Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 78521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Afterward, I drove Addie home in my truck. “I think we need some time apart,” I said to her.
“Time apart? Why, sir?”
“Because I’m not comfortable with what happened. I need to think about what we’ve been doing. Think about whether I want to be a part of it anymore.”
“But, sir—”
“Do I need to remind you again? This has never been about what you want.”
“Will you call me?” she asked.
“No,” I said adamantly. “I won’t.”
A week went by, and then another.
I was relieved that she was out of my life. I’d discovered a lot that I liked in the bedroom and one thing that I hated. Something I’d never do again, no matter what. No matter how careful you were with breath control, there was always a risk.
I was a risk-taker. I always had been.
But I was not willing to risk a person’s life.
I was relieved the relationship—if you could call it that—was over.
Turned out it wasn’t.
The stalking began again.
Addie waited by my truck after work, this time wearing a black jumpsuit and a choker made of braided black velvet.
“Please, sir,” she begged. “I need it. I need you.”
“I’ve told you it’s over,” I said. “This isn’t about what you want.”
“You miss me. You must. We were so in sync.”
“We were in over our heads.”
“But we’ve learned. We can do better.”
“No,” I said flatly. “It’s over.”
When the stalking didn’t stop, I finally had no choice.
I called the police.
…
Skye has no idea that she just asked for my one hard limit.
Finally, I speak.
“No, Skye.”
Chapter Fifty-One
She doesn’t move. She’s still facing the pole. Her ponytail hangs down, just touching the back of her neck. I asked for the ponytail so I could give it a yank while I was fucking her tonight.
I won’t be fucking her tonight. Not in her pussy and not in her ass.
Though my cock is still hard and aching, my emotions are a wreck.
I unhook the binding, and Skye’s arms slacken.
“Turn around, Skye. Face me.”
She obeys, looking down at the beautiful knotting across her chest.
“Look at me,” I say.
She lifts her head and meets my gaze.
I touch the rope around her chest and loosen it. She drops her chin to her chest.
“You’re not looking at me,” I say.
She lifts her head and looks into my eyes as I finish unbinding her. The ropes fall to the floor.
Finally, she says, “I don’t understand.”
I pick up the ropes and bring them to the chest. Then I return to her, take her hand, and lead her to the bed. “Sit.”
Still naked except for her fishnets and stilettos, she obeys.
I sit next to her. “You seem disappointed.”
“I’m okay.”
Does she think she can fool me? She’s so far from okay, and my refusal to bind her neck is only a small part of it.
“I want you to get dressed,” I say. “We’re leaving.”
“Leaving?” Her lips droop into a frown.
“Yes.”
“But…why?”
“Because I have something to say to you, and I don’t want to do it here.”
Silence reigns as we dress, leave the club, and head up in the elevator.
Back at my penthouse, I ask her to sit next to me on the couch in the living area. “I said something to you earlier. Do you remember what it was?”
“You said a lot of things to me earlier, Braden.”
I nod. “You’re right, but there was something that I said concerned me. That I was worried you were finding something at the club other than pleasure.”
She says nothing.
“Skye, why did you want me to bind you around your neck?”
“Because it’s what happened in the scene.”
I shake my head. “That’s not the truth, and you know it.”
She doesn’t answer right away, and I don’t expect her to. She probably doesn’t have an answer, at least not one that’s in her conscious mind. Not yet. So I’ll give her a few minutes. A few minutes to think about why she wanted her neck bound.
So I wait.
And I wait.
Until—
“I won’t force you to tell me, Skye, but if you want a relationship with me, you need to be honest.”
“I just…wanted it.”
“You wanted me to choke you.” My statement has no inflection. I’m not questioning. I already know. “Why, Skye?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Aren’t you?”
“I mean…I have an idea.”
“And that idea is…?”
“I wanted to lose control. Completely. Give you complete control. Show you that I trust you.”
“I already know you trust me, and you’ve already given me complete control in the bedroom.”
“But I want—”
I reach forward, lightly trail a finger over her forearm. “Giving me control is not about what you want. It’s about what I want.”
“But—”
“Stop. It’s about what you want as well. But it’s for me to choose and for you to either consent or decline. Do you understand?”
She nods, swallowing, tears forming and pooling in the bottoms of her eyes.
I rub my forehead. “Damn it, Skye! Say yes or no.”
“Yes, I understand. Of course I understand, Braden.”