Page 16 of The Dragon’s Good Girl

Soren takes the chair across from me rather than sitting beside me. There's enough space between us that I don't feel crowded, which I appreciate considering he could probably pick up both me and the couch without much effort.

"Before we do anything else, I want to go over your limits with you." He settles back in the chair, relaxed but focused entirely on me. "Nothing you wrote on the intake is set in stone. If something has changed since then, you tell me. If you change your mind ten minutes from now, you tell me then. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Tell me your hard limits."

I open my mouth, prepared to tell him they're already on the form, then realize I can't remember exactly what I wrote. I filled the thing out close to midnight after two glasses of wine and a minor existential crisis over admitting I wanted someone to take care of me.

"The ones on the intake?"

"I read them." There's no impatience in his voice. "I want to hear them from you now."

Of course he does.

I take a breath. "Nothing that leaves marks or bruises, and nothing around my throat." I hesitate before adding, "No blindfolds, no cameras, and I don't want to be locked into anything I can't get out of myself. No watersports, or anything like that. There might be more as we go, but that's it for the moment."

It feels different saying the words to an actual person. More exposed somehow, but Soren doesn't react beyond listening. By the time I finish, some of the tightness in my chest has eased.

"All right. What about the things you are interested in?"

That's worse.

"I don't know. Whatever you'd normally recommend?"

His gaze stays on mine. "I'm not asking what I normally recommend."

I press my lips together.

"What caught your attention when you read through the site?" he asks. "It doesn't have to be something you're certain you want to try. Just something you kept thinking about afterward."

There were several things I kept thinking about afterward, none of which I particularly want to discuss while those gold eyes are fixed on me.

"I genuinely don't know what I want." The words come out sharper than I intend, and I force myself not to soften them. "That's part of why I'm here. I've never really had the time to figure it out."

Soren doesn't look surprised. "Then you don't need to know yet, okay? We can figure it out as we go."

The simple way he says it takes some of the pressure out of my chest.

He gives me a moment before continuing. "Then let me ask you something easier. You had plenty of doms to choose from. Why did you pick me?"

I look down at my hands. Somehow, that doesn't feel easier.

"Your profile talked about giving instructions," I say. "About taking decisions off someone else's plate for a while."

"That was what caught your attention?"

There are easier answers I could give him. Something about his experience, or the reviews, or even the fact that he seemed less intimidating than some of the others despite being an actual fucking dragon.

Instead, I tell him the truth.

"Yes, I liked the part where somebody else decides."

When I look up, his attention hasn't moved from me.

"Not everything," I add quickly. "I don't mean I want no say in what happens. I mean…" I stop, annoyed that I can organize Richard's entire life across two time zones but apparently can't explain one thing I want without losing the ability to form sentences. "For two hours, I don't want to be the person who has to know what happens next. I make decisions all day. Work, my mother, my sister. There's always something somebody needs me to handle."

I rub my thumb over the side of my palm, then make myself finish.