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“You…” Her mouth went slack. She couldn’t have possibly heard him. “Move in with you?” she repeated stupidly.
“It makes sense. I want you in my bed at night. I don’t like letting you go home late at night, and if I’m here, I prefer to stay. My place is bigger than yours, and there’s plenty of room for your photography equipment—for you to have your own space. You can rent out this place or sell it, it’s up to you.”
He’d clearly been considering this for a while.
“This was supposed to be a short-term thing,” she protested. She’d been so prepared for their discussion to go a different direction that she was scrambling to keep up.
“You’ve had my collar on you, Kelsey. I like it there, knowing you’re mine, under my thumb, subject to my whims and discipline.”
Suddenly she felt suffocated.
His words were a stark reminder of the person he was and his expectations.
She’d spent most of her life making her own decisions, avoiding men who thought they knew best.
Her sexual attraction to him made his power over her all the more complete. She wanted to please him. But she couldn’t do it at the expense of her own goals and dreams.
He tightened his grip slightly. “Say yes,” he encouraged.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head.
“Your place is a little small, but we can make it work at least temporarily.” He glanced around. “Unless there’s a different place you’d like us to consider?”
“Nathan, no. You’re not listening to me. I wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship. This was only about going to the club, about exploring.” Fuck it all. He scowled, as if perplexed, and more, hurt. Anything but that. “Living with you won’t work for me. I can’t be with someone who tells me what to do all the time.”
“And you think that’s what this is about?”
“You don’t?” She pulled away from him and went to stand closer to the fireplace. “You’re my boss at work, and if I said yes, you’d be the boss at home, too.”
“How is this a problem?”
“Could you be any more obtuse?” Frustration collided with regret. “You want me as a submissive, you just said that, something about whims and disciplines and a collar.”
“Of course.” He frowned, obviously confounded by her statement.
“That’s not what I want.” She forced the words past the lump lodged in her throat.
“Is that true?” He folded his arms, making him look all the more powerful and appealing. “You don’t like it when I pull you over my lap? Make you bend over? Tie you to the spanking bench?” He took a step toward her. “Or when I tie your hands above your head?”
She loved it. They both knew it.
“Or when I pull off my belt and double it over and you know what’s coming? How about when I fuck you? How about then, Kelsey?”
Her mouth dried. “I need some separation,” she insisted.
“And you don’t want to be with a man who has a constant hard-on for you?”
“Nathan…”
“You have a safe word, Kelsey. You’re free to stop any scene. You’re the one in charge.”
That was the bigger problem. She hadn’t wanted to stop any of them. The more she got, the more she wanted.
“How about someone who will protect you, care for you?”
“I’ve been honest with you from the beginning,” she said, her voice cracking. “About my background, about the importance of me making my own decisions. I can’t let someone else decide what’s best for me. I spent years fighting to get where I am.”
“So this…this week has been nothing but a fun little experiment for you?” Jaw set, he crossed to her then brutally dug his fingers into her shoulders, forcing her to meet his gaze. “What we did, what we shared, the fact you submitted to me, wore my collar, fucking or making love meant nothing?”
“You’re an excellent Dom.” She felt as if she were navigating a minefield. “And it was an experience I’ll never forget.”
“An experience.” His eyes were darkened by daggers.
Clearly he hadn’t been prepared for her to tell him no. And likely most people didn’t refuse him.
“I want to be clear. You’re saying our personal relationship is over. You don’t want any further after-hours contact?”
“Unless it’s business-related, no.” She remained resolute, knowing the exterior was a façade in danger of crumbling.
“Nothing?”
She gave a half-smile, but it faded before it could fully form. “I’ll see you at work on Monday.”
