Page 27 of His Captive Pet

“How many men have you fucked?” he asked, pushing himself off the wall and taking the step needed to close the small gap between them in the hallway.

Her mind raced for a number. The guys in college, all two of them. She’d dated some afterward, another guy when she started working at the vet clinic in the city. He’d said six, just for this place. He’d mentioned his family vacation cabin in Michigan was being rebuilt or remodeled, so the number had to be twice, maybe three times what he said, and then women in the city. Chicago wasn’t exactly in a drought when it came to submissive women who wanted to play with a dom like Blake.

Blake’s fingers trailed along her collarbone, dragging her attention to him.

“I asked a question.”

“I.” She swallowed. She’d never been embarrassed of her sexual history before, and she wouldn’t start now. But the way he looked at her gave her pause.

He gripped the portion of the tucked-in towel and pulled it out, unraveling the cotton wrap from her body and letting it drop to the floor.

“Five.” She lifted her chin when she answered. Fuck him if he would judge her. So, she didn’t spread her legs for just anyone, and she didn’t go around playing with people she didn’t know.

“Five men have touched you?” His fingers danced downward through the valley between her breasts and to her stomach.

“You said you wanted to talk.” She tried to yank herself away from his reach, but his other hand gripped her arm, holding her in place.

“Does it bother you that I’ve had six different women here?”

Was he teasing her? Trying to make her jealous?

“You can do whatever you want.” She forced an edge to her voice.

His gaze narrowed.

“And if I told you I don’t want to have other women here, what would you say if I told you before yesterday afternoon, I had every intention of making you mine?”

She tried to laugh, but the ache in her chest stifled it. He’d said before—before she’d ruined it by lying or before he’d ruined it by being an asshole?

“And was I going to have a chance to voice an opinion or would you just stick a flag on me and claim me yours?”

“You wanted me as much as I wanted you.”

Just because the man was right didn’t make it okay.

“I thought you wanted to talk.” The direction of the conversation needed to change. Talking about what might have been helped neither of them.

“I do.” His fingers continued to trail down her body, and just as he reached her pelvis he pulled back, taking her into the room. “And for that, we’ll be standing you over here.” He took her to the rings on the wall. The rings she had just convinced herself were for decoration only.

“Blake, I don’t want—”

“Yeah. Funny thing. When you went all rogue vigilante on me back home, you sort of lost all privileges of having your wants taken into consideration. Now, you’re under my protection. Now, you’re the girl I’m keeping safe from some nasty gangbangers.” He spun her to face him, and shoved her against the wall, bringing his dark eyes down to meet hers. “Do you remember what I said I would do to keep my girl safe?”

Her throat constricted. She remembered. Vividly.

“I asked a question, and I’m really getting tired of repeating myself.” He grabbed one wrist and yanked it up over her head, getting her secured within a breath.

“Yes. I remember.”

“Good.” He took the other wrist and maneuvered it into the metal ring. Only after the snap of the lock did she realize she should have put up some sort of fight.

“I meant it then, and I mean it now.”

“You said if I were yours. But I’m not.” She pulled down on the cuffs, too late to get free but still needing to test them.

His hand covered her mouth. The scent of wood and earth wafted to her nose, which he had left free to breathe.

“What makes you think you aren’t mine? You didn’t lie to me about the dog fight because you’d thought I’d actually strap you. No, you thought that was a little tease or something. You lied to me because you’d wanted to see me that night. And if I knew you were ignoring what I’d said about the fight, I might have cancelled.”

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