Page 231 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

I expected him to argue with me but he just smiled and said, “Okay.”

Ooh. This wasbad.

Don’t care. I get orgasms.

He clicked away on his phone, and then said, “I think... you should be punished every time you call me a mean name.”

“But you call me mean names all the time! You called me arodentyesterday!”

“But you like it.”

I sat up and looked at him. “You don’t?” My mood dropped suddenly. He’d never implied he’d disliked it. “I’m notthatmean, right?”

“No, hold on... I didn’t say that. I don’t mind you calling me names. It doesn’t hurt my feelings. And no, you’re not that mean.”

“Promise? Because... I don’t want you to hate me.” My throat felt thick. “I think I would die.”

“I don’t hate you,” he laughed, “Iadoreyou. You don’t upset me by calling me names.” His encouragement, combined with the hand he put around my throat, soothed my nervousness. “I call you names, you call me names. It’s a way you brat me, and I consent to it. But it’s not veryrespectful, is it? Especially in front of other people. And what is rule one?”

“I will address Sir with respect.”

“Right. So I think, from now on, when you call me ‘old man,’ or ‘asshole,’ or ‘dork,’ or whatever other snotty little nicknames you come up with, and you say itin front of other people... I might have to do something about it. What do you think about that?”

I studied his face carefully. He was right, he didn’tlookmad... he was baiting me again. “You just want more rules,” I whispered. “You’re looking for an excuse to give me more rules and punish me in front of other people.That’swhat this is about, isn’t it?”

I fucking called it, because he fought a smile, and his eyes glowed as I spoke.

“Fine...old man.” I poked him in the chest. “You can punish me for calling you rude names and teasing you...in front of your friends.”

He grinned, his eyebrows lowering. “How do you feel about going to The Lounge tomorrow?”

Iwanted pizza fordinner, but he wanted to cook, so we compromised and he made some pizza dough from scratch (he was fancy like that). While it was rising, he got a phone call and he asked me to answer it because his hands were covered in flour.

I put it on speaker and he answered. “Hey Bec, you’re on speaker. What’s going on?”

“Reuben, we’ve got a problem. I need you to come down to the house if you can.”

He threw a towel over the dough he was kneading and threw it in the fridge, and then began washing his hands. “Everything okay?”

“It’s not good. A fight broke out between a few of the girls. Non-English speakers so I’m not sure what was said. Some of them clearly understood the conversation, but they’re acting very quiet and... suspicious. Also, a plate was broken and used as a weapon. Two were cut, but there were no severe injuries. Mike is on his way to come take a look and check the wounds, and maybe give some of them sedatives.”

“A fight? What the hell?” He dried his hands and gestured for me to follow him with the phone.

Becca continued to speak as I followed Reuben into my room. “I’ve called Lindsay to see if she can do her thing and figure out what was said, but she’s on an assignment and can’t come by.”

He dug through my closet and pulled out the black twirly skirt and a white blouse and gestured for me to put it on. Then he took his phone from me. “Okay. We’re on our way, we’ll be there in about twenty or thirty minutes.” He continued to speak to her as he hurried into his own room to change.

A few minutes later, he was wearing his typical getup. I tossed my hair up in a ponytail and threw on some eyeliner before we climbed into his car.

He was still talking with Becca. “Mike just got here,” she said. “He said the wounds aren’t bad. He did give a little bit of a sedative to one of the girls who looked like she was having a panic attack. We’ve got everyone in their rooms right now and I’m in the IT room with Melanie, watching on the cameras. So far nobody is doing anything crazy.”

“We’re ten minutes out. I’ll see you soon.”

He hung up and glanced at me quickly while we were driving. “Listen... I don’t have a specific plan for you while we’re here. I might give you a task, or I might have you just hang out in my office. But I didn’t want to leave you alone at home so suddenly, especially after that scene we did yesterday. I didn’t want you to drop.”

My eyes filled with tears at his compassion. “Man,” I whined, trying to save my makeup. “Why do I even wear eyeliner? And why are you so nice to me.”

“Because you’re mine. And because I was so mean to you yesterday.”

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