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A full bladder and empty stomach eventually coaxed her from the warm bed. The towel she'd used the night before was gone so she padded her way to the bathroomnaked.
The full-length mirror next to the sink welcomed her, the reflection reminding her of the aggressive nature of the other occupant of the cabin. Shadows of forming bruises were visible on her boobs and upper arms where he'd been particularly passionate with her. She should be furious considering she was in the middle of filming. Instead, she was confusingly pleased to have his marks on her body, proving last night hadn't been a figment of herimagination.
She eyed up the shower, tempted to steam away some of her aches, but decided to go in search of coffee first. The robe on the back of the door turned out to be at least three sizes too large, almost dragging on the ground. She could have wrapped the faded terrycloth fabric around her three times. Only the matching belt held it together as she walked down the hallway, into the open great room of thecabin.
Being barefoot made her trek silent, allowing her a few minutes of undetected reconnaissance on the handsome man moving effortlessly through the upscale kitchen. In all of the daydreams she'd lost herself in thinking of Ryder, not once had she pictured him frying bacon and eggs. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of comfortable lounge pants. She'd done her share of modeling before getting into acting. The scene looked like a photo shoot for an Eddie Bauer catalog. Ryder could play the hunky model teaching men how to relax in thewoods.
Yet the closer she looked, she knew he wasn't relaxed. Muscles rippled and tensed as he looked out the window over the kitchen sink often as if satisfying himself they were still alone. She'd seen that look of concentration on his handsome face before. He had a lot on hismind.
The promise of coffee eventually got her moving again. When he saw her approaching, the scowl on his brow deepened, hurting her ego. She'd hoped he'd be as happy to see her this morning as she'd been admiring him. Instead, he lookedangry.
"Good morning," she offeredquietly.
Only when she got to the kitchen island that also served as an eat-in dining table did he acknowledge her verbally with a simple, "Morning."
She didn't have to ask for coffee. He placed a large mug in front of her, pouring the hot liquid to the top, barely leaving enough room for a splash of creamer and a packet of zero calorie sugar substitute. She didn't want to evaluate how he'd known how she took her coffee. Not that it was a matter of national security, but they'd never shared a meal together. Not even a beverage, other than bottled water during the Valentine Roulette event. Was it a lucky guess on hispart?
She doubtedit.
Khloe took a seat on the high stool and had only downed one sip when the second half of his breakfast delivery arrived. Ryder slid a platter in front of her. The sheer volume of eggs, bacon, and a stack of pancakes, topped with melted butter and syrup nauseated her. It was more calories on one plate than she normally ate in two or three dayscombined.
Pushing the plate away, she complained. "I'm not reallyhungry."
"Too fucking bad. I got sidetracked last night. It won't happen again." There wasn't a trace of negotiation in hisvoice.
Since the first words out of his mouth when he'd seen her were that she was starving herself, Khloe suspected he would be digging in on this subject. She contemplated her options, deciding between telling him to fuck off because what she ate was none of his business or placating him by taking a few bites. Her stomach growling helped herdecide.
Ryder had stopped his cleanup activities to lean his ass back against the kitchen counter directly in front of her, crossing his arms, watching her intently, making his expectations clear. There was nothing sexual about the scene, yet her heart raced, recognizing he was determined to take his proven natural dominance of their sex lives into other aspects of theirrelationship.
What relationship, Khloe? He hasn't said shit about arelationship.
The thought annoyed her. Part of her wanted to press him on what kind of game he was up to coming back into her life like a tornado. Would he be blowing back out as quickly? If so, she owed him nothing, including modifying her eating habits, even if deep down she'd known for a while she was skating dangerously close to the edge of her previously diagnoseddisorder.
She felt his stare as she looked down at the plate of food, suddenly fighting the urge to cry. Damn him to hell. She'd been relaxed for the first time in ages and he was ruining it, acting like he couldn't care less about her now that he'd gotten what he wanted from her the night before. At least last time, he'd made a clean break after the life-alteringsex.
Picking up her fork, she decided to eat the whites of the over-easy eggs. She'd learned to take small bites, psychologically trying to fake her body out that it had received a full meal. She knew it was stupid, but it didn't stop her. She could feel his glare as he focused on her slowprogress.
If she were alone, her breakfast would be over once the whites were gone, yet a quick glance in his direction told her he wasn't satisfied yet. Looking at the remnants of her options, she picked up the glass of orange juice next, slowly sipping down a quarter of the coolbeverage.
This time when she glanced his way, she detected a small lift at the corner of his mouth. It was the first sign of levity from him since they'd woke. She wasn't sure she wanted to know why it wasthere.
"I know what you're doing. It isn't going towork."
"I don't know what you mean. You said eat, so I ate," she said as she pushed the plate away from her toward the edge of thecounter.
"From now on you'll eat like a woman, not a bird. Today, you'll eat at least half of what'sleft."
Her temper flared. "What the hell? I'm not some toddler being told to clean theirplate."
"No, you're not. You're a grown woman who knows better which means you should also know what the consequences are fordisobeying."
"Excuse me? What the fuck are you talking about...consequences?"
"Don't play coy with me, Khloe. We may not be at Black Light, but you know damn well what I'm talkingabout."
She argued back, despite her heart rate spiking at his mention of their only other night spent together–him, her master–her, his sex slave. "Look around you, Ryder." She waved her hands widely to make her point before continuing. "Like you said, we aren't at Black Light. That means you can't make me do shit. Hell, you couldn't even then. It's all just a big game,remember?"
It felt good to throw his hurtful words from their goodbye up in his face. She jumped down from the stool, grabbing her coffee mug and heading back in the direction of the bathroom. That shower was soundingbetter.
