Page 43 of Touch Me Not

He groaned. Luther had been embarrassed about failing one of his classes last year, and Lily must have come by the apartment to help him. She knew what the furniture looked like. Dammit. He was going to have to spend money.

“Fine, I’ll buy some fucking new furniture. Happy?”

Lily smiled. “Yes, very.”

“How happy?” he asked, moving closer to her.

Her eyes narrowed. “Not that happy.”

He stopped moving and studied her for a moment. She looked nervous, but the fear and panic from last night weren’t in her eyes. He wasn’t stupid enough to think it couldn’t rear back up if he pushed too hard. All the progress he’d made today would be lost if he didn’t do this just right.

“Come here, Lily.”

“Why?” She took another step backward.

“Come. Here.” He put more force into his words, into his voice.

Lily frowned but shuffled closer. “What do you want?”

“Here.” He pointed to the spot right in front of him. “Don’t make me ask again.”

He fought a smile at her indignant expression. She didn’t like being told what to do. At all. She moved to within inches of him, though, despite the anger radiating off her.

“Was that so hard?” he murmured.

“Depends on why you decided to go all alpha male.” Her eyes were warier than they had been a minute ago.

“Patience is only a small part of helping you, Lily,” he told her solemnly. “The other part is dominance. You need rules and structures to completely heal.”

Her eyes narrowed, and he held up his hand to stop her before she said anything.

“Last night, you were a mess,Milaya, crying and nearly going into a panic attack at the thought of my hands on you.”

“And?”

“And do you feel that way today?” he asked gently. “Do you feel anxious being this close to me? Do you need to run, to hide, or to flinch away from my touch?”

A soft gasp fell from her lips.

“The answer is no,Milaya. I didn’t give you choices today. You spent the day with me, dressed exactly as I wanted you dressed. I helped you decide to touch me by trapping you,distracting you so you couldn’t panic. I set the rules for our outing today, and you are stronger, more confident now because of those rules.”

“I…I’m not sure what you want me to say.” Her eyes were full of questions and uncertainty.

“I don’t want you to say anything,Milaya,” he said, his voice firm. “I just want you to stand perfectly still and remain silent. Don’t move, and keep your eyes straight ahead.”

He studied her profile. She was nervous, but not nearly as nervous as when Adam left. Deciding to take a chance on pushing her, Nikoli walked over to her closet. She had it partially open, and he’d seen several scarves. He selected the thinnest one he could find. He had much more suitable ones at the apartment, but this would have to do for now.

Lily trembled. She could hear Nikoli behind her rummaging through her closet. She’d heard the sliding door squeak as he pushed it out of his way. Why was he in her closet? The urge to look was strong, but she fought it. Honestly, she was almost afraid to look. She closed her eyes and shifted from foot to foot. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. The campus manwhore was in her room, giving her crazy orders, and she was obeying. Why? No clue other than she’d never been in a situation like this before, and she was curious. Curious enough to tamp down her own fears for a few minutes.

She felt him standing behind her. Heat radiated from his body into hers. If she stepped back half an inch, she’d hit his chest. Her muscles tightened, panic creeping up. She fought hard to stand still, to not give in to her growing unease. Her phobia had the ability to rob her of everything in seconds. She’d been happy, even laughing a few minutes ago, and now she was beginning to feel afraid. She hated herself sometimes.

“Shh, baby,” Nikoli whispered, his warm breath blowing on her ear. She shivered in response, an instinctive reaction. “I’m going to put a scarf over your eyes.”

“What? No!”

“Be. Still.” His voice wasn’t harsh, but it held a definite command that her body obeyed. “Breathe,” he told her. “I’m not going to touch you,Milaya. I promise.”

Lily’s hands started to shake, but she forced herself to remain still as Nikoli’s arms rose up on either side of her. She saw one of her favorite wool scarves come up then gently cover her eyes. He stepped away from her so he could tie the ends together.

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