Page 73 of The Masquerade: Room 2

“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”

“You kept the fact that you were a virgin from me. I shouldn’t be surprised that you want to keep this clinical. I’ll train you like I do all the others. We needn’t bother with the trifling details of our lives.”

“Stop,” I say as I wrap the sheet around my naked body. “I just meant that I don’t expect you to want the dating and all the stuff that comes with it. I’ve never been very good at it anyway.”

“Bullshit. You’ve never had a man who knew you.”

“And you do?” I can’t stop myself. This is what I do. I run when I’m scared, and if I get a whiff of feelings for someone, I mess it up because eventually, everyone leaves. Better to be the one walking out the door than the one left crying in the corner.

Chapter 15

PIERCE

“I’m fucking trying to!” Freya is the most frustrating woman I’ve ever met.

“What?”

I stop in my tracks, naked as the day I was born, standing with my jeans in my hand.

“I’m trying to fucking know you, Freya. We tried it your way. Masks, distance, and nothing more than words in a contract. Where did it get us? Neither of us anticipated that we were already in each other’s lives, but here we are. If you can’t handle that, then walk away now because I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? You don’t want to be the one to end it because you’re the mighty Dom and world-renowned Dr. Harrison.”

“Jesus Christ, woman. Are you even hearing me?” I drop my jeans to the floor and hold my arms out, vulnerable and completely out of my element. “Do I have to spell it out? This isn’t about my reputation in or out of the playroom. I have feelings for you,” I exclaim.

She goes stock-still as if she’ll become invisible if she doesn’t move.

“I’m not a dinosaur, Freya. My vision isn’t based on movement. Do you have anything to say? I don’t exactly go around professing…” I stop myself before I say something to really spook her.

“What if I want you to be both? What if I want you to be my Daddy all the time? And I want that to come with you being my boyfriend?” My heart is hammering in my chest.

“Don’t fuck around, Freya.”

“I’m not.”

“To be your Daddy, you’re asking for something outside of training. Just so I understand, you have to clarify, little one.”

She takes a deep, steadying breath, her hand trembling as she rests it over my heart. “I still need training, but the thought of walking away after six months makes me feel sick to my stomach. I know I’m asking a lot. You don’t date.”

“It’s a rule for a reason, Freya. New submissives may think they want me to be more, but I disappoint people. You’re caught up in the excitement of exploring your kinks. I get it. But when the time comes, you’ll want a Dom who’s worthy of you.” I couldn’t even make my parents stay, and they were obliged to love me, though they never got the memo.

“Why do you think yourself unworthy?”

“We don’t need to talk about my tortured soul, Freya.”

“Will you stop for a minute? I didn’t mean what I said earlier. If you want to know me better, then this is it. I say dumb shit all the time, especially around people who intimidate me.”

“You’re intimidated by me? That’s not how this dynamic should work.”

“I’m not talking about when we’re in this room. I mean at the hospital. You are this amazing surgeon who I aspire to be like. You’re the youngest neurosurgery attending in the country. The most skilled. You don’t let your personal life interfere with work.”

“Until now.”

“I’m not fucking around, as you put it. I want you to be my Daddy, and when we’re at work, I don’t want to hide our relationship. I don’t know what that looks like. I’ve never dated a coworker.”

“Me either.”

“So how do we do this?”

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