“Then if he had the means, I guarantee he would buy her everything in the store she wanted. Hell, you make it sound like he’d give her the world.”
“He loves her.”
“He values her above all others.” And now they were playing a game of semantics. “Just like I value you. I fail to see the difference.”
The sales associate saved him whatever argument Gia had on the tip of her tongue by coming in with an armful of bright but warm clothes for the coming winter. She set them in the first dressing room then disappeared and returned moments later with two fellow employees, who each carried in shoes and bags and a stack of lacy panties, sheer bras, and even a pair of stockings or two.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on you. If you need me sooner, there’s a call button on the wall.”
“Give us half an hour, please.” He smiled politely, but it wasn’t a request.
The woman didn’t hesitate. “Of course.”
As she left, Jason looked around in satisfaction. He’d been inside dressing rooms equipped with what his father used to refer to as the “man chair,” but he’d never seen one outfitted with something between a chaise and a bed. It looked ready for sex. Draped in fuchsia, emerald, bright blue, and gold, he lounged back on the soft surface and watched his wife stomp toward the first dressing room.
“Problem?” he asked.
“You just take over everything. You bossed that woman around. You always tell me what to do. You even buy me things when I’ve asked you not to.”
“The sales clerk is here to assist us. She doesn’t seem unhappy with the tasks I’ve given her. And I fully expect that, by the time we’ve left, I’ll have made any extra effort worth her while.”
“Not everything is about money.”
His pretty wife sounded naïve. “Most everything is. It’s ugly but true. As for you…” He rose from the bed and prowled toward her. “It’s a husband’s right to provide for his wife, and maybe indulge her every now and then. If it will make you feel better, I won’t ask you for a blow job in exchange for anything I buy. All I want is your company. Why are you angry?”
When he cupped her shoulder, she shrugged it off and turned away with a sigh. “I’m not angry. I just feel everything spinning out of control. No matter how I try to stop it—”
“That’s the problem. You’re trying to control not only this situation, but everything in your life. Baby, no one can.” He turned her back to face him, something inside him hurting when he saw the tears gathering there. “When we met at Dominion, you agreed to my Dominance because you said you were ready to give me control. It took you months to truly let go, but every time you relinquished a bit of your tight grip and began to trust me, I was so thrilled and proud of you. During our separation this past year, you seem to have forgotten everything we once worked on.”
“Because there was no one else to take on all this responsibility. I had to be strong.”
That stung. “No one?”
She flushed and looked away. “After all these months, submitting still feels kind of foreign and irresponsible. Maybe I’m not wired for that any more.”
Gia still believed she couldn’t let loose and see to her own needs because she’d been so busy caring for everyone else’s for months. She was mistaken. And he’d still love to paddle her for refusing to let him shoulder any of her burden. Arguing certainly wouldn’t get him anywhere. He simply had to show her.
Jason pressed a kiss to her forehead, her lips, then stepped back. “Strip.”
“What?” She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Did you have difficulty hearing my command?”
“No, I’m just—”
“Overthinking everything. I’ve given you a simple command.” She wouldn’t remember how much surrender fulfilled her until he gave her the experience again. Once she did, it would bring them closer. “I expect you to obey. Deep down, you want to.”
Gia hesitated, her dark eyes searching his face as if looking for answers. “What if someone walks in?”
“Leave that to me.” He smiled as he shut the door to the dressing room, enclosing them alone together.
After another hesitation, she nodded and dropped her hands to her blouse, her trembling fingers working the buttons.
Jason knew that Gia she was still a police officer who, if caught, would face censure for breaking the law. It had worried her in their past. After playing the role of parent to her niece and nephew, it would worry her even more. But she still trusted him enough to peel off the gauzy shirt covering her pretty br**sts and slide it to the floor.
He began loosening his own shirt buttons, watching as she fiddled with the waistband of her skirt and hesitated. Gia had to work through this in her head. She’d always had an exhibitionist streak, but struggled with letting go away from the privacy of the bedroom.
“Off with the skirt. You didn’t disobey me and wear panties, did you?”