"It’s true." He laces his fingers with mine, and the gesture is so gentle, so intimate that my breath catches. I peer into his face, and one side of his lips quirks. "Think about it," he murmurs, "you give up control, you put your trust in me, and that is a big responsibility. I’m in charge of making you feel good, for pushing you so that you redefine your boundaries. The ability to cause you pain or pleasure would lay in my hands, and that’s a task that I wouldn’t take lightly." He rubs his thumb in small, slow circles over my wrist, and a shiver runs up my spine. "Imagine that, for the time that you have handed over control to me, you don’t have to make decisions or choices; everything would be decided for you. You’d only have to do as you’re told."
"That sounds like slavery."
"Or like freedom."
"Freedom?" I scoff, "You’re delirious."
"You wouldn’t have to think about the pros and cons or worry about the consequences of your actions or stress about whether you made the right choice or not. All that worry would be mine."
"So, what does that leave me with?" I swallow.
"The right to enjoy yourself, to focus on yourself, your pleasure, your needs." He leans in close enough for his eyelashes to brush mine. "Your wants. Everything you’ve always dreamed of. Your deepest desires. Your filthiest, dirtiest dreams. Everything you’ve wanted to try but were too afraid to ask for, and maybe things that you didn’t even know you would enjoy… I would be able to fulfill those experiences for you."
26
Christian
Her breathing grows ragged, and color smears her cheeks. Her pupils dilate, and I know then that she’s thinking of the kind of pleasure that I could bring to her. How I could play her body, wring out every last drop of desire from her; how I would arouse her, make her aware of her own needs, then satisfy her.
She licks her lips, and my gaze drops to her mouth. A moan wheezes from her lips, and my cock thickens. "When you come to me, and you will come to me, I promise, I will be waiting for you. Everything you desire is right there in front of your eyes. All you have to do is reach out and take it."
I release her, and she stays in the same position for a second longer. Then, suddenly realizing that she is free, she grabs my plate and straightens. She pivots on her heel and heads to the sink, and I follow her.
"Leave it," I command, and she squeaks.
"God, you have to stop scaring me like this."
"Your mind is involved somewhere else. I understand that."
"You understand nothing." She moves to the side. I approach the sink, run the water, and begin to rinse off the plates.
"What don’t I understand, Flower?" I murmur, "Enlighten me."
"Everything." She grabs a dishcloth and wrings it between her fingers. "It’s not that easy for me to give up control."
"Have you ever tried it before?" I ask as I pour out the dishwashing liquid. Thankfully, this place really is fully equipped with everything needed for a short stay. It’s something I’ll need to thank Nonna for.
She ensures everything is in working condition, not just during this getaway, but even during family gatherings which she had been at the forefront of organizing before Karma came along. She’s always tried to keep the family together, even if it meant that, at times, she was heavy-handed about it. I suppose with a man as ruthless as the previous Don for her son, a daughter-in-law unable to stand up for herself, and with seven troublesome grandsons, it was the only way to get everyone to fall in line.
"Tried what?" Aurora accepts the plate from me and begins to wipe it.
"Giving up your sense of order and need to always have to steer everything your way."
"No," she admits with some reluctance, "I couldn’t have gotten to where I am if I had done that."
"But you’d have had more fun if you had."
"Is that what this is all about, fun?" She places the dried plate down and reaches to take the next one from me.
"Life is about living in the moment. And that means enjoying yourself when the opportunity presents itself."
"Is that your personal motto?" she scoffs.
"It’s my experience." I wash the fork, hand it to her, but when she takes it from me, I don’t release it. "Life’s short, Flower. It’s all well and good to plan for the long-term, but what if you don’t get to see it? What if something unexpected happens, and you aren’t able to see the dawn tomorrow? Wouldn’t you have regrets about everything that you didn’t experience?"
She holds my gaze, her own troubled. "I’m a doctor, Christian. No one sees death more closely than me. But that’s not an excuse to relinquish rules and live a life of excesses."
"But you could do so for a short period of time, knowing the time was going to end, couldn’t you?"