more than that. You’re Logan and I’m Daphne. And I need to be able to talk to you.”
I walk forward to the table and climb onto his lap. His jaw flexes and his hands come to my hips. For a second, I’m not sure if he wants to toss me off or not, but then his hands start to massage my flesh. Oh, his touch feels so good. I want to melt into him and languish in his touch. I want to go back to last night when he held me in his arms and it felt like he was beginning to trust me.
But no, I have to stay strong. This has to be said.
So I hurry to get it out all at once. “Adam’s planning an engagement party. I just found out. It’s tomorrow.”
Logan’s frozen to stone underneath me. And his voice is ice when he asks, “Are you looking for my permission?”
“What? Gods, no! I’m telling you I need to go break it off with him. To his face. It all got out of hand. I never said yes—”
“Then how did his ring get on your finger?”
Logan hoists me by my waist and deposits me on the floor. Apparently he can’t stand my touch or proximity anymore because he prowls to the far side of the room.
“No. I forbid it. If you want your father’s patents, you aren’t to leave the grounds.”
He’s lashing out like a wounded animal.
I approach Logan with my head held high. “I was weak then but I’m strong enough now. I know I am.” All I can do is reiterate what I said last night and pray that he’s strong too. Strong enough to believe in me. In us. “You’ve shown me my own strength. You’ve let me explore who I am and who I want to be. I know my mind and what I want.”
I reach out a hand to touch his cheek. “And it was never Adam.”
He still flinches when I say Adam’s name.
“I don’t trust him,” he growls, his eyes narrowing behind his mask.
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
His jaw tightens again and I see the conflict in his eyes as he finally says, “I’m trying to.”
Oh, Logan. What happened to this man that’s made it so hard for him to trust? But he’s trying. He just said so and I’ve seen it firsthand. It means so, so much. It means that there’s a chance for us.
So I kneel on the floor at his feet and bow my head. And utter one simple word. “Master.”
Twenty-One
Present Day
Logan
She’s so beautiful and perfectly submissive. Or is it all an act? The constant question that tortures me.
Her request has taken me off guard.
But she came to you. She didn’t try to hide or run off behind your back. And she wants to break the engagement. And the reality is, last night things shifted. I swore I saw the truth shining in her eyes. Can I trust it? Can I trust my own judgment when it comes to her?
At some point, there has to be a leap of faith. She’s sure as hell asking me to leap, wanting to go to this fucking engagement party. But what she said, about being strong now… Will I be weak when she’s strong?
She’s continually abandoned herself to me and put herself in my hands, so bravely.
I’ll show her that I can be brave too, and I’ll send her out into the world stronger than she’s ever been.
I’ll fucking leap.
And all the while, there she kneels, so gorgeous, her fall of black hair so silky and smooth, at my feet.
“Strip,” I order. “And follow me.”
She immediately pulls her shirt off her head and discards her bra, then shimmies out of her leggings and underwear, exposing acres of golden skin.
My erection immediately pulses to life. I want to grab her and mount her right here. But that’s too exposed and besides, with as unsteady as I feel, I know a scene will do us both good.
I lead her to the dungeon. The one place where things have always made sense between us. My thudding heartbeat calms as soon as we step into the room. Yes. Calm. Control. It soothes over me like the ocean tide.
Daphne is silent, observing, peeking up even though her head is lowered. Naughty sub.
“Eyes down.” I give her ass a swat.
She lowers her eyes and twitches in place, rubbing her legs together. I grow even harder. She’s as excited for this as I am. Maybe she knows