Page 48 of Cook

“Have you ever seen animals mating?”

My brows furrowed.

“Male wolves bite the backs of the female’s neck to get her to hold still so he can fuck her.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “You watch wolves fucking often?”

My attempt to lighten the convo had absolutely no affect.

“No. Studied them in college.”

“What? Why?”

“Psych major.”

“Then how’d you get into computers?”

He shrugged. “Thought it’d be fun to do a hackathon. Turned out I had a knack.”

“Freakin’ weird.”

“Nah, there’s a shit ton of psychology to the way people use tech these days, but my job’s not why you called us over, is it?”

“Not even a little. Wilde said you could help with, well, you seem to know.”

“Maddie has likely always been a sub by nature, but in her case, she had to use that to survive,” said the Warden. “Her fear of being hurt would’ve kept her compliant. But it’s not about survival anymore.”

I nodded, my throat bobbing. “She’s anxious. Scared. In pain.” The words tore me apart to say.

“And she’s looking to you to take all those things from her,” said Ward. “It’s strange. Belle picked me almost like Maddie’s picking you. You can shoulder the burden for her.”

“I’m not so sure. It makes me sick to think about all the shit that happened to her in that mill.”

“That’s what being a Dom is,” he said.

I leaned in, collecting every piece of information he gave me. The reality was slapping me upside the head in the form of a big ass motherfucker with all the self-assurance in the world.

“It isn’t about hurting your lover,” he continued. “It isn’t about giving orders or doling out pain. You gotta give her guidance and pleasure. At least for a while, you take away all her worries and give her peace of mind. Safety. It goes beyond love and lust, and in my mind, it’s everything a partnership should be.”

“Partnership? I consider partners equal.”

Ward smirked knowingly. “They are.”

“Not if one person is controlling the other.” I still couldn’t wrap my head around how to give her what she needed or if I could be the man Ward was painting a picture of.

He scoffed. “It’s about trust and self-worth, but also about satisfaction. A slice of happiness in a fucked-up world.”

Belle poked her head out of the door, and Ward met her gaze. He snapped and pointed to the ground near his feet. Belle scurried over and sank down onto her knees, her hands laying gently on the Warden’s knee, one on top of the other.

“It’s taken years,” he said, “but we have understandings, right, my little flower?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied.

Sir? Damn.

Ward leaned down and kissed her. Belle opened her mouth, and he slipped his tongue inside. She moaned, opening wider for him. I looked away until he broke the kiss and she sighed.

“I don’t know how to start,” I admitted.

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