I jump in the shower real fast, pull on some pants, and then head out the door barefoot and shirtless. I skip down the stairs and head straight to the garden apartment. When I get there I can plainly tell that the lights are still on. I cup my hands around my eyes and peek in through the front door window, but I can't see her on the bed, even though I have a straight line-of-sight from this door to that room.

I knock.

And wait.

And knock. And peer in again.

And then punch in the code to unlock the door.

"Rook?" Maybe she left? "Rook?" I walk back to the bedroom and stop short, my breath caught in my lungs.

She's sprawled out naked on her bed, the covers draped around her body, twined around her legs to cover her ass, and one breast is visible as she turns with a moan.

"Rook?"

She bolts upright and all her covers slip down her chest, baring herself to me. "What the hell?"

Her body is perfect. Flawless. Her skin glows in the light that flows into the western-facing window. She's still not fully awake yet and I take advantage of her indecisive moment to study her further. Her raven-dark hair is tousled around her face in waves and she rubs her eyes, breathing hard for a moment from the surprise.

There is no way in hell I'm leaving here without touching this girl. I tug her to her feet and smile as she realizes just how exposed she is and frantically makes a grab for the sheet. She looks up at me, or tries to, because her eyes get stuck on my own bare chest. I grin a little internally that I can shake her up like that. Eventually she pulls her eyes from my body and finds my eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Her voice is deep and throaty and I can't contain the chill she sends down my arms. I reach for her hair and she pulls away, gasping a little. "Shhhh. I won't hurt you, Rook." I have her full attention as my hand gathers the hair and pulls it down over her right breast, which is now hidden under the sheet. She relaxes under my touch and I get a wave of courage so I repeat the action, draping her long hair over her left breast.

And then I stop.

We stop.

The whole world stops.

And there is nothing but breathing, heavy with expectation.

"You're beautiful," I whisper as I take her hand and pull it down to her side. She whimpers a little and immediately grabs for the sheet with the other hand. "Trust me," I say. And then I tug on the sheet so that it slips down her stomach and falls to the floor. Her br**sts are covered by her tresses, which tumble down her front like a waterfall. "Do you trust me?"

She shakes her head no and looks down.

I brush a finger down her front, lightly dragging it through the hair that covers her nipple, making her bite her lip and let out a whimper. Her eyes dart around the room, looking everywhere but at my face.

"Look at me, Rook," I command more harshly than I should.

I can tell she wants to put up a fight, but her will collapses under my pressure and she meets my gaze and then my smile allows her to relax.

"Why are you doing this?" she asks softly.

I gather some hair and drag it over her right shoulder so that it falls down her back and exposes her breast at the same time. Only the city lights streaming through the large window leave her bare. Just the one half of her body is illuminated, the rest is safe in the shadows.

I reach in my pocket and pull out my phone. "What do we do here, Rook? In this studio?"

Her eyes never leave mine. "Take pictures."

My phone makes a camera shutter sound.

"We're going to take a lot of pictures of you." I turn the phone around so she can see the picture. It's not the best, it's a phone camera after all, and the light is bad. But it tells her what she needs to know.

"It's pretty," she says, smiling at her first artistic portrait.

"Yes," I say, turning it back so I can look at it. It's f**king gorgeous. "And even though you're standing here in front of me with no clothes on, and even though everyone who sees this picture will instinctively know that you had no clothes on when I took it, they will only see what I allow them to see through the frame of this lens."

She bends down and pulls the sheet back up to cover herself. "You broke into my apartment to teach me a lesson?"

I love her response, it tells me two things: She's not a pushover and she's game for this contract.

"No, I came to see if you were OK. No, that's not true either. I came because I haven't stopped—" My phone vibrates and I lose track of my words. I look down at it and read the text.

"Shit, I gotta go. I'll bring back dinner if you want." I look back at her as I leave the bedroom and catch her shrugging. "Just give me a couple hours," I call out behind me as I leave.

I grab a shirt and some shoes from my apartment and stare at the image of Rook on my phone all the way down to the parking garage. When I get to my truck I realize the real reason I went into her apartment. I don't want to ruin this girl but I'm not sure I can stop it now.

Chapter Twelve - ROOK

Holy shit!

Not only is this Ronin guy able to make all my girly bits shudder, he's got a flair for the dramatic as well. I can still feel his fingertips as they tracked down my breast. And I just stood there and let him do it!

What the f**k is wrong with me?

I laugh. This guy, that's what's wrong with me.

I need air, so I wrap the sheet around me and go out on the terrace. The spring breeze is nice and cool and my head begins to clear almost immediately. I peek over the wall and watch the people down below. It's not that crowded since it's still early evening. The sidewalks are mostly filled with families grabbing dinner. Something I very badly want to do as well.