“John, what’s wrong?”
I keep my back to her as I take deep breaths to calm the anger inside of me as my brain relives the scene from last week. Has it only been a week?
“Do you not want me?” There’s a break in her voice, and I spin to face her, taking her hands in mine as I lean down and kiss her forehead. She releases me, wrapping her arms around my waist and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Baby, there’s not a minute of the day that passes when I’m not overcome with thoughts of you. There’s no one else on this earth and nothing in this life that I want more than you.”
A tear falls down her cheek, and I tilt her chin up to kiss it before covering her face in kisses, finally landing on her lips.
“I’m really starting to rethink this no-bed-in-my-room decision,” I say between kisses.
“I don’t need a bed. I just need you to touch me.”
“It makes me so fucking hard to hear you say that. To see how far you’ve come since the first time we were in this room.”
Her body melts into mine as we hold each other, our kisses growing more and more frenzied before I pull back.
She looks at me, her brows raised. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I hid from you. It felt wrong keeping this from you, who I really was, why we couldn’t be together. I know I sound like a broken record, but I’m just so fucking sorry.”
“I’m not. I got to fall in love with you twice. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I was never bothered when you touched me as Professor Ali. You’d grab my hand or arm, and I never balked. And part of me felt so torn reveling in the touch of two different men.”
“I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t feel bad about that. But it was also really fucking hot watching you use all my rules against me as your professor.”
A blush stains her cheeks and my cock hardens at her reaction as she trails her fingers slowly up my chest. “I just wished I figured it out sooner. What if we made new rules? Rules that we promise not to break.”
“Such as?”
“Well, if this is going to work and we rebuild trust, how about always tell the truth? Be honest yet kind. And we tell each other everything—no more hiding parts of ourselves from each other.”
“Done. What else?”
“You were the one with all the rules, Professor, you tell me.”
“When we’re in here, you’re mine to control, mine to command. You will submit to me fully.”
She lets out a shaky breath, and I watch the way her chest rises and falls as her breathing picks up. “I like that one.”
“Tell me, if I were to touch you right now, would I find you dripping for me?”
“Yes, sir. What about your old rule about being with subs?”
Pressing my erection against her, I crowd her against the door. “You’re not just my sub. You’re my everything. The air I breathe. The sunlight that brightens my day. The sustenance that nourishes me. The balance I need to ground me. And most importantly,mine. You are mine, pet. I don’t fuck subs, but you’re more than that. You’re my fucking world. And I will do what I want with you when and where I please.”
“Is that a rule?”
“Yes,” I say, pressing my forehead to hers, breathing her in.
“I think those are good rules to start with, but there’s still something that’s bothering me,” she says softly, pulling back and looking up at me. Her long lashes blink rapidly, and I steel myself for her admission.
“Should I change your name to Bruce Wayne in my phone or keep it as Batman Dom?”
I bark out a laugh and slide my hands up her face, cradling her cheeks as I force her to look at me. “You’re incredible, Emma, and I’m so deeply in love with you. I love you. Your joy, your curiosity, your zest for life. The way you make me laugh. The way you trusted me with your trauma, your body, your fears. I’ve spent most of my life helping others as a way to atone for my sins. Thinking that if I did enough good in my life, I’d finally be worthy. That I had to earn the love of others. I didn’t think I deserved to be happy. But you make me feel seen. Wanted. Needed. And if you allow me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Proving that I’m worthy of you, loving you the way you deserve.”
“You don’t have to prove anything to me. I see who you are under the mask, and I love every version of you.”
I barely let her get the words out before I capture her lipswith mine. My hands roam up and down her body, desperate to claim her and touch every inch of her. She whimpers against me, hiking a leg up my hip before I lift her off the ground, wrapping her legs around my waist.
