Deep Domination (Bought by the Billionaire #2) by Lili Valente Page A

lonely. This morning she was going to keep her eye on the prize—an entire afternoon outside of this damned room—and get her head back in the right place.
    An afternoon in the sun would surely help with that. It seemed like she’d been in this cage forever, with nothing but memories of her intense erotic encounters with Jackson to keep her company. A taste of normalcy was all she needed to remember that this would be over soon and she would be back to being Hannah again, with none of her sister’s demons haunting her days or owning her nights.
    And there was a friend out there somewhere. She couldn’t forget that.
    Someone on this island was watching out for her and determined to save her before it was too late. Jackson cast a large shadow in her mind, but no man was infallible and there was a chance that her secret friend would escape his notice. She clung to that hope as she made the bed and headed into the bathroom to wash the smell of her tormentor/lover from her skin.
    Hannah showered and braided her hair in a loose French braid that trailed half way down her back. She didn’t know what Jackson had planned for them, but it was windy outside and she couldn’t stand the feel of hair flying into her face. Since moving to the island, her hair practically lived in a ponytail.
    She’d been tempted once or twice to cut it short and let it whip into a froth of wild curls atop her head like Eloise, who worked at the sandwich shop in town, but she’d never had a haircut different from her sister’s. From the time they were little, Harley had always insisted they cut their hair the same way and Hannah had bowed to her sister’s preference for long hair with several tiered layers.
    She had a habit of bowing.
    The more she thought about her life and her choices, the more clear it became that she had a strong natural inclination toward the kind of sexual relationship Jackson enjoyed. She had always bowed to the more powerful personalities in her life. It made her happier to be of service than to get her own way. She wasn’t a doormat and stood up for herself when necessary, but submitting to someone she cared about made her feel useful, productive, and content.
    Focusing on someone else’s needs aside from her own made her feel safe. To be of service, and to have that service appreciated, was her need, and the primary driving force of her personality. But she wanted to serve someone who cared about her and respected her, someone she could trust not to take advantage of her generous spirit.
    No matter how much she’d loved Harley, her sister had never been that sort of person. She had abused Hannah’s trust and forgiving heart and, if Harley had lived, Hannah knew that they would have eventually come to a crossroads. Either Harley would have had to change the way she did business, or Hannah would have been forced to withdraw from their relationship, no matter how painful that would have been.
    Jackson was a lot like her sister, so focused on his own needs that he didn’t care about the destruction he left in his wake. She had no choice but to submit to him physically and to let him see how much she enjoyed it, but she had a choice about how far her submission went. She had to keep her heart tightly locked away. There was no room for empathy or hurt feelings where Jackson was concerned. If she let herself get any closer to him than she felt already she might very well end up like Ella, locked in a mental prison of her own making.
    “You have to stay strong,” she whispered to her reflection. “No matter what Harley did to him, it doesn’t make it okay for him to hurt you. Whatever happens today, remember that. If he punishes you for something you didn’t do, it’s okay to enjoy it, but it’s not okay to think you deserve it.”
    She took a deep breath, meeting her own haunted eyes in the mirror and wishing she looked as strong as she sounded. With a final deep breath and a silent promise to keep repeating her new