“Then you’re not letting me be who I am.”
Gabe sighed. His ask wasn’t unreasonable.
“I’m trying to protect us, to protect our future. You can be who you are. Start your own podcast on body positivity and kink. Write about how you love the colour pink and how people can better brand themselves, but you could do it under a different name.”
“What if I don’t want to?” She drew her legs up to her chest.
Dammit, her words crushed him. What was the point if she didn’t want to put the time and energy into this relationship? How could he make her safe if she couldn’t bend a little for him?
“I don’t know, Ivy. We can put that aside because we aren’t getting anywhere on it.”
“How mature of you,” Ivy muttered.
“I’m trying!” Gabe picked up the bound pages and dropped them on the table. “What do you want out of this? What’s the most important thing to you?”
“That you’re my solid, calm place you once were. That you don’t look at me with hatred in your eyes. That you let me be who I am.”
“Ivy...”
“No, it’s true. You asked. That’s the answer. I made what you consider a mistake. I don’t think I deserve to be hated for it. You can’t hate what I did and love me.”
“I can, though. I will always love you, Princess.” His voice hitched on the words, but it was true, and he needed to make her feel cherished and safe.
“I want to try, but I’m afraid maybe we’re not right for each other.”
“Ivy, don’t say that.” He traced her lips with his finger. “Cole called me a kept man.”
“Gabe, that’s not….”
He shook her words away. “Listen, Cole called me a kept man. That ruffled my feathers because he was being an ass when he said it, and he couldn’t imagine caring for someone. Ivy, I like taking care of you. I don’t mind doing most of the laundry or making sure there’s food in the house because you’ll forget to go to the store because work will call you.” He ran the back of his knuckles against her cheek and tapped the contract between them. “You are so strong out there. So powerful. Here, with me, I love that you are soft. You giving me control of your orgasms is so heady because, out there, you never give them an inch. Look,” Gabe picked up the contract again, “I have things in here we’ve tried but didn’t stick to. Asking for orgasms. Asking permission to come to bed. Kneeling when you get home. Your submission means so much to me. I was afraid to put structure around us. To want it because it’s more commitment from both of us, but when you submit like that, you give me the reassurance that I am the Dom you need, the man you need. You’re not going to leave me.”
She stared at him, shook her head, and closed her eyes. “Gabe, you asked me to leave. How could you be worried aboutmeleaving you?”
Yeah, it sounded incredulous. “Maybe that’s why I asked you to leave, Ivy. I don’t know. I know I have been miserable with you gone ever since you made that post. Maybe I was afraid you would leave. Like my mom.” He bit the words out. His voice was hoarse.
She reached over and took his hands in hers. “I wish your family treated you better. I’m sorry I did something that made you think I was like them.”
He stared at her for an entire moment. That was exactly it. She had. Just like his fucked up family, she had hurt him.
“Tomorrow is the new start. Just hang in here a little more with me, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m going to shower and get ready for dinner.” Ivy took her coffee cup and his water glass from the table. As she cleaned up the kitchen and her silky blonde hair fell against her cheek, Gabe knew she wasn’t happy about the state of things. He didn’t know what to do to fix it.
“Damn, woman.” Gabe took her by the hand and pulled her against his chest, kissing the column of her neck. “You look too beautiful to be in their company.”
“It’s armour.” Ivy giggled.
Her eyes, framed in black, perfectly applied mascara, glanced up at him wide, and she patted his cheek.
“You clean up pretty well yourself, Mr. Arthur. You could skip this, you know.”
He let her go and watched as she smoothed out her black skirt that just hit her knee, pulling down her red top. She loved well-made clothes, and Gabe knew these had come from her favourite designer store.
He reached for his suit jacket and put it on over his dark navy dress shirt as Ivy slipped on her long dangly earrings.
“You know, if I skip it, I’d never hear the end of it. I wish I could just write them off and not bother with them.”
“They’re your family.” Ivy kissed his cheek, her heels almost putting her at eye height with her.
