I sat up, my eyes trained on the stage all the while telling myself no fucking way. She was the third one on the stage. The red designer dress that hugged her curves and showed way too much leg with the slit that went almost to her crotch, and the cleavage that was on display, had the men in the room in a fucking frenzy.
I don’t recall what the first two went for, but I was sure she’d already bypassed their buying price by a mile. My future wife was on a fucking stage being sold like…. I’ll have to deal with that Freudian slip later, right now my only interest was in getting her the fuck out of there.
“Ten thousand going once, twice…” Wait, what? I was almost out of my seat my eyes searching out the asshole who’d just bid ten grand on my woman. I’ll break his fucking neck. “Twenty thousand.” A hush fell over the room and all eyes turned in my direction. That’s when I realized I was on my feet.
Unlike the other participants I didn’t let my prey retreat behind the curtain, but made my way to the stage, my eyes fixed on hers. There was surprise written all over her face which was soon replaced by fear when she got a good look at my face. The room had erupted in wild applause and not a few suggestions as to what I should do with my purchase. Cameras flashed as I reached her and took her hand in mine, all but pulling her off the stage.
I acknowledged Simone with a nod of my head and from her pleased grin knew she’d gotten exactly what she’d been after. That fact was confirmed when she reached beneath the podium and retrieved Emily’s evening bag. Well played. I’ll deal with her later too, right now I had to get this one home and give her a few lessons in how Jason Storm’s woman was supposed to comport herself in public.
She followed me easily enough until we got off the stage and then as if coming to her senses tried tugging away from my hold. “If you don’t want me to embarrass you you’ll stop.” I didn’t stop moving as I offered that warning, but kept going until we were out the door. Another fucking headline I’m sure.
I shooed the driver away and put her in the car myself before going around to the other side. She was busy trying to close the gap in her slit. “Now you want to cover up?” She wasn’t looking so confident now and as mad as I was at her for putting herself on display I needed to kiss her more. I dragged her across the seat and into my arms. My mouth came down to cover hers before whatever words she might’ve uttered could form on her lips.
If she’d resisted me I think I would’ve lost it, my blood was that hot. She’d just paraded herself in front of a room full of men for fuck sake. But she didn’t resist, but instead melted into me, helping to calm the heated anger that beat in my chest. My arms softened around her as I drew her in as close as humanly possible.
“I missed you.” Those words fell from my lips as soon as I came up for air. I obviously hadn’t meant to share that with her, but it was already done. I looked down at her flushed face and the glazed look in her eyes, the look very much like the one that had been captured in the infamous newspaper article. “You have a lot of explaining to do young lady.” The words weren’t harsh but they still evoked a reaction.
“Oh really? And to whom do I owe this explanation?” It seems she’d got her bearings back, but if she knew what was good for her she wouldn’t fuck with me on this. My veneer of civility was very close to slipping. “What the hell do you mean flaunting your ass on stage like that? Save it, we’ll talk when we get inside.”
She’d only just noticed our destination and before she could object I was ravaging her mouth once again while the driver came around to open the door. As soon as we exited the car I took her hand and led her into the building and towards the end of the lobby where the private elevator waited to take us to my penthouse apartment overlooking the city and beyond.
We were barely through the door before I had her pressed up against it, my hands caging her in on either side. “Now, do you want to tell me what the hell you thought you were doing?” She swallowed hard which betrayed her uneasiness and she should feel uneasy. I was this close to breaking her damn neck.