What now, she seems to be asking. Waiting for me to act, to continue the play I started. But before I find the words to do so, she breaks the silence between us with a question I didn’t expect.
“Why do you look at me like that?” she wants to know.
I furrow my eyebrows. “Like what?”
“Like you’re afraid of me,” she says, the expression on her face hardening.
Fuck. How on Earth can she tell?
“This is what you wanted, no?” she probes, approaching me with one deliberate step, and coming so close we almost stand skin against skin. I resist the urge to move away from her, if only to refuse her the satisfaction of seeing how right she really is.
“You said you wanted to train me, to own me, to punish me,” she says, hissing the words as she stands so close that I can feel her breath on my chest. She doesn’t look angry, but the way she speaks makes me think of a snake.
“So, tell me. Why would you look at me like that?”
I shake my head, arching an eyebrow as I lock her into place with my unyielding gaze.
“My dear Petal, you need to remember your place.”
“Or else?” she pokes, tilting her head to the side.
I cast her a quick glance before pointing toward the door behind me. “You miss that basement?”
It’s almost too easy. She responds in an instant, taking a step back as she regards me through wide eyes, unable to hide the fear scurrying across her face.
“That’s what I thought.”
I move past her, ignoring her questioning gaze while I turn on the faucet of the bathtub.
“This may hurt a little, because of your fresh cuts. But we’ll be careful.”
“We?” She steps closer, hugging herself as if she suddenly became aware of her own nakedness. “Are you going to... take a bath with me?”
I don’t respond right away but revel in her curiosity. The look on her face is beautiful beyond description, a blend of insecurity and hope, equally intimidated and happy about the prospect. It’s an expression I’ve seen on her face before.