"Tell him it's in a very safe place."
"Ace." I warn.
"You can tell him it's being well looked after."
"ACE."
He grins. The kind of grin that makes me want to strangle him and climb him like a tree in the same breath.
"Are you mad?" he asks. He already knows the answer.
"I am furious," I lie.
It’s kind of hot. Absolutely insane. Still hot.
"You're turned on."
"I am furious." I counter.
"Your nipples say otherwise."
I look down. He's right. Traitors.
He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. His expression shifts. Softens just enough that I can see the real thing underneath the game.
"I don't like seeing his ring on you, Harper," he says quietly. "I know it isn't real. I know you don't want him. But seeing that diamond on your hand, something in me breaks a little bit. So yeah. I took it. And I put it somewhere that makes it mine. Because everything about you is mine. And I need that ring to know it too."
My chest cracks open. I hate doing this to him. All I want to do is make this man happy, yet every single time I try and get it right, I mess it up.
"You're ridiculous," I whisper.
"I'm yours."
"Those aren't mutually exclusive."
He laughs and leans in, pressing his forehead to mine with his hand tangled in my hair.
"Now," he says, his voice dropping back into that register that liquefies my spine. "I believe we were discussing your punishment."
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Ace
I don't know how I haven't cum already. Just looking at her on her knees for me.
Naked. Back straight. Hands on her thighs. Eyes down. Waiting. The light from the hallway cuts across her body in a stripe of gold, and her hair falls over one shoulder, and she's so still, so perfect, so completely mine that my chest aches with it.
By some miracle, I'm still standing. By some miracle, I haven't crossed this room and ruined every plan I just made. She will be punished, but she’s going to enjoy every single moment.
"Do you need this ring back, baby?" I ask, taking a step away from her.
She nods.
"Words, Harper. I know you know plenty of them."
She takes a shaky breath. "Yes. I need it back." A pause. "I don't want it back, though. There's a difference."
I can't hide the grin. She knows exactly what to say. She always has. Even on her knees, even in the middle of being punished, she finds a way to remind me that she's choosing this. Choosing me. That the ring is a job and I'm the real thing.
