"This is an order, Noelle."
"And if I refuse?"
I stared at her for several seconds, then smiled.
"You won't."
I moved behind her, wrapped the necklace around her throat, and fastened it.
"Look." I embraced her from behind, turning us toward the floor-to-ceiling window.
The glass reflected our image. The beige dress complemented the twisted thorns at her neck, the blood-red ruby flickering with her breathing, startlingly beautiful.
I stood behind her, chin resting on her head, arms around her waist.
"How beautiful," I whispered in her ear, breath washing over her earlobe.
I could feel her breathing quicken.
My hands began wandering over her body, sliding from her waist to her stomach, then slowly upward until I cupped that fullness.
I played with the delicate sensation in my palm, fingertips lingering lightly around the peak. I caressed the textured skin where my name was etched, feeling her body's uncontrollable trembling in my arms.
She didn't pull away. Good.
I lowered my head and kissed her neck.
"The most beautiful collar can't change the fact that this is a cage."
My movements stopped abruptly.
"What did you say?" I released her, moving to face her, wanting to see her expression clearly.
She looked up, those eyes clear and calm.
"I said," she spoke deliberately, "the most beautiful collar can't change the fact that this is a cage. Kholod, you can possess my body, control my actions, and put the world's most expensive necklace on me. But none of that changes the fact—"
She reached up, touching the necklace at her throat.
"I am your prisoner. And you are my jailer."
Her words were like ice water, instantly extinguishing all my desire.
In its place came rage.
This woman—she could always maintain that damned clarity at the most crucial moments.
"You really know how to kill the mood."
"I'm just stating facts."
Fury churned in my chest. I wanted to tear her apart, destroy that clarity, see her collapse and beg beneath me.
But I didn't.
Because doing so would only prove she was right—prove I really was just a savage who could only assert dominance through violence.
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.
