Page 13 of Take the Sub and Run

Sofie’s mouth rounded in a soft O.

“He’s punishing her for running away.”

“Yes. And because she should have talked to him about what she was feeling, and her fears.” Andrei tsked mockingly. “Your tops have let you get away with too much if you think lying to your Dom is okay.”

“But it was romantic,” Sofie insisted earnestly. “Leave him to protect him.”

She couldn’t really be that naive. Andrei opened his mouth, but the cutting words wouldn’t come.

“It wasn’t fair to Landon,” Andrei said instead. “She should have trusted him enough to stay and work it out.”

“No,” Sofie said decisively. “This was better. More romantic, and more dramatic.”

That startled a genuine laugh out of Andrei. “Running from him, getting caught in the act of doing the illegal thing that was the reason they couldn’t be together, and then getting punished, is better.”

“Well…yes.” Sofie shifted, pulling her legs under her so she was kneeling and leaning forward slightly.

Andrei’s attention dropped to the soft swell of her breasts. All it would take was a quick tug to free them. Expose the soft, sensitive nipples.

“You don’t think it was romantic?”

Sofie’s question jerked his attention back to their conversation.

“No, I think she ran out of self-preservation more than anything.”

Sofie made an outraged noise. “No! Colette left to protect Landon?—”

“I’m sure she thought of it that way. But what she really ran from was the possibility that he’d choose his career, and the law, over her.”

Sofie looked heartbroken. “That’s not romantic at all.”

“I know.”

She considered him, and for a ridiculous moment, as she looked at him, he was afraid he wasn’t enough.

“You’re a cynic,” she accused.

“Maybe. Definitely a realist.”

She made a disgusted noise, looking away from him and out at the dark river.

Oh, no no no. He didn’t like that at all. Andrei rose slowly from the chair, and though she didn’t look at him, he knew she was aware he was moving closer, based on the way her shoulders tensed.

“You like soft Doms?” he asked, and before she could answer, his hand was tangled in her hair. He gave a sharp tug, expecting the wig to come loose.

Instead, Sofie yelped in pain, gaze flying up to meet his.

Andrei slid his fingertips along her scalp, feeling for the bumps of her real hair coiled and braided under the wig. All he felt was the bone of her skull.

She really did have hair so pale it was almost white.

He massaged her scalp in silent apology, and her eyes slid closed in pleasure.

When she turned her face into his palm, he pulled his hand away, long strands of her hair sliding from between his fingers.

He turned, shoving that hand into his pocket.

“You didn’t answer my question.” He hardened his tone.

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