The Gigolo's Bride (The Necklace Chronicles) by R.E. Butler

love me
in a week's time, then it’s just proof that this is all I can
offer.”
    “Oh, Eden, I do love you. I do. I swear.
You’re too good for me; I’ve been so awful to you. Please, finish
so we can go back to our room and make love so I can be yours
forever.”
    “Ashleigh?” His voice quivered as disbelief
warred with hope in the depths of his chocolate-brown eyes.
    “I’m not going anywhere until you’re done.”
She slid her hand down his sweat-soaked stomach to the base of his
cock, which was thick enough that her finger and thumb didn’t meet
as she circled it with her hand. He tilted his head and dropped his
mouth to hers with a moan, and she opened her mouth to his tongue
and savored the sweet taste of him. As she stroked his cock, it
grew quickly, and he pulled away from her mouth for a moment and
flipped Anca over onto her knees and plunged into her. As he thrust
hard and fast into her, he said with halting whispers, “I couldn’t
look at her anymore.”
    Ashleigh slipped slightly behind him, curling
one arm around his side possessively and pressing kisses to his
shoulder and arm. He clearly hit a good spot inside her because
Anca shrieked in climax and he pulled out of her body, his cock
still hard.
    “Ooh,” Anca purred, rolling to her back and
facing them, “that was wonderful.”
    Ashleigh moved off the bed, grabbed the
slacks that Sloan was holding out and helped Eden dress. When he
stood up, his knees buckled slightly, and he leaned heavily on her.
“I didn’t say you were done, brokah ,” Kasimir said
blandly.
    Sloan stomped over to him and pushed her
finger into his chest. “They’re mates, Kasimir. Even you can’t deny
that. You’ve used him as your personal sex toy for far too long,
and now he’s done with that life. If you try to keep him here when
his bride is asking for him, I’ll have you brought up on
charges.”
    His lips curled into a snarl, but Sloan’s
threat must have carried some weight, because he stepped aside and
didn’t try to stop them.
    Eden was quiet all the way back to their
room, and Ashleigh didn’t know what to say to him. When Sloan left
them at the door with a smile and a kiss on the cheek, Ashleigh
took him straight back to the bathroom and called for the pool to
fill. She helped him undress and get settled inside as the heated
water rose quickly. Stripping, she joined him, settling on her
knees between his legs. She reached for a thick sponge and gel
wash, lathering the sponge and lifting his hand gently from the
swirling, hot water.
    “Are you okay, Eden? They whipped you, didn’t
they?” She began to wash away the evidence of the sex from his body
with gentle motions.
    “Someone saw me in the market last night and
told Kasimir that my hair was still blue. I was on my way back here
when he met me and refused to allow me to come back. I couldn't
deny that nothing had happened between us. He, uh, said that my
blue hair meant I was still a brokah and that he didn't care
how much I had paid to leave the Bordelayz , that I would
always be one. I left the fruit outside the door and when I got to
his chambers, he let me call Sloan and ask her to take care of you
this morning. I thought I could talk my way out of it, ask for more
time with you so I didn’t have to do that with Anca, but he
wouldn’t agree to it. When I refused, they whipped me, and then
they drugged me so I would be more compliant. The night is kind of
a blur after that. I don’t know when he brought in the
audience.”
    She swiped the sponge across his shoulder and
the front of his chest. “I’m so sorry for all of this. I was being
stubborn. Even after I knew it wasn't possible to go home, I still
kept myself away from you. But you being gone last night made me
take a hard look at myself. I should have asked you about yourself
more and I should have been more open about myself. If I hadn’t
been trying so hard to keep you at arm’s length, I would have asked
about your hair,