Page 202 of A Vicious Love

“Since when?”

Since you called me Jamjam and made a monster sound almost human. You told me about ballet and I pretended not to listen while remembering every word. Then you stopped trying and I discovered silence could gut a man.

“Longer than I handled well,” I said.

She gave a tiny laugh with no humor in it. “That is a very Jamison answer.”

I slid one hand up her back, until my palm rested at the base of her neck again. Her pulse fluttered beneath my thumb. She responded instantly, easing by a fraction, like the touch anchored her despite everything.

That did things to me I had no business allowing.

My life had been domination long before I had words for it. In clubs, women knelt because I understood consent and rules. A good dom built a room where surrender could happen without fear destroying it.

I had always known how to command.

I had rarely cared whether the person beneath the command felt safe after. But in the clubs, I did. That was the point. Boundaries. Signals. Permission. Aftercare. Want negotiated before it became need.

Outside those rooms, I was worse.

Harlan bent because I made it bend.

And Sienna⁠—

God.

Sienna had been given to me by law.

A life already pointed in my direction before she could decide if she wanted it.

That would make me her husband one day if I didn’t destroy everything first.

But that wasn’t enough anymore.

If I was going to be her dom in any real sense, it would not be because dynasty paperwork handed me her body. It would be because she chose me.

Law could make her mine in public.

Only consent could make me hers in private.

She was still watching me, almost too closely.

“Did you hurt yourself?

“Your near-death experience has made you mouthy.”

“I fell off a ledge Jamison.” She shook her head.

I brushed my thumb along the side of her neck. “We need to get you warm.”

“I can shower.”

“No.”

Her brows drew together. “No?”

“You’re not locking yourself in a shower alone while I stand outside imagining every possible way this estate can continue to offend me.”

“I have showered without you before.”