r the shower and insist on bathing her himself. I had my kinks, but Marco possessed his own perversions.
But Ashlyn didn’t belong to him. She was mine, and as much as I’d like to join her in the shower, I was very aware of her anger toward me. She wasn’t going to forgive me for my complicity in her capture. I wouldn’t impose myself on her when she wasn’t willing. No matter how badly I might want to.
“You don’t need Marco’s permission,” I informed her coolly. “But that attitude won’t get you anywhere with me, either.”
Her jaw dropped, but no words came out. I supposed I’d subtly dominated her in the past, but I’d never been overt about it. I could reel myself back now, but I didn’t want to. The dark part of me accepted that she was my captive, and I could treat her how I wanted. It was liberating. Something was shifting between us, even if she didn’t recognize it yet.
She’d railed at me for hiding my true self from her during our time together in Cambridge.
Well, if she wanted the real me, that’s what she’d get. I might not be willing to fully corrupt her with all my perverted desires, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to take her in hand when she was acting this way. Because Marco was right; she was being a brat. Acting out because she was in a fit of anger.
She could pout all she wanted, but that wouldn’t sway my decision to keep her. She was in danger, and I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want the choice. Marco had done me a favor when he brought her to me. I could finally show Ashlyn who I really was, even the ugly parts of myself I wasn’t proud of.
I set the shopping bags down and rifled through them, quickly finding what I wanted.
“You can take a shower,” I told her. “Here. This is what you’re wearing to bed.” I held out the short, silky black nightgown I’d bought for her.
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted on an incredulous gasp. I almost groaned at the sight of her shocked, innocent expression. Her open mouth practically begged to take my cock. I’d never felt her lips around me before. I’d always fucked her tight pussy. But there were so many other ways I wanted to take her.
“You’ve worn far less around me,” I pointed out when she simply continued to stare at the scrap of black material.
“I didn’t… I didn’t know you then.” She tried to defy me, but her eyes were still fixed on the nightgown.
“You want to know me? This is me. And you’ll do as I say.”
Her mouth finally closed, her lips pressing to a thin line. “No. You might be keeping me here against my will, but I don’t have to do what you say. You can’t boss me around like this.”
“Can’t I?” I took a step toward her.
She didn’t shrink away. She froze where she sat on the bed, her breath catching in her throat.
I’d known she reacted to a little light sexual domination, but I’d never turned this side of myself on her before. Not really.
I finished closing the distance between us, moving slowly to gauge her reaction. She swallowed, but she didn’t move away.
I reached out and rubbed the silky nightgown against her face, trailing the soft material over her cheek. She drew in a shuddering breath, and her eyes darkened. She didn’t flinch from my touch.
“Are you scared, angel? Do I frighten you?”
“No,” she breathed, without hesitation. “But I’m mad at you,” she added softly. “I don’t trust you.”
I dropped the nightgown onto the mattress and sat down beside her. She didn’t cringe away, so I took her hand in mine.
“I know you don’t. But I’ll earn your trust back. I promise. I’d never do anything to hurt you. All I want to do is keep you safe.”
All I want to do is keep you. I’d made sure to add the safe part. She’d said she wasn’t scared of me, and I didn’t want that to change.
She nodded. It might not be a verbal admission that she believed me, but it was a start. I owed her a full explanation for what I was doing to her. I’d wanted so badly to hide my life from her while we’d been together in Cambridge, but that had to change.
“Go take a shower.” I softened the command as much as I could manage. “I’ll be waiting here, and we’ll talk when you come out.”
She plucked at the nightgown. “Do I have to wear this?”
I caught her chin between my thumb and forefinger, capturing her in my gaze.
“Does it make you uncomfortable? Do I make you uncomfortable?”
She shifted on the mattress, but I didn’t release her.