“I know more than enough,” I counter. “I know you’re a sensitive soul and an empath, though you hate that term. I know you have the ability to ensnare humans and animals alike, though you prefer the company of animals. I know you’re resilient andsostrong it puts me to shame.” I brush a kiss over her head. “I know you’re stubborn, driven, and so damn smart it’s downright irritating at times.” I kiss her cheek. “I know I feel things I’ve never felt before when I’m with you.”
“Classic line,” she quips.
“It’s not a line,” I retort. “It’s the fucking truth, Mira. I want to take care of you. I want to support you. I want to be your partner. I want to see you smile and know that I’m the cause of your happiness.” I move my lips across her jaw and down to her neck, lightly sucking the skin there. “When we’re in bed together, I want to possess you. Make you mine in every sense of the word. I want to dominate you, but not in the cliché way. You already know that I get off on controlling a girl’s pleasure, but it’s different with you. I discovered an obsession with making you come last night.” I feel it the moment she begins to grow flustered, squirming on my lap, her breaths quickening. “I want to feel you fall apart around my cock, my fingers, my tongue. When you’re bad, I want to spend hours indulging in the more sadistic side of pleasure. Seeing how many times youcancome. Knowing that your abs will be sore in the morning, and you’ll feel like you ran a marathon.Knowing that, after a while, orgasms aren’t just overwhelming; they’re painful, yet so,sopleasurable at the same time.”
“Dorian,” she gasps, her hand grasping mine.
“We’ll get to that,” I assure her, skimming my lips up the column of her neck and pressing a kiss to her jaw. “Soon. First, I need you to agree to become mine. At least give it a genuine shot. Explore what we could be alongside me.” My hand trails up her thigh, coming to rest on her navel, fingers splayed out across her belly. My pinky sits just above the seam of her jeans, and I can’t fuckingwaitto peel them off and get to work. “Agree to it,” I breathe.
She swallows. “Then what?”
“Then you get a true punishment for trying to run from me, and soon, I’ll get us an apartment. We’ll live together.”
“T—that’s moving very fast,” she says breathlessly.
“I’m still supposed to be keeping an eye on you,” I remind her. “If it’s us in an apartment, you’ll be away from this house. I won’t worry that Connor will scare you or Seamus will come onto you. It makes sense. Agree to it, Mira.”
She bites her lip, shaking her head. “I… don’t know.”
“Agree to it,” I coax, nipping her earlobe. If she doesn’t give in soon, I’m liable to do something drastic.
“I want the cats to come with us,” she says petulantly.
I chuckle. “Done. Any other requests?”
She blinks a few times. “Many, I’m sure. I’ll let you know when I remember them.”
I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, loving that I can have this effect on her. She really is the perfect submissive for me.
“Okay,” I say, reigning myself in. “Now, I’m going to punish you. Do you understandwhyyou’re being punished?”
She gives me a wary glance. “Because I did the sensible thing.”
“No,” I disagree. “Because you didn’t communicate. Communication is vital to any relationship, even more so in ours. If you have a problem in the future, if you want to run, you will tell me. We will talk it over. I will adjust whatever I can to make you feel safer.”
She contemplates this for a long moment before giving a nod. “Okay.”
“Okay,” I repeat.
“Since I agreed, can we forgo the punishment?” she asks, blinking at me adorably.
I hide a smile, shaking my head. “No. The function of a punishment is correction. You’ll have thoughts of fleeing in the future, I’m sure. You’re a flighty girl—it’s part of your survival mindset. When you have those thoughts, you will remember tonight, and you’ll reconsider.”
“Dorian,” she says softly, “I’m afraid.”
I lean forward, planting a chaste kiss on her lips. “I know.”
“Will you… explain to me what’ll happen? Then talk me through it while it’s happening?”
The fact that she’s not resisting right now speaks volumes. She might be afraid, but she’s also curious. She wants to know where this will go, even if it makes her nervous.
“Are you familiar with the concept of a pleasure sadist?” I ask her.
Frowning, she shakes her head.
“In the kink community, I’d be considered a pleasure dominant by most.”
Her frown deepens. “You’re in the kink community?”
