Chapter Six

Jonah

"What is your plan now?" I ask Autumn as she lies in the crook of my arm.

I've fucked her numerous times, we've eaten some fruit, and she even slept for an hour.

"What do you mean?" she asks, her voice soft and melodious.

Our time is almost up. I have had the woman I have been obsessed with but soon she will be free to leave me behind. Now I need to convince her that I am the man for her, that I can give her the life she craves. She needs to choose me, to want to stay with me instead of returning home to her father and whatever life he has planned for her. I can't be another man in her life who forces her to live her life the way I want.

"There's a reason you decided to sell yourself. What are you planning to do?"

"I don't have a plan," she says with a sigh. "All I know is that I need money to get away from my father. He has a husband picked out for me."

"You're kidding, right?" I ask angrily, slipping from beneath her and pacing the room.

I'm happy she doesn't want to go back there but at the same time I'm infuriated that he would do something like that to her. Does he really care so little about what his only daughter wants? Does she even get a say in her own life?

"Nope," she says popping the p as she sits upright. "He was going to announce my engagement at my birthday party last night."

"Fuck!" I roar. "How did I miss this?"

"Miss this?" she asks with a frown.

Shit. I've said too much.

"I have things I need to tell you," I say running my hands through my hair with a sigh. "It wasn't a coincidence that I was here, at the auction."

"What do you mean?" she asks pulling the covers up to hide herself from me.

I want to tell her to never hide from me, but this isn't the time.

"I mean, I knew you were going to be here. I came here to buy you."

"You were stalking me?" she questions raising her brow. She doesn't sound angry or put off, just curious.

"I hate that word," I grumble. "I was researching you. Making sure you were safe."

"And what did your ‘research' tell you?" she asks angrily.

I know she is assuming the worst. Thinking I am like her father. "Autumn…" I try to reassure her but she cuts me off with a scathing look.

"Don't Autumn me! What do you know?"

"I know your father is an asshole," I say harshly. "And I know you deserve better."

"And that's you?" she yells, throwing a cushion at my head. "Another fucking Alpha making decisions for me?"

****

Autumn

"You're overreacting," he says with a frown. "I didn't want to make choices for you. I don't, I just wanted to make sure I was an option. Your father wouldn't let me near you, so I had to find another way."

My angry heart softens at his words. "My father?"

"I asked him if you were available for marriage. He fired me."

"You want to marry me?" I ask, shocked and a little flattered.

"Yes, woman!" He throws his hands in the air. "Do you think I blew my life savings and the better part of a year so I could fuck you for a single night?"

"I don't want to go from one prison to another," I say honestly, catching him off guard.

"Why would I keep you prisoner?" he asks, a deep frown forming between his eyes.

"That's what you all want to do!" My frustration leaks out and I jump from the bed, pacing the length of the room as I finally allow my thoughts to escape. I am going to say my peace. "All I want is a life of my own, where I can make my own decisions. And all you men want to do is lock me up for my own safety or whatever excuse you come up with."

The last words are rife with sarcasm.

"Yes. I want you to be safe," he says but I cut him off.

"I'm tired of being safe!"

"I'm starting to think the problem isn't with you being kept safe," he replies with a smirk. "I think your father sheltered you to the point where you are misinformed."

My hands are on my hips as I glare at him, no longer fazed by our nudity. "Don't you dare," I start but he cuts me off, backing me up against the nearest wall.

"Let me tell you how this is going to work, Autumn. You are going to marry me. Then I am taking you back to our home, the one I built with my bare hands and thoughts of you in my mind, where I am going to fuck you and mark you. You will be mine and I will be yours."

His hand caresses my hip as his vulgar words ring in my ears. I find myself leaning into his touch, wanting more even though I don't know why. The man is clearly an insane stalker. And I need to get away from him before he locks me up in a cabin somewhere.

"Once we are mated, other men may want you, but I will have you," he continues without allowing me a moment to speak. "You will be able to live a normal life. And there won't be a single fucking thing your father can do about it."

My breathing has accelerated, my chest heaving as I stare at the massive Alpha. Could he be telling the truth? Or is he only saying what he knows I want to hear and simply trying to manipulate me to get what he wants?

"Can I go to college?" I ask softly. It's my greatest dream even though I've never spoken the words out loud. Not even to my father.

He stares at me in confusion. "College?"

"Yes. I want to be a child grief therapist."

When my mother passed, I was only ten years old. My father became the shut-down, overprotective prick he is today, and I was left to deal with the pain on my own. I want to help other children, so they never have to live through what I did.

"Oh, baby girl," he murmurs, leaning in, running his nose along the column of my neck. "You can be whatever you want. As long as you come home to me at night."

"Do you promise?" I ask, my heart full of hope, and he smiles.

"Yes."

"Then I'll marry you," I say softly. My decision made. "Please don't keep me locked up. I'm trusting you to keep your word."

"I will never do anything to hurt or betray you," he replies. "Let's get out of here … but first…"

He slams his lips down on mine in another soul-consuming kiss, turning my legs to jelly.