“I sure am, but you know I’m right. I’ll stop like you asked.”

She visibly relaxes as I speak.

“But you have to be honest with me about your requests, and yourself.”

“I’m being honest,” she says forcefully, and it’s cute to watch her grow prickly again as she’s wrapped around me, vibrating with indignation.

I chuckle darkly. “You want me to call that bluff and lay you bare? I can and you’re not going to like it, even though I sure will.”

“I don't know what you’re talking about,” she says, maintaining the denial, and I know it’s going to suck when she realizes I know her this well. She needs to come to terms with her own body, needs, and desires.

“I warned you,” I tell her as I bring a hand to her back and she stills. “You’re so tightly wound and into the slutty submissive side we’ve discovered that you’ve been subtly grinding your sweet little cunt against my abs since I put you here, and Ihave a much better spot for that if you want to get off quicker, no touching on my part needed unless you want me to spank you again. I can just lie back while you straddle me and rock all you want.”

Her face blanches in horror at her body’s betrayal and she unhooks her ankles from behind my back, but I keep her pressed to me.

“Let me go,” she protests, eyes wide as she pushes against my chest.

“You sure about that, or are you just embarrassed that I noticed how your body was reacting and read you so easily? Get used to it. I see you, Ainsley, and I like everything, whether or not you do.”

She lets her head tip forward in defeat, relaxing in my arms and burying her face in the spot between my neck and shoulder. I hold her gently so she knows I’m not keeping her against her will. She lets out a groan before she picks up her head again, and I see her mortification, cheeks flaming red, eyes a raging fire of anger at us both.

“You’re the most infuriating man I’ve ever met. I need to shower and get ready for bed. Can I do that now, or do I have to ask for your permission,Daddy?” she asks sarcastically.

I smile brightly at her use of the honorific for the first time, loving hearing her say it, even with that tone. “Say that and mean it next time, Princess.”

Twenty-two

Ainsley

Payton can read me like a book. Absolutely nothing gets past him. On top of that, my own damn body is betraying me where he’s concerned, humping him like a horny puppy and letting him feel me up because he has the sexiest voice known to womankind and I have an inner slutty clingy koala who spreads her legs when he asks if I’m wet for him and wants to be in his arms every possible moment.

Of course I’m wet. I’m a woman who sees his appeal and what he said was sexy as hell to a twisted part of me. I know what he’s capable of, what he can do to me with his hands, a silk scarf, and some choice words. For whatever reason, I like when he calls me a cumslut, a cockwhore, or Daddy’s little whatever.

Fuck. I turn the shower to cold and blast myself with an icy spray to cool the inferno of lust that simply thinking the words stokes in me.

While I won’t tellhim, I loved everything about the sensory session he put me through. I’ve been waiting for him to initiate another, but since that one instance, every interaction we’ve had has all been for show in public. It’s a good reminder that this thing between us isn’t real and I shouldn’t expect anything from him outside of the fake roles we’re playing, even if he says we can introduce sex. Yeah, because that wouldn’t complicate things even more.

He may tease me mercilessly with his never-ending innuendo, but we haven’t talked about how I asked him to tie me upandspank me, which got me off. I submitted to him willingly and gave up control in a way I never thought I’d be able to. It waseasyto trust him when I wasn’t able to see and didn't have the use of my hands. I was dependent on him in a way I otherwise wouldn't have been. I couldn't have my walls up in that situation. I needed what he could give me, and he needed me to be honest and let him in. I told him what I wanted. He gave me that and more I didn’t realize I needed.

I crave it. To be at his mercy and just a little out of control of the situation, letting him do what he wants to me because he’s capable of making me feel good no matter what he does. The way I came while grinding on his lap as he spanked me and called me his whore was unexpected and hot as fuck. When he took off the blindfold and we locked eyes, it clicked that we had a level of mutual trust that doesn’t come easily to either of us. Later, I realized he’d come, too. Despite his immense amounts of control, he’d been so turned on by bringingmepleasure, he couldn’t help himself. I’d broken that part of him while he broke down my walls. It was a revelation that made me feelso powerful. I blast myself with more icy water.

My next dilemma is clothing. The pajamas I packed—a tank top and boy shorts—are for the privacy of my own room, not sharing one with Payton. I sigh. He’s seen me in a bikini, so I guess it’s fine.

I open the door and find him reclining in bed, phone in hand. My mouth drops open when I look at him, shirtless, only wearing a pair of loose shorts, dark hair wet from his own shower. He looks up with a smile, but it slips and his blue eyes quickly darken when he gives me a slow once-over that feels heavy as I put my bag away and walk toward the bed, trying not to feel too awkward under his perusal. I snatch up my own phone and crawl into what I assume is my side of the bed, ignoring Payton. I cross my arms to try to hide that my nipples are straining through the thin material of my tank top.

“What?” I snap, unable to take it any longer.

“Want to talk?”

I shake my head.

“Want to cuddle?”

I roll toward him and prop my head on my hand. “Why would I want to cuddle with you when I know exactly where that would lead?”

He rolls to mirror my position so we’re only a foot apart. His naturally intoxicating scent is mixed with a clean soapiness that is divine.

“I can cuddle without having sex. Why? Do you only cuddle when sex is involved? That’s so sad. Cuddling’s nice. It releases feel-good hormones. It’s been a while since I’ve had another person in my bed to cuddle with. I figured the same for you since you said you don’t date.”