Page 223 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized I’d heard her tiny desperate cry near the end. “Please,” she mouthed. “I’m literally going to die if I don’t come.”

“Bullshit,” I laughed. “You’ll be fine in an hour. Come on, stretch your legs. We need to cook dinner.” I untied her and massaged her legs, kissing and nibbling and biting at the impressions left in her skin from the ropes.So pretty. All mine.

In the kitchen, she saw the bag I’d brought home. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she peeked inside the bag.

Her face fell slightly, and she snuck a glance at me. I grinned and she pursed her lips, looking back at the contents of the bag.

She sighed deeply, and then said, “Oh, Sir. I don’t know why you think this is a punishment for me.” She withdrew the thick ginger root and set it in the pantry. The corn on the cob, she glared at. “What’s this for?”

I didn’t answer, just continued to stare at her while I thought about the way I was going to torture her tonight.

“’Kay, whatevs.” She put the vegetable in the fridge. She rolled her eyes at the small jar of tiger balm. “Typical.” The last thing she withdrew was the bag of wooden clothespins.

She smiled. “I knew I liked you.”

“You think that now. You’re going to hate me later.”

“If you say so, Sir.”

“Before I forget. Where the hell are my missing shoes?”

She fought the smile that pulled at her lips, and opened the fridge to withdraw the picture of iced tea I’d made her, pouring herself a full glass and drinking half of it. “Not sure what you’re talking about, Sir.”

Well. That tea had certainly helped with the water consumption.

She turned away as if the conversation was over. I reached over her and snatched the glass of tea out of her hands.

“Hey!” She whirled around and stared at me, eyes wide.

I held the glass out of her reach, which wasn’t hard since she was so damn small. “I am going to cut up the vegetables for the stir fry I’m making tonight. You, my darling little rodent, are going to find and return my shoes to their rightful place, and then put all the fucking furniture back where it belongs.”

She made a face, nodded and then reached her hands up for her glass.

Weird. She seemed to really love the tea I’d made her. Which was good, but... suspicious. Her eyes widened with horror as I lifted the glass to my lips and took a sip.

I choked on the drink and looked up at her. She was standing there, her hands clasped behind her back, chin dropped, biting her lip, looking both adorable and wicked.

“Alice, what the fuck?”

“It just needed a little bit more sugar! It still tasted like grass.”

“A little more– Alice, this is solid syrup.”

“It is not.” Another eye roll. “I only added, like, two cups.”

“Two cups? Of sugar? To a twenty-four-ounce mason jar?!”

“Well, yeah. See, not that much. That’s like, a quarter cup a glass.”

I poured the glass out, and then dumped out the rest of the mason jar. I had added a perfect amount of sugar for the drink to taste good, but still be reasonably good for her; there was no need for her to add more. I had a feeling she was just too used to consuming sweet things for it to taste good to her.

I set the now empty jar down on the counter and crossed my arms, glaring at her. “You’re on two weeks with no sugar at all.”

“What?” She laughed at me incredulously. “No.”

“Yes. Two weeks, no sugar. That is your punishment for this particular transgression. Tonight you’ll be punished for hiding my clothes, somehow sabotaging my undershirts, and moving all the furniture.”

She smirked, trying to hide a laugh.

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