I sighed, nodding sadly. “I like you a lot more now than when we arrived.”
She laughed. “I’m soft with those who need it, hard with those who would be better served learning some humility, and, my dear panther, I think you need a soft place to land.”
“You don’t think I need more humility?”
Yelena shook her head, tracing her fingertips along my cheek and jaw. “Not anymore. I think if you could see yourself from the outside, see how different you are now from when you arrived, you would know that. I’m almost envious of how quickly you’ve grown. It’s so rare for us. We get too stuck in our ways, but you’ve changed drastically, learned to open yourself, to be humble and accept that you may not know best. And you’ve done it all for a woman you didn’t even know you could claim. Logan is lucky to have you.”
“She has a lot of us now.”
“Don’t make me shift back and pin you down for being a dumbass.” She shoved my shoulder, eyes gleaming, and my cock rose, but I kept steady eye contact so she wouldn’t notice. “Accept the compliment.”
“And what If I don’t?” I knew I was playing with fire, but the way her eyes narrowed teased my body to life, and that was an excellent distraction from stewing in misery.
“Then maybe I’ll leave you to your own devices. You can tend to your cock while you lament your circumstances in peace.”
“Stay. I accept it. I’ll be good.”
Yelena lay back down onto the grass, resting her chin on her folded arms. “I’m not convinced you know how to be good. I think you only know how to expect it from others.”
“How would you test that theory?”
She looked over at me, questions heavy in her gaze. “I refuse to be a consolation prize. If you’re asking for me, it had better not be as a fucking distraction.”
Guilt set heavy in my gut. “I don’t think a universe exists in which you could ever be a consolation prize. You’re not a distraction either, in general. I realize in this exact moment I was starting to treat it that way, and I’m sorry. I don’t want you because I can’t bond her. I want you because I can’t fucking help myself, and you’ve known that from the moment we arrived.”
Yelena watched me for a long moment before her mouth curved into a smile. “Ithasbeen rather entertaining watching you fight your attraction. Are you ashamed that you want me?”
“No. You played with my pride, and I don’t know how to navigate something that makes me hot and angry at the same time.”
“Maybe that’s because you have toomuchpride.” She leaned closer, sitting up, and my gaze swept along the luscious curves of her body, freezing when she placed her palm on my chest. Mywhole body tightened at the change in her demeanor. “Perhaps you should let go of a little, learn to beg for what you want in a situation where you might get it.”
My thoughts tripped over themselves, tangling into knots so not a single one of them made it from my brain to my tongue.
Yelena laughed, her warm breath ghosting over my lips, not quite close enough to touch. “You’re so cute when you lose the power of speech.”
It was deeply unfair how hot her teasing was to me. She had me right where she wanted me and she knew it. Pride held me by the throat.
“Prove you can be good, and I’ll give you a kiss.”
Words.
Say some.
Literallyanywords.
“How?” I croaked out.
Yelena’s smile had nerves jumping in my stomach and a moment later something bumped to the ground next to us. I stared up in the direction it had come, Haru giving a quick wave before closing the window. I slid my gaze back to the item, picking it up from the grass.
A collar.
Yelena’s name was emblazoned across it in gold.
“We can play without it,” she said softly. “I won’t force you into any dynamic, but I know you’re curious, and I know you’ve been craving it.”
Her golden eyes pinned me in place, my brain trying and failing to formulate a response. I swallowed hard and brought the soft velvet lining of the collar to my throat, closing my eyes as I concentrated on managing the buckle at the back.
You look beautiful with a collar on. I thought so from the start.
