Page 41 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

She shook her head and tried to hide her smile. “It’s okay to be selfish with some things. This was a gift.”

“Oh, Iv,” he murmured, once again unsuccessful at filtering his thoughts. “I can be a very selfish man, but only with gifts that aren’t meant to be shared.”

NINETEEN

Grabbing dark purple dye, a brush, and clips to separate her hair, he washed his hands and set everything next to the sink. “Ready to start?”

“Mhm.” Ivory popped the last of a cookie into her mouth and gave him a guilty but cute-as-hell smile.

“Do you want everything dyed or specific parts?”

“All of it.” She settled on the stool placed in the center of the plastic, sitting awkwardly and shoving her hands under her thighs. “Unless you think that won’t look as good?”

“It’ll look great,” he replied, then added, “You can leave your hands in your lap.” Tucking them away would get uncomfortable later, and it wasn’t helping him to ignore how good she’d look bound in a similar fashion, her breasts pushed together and peaked in arousal.

Ivory fixed her hands, seemingly more at ease after receiving directions, and then listened as he showed her the dye and explained the process before getting to work. This particular dye was made for brunettes, it would lighten her hair slightly to give a more vibrant result. He’d also brought a color-preserving conditioner that should help fix the damage done by the cold weather.

“How was your day?” he asked, slipping into casual conversation as he moved behind her to clip up the top layers of hair.

“It was good. Nothing out of the ordinary. I was, um…” She sucked in a quick breath. “Hoping I didn’t ruin any plans you had.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “This is a welcome break before I have to start a ten-page history paper.”

“Oh.” She paused. “I mean, it’s the fourteenth and all, so I didn’t know if…” She trailed off, and he glanced over to see her bottom lip pulled between her teeth.

His witch looked much too worried. He couldn’t have that. Walking around to face her, he gently tipped up her chin and looked her in the eyes. “Is there something special about the fourteenth?”

She relaxed into his touch, her skin soft and warm in his palm, and he hated having to pull away before he lingered too long.

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” she whispered at last, then glanced away. “I thought you might have someone special.”

He frowned. Surely she knew he wouldn’t hide something like that. “I did tell you I don’t do relationships, right?”

“Yeah, but…it’s hard to imagine no one chasing after you.” She gave a little shrug and another cute smile, meeting his eyes as a blush spread over her cheeks.

Fuck, he wished he could kiss her right now.

Kiss those strawberry lips until they were swollen and red, then let her beg him to kiss more of her. Ask for him to leave his mark before he gave her the sweetest pleasure she’d ever tasted.

He studied her jade eyes before stepping away and averting his attention to mix the dye. “I’m glad you think so, sweetheart. But even if someone else wanted to chase me, it would be against my rules.”

No one would be able to compete with her, anyway.

“Oh,” she said again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s nothing you need to apologize for.” He grinned, glad he stood outside of her line of sight. Her disappointment at not knowing rules he’d never given her was heartwarming, a sign he still had a chance. She wanted to be good for him so bad, and she was—her efforts were so very sweet—but he decided to test the waters and tease her a little.

“Are you worried you’d break those rules?” he asked. “Or have you already?”

He secretly—selfishly—hoped she had. The first night they met, she denied wanting a relationship, but she also hadn’t settled for less.

She hesitated, tensing up. “I…”

“I’m only teasing,” he added before she took him too seriously, noticing her discomfort. “You don’t have to answer. When I set rules, I make sure they are clearly understood. Those are only for my arrangements.”

“Arrangements?” she asked, dropping her previous concerns as curiosity colored her voice.

Traditional hook-ups had never appealed to him. They were chaotic, based neither in consistency or kink, and he required both. During the year he’d taken to save up between high school and college, he developed a different approach.

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