"Please," she whispers again.
I don't answer.
Instead, I lean in closer, bringing my mouth to the curve where her neck meets her shoulder. I press my lips there. Not a bite. Not rough. Just a kiss.
She shudders.
Her body betrays her immediately—nipples hardening, goosebumps spreading across her arms, thighs pressing together reflexively.
Arousal coded as terror.
Or terror coded as arousal.
With her, there's no difference.
I move my mouth to her ear, close enough that my breath ghosts across her skin when I speak.
"'I am kneeling,'" I whisper, quoting her own words back to her. "'Thighs spread exactly shoulder-width apart. Spine straight. Shoulders back. Hands palm-up on my thighs where he can see I'm not hiding anything.'"
She goes rigid.
Recognizes the passage instantly.
I Am Your Perfect Slave.Chapter fourteen. Raven reciting her Dom's rules after months of training. The chapter where she finally stops fighting and surrenders completely.
Her favorite scene in her favorite story.
I hacked her laptop, read her notes folder. Found the document titled "favorite scenes to reread when I need—" and she'd never finished the sentence.
But I knew what she meant.
When I need to touch myself.
I continue, my voice low and steady against her ear. "'Chin level. Eyes down unless he commands otherwise. I don't speak unless spoken to. I don't move unless given permission. I don't come unless he allows it.'"
Scarletta's breathing stutters. Stops entirely for three seconds.
Then resumes, faster than before.
"'I am his to use. His to display. His to discipline. His to reward. I exist for his pleasure and mine only matters when he decides it matters.'"
Her legs tremble. I can feel it through the contact between us.
"'I was weak before. I fought him. Questioned him. Made him prove himself over and over because I was too afraid to believe he could handle all of me.'"
A tiny sound escapes her throat. Almost a whimper.
Almost.
"'But I'm not afraid anymore. I don't need to test him. I don't need to push. I know what I am now. What I've always been.'"
I pause. Let the silence stretch. Let her remember the final line.
Then I deliver it.
"'I am his perfect slave.'"
She breaks.
