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“It’s fine, Alex. You seem like you’ve had a rough day. Don’t think twice about it.”

“No, no. It’s just that I tend to forget myself with you sometimes. In all honesty, I don’t think you’ll go running your mouth about us. I’m just pissed off because you left last night. I wanted you to stay. I’m sorry for raising my voice the way I did,” he said, catching me by surprise with his apology.

“I suppose I owe you an apology as well. I’m sorry I slipped out on you. And since we’re being honest with each other, it wasn’t that I didn’t have a change of clothes—although that was a small part of the reason. I’m just trying to keep this thing between us as simple as possible. I thought staying at your place would only complicate things.”

“Only if you allow it to, Krystina.” He smiled wryly at me. “If you’re going to be my submissive, you’ll be doing overnights.”

Whether or not I was going to do overnights was subject to debate, one that I didn’t want to get into at that particular moment. I had just gotten him to calm down, and I didn’t want to rile him again. Besides, it was my submission, or rather his freaky-deak ideas about what he expected me to do, that really needed addressing.

“Yeah, about that. I’ll try to keep an open mind about overnights,” I began. “But first, we need to go over the list you wrote. However, I’m not sure if this is the most appropriate place for talking about it.”

“For Christ’s sake, Krystina. Forget the stupid list! That’s negotiable and doesn’t even begin to explain what I expect from you.” He got up from his chair and came around to where I was sitting. He pulled me to my feet and placed his hands firmly on my hips. His heated eyes zeroed in on mine. “The list is only words on paper. Being in a Dominant and submissive relationship means more than textbook terms. It’s a lifestyle—one I want to teach you. For your sake, I’m going to take it slow. As for the overnights, you’ll have to stay at my place if you want to learn. And I’m serious when I say that you’ll have to stay over often.”

“I don’t see why I have to spend the night with you to learn anything, Alex.”

“It’s my job as your Dominant to see to your every want and need. I can’t very well do that when you’re not with me. We got off to a more conventional start than what I am used to. But that ends now. You’re staying the weekend with me.”

“It would have been nice of you to ask, rather than order⁠—”

He placed a finger over my lips to silence me.

“Remember lesson number one? Unconditional obedience. You want to learn, don’t you?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question. It was more like a challenge.

I could feel the heat coming off him, his body so close to mine, yet not quite touching. His eyes burned into me, blazing with desire. I slowly let out the air in my lungs I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“Yes,” I finally answered hesitantly.

“Good. Then here’s another lesson for you. When you are in my home, you will be naked. Always. Unless I command you otherwise. Since you’re so focused on my list, you’ll remember nudity was written on there. I want you easily accessible to me at all times.”

My eyes widened, and I couldn’t respond to him if I tried. All words had escaped me. I wanted to argue and say I couldn’t always be naked, yet a part of me relished the idea. It was so easy to get wrapped up in his words. His fantasies. It was so simple to get lost in the haze, my thoughts constantly muddled in the depths of those sapphire eyes.

I shook my head to clear the fog, the practical side of me winning out yet again.

“Look, I know you said to forget it, but we really need to discuss that list. Last night was beyond amazing, but I know you were gentle on me. I’m afraid of what’s coming next. If I’m going to do this, it’s important that we talk about it.”

“I knew that’s how you would feel,” he said, shaking his head in resignation. He stepped away from me, leaving a cold and vacant space that had been fiery hot just seconds before. He leaned over his desk and plucked out a sheet of paper buried under a pile of folders. “That’s why I brought the damn thing with me today. I figured I wouldn’t be able to convince you to drop it.”

“You brought the list here?”

“Are you surprised?”

“Well…yes. I mean, what if someone saw it!” I exclaimed, mortified at the thought of Laura stumbling across a list of taboo sexcapades.

“Don’t worry, Krystina. Nobody enters this office without my knowledge,” he said, laughing at my outward shock.

“I just assumed, considering your privacy concerns, we would keep our personal stuff a little more discreet.”

“And we will, for the most part. Come on. Let’s sit down and get this over with.” He motioned for me to follow him to the cushy leather loveseat at the far end of the room. Once we were comfortably seated, he spread the list out on the low glass table in front of us. “We’ll go through this together, one thing at a time. You can cross off anything off-limits, then we can discuss anything you would consider.”

“You want to go through this here? Right now?”

“I do. Then, when we are finished, we put this away for good, and you’re all mine. Deal?”

“Why are you doing this? You clearly have certain expectations. Why would you consider altering them for me? What if I say I can’t do any of these things?”

He looked up sharply, tearing his eyes from the paper and fixing me with his steely gaze. For a moment, I could see right through him, and all his turmoil and indecision were transparent. He wasn’t used to changing his ways. Yet, there was a certain amount of savagery in his expression as well, and I believed it to be the driving force behind sorting out his uncertainties.

“There’s something about you, Krystina. I don’t really know what it is—I only know from the first moment I saw you, all I’ve thought about is burying my cock inside you. If I have to make a few adjustments, trust me when I say I’m willing to do so. However, you get today only. After we go through this, I won’t coddle you anymore.”