I step closer to Serafina. Her hair is messy. She’s wearing the same clothes from the party. Her bag is at her feet.
I touch her chin. “What questions can you possibly have for me?”
Serafina laughs at how absurd that is. She probably has a million questions burning inside her.
“Do you know who did it?” she asks. “The teddy bear thing?”
“No,” I say.
“But the party…”
“I’m not talking about that.”
“Of course not. Why even bother asking you a thing.”
My hand moves down to her throat and I press. She steps back and grabs at my wrist. She claws but she does not attempt to pull my hand away. I walk her back to a wall and hold her there. I apply a little bit of pressure. Then a little more.
“It’s my job to protect you, Sera. And to break you. I’ve already told you what’s going to happen to whoever is doing this. Might be time for you to think about anyone you’ve hurt or pissed off. Maybe someone followed you here. Or maybe someone around here took one look at you and wants to play. Wants you dead. Just what I need on my plate. More fucking work.” I press my hand harder to her throat. “Does this bother you,claimed one?”
I can feel her wanting to swallow hard but can’t.
“No,” she manages to whisper.
“Have you ever been…rough…?”
Her eyes drop.
“Let me guess.Hedidn’t want to hurt you.”
She lifts her eyes back to mine. She shrugs her shoulders.
“You’re mine now,claimed one. There are no limits. Do you understand that?”
“Yes,” she purrs.
“Say it. Say what I just said back to me.”
“There are no limits,” Serafina speaks with my hand against her throat. “I am yours,Ty…”
She uses the shortened version of my name. Unsure if I’ll punish her for that or not.
“Good girl,” I say. “You may ask me a question now.”
I slide my hand up to her jaw. I run my thumb along her bottom lip.
“Someone drugged me,” she whispers. “I had no idea. Everything at that party happened so fast. I should have known better than to grab a drink off the counter like that.”
“That isn’t a question, Sera. I don’t need to hear your fucking pity party regret right now. Not unless you have a time machine to go back and change things.”
Her cheeks blush a deep shade of red.
“You… youinspectedme, Ty. Why? What did you…” She swallows hard. “What did you think you were going to find? And why didn’t…”
Her mouth clamps shut. I ram my thumb against her lips and pull at her jaw.
“Fuck no,” I growl. “Ask the question.”
“Why didn’t you touch me and keep going? Why did you stop? You knew I was…wet…”