“I feel that way too, about the male I’m with,” Kaitlyn admitted. “No sharing allowed and no cheating—that was another reason I left my husband. I found out he was seeing someone else behind my back.”
A growl rose in Braze’s throat.
“How could he cheat on a gorgeous mature Elite like you?”
She shrugged.
“He said he cheated because he wasn’t attracted to me anymore. But it worked out for the best because I came to the Mother Ship and met you.” She leaned forward again and cupped his cheek in her palm. “You know, I’ve been so attracted to you from the first minute we were paired together…but I never thought you’d be interested in what I wanted in the bedroom.”
Braze felt like his heart might be melting in his chest. He nuzzled against her palm, loving the feel of her soft fingers against his heated flesh.
“I felt the same,” he admitted in a low voice. “I thought no woman outside of Yonnie Six would want a male who wanted…” He cleared his throat. “Who wanted to submit.”
“And yet…we found each other,” she said. “And our time on Salimba Prime brought out the truth.”
“It did,” he admitted. “And I fucking loved it.”
“I did too.” Her smile turned sober. “Until they made me fuck you.”
Braze pulled away from her hand, feeling his stomach knot again.
“I knew that would make you hate me,” he said in a low voice.
“Make me hate you?” she exclaimed and the real distress in her voice made him look up at her.
“Yes—I went too far. I fucking begged you to take me—to fuck me. How could you respect me after that? When I showed myself to be so fucking weak?” he growled.
“Weak?” Kaitlyn looked at him disbelievingly. “Braze, what you did on Salimba Prime was the opposite of weak. It was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do—ever.”
“What?” he frowned. “What the fuck are you talking about? How could letting myself be tied up and fucked be brave?”
“Submission itself is a form of bravery,” she argued. “It’s hard to put aside your pride—to do what isn’t expected by the world. To be true to your own self—to admit your deepest desires.”
“I…guess I didn’t think of it like that,” Braze admitted.
“But it’s true!” she protested. “What I saw on Salimba Prime was a Protector who kept on protecting me, even when he was in chains. You made me take the smaller end of that thing they forced me to use on you and you took the thicker end—remember?”
“Because I didn’t want you to get hurt…Mistress.”
His voice felt hoarse and raw as he spoke the title. He could see the effect it had on Kaitlyn immediately. Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated…and for the first time during their conversation, he caught the scent of her feminine desire in the air. It made his cock ache almost unbearably.
“You gave yourself to me under the most difficult circumstances imaginable,” she murmured, looking into his eyes. “You submitted even though it must have been the hardest thing you’ve ever done and I love you for it.”
Her soft words and the way she said she loved him sent a rush of emotion through Braze.
“Truly?” he asked. “You…that’s how you really feel?”
“I love you,” she said again and this time there were tears in her eyes. “And I don’t want to lose you over a misunderstanding. I was too hard on you when I took you—I basically forced you to come in front of everyone. I can understand if that made you hate me. But if you’re trying to dissolve our partnership because you think I don’t want or respect you anymore, you’re dead wrong.”
“I should have talked to you,” Braze admitted. “I shouldn’t have just fucking assumed you’d think less of me after you fucked me.”
“I think more of you. Oh, Braze…” She slid off the couch to kneel between his spread thighs and cupped his face in his hands. “You’re so big and strong you could break me in half with one hand,” she whispered, searching his eyes with her own. “Yet you submitted to me—let yourself be vulnerable with me. Do you know how much strength that takes? How brave you are for letting yourself be that open with another person?”
“How do you fucking do that?” he asked, his voice coming out gravelly because of all the emotions surging inside him. “How do you untangle such a messy situation and make it seem all smooth and right and perfect?”
“Nothing in life is smooth and right and perfect—it’s messy and scary and tangled, like you said,” she whispered. “But I want to spend it with someone I love—someone who wants what I want.”
“I want what you want,” Braze admitted hoarsely. “I want to serve you, Mistress. I want to be of service to you every fucking day for the rest of my life.”
