Page 15 of Sinful Palace

“Yes.”

I took a deep breath. “Then consider me punished. You’ve scared me enough. Now you can show me my place in other ways. I know you have them.”

He straightened his shoulders. “Okay. I see your point,” he said. “But I’m not going to make it easy for you.”

“I know,” I whispered.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a key and turned it in a lock on the side of the box. Then he lifted the lid and yanked me out. I gasped as I finally stretched my limbs and breathed freely, relief flooding my veins.

It didn’t last long.

Logan crossed the room, opened a drawer, and returned with a thin chain studded with crystals. A sadistic grin curved his lips. “I was wondering when this might come in handy,” he said.

“Is that a leash?” I asked, eyes wide with horror as he attached it to the back of my collar.

“Yes. You’re my pet, so you’re going to behave like one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to walk you through the halls like this,” he said. He cocked his head slightly to one side, smile widening. “Well, I’ll be walking. You’ll be crawling.”

I shook my head minutely. “Please… no.”

“Yes. You’ll be quiet and subservient. Show everyone what a good little pet you can be.”

I shook my head, making the chain jangle. “Please don’t do this to me, sir,” I said. “The maids… they’ll see.”

“Exactly. You’ll be humiliated, and you won’t be able to do a damn thing about it.”

“No, I mean they’ll know you’re keeping me as a prisoner and torturing me.”

“How?” He nonchalantly shrugged one shoulder. “They’ll just think we’re into unconventional sex things, and if they dare to ask, I’ll confirm that for them. So will you. They’ve all signed NDAs, anyway, so they can’t tell anyone what they see, no matter how juicy it is.”

An angry, blistering heat flared deep in my chest. “This is too much,” I said in a low voice. “This isn’t teaching me anything. It’s just cruelty.”

He smirked. “I know it’s cruel, but I think it will teach you. You wanted me to show you your place, didn’t you?”

“Not like this,” I said, lowering my eyes to the shiny marble floor.

He roughly forced my chin up. “I know you were just trying to manipulate me into letting you out of the box when you said all that shit before,” he said.

I swallowed hard as a chill struck at my core. How did he always know my thoughts? How was he always one step ahead?

“I won’t let you get away with that sort of scheming,” he continued. “But I have to admit you had a good point. I don’t want you getting used to the box. So I’ll have to change things up on occasion. This is my way of doing that.”

“Okay, sir,” I whispered, shoulders slumping. Once again, he’d defeated me. Easily.

Logan briskly stepped away and returned with a bottle of water. “Now, let’s practice. Are you thirsty?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He held the water high in the air. “Beg for it.”

“Please give me the water, sir.”

He shook his head. “Not like that, princess. Like a pet.”

My stomach hardened, and a hot tingle of humiliation swept across the back of my neck. With quiet resignation, I sank to my knees and stared up at Logan. “Please, sir,” I said, holding my hands out in front of me with my palms facing upward like a Dickensian child begging for more food. “May I have a drink?”

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