“Good girl, princess. Good girl.”
She reached her arms up around his neck, clinging to him, and he held her more tightly to his chest, the silk-like softness of his vest and his shirt under her cheek.
His heartbeat thrummed inside him.
Warmth washed over her.
He wrapped his arms around her more tightly, cradling her head and her body, sheltering her.
Her breathing deepened. Colleen wondered if she was drifting into sleep, but he was still there. She floated through space, her arms clinging to his neck as the moving air brushed her body, still naked except for her boots.
Softness enveloped her.
Fleece blankets brushed her fingertips.
She was warmer, and she snuggled down farther.
Her body moved gently, swaying, as Twist rocked her in his arms. “You’ve been a very good girl, my princess. So sweet, so compliant, so sexy.”
The words buzzed through Colleen’s tired mind, but she was too exhausted to argue with him. She was none of those things. She must not be any of those things because no one had ever said anything like that to her before.
Not that she’d expected him or anyone to say that. People didn’t say things like that to one another.
If people actually talked like that, people would get full of themselves. It was ridiculous to think of telling someone they were sweet.
Or sexy. Really, sexy? No one said that.
It probably wasn’t right that he was saying those things to her, anyway.
He must be trying to manipulate her or something.
Twist whispered, “I know this is over for us. I know we’ll never meet again and will probably never communicate again. Those are the rules we laid down in the beginning, and forum decorum, of course. We’ve flouted the rules enough, and I don’t want to jeopardize your standing there. It obviously means a lot to you.” His lips brushed her forehead. “Are you listening to me, princess, or are you asleep?”
She nodded just a little to show she wasn’t asleep.
“Good, my little princess, my little pet. I worry about you. You said some things that hurt me.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered with barely a breath.
“No, my pet. You said some things about yourself after the spanking and when that bucket of riding crops was in your way that were—truly brutal.”
“No, I’m tough,” she murmured. “And I was a total dumbshit idiot—”
“Stop,” Twist said.
Colleen stopped.
“Don’t speak of yourself that way. Don’t even think of yourself that way anymore.”
“But I—”
“And don’t argue with me. I haven’t given you permission to argue with me. Now, tell me what you’re allowed to say.”
“Yes, please.”
“Good girl. You haven’t been taking care of yourself, have you? Answer me truthfully.”
Colleen didn’t have to consider her answer at all. “No, sir.”
