What He Shields (What He Wants Book Seventeen) Read Online Free PDF Page B

about inconvenient and unfair, how
about taking a million dollars and risking it on some girl you know nothing
about?”
    “I have an obligation as her lawyer to make
sure she is getting the best, fairest treatment possible.”
    “And I have a responsibility as a human being
to make sure that nothing bad happens to those girls.”
    “No,” he growled, and then he was against me,
his hips pushing into mine, pinning me against the bookstore shelves.   “You have an obligation to me .   To do as I say.   To stay safe.”   He traced a finger down the side of my
cheek, and I could see a vein popping in his forehead.   “I don’t give a fuck about Mikayla or
anyone else.   What I care about is you.”
    He kissed me, and I felt my resolve begin to
weakness.   I wanted to give myself
to him, wanted to submit to him, to give my body over to him, to let him make
decisions and take care of me.
    But the other part of me rebelled against it,
pushing me to stop him, to tell him no, that I had a say in this relationship too, that his need to control everything wasn’t going to
obliterate what I thought was right.
    “Noah,” I said.   “Noah.”
    The sound of his name on my lips excited him,
and he began kissing my neck.
    “I have to,” I said softly.   “Don’t you realize that I have to?”
    He released me then and stepped away from me, his
eyes blazing.
    Then he turned and walked out of the bookstore,
leaving me struggling to catch up.

 
    ***

 
    “Where are you going?” I asked once we were
back on the streets of New York.   My
voice was loud, almost a yell really, but it became nothing but background
noise against the sounds of the city.
    “Get in the car, Charlotte,” Noah said, as he
opened the passenger side door.  
    “No.”   I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest.   “Not until you tell me where we’re
going.”
    His jaw twitched again, his fingers tightening
around the door handle.   I could
tell my disobedience was getting him more worked up.   But I didn’t care.   He was acting like an arrogant, entitled
asshole.   I understood he was used
to getting his way, expected it even.   But I had thoughts and feelings, too.
    “Charlotte,” he said.   “Get.   In.   The.   Car.”
    “No.”  
    “Fine.”   He growled the word and moved toward me, lifting me up off the ground
like it was nothing and setting me in the passenger seat.   He slid the seatbelt across my chest,
letting his hand linger on my breast.   He clicked the belt into the buckle and tugged on it, making sure it was
tied tightly.   Then he tugged it
again, and I gasped at the tightness, the belt cutting into my skin.
    He looked at me sharply, his lips just inches
from mine.   He opened his mouth to
speak, maybe to say something, to warn me not to defy him, to give me some hint
of what was coming.
    But then he changed his mind, and instead said
nothing.
    He closed the door and walked around the car,
slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine before guiding the car into the
city traffic.
    A couple of blocks later, he double
parked next to a Range Rover.
    “Don’t move,” he said.
    He got out, activating the child locks so I
couldn’t have moved even if I wanted to.
    I watched through the windshield as he walked
into a tiny bodega on the corner.   Three women and a man turned to look at him as he went by, admiring the
strong line of his body, the broadness of his shoulders, the way he walked with
confidence and strength, like every stride was announcing to the world that he
was untouchable.
    He returned a few moments later with a brown
paper bag, which he set down on the floor.
    I swallowed, not sure I wanted to know what was
in the bag.
    “What’s in there?” I asked.
    Noah ignored me, his hands gripping the
steering wheel tight as he pulled the car toward the east, heading back toward
our apartment.
    “Are you taking me home?” I asked.
    “I was.”
    He spoke in the past tense,