A Deal with Benefits by Susanna Carr

a moment, his breathing hard, as a strange urgency pulsed around them. “Fine? You are ready to walk away from the home you fought to hold on to?” he asked as he stepped closer. “The home you took care of and made sacrifices for? The one where you lowered yourself and slept with me so you could stay on the island?”
    “This isn’t about Inez Key. It’s about you,” she replied. “You don’t care about what is important to me and you certainly don’t care about my feelings.”
    He rocked back on his feet as he looked at her with such intensity that she felt she was going to burst. “How are you going to get back?” he asked. “You have no money.”
    Ashley closed her eyes as the pain ricocheted inside her. He didn’t deny her accusation. He didn’t care about her feelings. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I’ll hock this dress. I’ll swim all the way home. Maybe I’ll trade my body for favors. That’s what everyone thinks I do anyway.”
    He snatched her wrist. She felt the tremor in his hand. “Don’t even joke about it.”
    “Why not, Sebastian?” She tried to yank her arm away from him but he tightened his hold. “You made me a joke. You made me a mistress.”
    “And you accepted,” he said. “You had other choices. You could have walked away but you didn’t.”
    “You dangled my home as bait,” she cried out.
    “Like you said, Inez Key had nothing to do with it,” he reminded her coldly. “You wanted to be with me but you were afraid to go after it. And now you’re upset because you like being a mistress.”
    Her gasp echoed in the room as she went still. “No, I don’t,” she said in a scandalized whisper. “Take that back.”
    “I stand corrected.” Sebastian let go of her wrist. “You like being my mistress.”
    She wanted to slap him. Push him away. But it was true. She liked sharing his bed and enjoyed seeing the desire in his eyes when she walked into the room. She treasured their private moments and was proud to be at his side in public. She ached for his touch and she was greedy for his undivided attention. She would accept whatever role he chose for her if it meant she could share a part of his life.
    And he knew it. He knew that she would take the measly crumbs that he offered. He knew he had that much power over her. “Get out of my way.”
    He crossed his arms and braced his feet. Any concern he felt a moment ago had disappeared. Sebastian was calm and in charge again. “Make me.”
    And now he was going to prove how she had no power over him. Ashley curled her hands into fists and dug her nails into her palms as she tried to hold back the rioting emotions. “I’m warning you, Sebastian. I’m about to lose control.”
    Sebastian wasn’t worried. “I can handle it. Give me your best shot.”
    “Oh, my God.” She thrust her hands in her wavy hair. “You want me out of control? Are you insane?”
    “I want you to stop hiding. Stop running away.”
    That was all she wanted to do. Run. Hide. Regain control of her temper before she broke into a million pieces. “You have no say in what I do.”
    “I’m sorry about Salazar,” he said grimly. “I warned him off but I revealed more than I should.”
    “Did you tell him I had a price?” she asked wildly. “That he could talk me down from my asking price because I was damaged goods? That I should accept his offer because you would kick me out of your bed soon?”
    “I’m going to kill him,” Sebastian said through clenched teeth.
    “You’ll have to get in line,” she declared as she strode to the door. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you, Sebastian. I respected your wishes but you didn’t respect mine.”
    Sebastian was at the threshold before she could get there and slammed the door shut. “You are not leaving.”
    She reached for the doorknob. “I see no reason to stay.”
    “What about this?” he asked as his hands covered her shoulders.
    It was the only warning she had before