how only he can touch me and make me feel so much.
"Open your eyes, ma belle."
I obey. "Please."
The singer wails some high notes, and a man's groan competes with it. A woman begins to shriek, "Fuck me. Oh God, please fuck me!"
"I am your Master," Malin growls.
"Yes."
"I own you and your orgasms."
"Yes. Please." My voice shakes, and my body quivers.
He leans forward, playing with my breasts with his tongue.
"Malin. Oh God," I whimper.
Don't come. Don't come. Don't come.
I grip his hair.
He pulls his hand away from me. He scowls. "Get up."
"What?"
"Get up," he barks.
I slide off him.
"Pick up your dress."
I lift it off the floor. "Put it on?"
"No."
What's happening? Why does he seem mad?
He takes my dress and puts it over his arm then grabs my elbow and leads me toward the front door.
"Where are we going?"
"Quiet."
I don't speak. I'm not sure what is happening. Malin's face never changes; Not in the hall or elevator. My chest tightens, unsure what I did to upset him.
We get into the apartment, and he leads me to the bedroom.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
He fists my hair and tugs it back. His eyes blaze over me. "You are mine. Not theirs. I don't want you in front of them. I want you alone. With me and only me."
"Yes," I say.
"You want me alone, or do you want to go back downstairs?"
"Alone. I always prefer you alone."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Good."
He stares at my lips.
"Kiss me. Please," I whisper.
"I don't know the woman you are anymore, ma belle. Every time I think I do, you surprise me."
Tears fill my eyes. "I'm sorry. I—"
He puts his finger over my lips. "Did I say I didn't like it?"
I shake my head and open my mouth to speak but close it.
"Say whatever you're going to say."
"I'm so confused," I admit.
He drops my dress on the floor. He releases my hair and cups my cheeks. "You take every piece of you and display it to the world. Then you tell everyone that it's only for me."
"It is. I only want you!" I cry out.
He kisses me, and I try to deepen it, desperate for him, but he pulls back. "I know. You're fearless. And I think you can't get any sexier, but you do. I'm not sure where your courage comes from, but I've never seen anything like it."
"Malin—"
"I don't want to share you. I don't want them to have any part of us." His eyes turn darker.
"I don't, either. But it is what it is. And I would rather have you that way than no way."
He kisses me, and I desperately return his affection, needing every breath he gives me. "You will always have me, even if we need to wait a few minutes or hours, but I will not give them access to us. And I need us, ma belle. Just us."
"Yes."
He removes my necklace. "This serves a purpose but never when we are alone."
Tears fall down my cheeks. My lip quivers.
He wipes his thumbs over my tears. "I made you a promise I can't keep. Nothing will ever make you my property. We will always be equals. The game we play out there, it's not us. This is us, ma belle. And I was wrong when I made you that promise this morning. Do you understand me?"
I sniffle. "Yes."
He puts his hand over my heart. "You can change as much you want, ma belle. But I will not let you change in here."
I cry harder, and he tugs me to him. And everything comes crashing down. "I don't know how to be both these people."
"Yes, you do. Right now, you are ma belle. Out there, you are still, ma belle. You've done nothing wrong. But I will not share you with them. I will only allow minimal things to occur when we are with them. And you're going to trust me to know when to stop things and take you away."
"Okay."
We spend the rest of the night in each other's arms, with no one around, no tests to pass, no roles to play. It's only Malin and me. And I didn't know how much I needed every touch, every whisper, every part of only him and me.
And I needed him to set new boundaries so we never lose us.
28
Malin
"Morning, my beautiful ma belle," I say in French.
She tilts her head up and kisses me. In French, she replies, "Morning."
"Should we leave the room today?" We haven't for several days. Since the night of the dinner party, actually.