Page 14 of Crave Me
I jerked back and tried to look him in the eye, but it was nearly impossible. I glanced away and down to my hands.
Holy crap. What was he doing to me?
“I don’t understand,” I whispered, still looking at my hands in my lap.
“Last night you were in too much pain and too tired to talk, so I gave you the night to rest. If you recall, I reminded you that you’ve asked for me to be your Dom twice now, and I’m taking you up on it.”
I began raising my head.
“Look at your lap and answer me honestly. You wanted a Dom, Chloe, and now you have one. You want to submit?”
It was all I’d ever wanted. With the sudden shift in his tone and demeanor, the way he spoke to me...I stared at my chipped pink nail polish and hesitated. “Yes,” I managed to croak. I glanced at my water. My throat had gone dry and my pulse was pounding out of control. Yet even through my nerves, my body went wired. Like one touch from him could send me careening over the edge.
He stayed silent.
“Yes, sir,” I managed. “I want to submit.”
“Have you done negotiations before? Met with any Doms outside Luminous?”
“No, sir.”
“You may look at me now.”
I lifted my eyes slowly, and when our gazes met, my breath caught.
With his hair too shaggy to be styled nicely, but a build too big to be geeky, he reminded me of a sexy, slightly rumpled professor. His serious expression morphed him into something breath-stoppingly masculine. “One month,” he said. “I will spend the next month training and teaching you, and then I will help find a more suitable Dom for you.”
Searing pain lashed straight to my chest, as if he was yielding the cane that had struck me against my will.
“You—” I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth to stop the tears before they could start.
“We are not well matched, Chloe. You know this. Your family would never accept me and you’re too young. Too vulnerable. Too innocent for me. But in order to keep you safe, I will handle your training and then I will help you find a Dom who can continue when we’re done.”
So much for stopping the tears. My face burned with anger as they fell down my cheeks.
He was giving me everything I wanted and everything I’d craved, while at the same time, absolutely none of it.
“You’re an asshole.”
He nodded once, his expression unchanging. “I am. You also know I’m right. After what happened to you, you need someone you can trust, who can walk you through submission and guide you so it doesn’t happen again. Dom-sub relationships aren’t always dating ones, Chloe, and I’m sure you’ve learned it in your research. Our hearts don’t need to be, and won’t be, involved. I understand you’re attracted to me, Chloe.” I flinched at his tone. So damn condescending. It fueled my anger and in my lap, my hands curled into fists. How many punches could I get in before he stopped me? “And I admit, I find you highly attractive. But that’s where this ends for us. I will train you. I will whip you. I will fuck you until you’re boneless. But you know as well as I do, even if I wanted a relationship with you, given your family, it could never happen. What I can do is keep you safe while you explore this lifestyle.”
I gritted out, “How noble of you.”
“I’m not noble. I’m a Dom, and as one, my primary concern is the safety of a sub. You have this one chance to take me up on my offer, or I walk.”
Despite my anger, I still wanted him. What a mess I was. Perhaps I could use this and get the best of both worlds. I could screw Simon Delgado out of my system, and find someone better for me in the long run. He was right. My family would never accept him even if he ever decided he liked me.
“Fine,” I hissed, seething and allowing him to see how angry and hurt I was. “I accept.”
Lines wrinkled his forehead as his eyebrows arched into two perfect points. “Excuse me?”
Pushing down all my anger and the pain, I relented. “Thank you, sir, I accept.”
“Very good. Now come here and stand in front of me.”
My gaze flickered toward the door to my office. He wouldn’t take me here, would he? “Perhaps we need ground rules, sir.”
“We’ll get to rules later. Before our first session. But for now, I’ve given you a command.”
