Instead, I find myself walking back to the guest room.
She doesn't look up when I enter, maintains perfect position.
"What are you doing?"
"Waiting for my orders, Sir."
"I told you. You're leaving."
"You said within the hour. It hasn't been an hour."
Technical obedience.
She’s using my own rules against me.
Despite everything, I almost smile.
"Stand."
She rises gracefully, and I notice she's removed the dress.
She's naked except for the collar, displaying all my marks one last time.
"These will fade," she says, touching a bruise on her hip. "But I won't forget how they got there."
"Selene—"
"You're right. I'm not ready. I'm soft. Weak. I showed mercy when I shouldn't have." She steps closer, close enough that I can feel the heat from her skin. "But I can learn. I will learn. I'll become someone you can't send away. Someone who belongs in your world completely."
"How?"
"I don't know yet. But I'll figure it out." She reaches up, touches the collar. "This will remind me every day what I'm working toward. Who I belong to."
"Even if a year passes, and I decide you're still not ready?"
"Then at least I'll have tried. At least I'll have had this." She gestures between us. "Whatever this is."
"This is ownership," I tell her. "Possession. Control."
"It's more than that, and you know it."
"Is it?"
"You wouldn't be angry if it wasn't. You'd have killed David without hesitation. You'd have removed this collar yourself. You'd have fucked me last night instead of sending me to bed alone." She meets my eyes. "You care. Even if you don't want to."
She's too perceptive. Too smart. It will be her downfall eventually.
"Get dressed," I order. "You leave in twenty minutes."
She doesn't move. "Will you miss me?"
"No."
"Liar."
The audacity of her calling me a liar should anger me.
Instead, it makes me want to fuck her against the wall.
