“Fuck you, Mr. Stone! You very well knew that I was a virgin; you even paid extra for that privilege. How dare you treat me like this?”
“Like what? Like a common whore? Isn’t that what you are? Don’t pretend that a perfect woman like you would willingly be with a man who looks like me unless she was getting paid for it,” he gritted out between clenched teeth.
Taking a step forward as if about to move around the side of the bed, I mimicked Griffin’s movement to keep the distance between his anger and I. I could feel his cum slowly trickling down my thighs. Was this how he truly saw the mail order bride deal? That I was just a whore for him to use and enjoy? And to top it all off, it seemed like my looks just pisses him off.
Darting my eyes around the room, I scanned for an escape route. I needed more space. Spying a bathroom to my left, I got ready to bolt. Pulling my eyes back to Griffin, I met his gaze and what I saw in his eyes cooled off some of my anger. While his words and actions were that of anger, his eyes told a whole different story. All I could see in his bright emerald eyes was pain. Pain was an easy emotion for me to spot; maybe it was because I saw it in Father’s eyes every day after Mother had passed away.
While I could still feel anger simmering inside me, I didn’t want to make any decisions right now. I could take Logan up on his offer to grab my things and return to the city or maybe I could even get the agency to help find me another husband. But the flash of pain in Griffin’s eyes and his gruesome scars told me that there was more to this man than meets the eye, and for some unknown reason, I wanted to know what it was that he was so desperately hiding.
Uncaring of my nudity, I placed my hands on my hips, trying to make myself seemed more confident than how I actually felt. “I think it’ll be best if you sleep in another room tonight, Mr. Stone. Maybe even the backyard. Do you have a doghouse back there? It seems fitting. If you’re going to act like a beast, then maybe you should sleep like one too.”
“I’ll show you a beast.” He growled seconds before he lunged over the bed, making a grab for me. I was faster though, and I made it to the bathroom first. Slamming the door shut, I clicked the lock in place just before Griffin started banging on it, causing the frame to rattle.
“Open the fucking door, Annabella, or I’ll knock it the fuck down,” he yelled, giving the door, what I believed to be, another hard punch.
It was all so overwhelming, I felt suffocated. A sob escaped my lips and with that, the dam broke. The facade of my confidence had now completely disappeared. God, I didn’t want him to hear me break down. I didn’t want him to know that he had gotten to me. It felt like every suppressed emotion from over the past few weeks were rushing out all at once and I crumbled under the pressure. Sinking to the cold bathroom floor, I tried to muffle my sobs with my hands, which instead caused me to sob even harder. Griffin was trying to say something to me through the door, his voice now soft and soothing, but I couldn’t hear anything over my hitching breaths. I cried for all that I had lost, for the decisions I had to make, and most importantly, I cried because I had no one. No one to hold or comfort me while I cried.
Alone once again.
Stirring, I slid my palm across the silky bed sheet, shifting slightly on the softest bed I had ever slept on. I had never felt this free or light in forever. I didn’t think I’d ever slept this well or deep before, I don’t really remember. Opening my eyes, memories from the day before came flashing into my mind, along with the throbbing pain between my legs. I didn’t recall leaving the bathroom last night. Someone must have carried me back out to the bed.
Stumbling to the bathroom on wobbly legs, the throb between my legs decided to make itself more known. Looking down between my thighs, I could see the evidence of our coupling. No, the evidence of our fucking. I was fucked last night, and he even called me a whore a couple of times to remind me. Drawing a bath, I sank into the hot, soothing water, washing and scrubbing away at the blood and semen that was left on my body. This man confused me. One second, he was calling me a whore and the next, an angel. One thing was clear though, there was a lot more to Griffin than meets the eye and I had this overwhelming need to figure him out.
I want this to work. I came to America to get married, make a family, have a husband, and maybe children as well. Could I tame this beast? If I could give him what he needs, then maybe he could give me what I need as well. He has to be lonely too. Why else would he use the agency? Some of the things he said to me last night made me believe that he found himself unlovable, undesirable. I was not ignorant of my own beauty but I never found it to be important. It could be, that with a soft hand and kindness, I could draw this man out. The man that was surely hidden beneath the beast. All I needed was a plan.