My thumb traced along her inner knee, just under the hem of that dynasty dress. I liked my hand there a hell of a lot more than the idea of anyone else’s.
“Right. So I’m not going to walk you to that door like I’m just your boyfriend. I’m sending you out there as my girl. My responsibility. Mine to worry about.”
Her eyes flicked up. “I thought you already gave me all your expectations.”
“Now I’m reminding you.” I needed this in her blood before she stepped outside. “I want you to hear it again, before you step out that door.”
Her thighs pressed fractionally closer to my hips, like her body understood before her mind caught up.
I dragged my gaze back to her face. “Tell me the basics. What happens with my messages?”
“I answer them. All of them. Even if it’s just… something small so you know I’m okay.”
Good. My chest loosened a notch.
“No disappearing acts,”
She swallowed. I watched the movement, the way it dragged her necklace against her throat. “You get an answer.”
“And tonight? When all of this is over?”
“I call you when I’m home.”
Good girl. She remembered more than she thought. I needed her voice in my ear at the end of nights like this, or I’d be tempted to go find her and drag her out mid-speech.
“And on that call?”
Her shoulders dropped a notch. “I give you the rundown. The parts that mattered. Who pushed too hard. What hurt. What felt… wrong. Anything that stuck.”
“Full debrief, I don’t care if it takes five minutes or an hour, I want the truth. That’s how this works.”
She nodded, fingers tracing lightly up my neck. That small touch could’ve grounded a hurricane.
“You remember the rest?” My voice dropped. “I’m not interested in dressing you like a doll. But the first thing you put on?” My hand slid lower, thumb brushing her hip through the dress where the line of her underwear sat. “That’s mine.”
A flush hit her cheeks instantly. My favorite color on her. “You still want to do that?”
I huffed out a quiet breath. “I don’t change my mind overnight. Tomorrow morning you put on what I’ve chosen for you and send me that picture. However much you feel comfortable showing. I don’t need the world’s dirtiest shot.” My thumb pressed a little firmer into her. “I just need to know you listened.”
Her throat worked. “Every morning?”
“Yes.” My gaze stayed locked on hers, daring her to flinch.
She breathed out slowly, the surrender slipping through that exhale. “Okay.”
“Use my name.”
“Yes, Vince.”
Control slipped a little under my skin, just from that. Her soft yes. My name. The knowledge that under all the dynasty noise, she’d chosen me.
“Last pieces,” I murmured. “You owe me honesty. If you’re scared, embarrassed, turned on—especially turned on—you don’t hide it because you think it’s silly or inconvenient. We already set that rule. You don’t protect me from your feelings. That’s not your job.”
Her hands flattened over my chest, right over the crest ink. “I’ll try.”
“You’ll practice. And I’ll correct you when you fall back into old habits. Not punish. Correct. You get the difference?”
“Yeah. I do.”
