He grabbed her arm and swung her around. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice, “but I wouldn’t be where I’m at if I couldn’t wield the power that has fallen to me. I support my family, I run an extremely successful shipping and transport business, and I have the ears of some of the most powerful men in the world.”

“Do you hear yourself?” she snapped, yanking her arm from his grip. “You wield your power with evil. You break laws as though it’s as easy as breathing. You take what you want and don’t care about the consequences.” She came so close to adding ‘you’re a monster’ but remembered what happened last time she’d done that. She didn’t want a repeat. She was still sore from when he’d hurt her the night before.

“Laws are for controlling the masses. They don’t apply to me.”

Yeah, she totally despised this man. And since nothing she said made a difference to him, she simply turned around and walked into the washroom, closing and locking the door. He could break the lock, of course, but it was as much defiance as she could manage.

“You have half an hour,” he called through the door.

Yasmin took every minute of the half hour to scrub her body of his scent, blushing as she remembered the way he touched her, the way he’d made her come as he shoved his fingers inside her. It was by far the best and most confusing sexual experience of her life.

How could she hate someone so much, yet still enjoy his touch? Did her body not understand that it needed some solidarity with her brain? She absolutely couldn’t allow herself to enjoy his touch. But neither did she want it to hurt either.

So, what was in between pain and pleasure?

“Nothing,” she whispered to herself in the mirror. “You can do nothing.” Just lay there and take it when he was pawing her. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of a reaction. She wouldn’t struggle or reach for the orgasm he promised. If the only thing left to her was passive resistance, then that’s what she would do.

And while she was passively resisting, she’d work on having a better game face. If she could earn his trust, or at the very least, convince him to relax his vigilance around her, she might find an opportunity to get away. She just had to remember not to lose her temper, not to argue, and not to resist him when he tried to touch her.

“Not so hard,” she said sarcastically to herself.

She jumped as a fist hit the door.

“Time’s up, Yasmin,” Volkan’s voice sounded from the bedroom. “Open this door right now.”