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He chuckled, and the sound surprised me as much as it filled my heart with warmth. “I’ll have something brought to your room. But first, I need to clean you up. Sound good?”
I nodded. “Long as you’re with me,” I whispered, my eyes fluttering shut.
I didn’t hear his response. The gentle swaying his steps created as he moved toward the stairs lulled me to sleep.
15
Rhett
Alight knock sounded on my office door, and I sighed, reaching up to rub my temples. Natalia had fallen asleep while I’d been carrying her upstairs, so after stripping her out of her clothes, which she moaned and sleepily complained about the entire time, I left her in bed to get more rest.
And now, two hours later, I was still buried under emails and shit to do. Running a multi-million dollar business wasn’t easy, but I also normally didn’t take time off. Usually, I worked seven days a week, but I knew if I was keeping Natalia, I needed to get to a point where I at least got two days off.
“Come in,” I called.
The door opened, revealing one of the maids. “Sir, you have a visitor.” She stepped aside, revealing Natalia. She was freshly showered, her dark hair hanging wet around her shoulders. She had on a simple black dress with a black sweater. Her hands were linked together in front of her as she nervously waited to see if I would send her away or welcome her in.
“She does not need to be escorted to my office. She has free reign inside this house.” I stood to my feet and walked around my desk before placing my hand on Natalia’s lower back. “Leave us,” I ordered Helena.
Helena nodded once at me in understanding before leaving my office, quietly shutting the door back behind her. Hooking my finger under Natalia’s chin, I lifted her head, forcing her expressive, dark eyes on mine.
“Nervous?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “I wasn’t entirely sure if I was in trouble for earlier.”
I released a husky laugh, shaking my head. She never ceased to amuse me. I hadn’t been this amused in a long time—probably since I was a child, sometime before I learned that the world was cruel.
“Let me shut everything down here. I need to take you to get some things.”
She frowned at me as I walked behind my desk, saving everything on my computer before shutting it down. “What things?” she asked. “The amount of clothes in my closet is more than enough, Rhett.”
God, my fucking name sounded absolutely sinful off those lips.
I began clearing my desk, putting things back where they belonged. “Baby girl, you still need a phone, a computer, a tablet, and other things to keep you occupied inside this house.”
Her frown deepened. She looked confused. “I don’t understand. Aren’t I a prisoner?”
I arched a brow at her. “Do you feel like a prisoner, Natalia?”
She seemed to be thinking about her answer as she continued staring at me. I waited, continuing to clean my desk. She was still struggling to let go of what shethoughtshe needed to be feeling. Soon, she’d let go of all of it. She just needed to learn that the only world that mattered was the one inside this house.
“Red and silk,” she whispered.
I jerked my head up to look at her in surprise. She took a cautious step closer. “You really meant that, didn’t you? You meant it when you said you’d treat me like a queen and show me a beautiful world between the red edge of pain and soft silk, didn’t you?”
She wasn’t looking for clarification. She’d come to the realization on her own. But I nodded anyway.
“I mean everything I say, Natalia. Remember that. If I promise punishment, Iwilldeliver it. If I promise you a phone, I will give it to you. If I say I’ll treat you like a queen, I will.” I stepped around my desk and stopped in front of her. Reaching out, I gripped her jaw and lifted her face up a little more, revealing more of her slender, beautiful neck. I knew it’d look even prettier with a bruise the shape of my hands surrounding it. “You are not a prisoner, Natalia. You’ll come to understand my rules, and you’ll come to respect them and crave their security and the ease of life they bring you.” I released her jaw and gently tapped her temple. “But this—until you learn to let go of the life you led before and its rules, mannerisms, and morals, you’llfeellike a prisoner.”
“I’m trying,” she said softly.
I gripped the back of her neck and then pressed my lips to her forehead, surprising myself as much as her with the tender move. “I know you are, baby girl.” Stepping back from her, I grabbed my keys off the desk and then grabbed her hand in mine. “Let’s go. We’ve got things to do.”
She tightened her hand around mine before falling into step beside me.
* * *
Natalia
