Page 22 of Indecent Demands

She looked away. “No.”

“Liar.” I smirked. “You’re very good at lying, by the way. How long have you been pulling this little scheme? Ever since you graduated? Your entire adult life? That’s a dozen companies you’ve swindled.”

“And thousands of people I’ve helped,” Ariana shot back with a hiss. “You’re the first person to catch me. This is the first time anyone’s even realized that there’s a theft in progress.”

I genuinely did admire her skills. “I’m impressed, Ariana. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you lie to me. Starting now, you belong to me until I figure out what to do, remember? You just agreed to that. So tell me the truth—are you disappointed I just said I wouldn’t order you to fuck yourself on my shoe?”

Ariana wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’m disappointed.”

“There’s a good girl,” I murmured. She shivered at the praise, and I felt like my teeth were sharpening, turning me into a predator. “You like it when I give you orders, don’t you?”

Ariana froze for a second, then nodded. It was a jerky nod, and I knew it was hard for her to admit.

Had she ever fucked anyone before that wasn’t just standard vanilla sex? Had she ever explored BDSM or stronger kinks? I didn’t want to patronize her, but I wanted to be careful not to treat her as someone who had experience or knowledge she actually lacked.

I ran my foot up and down her bare leg. “Are you turned on right now?”

Ariana nodded again jerkily.

“It’s confusing, isn’t it?” I murmured. “You didn’t expect to be so wet right now, did you?”

Ariana shook her head in agreement.

This was wildly indulgent, and I knew that I probably shouldn’t, but… I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so fucking attracted to someone so quickly, and luckily, I knew this place—including the fact that they had gender-neutral single-room restrooms.

“Then let’s begin, shall we, and see how well you follow my orders. Why don’t you get up and go to the restroom?” I suggested. “Take the second one on the right.”

Ariana stared at me for a moment, apparently in shock. Then she stood up, the chair jerking back, her napkin falling from her lap onto the floor. “I’ll be back,” she said a little shakily, like she didn’t quite know how to speak anymore.

Then she turned and walked towards the restrooms.

I leaned back in my chair and indulged in a smirk as I watched the enticing sway of her hips. I had surprised a lot of women in my time when it came to sex. I knew I was friendly and I could be charming. I was an easygoing guy. Nobody expected it when I revealed how dark and depraved I was in the bedroom—the power I liked to hold and the dominance I liked to display.

People tended to expect a giving lover when they slept with me, someone who would take their time to make them orgasm, giving them something slow and delicious. I was fully capable of that, of course, and had in the past. But it had made me feel like a counterfeit. I didn’t want to be that way unless it was someone I was in love with, and that had yet to happen. I didn’t want to share that intimate, more vulnerable side of myself with anyone else.

No. In the bedroom, I liked to be incharge. To safely let out that darker side of myself, that part that liked to be incontrol.

All of my previous lovers had ended up loving it. I was excited to coax a wilder side out of Ariana.

Once a few minutes had passed, I asked our server to bring along the chocolate lava cake for dessert—I suspected Ariana would want something rich and indulgent afterwards—and then got up to use the restroom myself.

When I got back there, I knocked on the door that was second on the right. “Ariana.”

It opened for me, and there she stood.

I slipped inside and closed the door behind me, but I didn’t lock it just yet. “Here’s what’s going to happen.”

Ariana had her hands clasped in front of her, her face open, her eyes wide.

I stepped in and strolled around her in a slow circle. “I’m going to walk back over to that door, and I’m going to lock it. If you’re still in here when I lock it, then you belong to me. No going back. You’remine. But if you want to leave—if you’ve changed your mind and you want to take your chances with Harcourt—then you can leave now.”

I walked slowly, giving her time to bolt out the door as I made my way back over to it.

Ariana trembled, but didn’t move.

My fingers closed around the lock and flipped it.

She was still here.

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