of voice is sterner than I’ve ever heard it.
“I want you to think long and hard about whether you want to be with me. Whether you’re willing to accept what that entails. I’m a vampire. I cannot father children. We will never be able to relax on a sunny beach together, have daytime picnics, go to an amusement park. While I don’t enjoy killing, I won’t hesitate to do so if I feel it’s necessary and sometimes, unfortunately, it is. I’m protective to the point where it might feel overbearing.”
He’s not wrong there, I think wryly, but I remain silent, listening.
“Due to the nature of my job, I spend a lot of time with women. Sometimes they’re naked. If a girl is in danger in the club, I will intervene and help her, and she may not always be clothed. I can’t stop and worry about whether you’d feel jealous.”
“It feels like you’re trying to warn me off you,” I mutter, no longer able to keep quiet. “If you don’t want me, just say so.”
“For fuck’s sake!” With a growl, he yanks me to him, crushing my entire body against the length of his. “You feel that?” He grinds his pelvis against me and there’s no mistaking how rigid his big cock is. “I want you. I fucking love you, Sabina. But I won’t do half-measures with you anymore. If we go ahead with this, I want you to know exactly what to expect.”
“All right,” I whisper. “Please go on.”
“You may feel jealous at times, but I promise you, there’s no need. You’re the most beautiful, fascinating, infuriatingly wonderful girl I’ve met in a long, long time, and I want to love you, protect you, cherish you and make you happy in every way I can.” He thrusts slowly, his hard length grinding against my sex through our clothing, and I gasp as a flood of desire rushes between my legs. “But in order for it to work, you have to do three things: trust me, obey me, and accept me for who I am.”
“Yes, Sir,” I whisper.
“Good girl.” He takes a step back and I already feel the loss. I want him back in my arms. “So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to go home and think very carefully about whether you want this. Whether you want me. If you do, I will pick you up tomorrow night at eight pm and take you to Toxic, where you will be publicly punished, and then collared.”
“What?” My mind is spinning, my heart threatening to pound its way right out of my ribcage.
“That way, everyone will know you belong to me,” he says. “The punishment won’t be pleasant, like I said, but it won’t be anything you can’t take. You want to atone, and I want to make you. And then I can make you mine in front of everyone. If, on the other hand, you decide you’d rather not continue our relationship, you have until seven tomorrow evening to let me know. It will break my heart but I’ll understand. The ball is in your court, pet.”
I already know I want to be with him; I can’t imagine telling him no. But to be punished in front of everyone? “Does the punishment have to be public, Sir? I’m afraid.”
He strokes my cheek with a gentle finger. “Do you trust me, Sabina?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Agreeing to this will be the first way you can prove that to me.”
All I want is for him to take me in his arms and then take me to bed, but instead he presses one last brief kiss against my lips, and heads into the kitchen for his car keys.
When Maximus makes his mind up about something, there’s no changing it.
All I know is that I’m in for a sleepless night, and that tomorrow will feel like the longest day of my life as I wait for the sun to set.
25
Maximus
The moment I opened my eyes after waking up, I reached for my phone. After giving Sabina the ultimatum and dropping her off at her car, I spent the rest of the night worrying and pacing. Was it too much pressure? Would the threat of public punishment be what unraveled any chance of a future together? Maybe I should have thought everything through more carefully but then again, I wasn’t lying when I said I loved her, and I dislike half measures. Either she’ll be mine, or she won’t. No more obeying my rules during a