Reese let out a soft laugh. “That’s exactly what worries me.”
I brushed a kiss against his cheek and did nothing to allay his fears.
CHAPTER 4
Reese
The days grew shorter,and Christmas grew closer, and life continued to move on for us. Morgan and Annie broke up, which happened with little fanfare and even less regret. She was fun, Morgan said the day Cory and I had met her to go shopping earlier in the month, and that was the last of it. I asked Cory if he wanted to go to New York for Christmas, which he’d declined. He was focused on staying in LA and building a life here. I swore to him he could do both—hold on to his friends from the city while making more—but Cory wasn’t the kind of man to argue with, so I dropped it. He’d also kept himself busy with whatever top secret wedding planning he was up to and whenever I tried to ask about it, he was quick to shut me down. I didn’t want to say I was feeling attention starved, but I was feeling a little attention starved.
It was a Friday night, and I’d just finished getting ready for work when I walked in and found him frowning at something on his laptop screen. When he saw me, he closed the lid quickly, forcing a smile to greet me.
“Are you off for work?” he asked.
I checked my watch. “Yeah, I’m getting ready to head out.”
Cory searched my face, eyes scanning me from my chin to my forehead and back again. “Are you okay, darling?”
“Fine,” I managed the lie, wincing at how gross it tasted in the mouth. “Actually, I’m not. I’m feeling a little ignored.”
“Am I ignoring you?”
“I don’t want to whine. You’re still getting the office going full speed, and you’re planning our wedding,” I said with a shrug.
“Darling,” he said the endearment again like honey on my ears, standing up and coming around to meet me in the doorway. Cory took both of my hands in his, tracing his thumbs across my knuckles until I looked at him again. Lifting onto his toes, he brushed a kiss across my pouting lips. “None of that counts for anything if it’s not with you.”
I didn’t say anything.
“I’ve been neglectful,” he said.
I shrugged.
“Haven’t been paying you the attention you need.”
“Cory.”
“Darling.” This time, it was like a purr. “Would it make us square if I asked you to punish me?”
My breath hitched, and I choked on it. “If you what?”
He closed the space between us, the heat of his body searing through my clothes. “If I asked you to punish me. It’s been so long since you took me over your knee.”
“I didn’t…I didn’t think that’s who we were anymore,” I muttered.
He arched a brow. “You know better than most a dominant can still bend the knee, Reese.”
“That’s not what I asked for.”
“But is it what you want?” he pressed.
If it had been six months ago, maybe, probably, yes. But now? I felt so steady in my place with Cory, the thought of dominating him in any way felt foreign to my brain.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
It wasn’t that I’d forgotten the logistics of it, but maybe I’d just forgotten with him.
“Alright.” He brushed his fingers across my cheeks, down my throat. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”
“Yes, Sir,” I grumbled.
