(the power went out, again, what’s a girl to do but read by candlelight)
“I once read that fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.”
Thoughts:
- Edens last name is… soul? Really?
-40 pages in = “Who did this to you?” (yesssssss mwhahahahaha)
- OH THE MC WAS IN THE ARRANGED MARRIAGE AND THEN HE HIT HER NOT THE NEW MALE MC FUCK THAT WAS CONFUSING
- “What can I do to make you feel safe?" there we GO
- 200 pages to wait before decent smut RIP
- ok turns out he was meant to have an arranged marriage also and he was with her while being engages so… yikes
- so she went back to the place she got abused, planless, stupid, forgot her phone, and on a whim? Does she have brains at all? Besides cooking.
-Can you love someone who isn't yours?
- blah blah and you kinda do it one, save the sister, and now you’re getting married? Huh
- anyway note to self find where I put that silk blindfold I wanna try something
-that ending was so wack haha (before they got married a few days later, more wack)
-nvm ending is better now, she’s a brat (lol)
Notes:
- With a particular fondness for bold prints and V-necks thatshow cleavage all the way to her navel, she turns heads with effortlessconfidence and undeniable sex appeal.
- “Only Sergio couldmake opening a brand-new kink club sound like an act of defiance andaltruism.
-is this… an arranged marriage trope?
- I tip back the glass and drink until the ice hits my teeth
- I want to change the subject. I don’t want to talk about me any more than Iwant anyone looking at me.
- Oh my God, you’re adorable and mad
- I want to prove to myself that I don’t need people to make me feel safe andsecure. I want to prove that I can handle myself and make a way for myself,and earn so much money that when I go back to get Starla, we can doanything we want.
- I spin aroundand stare at the doorway, half expecting someone to find me. But I’m alone. For the first time in a decade… I’m alone. I have mixed feelings about that
-you’re no use to me if you faint on the job
-The woman’s wearing bruises from the fists of another man
-My throat tightens, because I just accidentally stated, out loud, for this perfectstranger to hear, my entire life’s struggle. I want to belong. I need to belong. And right now, the only man I’ve everbeen attracted to in my entire life has orchestrated things so that the onlything I’ve ever wanted is out of my reach
-I was created to live. I was created to love. I was created to feel
-NEED to get used to how quickly her moods shift. One minute she's chattyand happy and talking with her eyes wide open, looking around her inwonder with the simplicity that draws me to her. The next, panic flashesthrough her eyes. I don't know if I'll ever be able to quell that panic for her. I want to
-“I’m scared,” I tell him honestly. “Scared that it will hurt?” His brows furrow. I shake my head. “No. Scared that it… won’t.” “Eden.”
-“I don’t deserve a woman likeyou, but I’ll spend the rest of my life striving to be the man you deserve.”
-But I’m still not sure what love is, and I can’t make promises I don’t know ifI can keep.
Funny moments:
- I knew you were kinky when we were in sixth grade andyou trapped Tanya Monteiro in the broom closet.” I shrug. “Everyone trapped Tanya in the broom closet.” “ Dude. You were the only one who tied her up.
- Okay, so it’s fair to say I don’t trust men
- I lay back on the pillow and breathe out a sigh of relief. I said a prayer beforeI fell asleep, and maybe there is still a God because I’m still here and noone’s found me yet. “Thank you,” I whisper. “You’re welcome.” I stifle a scream at the sound of a deep, raspy male voice coming fromsomewhere in the room and reach wildly for my glasses. My hands clasparound them and I shove them on my face. (lmao)
-“Animal… husbandry.” “Yes, sir.” Sir. Until now, I had no idea one of my kinks was despoiling an innocentwoman.(lol)
-“Eden,” I repeat. “Like the Garden?” Good ol’ Catholic school for the win.hahaha
-“Can you help or not?"“Oooh,” he says in a high-pitched falsetto like he’s mimicking one of thewomen at the club. “I fucking love it when you get all bossy.” (bromance? Haha)
-“Since when have you ever known me to give a fuck about what’s legal?’ Mario grins. “True.”
-“Did you tie me up?” I say with a forced yawn. “It must’ve been terriblyforgettable
-“Should’ve made youcome five times instead of three.”“Yes,” I breathe, stifling a moan. “You should have, you slacker.
Tension:
- If masculinity could be beautiful, he’s sittingright in front of me
-I don’t remember the last time I had to tell someone to dosomething twice. “Now sit.” “With all due respect, Sergio, I have some pride.” She did not just talk back to me. She did
-How hungry are you?”The innocent look she gives me stirs a hunger of a different sort.“Starving,” I say hoarsely, hoping she doesn’t realize I’m not talking aboutfeeding my belly
-Good girl,” he says in a low tone, his eyes on mine
-“Tell me, Eden,” he says in a low voice they can’t hear. “Tell me you’ll obeyme.”
-I’m engaged to be married. Yes, sir. She knows I like it when she calls me sir. She has no fucking idea. I lift my phone and send Timeo a text. Get me a fucking submissive tonight. I need to get this aggression and testosterone out before it chokes me, and Ido something I regret.
-I nestle her hand in my palm. “This might sting,” I say, hesitating to hurt her. “I know. Do it.” I grit my teeth and swipe the blood off her palm. She doesn’t even flinch.
-I can’t have her. I can’t be with her. I can’t even kiss her.
-“I seem to have led you to believe I’m a patient man.” Oh. Oh my.
-He pauses as if he doesn’t want to complete the sentence. I want him to. I want to hear what he would do
-“You are a gentleman!”“Mmm,” he says thoughtfully. “Not quite. I’ve only given you that illusion.”I glare at the door and imagine his head just on the other side. I give the wooda good, hard, slap.“Sergio, please. ”He only chuckles. Why is that so erotic? Ugh!
-I OUGHT to lay her over that spanking bench behind that paneled wall, righthere in the middle of the club, and paddle her pretty little ass red
-I run my thumbalong her jaw, memorizing the feel of her vulnerability
-If this is my reward for disobedience, I hope you know I have no intention of ever doing what you tell me again
-There's a part of me that wonders what that would be like withyou." I think of the woman on the table and how beautiful she was in thethroes of pleasure. His voice is strangled. “Eden…”"You said those people experience pleasure. I like the idea of… turningsomething that was painful to me into… pleasure. And I think you’d knowexactly how to do that. And I…”
-We do not enter into any of this unless you'rehonest with me." His voice is husky. His pupils are dilated, and he’sbreathing heavily.
Smut:
-(on watching others) Her head is bowed, and the man’s fingers are under her chin. He strokes hercheek lovingly, and she has a look of absolute ecstasy on her face. I’ve neverseen someone happier in my entire life
-His deep-throated chuckle sets my nerves on fire. “Is that a challenge?” Oh. Oh no. Oh yes. I stare at him.
-I don’t… date . I hook up. I fuck. I dominate.But this feels different.
-190 -194
-He outlines my lips with his finger before his lips brush across mine
-I crave putting you over my lap,” he says in a low whisper in my ear. “Iwant to overpower you. I want to dominate you.” With a gentle stroke of hishand on my cheek, he says, “Your submission is the most beautiful thing I’veever seen, Eden. You give it to me freely. I want more.”
-“I want to taste you.”
-"Take your clothes off, sweetheart."
-“And if I want your discipline?”Even the sound of his chuckle makes me shiver with need. “Then disobey me. Go on, then.”
-256 to 258
-When he grabs the back of my neck to hold me in place, I stifle a moan. Withanyone else, I’d be afraid, but with him——I’m alive
-“You little brat,” he says with a grin. I squeal and try to protect myself, butI’m way too slow. In seconds, he’s got me pinned beneath his weight,sprawled beneath him in gloriously helpless submission. In one swift move,he pins my wrists in one hand and cracks his palm against my ass with theother. “As if you forgot. I should’ve spanked you harder.”
-279-280