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She could not help an unladylike snort. “A servant in the guise of a—what was your term—a submissive? I know not which is worse.”
Little fires lighted his eyes. “I do not spank my servants, Miss Herwood, or bring them to spend.”
Her cheeks warmed. Yes, there were those benefits to being a submissive.
“I have only three simple imperatives I wish you to observe at all times,” he continued. “First, you will not flirt with any of the other male guests at the Chateau.”
“Jealous?”
His jaw tightened. “Whilst we are at the Chateau, you are wholly mine.”
To her surprise, she felt comforted by his statement. “You need not worry, Lord Rockwell. As you may have observed, I am not the most accomplished coquette.”
“A distinguishing trait given your company at the gaming hall.”
“What are your other decrees?”
“Second, you will consume no more than one glass of wine per day without my permission.”
She had no interest in becoming inebriated while at the strange and unknown Chateau, but she bristled at the rule all the same.
“And?” she prompted with a twinge of exasperation.
“Last, but most importantly, you will inform me at any time when you feel disinclined to perform my orders.”
“Ah, such as your second rule,” she could not help quip.
Abruptly he leaned over and grasped her chin, pulling her to him. “Be careful, Miss Herwood. I could require much more of you.”
She stared into his gaze. The air around them crackled with tension. She wanted him to kiss her again. He was so close it would not require much for their lips to graze, but he let her go and sat back in his chair.
“Do you require all your submissives to follow these three rules?” she inquired, feeling a little petulant at not having been kissed.
He broke off a slice of bread and cheese for himself. “The second is unique to your situation. The first one is obvious to a practiced submissive, and I always articulate the third rule. I am allowing a great deal of leniency as this is your first visit to Chateau Follet.”
“Indeed?” She wondered how many women he had invited to the Chateau more than once, though the answer should not matter to her at all.
“You will observe there are women—and men—whose dominants dictate every term: when and if they can speak, whom they may speak to, what they may wear, what they may eat—“
“And when to use the chamber pot, too?”
Nonplussed, he spread butter on his bread before replying, “If it suits them.”
She churned this new bit of information in her head.
“They do not speak unless spoken to,” he continued. “They are certainly never insolent or question their dominant; they conduct themselves in a respectful manner at all times, their behavior serving as a reflection of their dominants.”
“With such onerous conditions, why would anyone wish to be a submissive?”
“Some would consider such conditions liberating.”
“Liberating? In what perverted sense of the word?”
His look made her feel as if she had rushed to judgment, but what rational person would not think as she did?
“To be freed to experience.”
“To be treated as a child,” she countered.
