I growl and she whips her head up.
“I’m sorry,” she says, then she groans in frustration, dropping her gaze again. “I don’t know how this works. I’m doing this wrong, aren’t I?”
“Goddamnit, look at me.”
She sucks in a breath, but obeys, and it’s that look in her eyes, more than her easy obedience, that nearly undoes me.
Hesitant, fearful, yes, but also… desperate.
Needy.
Shewantsme to punish her.
But… is itmyfirm hand that she wants, or that of any Dom? Does she want Max Cruz as Dominus… or just this random, masked man who trapped her in the bathroom?
My fucking head is a jumbled-up mess over this woman, but as I watch her, I begin to believe—no,hope—that my opponent isn’t here to wreck me at all. She’s here tobewrecked.
Worshipped.
And then wrecked again.
My pulse picks up speed.
I take a step closer.
Then another.
My mouth waters at the prospect of Sutton Hart in full submission.
My heart beats wildly against my ribs.
“You haven’t done anything wrong.” Closing the distance between us until she’s craning her neck up to look at me and I can feel the heat of her body dancing along the length of mine, I finally cup her chin in my hand, trace my thumb across her full bottom lip, then ask, “Is that what you want? Punishment?”
Her lips part on a stuttering intake of breath, and I dip my thumb in to tease the tip of her tongue. Her eyes flutter, threatening to roll back.
“Answer me now,” I command. “Do you want me to hurt you?”
Her eyes open wide and I can practically hear the gears spinning inside her head as she decides her fate, our fate, and I find myself holding my breath as I wait.
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more than this woman on her knees, falling apart at my feet.
Please.
Fuck.
The waiting is killing me.
Finally, she swallows and gives the most subtle of nods. Before I get a chance to remind her that we use verbal confirmation in my world, she gives me a firm and resolute, “Yes.”
And my entire fuckingworldflips onto its head.
Chapter Nine
Sutton
My admission hangs in the heavy silence between us, my heartbeat counting the seconds that tick by. Why isn’t he saying anything?
Did I… am I doing this wrong?
