His small huff said he’d caught it. “You sure do have a lot of hang-ups, don’t you? You don’t like taking care of others, at least not when they can see it, and you don’t want anyone taking care of you. Why is that?”
She took another bite from his fork, chewing it as she considered her answer. Once she swallowed, she figured she had nothing to lose by explaining it. Maybe it was still her being off balance from her heat, but the quiet way Trent sat there let her get her story out. “I told you, my mom was a slave. Every female I knew was basically a slave. They spent their lives scurrying around, trying to please some alpha who never really cared.”
“So you’re afraid you’ll be just the same?”
Alison sighed softly. Examining her own thought process wasn’t exactly her favorite thing to do. She believed in moving the fuck on, in putting bullshit that didn’t matter behind her. “I learned that connecting with people was dangerous. They always screwed you over. It’s like…” She lifted her hand, drawing her fingers into a fist. “This is one person, right? Powerful. Itdoesn’t need anyone or anything. Then, when you open your hand, all those fingers? They’re connections. They’re people you rely on or who rely on you. Suddenly, you have spots that can be broken, that can be caught. You’ve opened yourself up to risk, given yourself weaknesses people can exploit.”
Trent stared at her hand as though formulating some response. She was ready for it, prepared to hear a long-winded lecture about how risk was a part of life, about how those connections made people human.
She’d heard it before.
Instead, he reached out and clasped her wrist, her hand automatically closing around his, locking together as though he were going to pull her to her feet.
She frowned as she stared, as she tried to figure out his point.
“If I’d done this and your hand was closed, we’d both have been weaker. I won’t tell you there aren’t risks, but everything has an upside, too.” He squeezed once, then pulled away to get her another bite of food.
Alison obediently ate it, not even thinking about it, about him, only about the way his warm hand had wrapped around her, about the strength in that grasp.
It’s a nice thought.
Nice thought or not, though, Alison was just too stubborn and set in her ways to change.
She’d lived her life alone, and as soon as they were done here, she’d go back to that.
* * * *
Two weeks had passed, and as Daniel stared at the little omega who took up most of his time, he couldn’t help but smile.
It seemed strange, like a life he’d never really pictured yet had slipped into with no trouble, as though it were the life he was always meant to have.
She’d settled in, somewhat.
Somewhatbeing the reason she was currently tied up on the bed, naked and cursing at him.
“I swear, the second you let me out of here I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Because from where I’m standing”—he dragged his fingers along her back, then over the curve of her ass—“your threats don’t mean much.”
She tried to twist to glare, but couldn’t manage to move enough. It left her only able to stare at the blank wall on the other side of his bed. He’d thought about blindfolding her, but he’d decided he wanted to be able to see the look in those pretty eyes of hers.
“Why are you here?”
“Because you’re a dick?”
He laughed softly. Trent would dislike her mouthing off, since he was a fan of rules even though he was soft-hearted when it came to punishment. Daniel, though?
“You’re not supposed to laugh,” she snapped, as if his chuckle were more egregious an offense than tying her up or whatever else he had planned. “I thought you were mad.”
“Mad? No, sweet, I’m not a mad sort of man. The more you mouth off to me, the more disrespectful you are, the more fun I’ll have adding on punishments.”
She inhaled sharply. “You can’t just add punishments! That’s not fair.”
“Really? If you get in trouble with the police, and keep breaking the law, they’ll keep adding charges.”
“You’re not the police.”
He huffed a soft laugh before sliding his fingers up her drenched cunt. “I’m close enough. Besides, you like this more than you’re letting on.”
