I could wait her out. If I left the comic books by the bed and kept her isolated with them, she’d eventually turn to them for entertainment. She’d expressed her misery at being chained up with nothing to occupy her busy mind.
She glared at me, her clever brain immediately processing my ruthless plan. “You’re trying to manipulate me again. You know I’ll go out of my mind and end up reading them if they’re in here.”
A ghost of my smile returned. “If you already know this, then why bother fighting me on it?”
“Because you’re a smug bastard, that’s why.”
I shook my head at her, but my smile didn’t waver. She’d just given me the excuse to implement the training I’d been plotting for her all day. “I’m going to find a better use for that dirty mouth.”
I finally closed the distance between us and unlocked the length of chain from the bedpost, but I kept the other end attached to her collar. I gave a gentle tug, urging her to her feet.
“Come.” She didn’t move immediately, so I applied a little more pressure.
She eyed me warily, but she had no choice. She got to her feet and began to follow me out of the bedroom. “Where are we going?”
“What was it you so charmingly called it?” I mused. “Oh, yes.” I shot a wicked smirk at her. “My torture room.”
She didn’t seem to find the words remotely funny. She stopped in her tracks, refusing to take another step. I kept walking and pulled harder on the chain. She stumbled, fighting me. Her hands fisted around the chain, and she tried to yank it out of my grip.
My arm barely twitched toward her, despite the fact that she was pulling with all her strength. Her panic made me pause and turn to face her.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly, as though she’d been wrestling against me for long minutes rather than a few seconds. “I don’t want to go in there,” she said, her voice higher than usual. “I won’t cuss at you again. I won’t.”
I shook my head, my smirk a touch indulgent. “You will. You can’t seem to help yourself.”
“I’ll try really hard,” she promised. “Just don’t take me in there. Please.”
I took a step toward her, intending to soothe her. She flinched away.
I frowned and pulled on the chain, forcing her body to tumble against mine. She clutched at my shoulders for balance, and I grasped her waist to steady her.
“This is part of your training,” I told her, keeping my tone even and smooth to calm her. “It will feel good. Not everything in that room is meant to cause you pain.”
“It scares me,” she admitted on a shaky whisper.
All my resolutions from the morning to treat her as nothing more than my sex object crumbled away. After witnessing her joy, her terror made something tighten in my gut. I wanted her to trust me implicitly. I wanted her to willingly follow me into my playroom and submit to her training.
I leaned into her and softly pressed my lips against hers. I intended to be gentle with her this time, since she was spooked.
But then, she tried to pull away. I curved my hand around the back of her head and locked her in place, slanting my mouth over hers so she had no choice but to shape her lips to mine.
Unlike the savage way I’d claimed her mouth while she’d been suspended, this kiss was deliberate: a slow, thorough seduction.
Her body softened, and her fingernails dug into my shoulders, clinging to me. I growled my approval and nipped at her lower lip, demanding that she open for me. Her lips parted, and her tongue tangled with mine. I kissed her, long and deep, until her knees sagged and she meekly accepted my claim, giving me full control of her mouth.
I finally pulled away, satisfied that she was ready to accept more of me in that pretty mouth. My cock was rock hard against her hip, straining toward her in anticipation of those soft lips wrapping around my shaft, her tongue caressing my length.
She gasped for air, her body melded to mine. I supported her with my arm around her lower back, so she was sure to feel my desire for her pressing into her soft flesh.
“Are you still scared?” I asked, running my fingers through her hair.
Warmth flooded my chest when she leaned into my touch. “No.”
“I promise this isn’t going to hurt,” I reassured her. “Only pleasure today.”
A little wrinkle creased her brow. “But I cussed at you. I called you a bastard.”
“I heard you the first time,” I said drily. “We’re going to train your mouth. From now on, every time you curse at me, you’re going to make it up to me by using your tongue another way.”