So now, he’d walk away from her.
Which is what she wanted.
Yeah. Right.
“Actually, baby girl. I think that’s just what you need. More, it’s what you want.”
“You can’t hold anything I said while I was drugged against me. I didn’t mean any of it.”
“You meant all of it. You’re lying because you’re afraid. But you’ll learn you don’t have to be scared with me. You’ll also learn that I’m going nowhere.”
She stared up at him, shocked.
He ran a finger down her cheek. “I get what you’re doing. You’re pushing me away because you’re scared to trust me. To trust my feelings and yours. Because if you open up and then I leave, then it’s going to hurt, right?”
Her mouth opened. Then closed.
He gave her a gentle smile. “I might not always understand people. Sometimes I miss social cues. Well, often I do. But I do understand not wanting to be hurt. I get you. I see you. I’ve heard you. And I’m still here, baby girl. I’m still here and I want you. Now, I know you’re not going to instantly change your mind about us. About me. That’s why I want you to know that I’m going to be here, no matter what. You can keep trying to push me away. But I am here to stay.”
“You’re insane. Why would you want that? Why would you want someone who keeps trying to push you away?”
“What kind of a Daddy would I be if I failed on the first hurdle? If you have to test me to get me to prove my worthiness of being yours. Of being your man, your lover, your Dom and Daddy, then bring it on, little girl.”
Fuck.
This was insane.
And yet, she wanted to believe him. So fucking much.
“You want to be my Daddy Dom?”
“Yes. I want that.”
Her mind spun.
“Your dinner will be cold. I’m going to go heat it up, then you can have your medicine and go back to bed.” He picked up the plate and headed out of the room. “I’ll be back soon.”
She sat back on the bed. What the hell had just happened?
When he returned, she was still sitting there trying to figure out what to do. Why did her life have to be such a mess? Why couldn’t she have met him before Carl? Before Max? Before she’d gone too far down the rabbit hole?
Before there was no turning back. Which was how it felt to her now. There was no going off this path.
“Come eat, baby girl. You need to stop thinking for a while. I can tell you have a headache.”
She hadn’t even realized that her head was hurting. But he was right. There was a thumping in her head and her shoulders were stiff with tension.
“Zander,” she said in a low, pained voice.
“Shh. Just let it all go for the moment,” he told her in a soothing voice. “You can come back at me swinging in the morning, but for now, let it go.”
She shouldn’t.
But it wasn’t like she was making smart choices at the moment. So she found herself taking his hand and letting him help her up. He led her over to where he’d put her food down.
Then he grabbed a chair, drawing it close to hers as she sat there, staring at the food.
“Anything on here you don’t like?”