appeared and I never got a chance to think about it. His lips twitched and he slowly grinned. “Call me, Mr. King. We are not on any intimate level yet, Snow.”
“Or I could call you step-father,” I sneered.
Duncan stepped closer, standing near the bed and he peered down at me. “Now, now… don’t you think we should get to know each other first before we go from strangers to… step-father?”
There was something in his dark eyes. Something strange. Something dangerous. Something wicked. This man was no gentleman – which reminded me…
“You let yourself in without even knocking. Actually, what’s worst is that you were in my room while I was sleeping. This is highly inappropriate, Mr. King.”
His crooked smirk was back again. “Our definition of inappropriate is vastly different, Little Snow.”
Excuse me?
The headmistress would have had a stroke if she heard Duncan speaking to me like this.
Duncan King was strange and astonishingly improper.
“Where is my mother?” I scrambled off the bed, standing on the opposite side. Keeping a safe distance from Duncan made me feel a little more at ease. Thank God, I was still clothed when I had fallen asleep. Or this would have been even more awkward… and unsettling.
Not to say the least, inappropriate. I could hear the Headmistress’s voice echoing in my ears.
“It looks like she’s not home yet. Your mother is very…”
“Reckless? Lively? No, how about, careless? Wild? Hasty? Irresponsible? Yes, she’s all of that.”
Duncan’s eyebrows went up. “You’re angry she’s not home when you came here, I see.”
No, I was furious she abandoned me when I was thirteen, to live a care-free life.
“Your wife had better things to do. A tea-party. But that’s fine, it gave me some time to sleep – which you interrupted, Mr. King.”
“I did no such thing; I was silent for hours. You woke up on your own.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. But it only brought his attention to my breasts. His gaze went there and Duncan King unabashedly stared at me.
I was smaller and shorter than most girls at the boarding school. But Cecelia, my friend, would always say I was blessed with big breasts. I grew them earlier than my other classmates.
It always brought attention to me. The Headmistress called me into her office once and explained to me that I had to bind my breasts, the old-fashioned way. The bra wasn’t enough and the other girls felt too self-conscious and uncomfortable.
Cecelia said they were prudes and jealous of me. I thought my breasts were nice at first, but I slowly started to hate them.
And now…
I’ve never had a man look at me with such… interest. Probably because for the last five years, I had never been in contact with any man. So brazen, Duncan didn’t even hide the fact that he was staring.
There was just something in those blatant hazel eyes that made me trembled. Maybe it was the look of appreciation… or how he stared so leisurely, slow and deliberate, as if taking all his time to drink in the sight of me.
Goosebumps peppered my skin and my nipples tightened. My bra and shirt did their job at concealing the hardened buds but I wondered if Duncan knew.
Sweet Lord, this was wrong.
I dropped my arms, feeling so out of place. I didn’t know how to react, what to say, how to think. I licked my lips, swallowed and then found my voice again. “Well, can you leave now? I would like to be alone.”
Duncan’s eyes finally landed on my face. His jaw tightened as if finally realized what he had been doing. His eyes darkened and he nodded.
I watched as he silently left the room and the door clicked closed behind him.
My knees knocked together and I sagged against the bed, losing all strength in my legs.
Duncan King was bad. No, he was atrocious.
And my reaction to him was appalling.
So wrong.
So inappropriate.
Chapter Three
Snow
I took a bath, sitting in the tub for a very long time. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head back against the edge. Duncan King appeared in the darkness. His villainous face and his wicked smirk. I gasped, scrambling in the tub. Water sloshed over the edge as my heart thudded hard in my chest.
My skin prickled in awareness but I was alone in the majestic bathroom. The water was warm, but I had gooseflesh again. I felt watched, but I knew I was wrong. There was no one here but me.