Page 6 of Marking Micah

“Nope,” he said, one dark brow arched in challenge and one corner of his lush mouth quirked, his dimple flashing.

She shook her head and grinned. “So, it’s starting already?”

“I told you it would, sunshine. This is what you agreed to. The power dynamic started the moment we rolled through the gates. I won’t be too rough on you—yet.”

She should have been scared, but instead her body practically vibrated with desire and the suddenly overwhelming need to submit to him—full-on, falling to her knees, giving herself over into his hands submission . There was no fighting it anymore.Not now, not here. Not after the terms they’d come to during negotiations. He would be gentle with her unless they were actually in scene, but he would absolutely be in charge of everything. Every. Single. Thing.

She was going to be his for these two weeks.

His.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Trying not to give away the hot turmoil rushing through her veins, she nodded as she grabbed the handle of her rolling suitcase and moved toward the bedroom he’d said was hers, but her legs were shaky as she made her way to the room. If this was how she responded to simply being reminded about their dynamic while they were at the Ranch, how was she going to keep from throwing herself at him when he had her in the dungeon?

Well, you’ll probably be cuffed or tied up, so… problem solved.

She pulled in a deep breath as she looked around the bedroom. There were the same wood floors and beamed ceilings that were elsewhere in the lodge, and a king sized four-post bed covered in a snowy-white down comforter. And of course, there were O-rings set into the posts and the headboard. It was a fantasy bed, and boy, was she going to be fantasizing in it every damn night.

Knowing that Arrow would check on her soon, she unpacked her clothes into the dresser drawers and the closet, set her toiletries on the bathroom counter, then went back into their shared living area.

“Dinner’s been ordered and should be here any minute,” he told her. “How’s your room? Will you be comfortable in there?”

“Yes, it’s very nice. Very… well-equipped.”

“You forget where we are, darlin’,” he said with a grin.

“Kind of hard to forget.”

“Yep. That’s part of the beauty of this place.” He got up from the sofa at the sound of a knock on the door and went to pull the cart inside. “Sit,” he ordered, with a nod at the table and chairs.

She did as he asked. It wasn’t that he’d never spoken to her like this before—he was a true Dominant, through and through, and being commanding was his natural pattern. But it felt so much more intentional now.

He lifted the lids from the plates and sat across from her.

“Steak, medium rare, yeah?”

“I don’t know how you remember so many details about me,” she said, placing the napkin in her lap.

He caught her gaze with his, some of the shadows she’d seen earlier back again. “I remember everything about you, Micah. Everything.” He paused, and that shivery sensation rippled through her before he dropped his gaze to his plate. “This looks great.”

They chatted a bit about some of their home club’s upcoming events while they ate in front of the big sliding glass doors, the sun setting in a fiery band of pink and amber across the sky. When they were finished, Arrow set their plates back on the cart and rolled it out the door to leave for pickup in the hallway, then he moved toward her and took her hand.

“C’mon. Let’s talk.”

He led her to the couch and they sat down together. Her heart began to hammer again.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“We just need to reiterate what’s going to happen here. Think of it as our final negotiations.”

“Okay,” she said uncertainly.

“I’m just going to go over the rules again. And if anything stands out to you as something you’d like to discuss further, you let me know.”

She nodded her agreement.

“Okay. We’re going to start horse therapy tomorrow, and then fairly quickly we are gonna go riding. I know you said you haven’t ever ridden and you’re a little afraid of horses, but in my mind that’ll be a part of facing your fears. Sometimes it’s easier to deal with fear in a form other than the root of what caused you to be afraid, so I’ll probably push you some on that.”

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