Page 76 of Bought
A dangerous thing to want when I was in this mood. I’d need to be careful and right now I had no patience for careful. I could push her beyond her limits and risk re-traumatizing her, which was not at all what I wanted to do.
Forcing myself to release her, I stepped back. “No. I’ve changed my mind. I can’t do that, not while I’m in this mood.”
Her brow creased and she studied me for a moment. “You want to though, don’t you?”
She was getting good at reading me and I did not like that one bit. Yet, she wasn’t wrong.
“I’m too angry, Zara.” I put as much certainty as I could into the words. “I could push you too far and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me,” she said as if this was self-evident. “And you won’t push me too far. I trust you, Sir.”
“I shouldn’t—”
Before I could say the rest of it, much to my shock, she reached up and touched one slender finger to my lips, silencing me. Touching me when I hadn’t given her leave was a punishable offence, yet I was so taken aback I couldn’t think of a single word to say.
“I trust you.” She said the words quietly and firmly, her gaze holding mine. Then she dropped her hand. “You need this, Sir. I can help you find your control again, so let me.”
She wasn’t wrong. My fury burned too hot, urging me to find Caleb, teach him a lesson in pain, and then grab Isabel, take her back here, put her in a room, and lock her in it for the rest of her natural life. Neither of which was a good idea.
I needed to cool down and yes, find my control, and she clearly thought that a scene would help.
She might not be wrong about that, either.
No. Maybe she wasn’t.
“I killed someone, Zara,” I said roughly, in a last-ditch effort to warn her. “I killed him in anger. Which makes me dangerous, especially when I’m in this mood.”
She gave me a look that I couldn’t quite read. Then she held out her hand, one side of her mouth curving upwards in a faint half-smile, as if a confession of murder meant nothing to her.
If I’d been serious about her safety, I should have walked away.
But I didn’t. The Dom knew what it needed and what it needed was her. Her submission. Her trust in me. The man needed it too.
So, I reached out and took her hand and let her lead me upstairs to my bedroom, where she went on her knees, her gaze respectfully down. “What are your orders, Sir?”
I looked at her, kneeling at my feet, naked and beautiful, silver blonde hair falling over her shoulders and down her back, her pale skin flushed.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” I asked. “I need you to be sure, Zara. Very sure.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, Sir. I’m yours to command.”
My little sub. She was so wary, so defended. But not with me.
Something shifted in my chest, the Dom acknowledging the gift she was giving me. The intense satisfaction and pleasure of having her absolute trust. It made my fury start to solidify into that cold, clean blade of control.
I took a silent breath. “On the bed, sub. Lie down on your back and don’t move.”
She obeyed and once she was there, I went to my wardrobe and opened the cupboard inside where I had my favorite toys. I took out the set of padded cuffs I preferred, the soft leather flogger, a vibrator and then, after a moment, some jeweled nipple clamps. Then I took them back to the bed.
She lay there watching me quietly and didn’t make a sound as I grabbed her wrists one at a time, putting them in the cuffs and attaching each wrist to the D rings I’d had put in the headboard of my bed. Then I did the same with each ankle, attaching them to the footboard.
She made no sound, not even tensing as I finished with her ankles, and when I stood back to survey her, spread-eagled on my bed, there was no fear in her eyes.
She was mine, at my mercy. Under my control. And, looking down at her, into her eyes, I knew she would obey me. She would go where I led, trusting me to keep her safe. Trusting me in a way no one ever had.
I knew at that moment, too, that I wouldn’t let her down. I was determined not to. The gift she’d given me, her trust in my hands, would never be taken for granted. It was precious and I’d make sure she never regretted it.
“Beautiful,” I told her. “This is the way I like to see you, sub. Bound and completely at my mercy.”