Feral King (The Dominant Bastard Duology 1)

Severin raised a brow. “A bit melodramatic.”

“That makes you Beauty, Minnow. All you need is a huge yellow ball gown and you’re all set.”

“The beast would just muss it up – although that could be fun.” Her white teeth caught at her plump bottom lip, and the subtle violence of it aroused him.

They walked Rodrigo out, delaying him with conversation until he had to rush to get home on time to dress for the gallery. He’d become a fixture in the house. Things would be very different when he started dating someone seriously again. His previous girlfriend hadn’t liked Severin much. It had made it difficult to hang out. Eventually Ro had ended things with her because of it.

When they were alone, Minnow turned her back to the door, and knelt in the foyer like a good little girl.

“You look like you want to ask me something.”

“I do, Mister Leduc, but I doubt you’ll approve.”

Did she want to go with Rodrigo after all? “Why?”

“I want to do something to you, but you’re going to say no.”

To him? “Like what?”

“You still don’t let me touch you.”

“Yes I do. A bit.”

“Don’t you like being touched?

“No.”

“But what if I like touching you?” She crawled to him, slinking like a cat, sexy and self-possessed – a woman who’d crawled to a man before and knew the power it held. The sensual movement of her body offset the demeaning nature of her position, making her seem more femme fatale than demure submissive. Not for the first time, he wondered which of them was truly in charge. Using her sensual beauty against him was completely unfair. She could get him to agree to almost anything, if she played her cards right.

“What if I black out?”

“Dr. Jindal is on speed dial on my cell. So is 911, just like you wanted. You can’t avoid being intimate with me forever. I won’t allow it.”

Brat. He chuckled, even though he was uncomfortable with the idea. It was true, though. If he wasn’t going to send her away, he was going to have to trust himself a little sooner or later.

“What do you have in mind?” He reached down to grip her arm and dragged her to her feet, ruining the effect of what she’d been doing and taking back the power in their dynamic. “You’re making it sound like I won’t approve.”

She gazed up at him, looking less certain. “I thought – I just thought...”

He waited while she muddled through her sentence.

“Would you let me give you a massage?”

“A massage,” he repeated. It was a common enough thing even in vanilla relationships, from what he could understand, but the idea of having someone running their hands over him made him shudder with apprehension.

Minnow looked so hopeful, though, and he knew that his hang-up about touching bothered her. She deserved affection, considering everything he put her through, but it was difficult for him to allow it. Over time, she’d gotten him used to the feel of her mouth and hands on his cock when she gave him a blowjob, and her touch on his back and shoulders when he was deep inside her. She cuddled him sometimes, but maybe she noticed how uncomfortable it made him even though he’d thought he was doing a good job faking it. Sometimes he wasn’t faking, though. Sometimes he loved it.

“Does it trigger you, or is it because you’re not used to being touched?” she asked cautiously.

He blew out a long breath and gazed at the ceiling. Letting her into his head was always a chore.

His first inclination was to deny there was anything wrong with him other than typical male standoffishness, but Minnow was one of the select few who knew better.

“It’s both.”

“Can we try?”

His stomach churned, but he didn’t let himself walk away. There was a flash of irritation that she was pushing this, but he had to admit that if anyone could help him work through this it was Minnow.