Page 47 of Prized Possession

“Are you trying to fucking kill me?” I rasp, my throat burning as I try to speak.

Her brow furrows as she pouts, a very cute mixture of concern and frustration marring her beautiful face. “How am I trying to kill you?”

“First, you bring up my father’s sex life, which we will never speak about again, and then you beat the shit out of my back so hard I’m bound to have bruises,” I growl as she stands there, glaring at me.

“When someone is choking, you’re supposed to slap their back to help,” she replies incredulously, her hand on her popped hip making her look very serious.

“That’s only when there’s something that needs to be dislodged, not because wine went down the wrong fucking way,” I snap, sounding much harsher than I intended.

“You could just saythank you.”

“For what? How would you like it if I started smacking you?” I ask.

If I hadn’t been so focused on her, I may have missed the very subtle changes that occur at the mention of me smacking her. Her eyes widen just slightly, becoming darker at the same time. Her breath hitches before becoming shallower, like she’s struggling to catch her breath. Then there’s the way she very slowly rubs her thighs together, like she’s trying to alleviate an ache between them, and I can’t help but smile.

She looks like she’s trying to think of something to say, but I beat her to it. “Well, it seems you might like the idea of being spanked.”

The deer-in-headlights look is back, but the way she squirms isn’t just from feeling uncomfortable. She’s getting turned on, and my dick twitches at the thought, as does my palm.

“I-I… I mean, I…” She fumbles over her words, not making any sense.

As the grin on my face widens, I stand abruptly, causing her to take a stumbling step back, her eyes wide. She manages to find her balance and freezes in front of me, though it looks like it’s taking every ounce of strength she has not to back away from me.

It takes only a couple of small steps before I’m standing so close that she has to tilt her head back slightly to look up at me. Her pupils are blown, and the blush on her cheeks confirms she’s turned on, but her eyes flick around like she’s nervous too.

I’m reminded once again that someone hurt her enough that she now has to look for danger in the most innocent of gestures, and my murderous dragon flares his ugly head once more.

I have to remind myself that the way I stalked across the room towards her, trapping her with my piercing gaze, can hardly be classed as innocent.

“Have you ever been spanked before?” I ask, my voice deep and raspy.

She shakes her head. “No.”

“But you’d like to try it.” I phrase it as a statement rather than a question, as her body has already answered on her behalf.

Still, she nods her head, the flush on her cheeks reddening further as she drops her gaze to the floor. I reach up and place my finger underneath her chin, tipping her head back until she has no choice but to look at me.

“I would like nothing more than to turn your sexy arse red, marking you with my handprint,” I growl, loving the way her breath hitches at my words. “But that would require me touching you, and I can’t do that yet.”

“I-I… What if I-I said you could?” she mumbles, pulling her lower lip between her teeth.

“You can beg me all you want, but I can’t do it until I know you trust me,” I state.

“I do… I think I do trust you.” The words rush out, though she sounds a little uncertain.

“I’ll know you trust me when you tell me who hurt you.” I don’t want to ruin this moment between us, but I really do have her best interests at heart when I say this.

I don’t just want to know who he is and what he did so that I can rip him to pieces—though I will very much fucking enjoy doing that. I need to know what trauma she’s endured, so I can make sure nothing I do is a trigger for her. I want to help her use sex to heal, not to make things worse.

She may think she trusts me, and she probably trusts me enough for us to have meaningless sex, but I’m not some random stranger she’s picked up in a club that she’ll never see again. I’m not going to fuck her and walk away, leaving her unsatisfied.

If we do this, I want to make it very fucking pleasurable for her, and to do that, I need to know what her limits are—which she’s not ready to discuss yet.

“I may never be able to tell you that. But I still want you to show me how I can take back control. You promised you’d show me,” she pouts, her eyes fixed on mine in a challenge.

I pause for a moment, wondering if there’s a way I can do this and still remain firm. I let out a huff as an idea comes to me like a flashing lightbulb moment.

“I can teach you control… I can even punish you… All without actually touching you. But I promise, by the end, you’ll be craving my touch so much that you’ll want to beg me, but the rules haven’t changed.

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