Bought for Pleasure

Chapter 2

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, really?’

‘Yes. Really,’ she stared back sarcastically and with a look of disapproval. ‘Leaving aside the obvious health risks and dangers of passive smoking, I happen to hate the smell.’

‘Then you can leave. Nobody’s stopping you neither did anybody ask you to remain here.’ She flicked the lighter with a manicured thumbnail so that a blue-gold flash of flame flared briefly into life, but she only got as far as inhaling the first drag when Kalada crossed the room and removed the cigarette from her mouth, ignoring her look of shock.

‘Who the hell are you and what do you think you’re doing taking away my cigarette?’ she spoke with a sense of anger and disdain in her voice. ‘You can’t do that!’

‘No?’ he questioned sarcastically. ‘Well watch me, baby.’ he walked out to the balcony and crushed the glowing red tip between thumb and forefinger, before dropping it into another empty champagne glass, which was standing next to a large pot plant.

When he returned he could see a look of defiance on her face as she took out a second cigarette.

‘There are plenty more where that came from,’ she said with a smirk.

‘And you’ll only be wasting your time,’ he said flatly. ‘Because every cigarette you light I’m going to take from you and extinguish, until eventually you have none left.’

‘And if I call the police and have you arrested for trespassing and harassment,’ she challenged. ‘What then?’

Kalada shook his head. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, but neither of those charges will stand up—since I think the law might find that you are the one who is actually guilty of trespassing. Remember what I just told you? That I have a key.’ he paused.

He saw her look of defiance and disdain briefly waver. He saw a shadow cross over her beautiful blue eyes and he felt a wave of something which felt almost like empathy and he wasn’t quite sure why. Until she reminded herself what kind of woman he was. The spoilt, manipulative kind who stood for everything she most despised.

‘Yes I know but I’m asking why you have a key and it had better be a good explanation,’ she said in a tone of voice which nobody had dared use with him for years. ‘Who are you, and why have you come barging in here, trying to take control of my life?’

‘I’m happy to tell you anything you want to know,’ he said evenly. ‘But first I think you need to put on some clothes.’

‘Why?’ A smile played at the corners of her lips as she put a hand on one angled hip and struck a catwalk pose. ‘Does my appearance bother you, Mr. Kalada Rex?’

‘Actually, no at least, not in the way I think you’re suggesting. I’m not turned on by women who smoke and flaunt their bodies to strangers,’ he said, although the latter part of this statement wasn’t quite true, as the continued aching in his body testified. He swallowed against the sudden unwanted dryness in her throat. ‘And since I don’t have all the time in the world to waste why don’t you do as I say and then we can get down to business?’

For a moment Chioma hesitated, tempted to tell him to go to hell. And to carry out her threat and go over to the phone and call the police, despite the fact that she was enjoying the unexpected drama of the situation. Because it was good to feel something even if it was only anger, when for so long now all she had felt had been a terrifying kind of emotional numbness? As if she were no longer made of flesh and blood, but was made colorless and invisible like water.

She narrowed her eyes as her mind flicked back through the previous evening. Had Kalada Rex been one of the many gatecrashers at the impromptu party she had ended up hosting? No. Definitely not. She frowned. She would have remembered him. Definitely. Because he was the kind of man you would never forget, no matter how odd and awkward you found him.

Unwillingly, her gaze drifted over Kalada. His rugged features would have been perfect were it not for the fact that he had stormed into her house and ordering her around. His hair was dark though not quite as dark as hers and her eyes were the color of midnight. His facial hair and hair looked somewhat unkempt as tho he hadn’t visited the saloon in decades, looking as if he’s had more than his fair share of s****l urge raging around his body. And what a body. Chioma swallowed. He looked as if he would be perfect for the role as a swimsuit model with broad chest and standing pecks that looked like they could fall off his body and mostly his chiseled abs he was the leaving embodiment of male sexiness like a living Greek god tall with a dark chocolate skin even though she could tell that his spotless crimson red suit must have cost a fortune, to Chioma he looked like a prince from one of the fairytales written and created by Disney

And meanwhile the inside of her mouth felt as if it had been turned into the Sahara desert and she was certain her breath must smell awful because she had fallen asleep without brushing her teeth. Her fingers crept up stealthily to her face. Yesterday’s make-up was still clogging up her eyes and beneath the hoody her skin felt warm and sticky. It wasn’t how you wanted to look when you were presented with a man as spectacular as him.

‘Okay,’ she said care free attitude. ‘I’ll go and get dressed.’

She enjoyed Kalada’s brief look of surprise—as if he hadn’t been expecting her sudden capitulation—and that pleased her because she liked surprising people. She could feel Kalada’s gaze on her as she padded out of the room towards her bedroom, which had a breathtaking view over some of London’s most famous landmarks.

She stared at the perfect circle of the London Eye as she tried to gather her thoughts together. Some women might have been freaked out at having been woken in such a way by a total stranger, but all Chioma could think was that it made an interesting start to the day, when lately her days all seemed to bleed into one meaningless blur. She wondered if Kalada Rex was used to getting everything he wanted. Probably. He had that unmistakable air of arrogance about him. Did he think she would be intimidated by his strict stance and bossy air? Well, she would soon realize that nothing intimidated her. Nothing.

She didn’t rush to get ready—although she took the precaution of locking the bathroom door first. A power shower woke her into life and after she’d dressed, she carefully applied her make-up. A quick blast of the hairdryer and she was done. Twenty minutes later she emerged in a pair of skinny jeans and a clingy white T-shirt to find Kalada still there. Just not where she’d left him—dominating the large reception room with that faintly hostile glint in his midnight-blue eyes. Instead, she was sitting on one of the sofas, busy tapping something into a laptop, as if He had every right to make himself at home. Kalada glanced up as she walked in and she saw a look in Kalada’s eyes which made her feel faintly uncomfortable, before he closed the laptop and surveyed her coolly.

‘Sit down,’ Kalada said.

‘This is my home, not yours and therefore you don’t start telling me what to do. I don’t want to sit down.’

‘I think it’s better you do.’

‘I don’t care what you think.’

Kalada’s eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t care about very much at all, do you, Chioma?’