Page 44

His gaze followed my fingers. “Did you play with anyone tonight?”

The question threw me off. My touch halted. “What?”

“At the club.”

Was this a test?

“No. Was I…supposed to?”

“You can, if you want to,” he said, unaffected.

Wait—hold on. I put my hand on his chest forcing him back so I could look him in the eyes. Sex was officially paused.

“So this isn’t…exclusive? Areyouplaying with other people?”

I’d like to say I was prepared to have a normal reaction to his response. But the truth was, anger whipped through me like a rattlesnake. If he saidyes, there was a good chance he was going to get stabbed for a second time that night.

The edge of his mouth tucked in. “No. I’m not.”

“But you wantmeto…?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand. This feels like a trick. Or a recipe for resentment.”

“When we first started playing, I asked you what you wanted. Do you remember what you told me?”

I shook my head.

“You said you wanted to experience everything. I don’t want you to hold yourself back. Not for me—not for anyone.”

“Don’t you want it?More.”

He cocked his head. “Like what?”

“A wife, kids…”

I lost eye contact for a minute. When he returned it, however, his tone was resolute. “I have the club. That’s my family. That’s all I need.”

“Maybe the club is all I need, too.”

His expression hardened at that. He got suddenly serious. “Don’t you dare ever dim your light to match my dark. Do you understand, Ophelia?”

There was a strange tightness in my throat. I’d only ever had men try to put me in a box. Men who wanted me to matchtheirperfect image.

He wanted to give me wings. He wanted to watch me fly.

How could I say no?

So I said, “Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl.”

He kissed my forehead. It was the sweetest kiss, but…I felt a tug on my heart. It was as though he were writing the obituary on our relationship before it had even died.

Well, fuck that. Not on my watch.

“Hold on.” I scrambled out from underneath him. “I have something for you.”