Page 18 of Crave Me
Her hair flopped and bobbed as she shook her head.
“I don’t think you’ve ever really been a submissive.”
She tried to interrupt me.
“I think youwantto, but I think, in some way, you’ve always had the upper hand when it came to men. They probably tied themselves in knots knowing they had your delicious and sexy as hell body beneath theirs, but in the end, you both ended up frustrated. Do you know why I think that?”
She licked her lips, gaze flicking around the room to everywhere but me. “Why?”
“Remove the robe. Lie down, now.”
The familiar spark flashed in her eyes again and this time, I grinned at her. She was so screwed with me. I’m sure she pulled the guys she dated around by her dicks. Sure she might have submissively asked to be played with, maybe spanked. Maybe she bought fluffy pink handcuffs and teased them, or cuffed herself to her bed and waited for the guy she was with to get the hint. But I wasn’t fooled. She’d never chosen to submit. She’d held all the cards.
Once she had done what I ordered, I admired her back, the delicate curve of her spine and flare of hips. Tan lines told me exactly how teeny her bikini had been last summer.
Need burned inside me and I pulled my gaze off her ass to her eyes. “I think you’ve always been the one in control, because every time I tell you to do something, your eyes flash like you want to stab me with an ice pick. I’m sure you’ve played before, but I don’t give a fuck what you’ve done with other men. Tonight, and moving forward, you need to realize that when you’remysub, you’re mine. All of you. Your body, inside and out, belongs to me to do whatever the hell I want with it, whenever I want.”
Her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed into a bratty little glare. Fuck. We should have done negotiations first. Had we, I’d deliver a spanking for her obstinate expression.
“You mean for a month.”
I pulled myself out of my fantasy of watching her small ass jiggle from the slaps I wanted to give her, and how red her skin would turn.
“Excuse me?”
“You said my body was yours to do with whenever you wanted it, but you meant a month like you made clear in my office earlier. Right?”
Teasing little seductress.
My lip curled. My hand flexed to deliver the spanking she so desperately needed without knowing. To get control of myself, to not push too fast, something I’d learned after my years with Cassie, I spun on my heel and went to the bathroom. I shut off the water and took out towels before returning to her room, smiling when she was in the same spot.
I went to work quickly, pulling her skin taut before removing the gauze and bandages so it didn’t hurt her. I still cringed, my jaw tightened in anger as I took in the mess on her back.
It was obvious she’d never really submitted. Jared had probably seen how green she was, figured she’d jump at the opportunity to be whipped, and yet she had no idea what her limits would be or what she needed.
My job was now to teach her limits, until she could learn to trust and submit while still holding on to her confidence.
She groaned while I removed the bandages, wiped dried blood off the edges of her cuts before guiding her to sitting. Then I pulled her into my arms, her hands clasping my shoulders and carried her to her bathroom.
“Did I read you correctly?” I asked, dipping her loofah into the warm water. I squeezed her body wash on to it, inhaling the scent of spring flowers, and rubbed her shoulders, relaxing her before I washed her back and more intimate areas.
Her head fell forward and she moaned, shoulders relaxed as I continued gently running the sponge over her body, down her arms, up the inside where her skin was more sensitive.
“I realized the exact same thing earlier. And you’re right. I pushed them into it, however nicely, sometimes not, and I ended up pushing them all away.”
We had something in common then. But I needed to stop comparing Chloe to Cassie.
Once she was bathed, I helped her stand and wrapped one of the towels around her and led her back to her bed.
I took care of her back, rubbed cream over her wounds before replacing the gauze and bandages where needed. A day after and she didn’t look nearly as bad as she had last night. Most of the red marks had turned pink and only a half dozen areas needed to be covered. She was still bruised, though, and I still had the urge to find Jared and beat him to a pulp.
“For the next week, I’ll be here every night to redress your back.”
She stiffened and her eyes squeezed close. Better than flaring in disobedience.
“But you said—”
“We can’t play until you’re healed. At least, not the way I want to.”
