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

truly understood what
they'd done in the beginning, but I know they only saw me as a meal
ticket. Sloan fought to have my debt returned to our parents to
force them to return the money and free me, but the owner of the Bordelayz had powerful friends, and I was too valuable to
him to let go.
    "I hated it so much. I hated myself. I hated
my parents. I got hooked on drugs as a way to make myself forget
what I was doing, so the money I was making towards my release was
being eaten up by my addiction. If I wanted to leave the brothel I
had to buy my freedom. Seventy thousand deenars . I might
have been able to buy my freedom years ago if I hadn't gotten
tangled up in the drugs, but I didn't care. Sloan came to see me
frequently, and was even putting money towards my release, but I
couldn't stand to bring her down with me. I tried to take my own
life, but I was saved by one of the other slaves. That's when Sloan
paid for me to go on a soul-walk . She said if I didn't find
my soul mate, then I could do what I wanted. But if there was a
woman out there for me, then I was being disloyal to her by taking
my own life. When I saw you in my vision, everything changed for
me. I got free of the drugs, and I began to work harder than I ever
had before, to save enough money to free myself.
    "The things I did for that, Ashleigh; I don't
like that I debased myself for so long, but I had to get free. It
took five years for the ship to be ready, but I worked like mad to
make a home for us. Kasimir sees me as a brokah because I've
been one for fifteen years. In his eyes, in the eyes of many, I
will always be a brokah , no matter what color my hair is."
His eyes opened, and she leaned over so she could look into his
eyes. "I should have told you everything. It wasn't fair of me to
leave you floundering about my past, my life."
    "I should have asked. You've suffered so
much, but that’s done now. No one will ever take you against your
will again, I swear.”
    “I love you, Ash,” he whispered thickly.
    “I love you, too, Eden.”
     

Chapter 5

     
    Ashleigh moaned as she woke up, her skin
tingling in awareness as fingers grazed over her bare stomach in a
slow, languid pattern. Eden pressed open-mouthed kisses against her
shoulder, his hair tickling her neck as he drew himself closer to
her as she woke.
    His hand stroked up her stomach to her
breasts and he cupped one, lifting his head and looking into her
eyes. The light in the room was dim, but bright enough for her to
see the hunger in his eyes that made them darker brown, bordering
on black.
    "You are so beautiful." His voice was husky
and sent shivers down her spine.
    She smiled, opening her mouth to return the
compliment, when he pressed his mouth to hers, slipping his tongue
past her parted lips. Her hands found his hair and played with the
thick, short strands while their tongues glided together, tasting
and touching. Her heart pounded in her chest and she pulled him
closer, wrapping her arms around him. She ran her tongue along the
edge of his teeth, loving the sweet taste of his mouth.
    He moved down her body by slow degrees,
kissing and tasting, nibbling and licking, until his lips slipped
over the tip of her breast and suckled deeply. Her back arched off
the bed, and her hands spasmed against his back. His tongue licked
circles around her nipple as he continued to suck, his hair
tickling her skin and making her nerve endings go haywire. Licking
across the valley of her breasts, he nipped at the untended nipple,
smiling against her flesh as she moaned, before sucking and licking
it until it ached with need.
    His tongue flicked across her stomach as he
moved down, his breath washing over her skin as he slid, an inch at
a time, towards her throbbing core. Slipping between her spread
legs, he eased her thighs wider and rested on one elbow, dragging
his fingers through the dark curls that covered her mound. "You are
so soft here," he murmured, a small smile on his lush mouth. "Our
people