One hundred and fifty-seven

Talia's POV:

Stunned, I stared at Nicholas, my heartbeat roaring in my ears. A part of me couldn't believe he was going to do this to me against my will—tag me like some dumb animal, depriving me of any semblance of privacy and freedom—while the rest of me was screaming that I was an idiot, that I should've known that a tiger doesn't change his stripes.

It was just that the last few weeks had been so different from anything we've had together before. I'd begun to imagine that Nicholas was opening up to me, that he was truly letting me into his life. Despite his dominance in the bedroom and the control he exerted over all aspects of my life, I'd started to feel less like his sex toy and more like his partner. I let myself believe that we were becoming something like a normal couple, that he was beginning to genuinely care for me . . . to respect me.