on and they’d only just begun.
“That good? Liam? You okay?” She turned to look at him.
He nodded. “Yep.” He did his best to keep his mind off that spectacular ass as he took her through some more moves.
“Good. Now we’re ready to work out.”
“What? You mean that wasn’t the workout?”
He had to grin. “You sound like Nico.”
“Where is Nico? Why isn’t he down here being punished like me?”
“You’re not being punished, baby,” he said to her, cupping her cheek and tilting her face back. “When you’re being punished, you’ll know.”
“I will?”
“Hm. I’ve been thinking about that. My preference for punishment would be to put you over my knee and smack that ass of yours until you’re squirming and begging to be released.”
He studied her for any fear, but all he saw was arousal. Her breath quickened, her cheeks grew flushed.
“Does that idea scare you?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Doesn’t have to be that. We can take spanking off the table. You can think on it, decide if it’s something you want. Now, let’s get on the treadmill.”
This wasn’t a punishment, it was damn torture.
Although she wasn’t certain if she was talking about the exercise or watching Liam work out. The man was a god. Gorgeous. Strong. Lethal.
Lickable.
Okay, down girl.
“Right. Good girl. Here, you need to do it like this.” He moved in behind her, his front pressed to her back as he tried to show her some ridiculous thing to do with a dumbbell. She didn’t care about any of that, but having him so close . . .
Yeah, torture.
“Are you paying attention to me?” he suddenly asked.
“What? Yes, of course I am.”
“I don’t think you are, baby girl,” he murmured.
Oh, holy fuck. That turned her on so much. “I think we need to do something to make you more focused. Put the dumbbells down,” he ordered.
She placed them on the floor and started to stand.
“Uh-uh, I didn’t say stand.”
Oh, hell. Her heart started racing. Trepidation mixed with arousal.
“Now, you’re going to pay attention and do exactly what I say, without argument. Understand? If you don’t listen, then you’ll be punished.”
Holy crap.
“Stand up.”
She stood, feeling a little light-headed and he grabbed her shoulders. “All right?”
“Yes. Just a bit light-headed.”
He frowned. “You need to eat more.”
“All the blood rushed from my head.”
“You’re still eating more.”
“I remember the rule.”
“Have you been doing it?” he asked.
She. Bit her lip. Drat. “You mean you don’t know? I’m sure Nico is keeping you up to date.”