I finished my coffee, closed the shutter letting the too-bright sunshine into the kitchen, and walked into her room. She lay awake, but the moment our eyes met, she blinked and looked away. I closed the door and locked it behind me, walked into the bathroom where I’d left the chair, and brought it into the bedroom. I set the blanket I’d carried in on it.
She eyed it.
“Chilly in here,” I said casually.
She searched my face, my eyes.
“I’m thinking you need to use the bathroom?”
She nodded, her gaze settling on a spot just beyond me. I guessed she’d be embarrassed after last night’s impromptu session. I hadn’t intended to do what I’d done. I’d just meant to fuck with her a little. I’d been reading, and all her racket hadbeen annoying, quite frankly. She had to know I wouldn’t keep her somewhere she’d be found so easily, so why the screaming?
“Did you sleep well?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and tracing the edge of one of her ankle cuffs.
“How well do you expect me to sleep in this freezing room bound and naked and fucking humiliated?”
Well, no elephant in this room, then. She was straightforward. I liked that. I brushed a strand of hair from her face, and she shook her head to rid herself of my touch. I gripped her chin and forced her to look at me. “Getting my cock sucked puts me out like a light. The way you came, I’d thought you’d have slept into next week.”
Her face grew warm beneath my touch, and I had to smile at the blush creeping up her neck and cheeks.
“The least you can do is thank me.”
“I hate you. You’re the worst of them all.”
“Worse than the men who branded you?” I raised my eyebrows, although truly, I didn’t care. Fact was, she was right. Iwasthe worst of them all.
“The worst,” she spat out.
“Then we have no misunderstandings between us.” I undid her ankles first. Then I unhooked her from the ring at the top of the bed but kept her wrists bound. “Go.”
“With my hands tied?”
“Call me when you’re done. I’ll wipe.”
I almost laughed when her face got so red I thought she’d explode. Truth was, it was an act, this flat, uninterested tone. Not that I cared, I just…that hint of conscience crept in through the cracks in the fucking walls of my chest. It seeped through the tiniest fissure, and it fucked with me. I didn’t like it.
She walked into the bathroom. I noticed the bruises on her ass. I hadn’t whipped her too hard, but hard enough they’d serve as a reminder to behave every time she sat down.
While she took care of what she needed to, I went to the chest, unlocked it, and took out what I needed: the collar and the crop. A few moments later she returned, wiping droplets of water from her face with her hands.
“I need a toothbrush.”
“Isn’t there one in there?”
She didn’t hesitate. “No.”
“Funny, I could have sworn…”
Her gaze fell to the things I held, and I could see the effort it took for her to stay in place.
“Would you like to earn a blanket?” I asked. “Maybe get some more water and food?”
“What do I have to do?” The question came out slow and cautious as a crawl.
“Kneel.”
She studied me, distrust in her eyes, hesitation in the way she bit her lip. “What are you going to do?”
“Put this collar around your neck.” I didn’t feel like playing all of a sudden.
