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He was so uncomfortable. Physically, mentally. How had he been so at peace only moments before and now he was a raging storm of emotion?
How easy would it be to take all of his clothes off? To allow her to take care of him. How nice would it be to dump his prosthetics and let his skin breathe? Would she still cuddle with him? He was sure she wouldn’t turn him out. Her heart was too tender for that, but would she still want him? Still see him as the strong Master she craved?
“I said no, Tiffany. I made it plain in our contract that we would have separate sleeping arrangements. Don’t turn this into a fight. I had a lovely evening.”
He could see the way she flushed, but couldn’t tell if she wanted to argue with him or if he’d hurt her with his cold tone.
She slid off the bed and started toward her bathroom. “All right then. Good night, Sebastian.”
He turned and walked out, managing not to limp until he’d made it out her bedroom door.
He took the pain because he deserved it. When he made it to his lonely room, he realized he damn well deserved that, too.
Chapter Ten
“What do you mean you haven’t seen him naked?” Deena smoothed out the pristine white tablecloth and stared at her over the table.
“Well, there was the once, but that was brief.” She shouldn’t have said anything but she’d kept it all bottled up for days. It had been three days since Sebastian had blown her mind in bed and then ripped her heart out of her body and stomped all over it.
Maybe not quite that bad, but he’d practically run out of her bedroom when she’d suggested they sleep together.
Deena glanced around, but they were alone in the dining room. The trainees were having a session with Eric about behavior and safety in the kitchen. Sebastian was backing him up. “Are you talking about the time he slept over at your place?”
Sadly, the only time she’d managed to catch her honey in his undies had been the night he’d driven her drunk butt home. She’d had sex with the man twice a day for the last few days, but not once had he taken his damn slacks off. “Yeah. And you know how he reacted to that. I thought once we started sleeping together that he would get over the whole nervous thing.”
“I thought you said he snored.”
Was she even listening? “No, I said he said he snored, and how many men do you know really care about the fact that they snore? Or even realize it.”
Deena stepped back, looking critically at the table. “You have a point. So maybe he’s just very self-conscious. Or a little prudish. Does he want you to keep your clothes on?”
“Oh, no. I’m not allowed to wear clothes at all.” Not that she truly minded, but it seemed a bit hypocritical of him. “He pulled the Dom card and when we’re at home alone I get to be all in my birthday suit and if I’m cold, I curl up next to him with a blanket, but he still looks under it every now and then like he wants to make sure I didn’t manage to get dressed under the damn thing.”
Deena’s lips curled up. “Or he enjoys looking at you. So not a prude.”
“He’s a pervert. I can’t even explain what he did to me in the wine cellar yesterday.” It had involved some rope, a case of Malbec, and Sebastian’s intensely creative mind. He’d managed to rig up a sex sling and he’d done some seriously dirty stuff to her. Thank god he’d gagged her first or the training staff would have gotten a full vocal concert. “He’s amazing in bed. And when I say in bed, I mean all over the place. There’s very little time spent in an actual bed. Until we go to sleep and then we go to separate beds.”
Deena pulled the white cloth off. “Let’s try the off-white. Does he think you can have a whole relationship where you never see his legs?”
Tiffany’s heart clenched as she took the other side of the tablecloth and helped Deena recover the table. That was exactly what she thought. She wasn’t a fool. This wasn’t about snoring or preferring to sleep alone. This was about his legs. His stumps. He didn’t want her to see him as anything but the elegant sommelier he would be with or without legs. Not that he would understand that.
That thorn was still in his paw and she wasn’t sure how to get it out.
“I worry that he’s planning on keeping me separate from whole sections of his life.” She smoothed the tablecloth out and placed the candles in the center.
“I don’t know how much he’s trying to keep you out of,” Deena said quietly. “If you think about it, he doesn’t have much of one. I think you’ve become the closest person in the world to the man. All he does is work and go home and go to Sanctum. He’s made it clear he’s not going to ignore you at work and you’ll be his sub at the club.”
“That leaves a lot,” she replied. “I care about him. Hell, I’ve been falling in love with that man since the day I met him and he won’t sleep with me.”
“He seems pretty tender. I watched him with you earlier. I’ve never seen him so soft.”
He’d stopped her in the kitchen not thirty minutes before as she and Deena had been gathering the different samples for the tabletop designs. He asked her to come to him and then wrapped his arms around her and he’d held her for a good minute and a half. Just held her. She’d put her head against his chest and listened to his heart beating. He finally kissed her forehead and then explained he had a training class with Eric and wouldn’t see her again until dinner.
It made her feel so special. So adored.
It was the only reason she hadn’t run. He’d basically done the same thing to her the morning after she’d asked him to sleep with her. He’d been up and making breakfast and he’d kissed her so sweetly she couldn’t walk away.
It was then she’d realized this problem had nothing to do with her. It was all about Sebastian, but she wasn’t sure he would ever solve it without a little help.
