“That you’re not. Come.” He took her hand. “Let me give you a taste of what I think you need. You can hardly say yes to what you don’t fully understand.”
He gave her a gentle tug. This time, she hesitated only an instant before she complied. He settled back on the side of the bed, pulling her onto his lap, facing the dresser mirror. She diverted her gaze.
“Look at us,” he commanded, his words barely above a whisper.
This time, she didn’t hesitate, but peered through the shadowy room to meet his stare in the mirror. As he held her back against his chest, he felt how small she was in his lap. When he brushed the shell of her ear with his lips, she shivered.
“Excellent,” he told her. “You need discipline, and I don’t disagree with Hammer’s idea of giving you a red ass for your antics earlier.”
When she stiffened and opened her mouth to protest, he held up a finger and sent her a stern glance. “Not a word. Let me finish.”
When Raine sagged against him with a sulky little pout, he fought another smile. She’d be a handful, this girl. Something about her enchanted him. God knew that looking at her scantily-clad curves in the mirror was taking an uncomfortable toll on his self-control. He had the urge to find every one of her defenses and plow through them as fast as possible so he’d have her entire soul open to him. The idea was exhilarating. The mental image of her naked and bound, looking up at him with trust and longing… Fuck if that didn’t make him hard. Well, harder.
“What you need more than discipline is understanding and affection. When was the last time you had someone you could truly talk to?”
Panic flitted across her face. “Don’t you just want to tie me down and spank me and…”
Oh, he did, eventually. “Without trust, that’s just abuse. And I’ll never be treating you like that.”
She fidgeted again. “But talking?”
Pain creased her features, as if he’d said he intended to drive stakes under her wee fingernails. He smothered another smile. The amusing little vixen was going to keep him on his toes. “How do you think trust is accomplished?”
Now Raine openly winced, and he didn’t bother to hold in his laugh.
“Oh, that’s right. Laugh it up at my expense.” She gently elbowed him.
But her tart words didn’t hold any heat. She teased rather than sassed. The ghost of a smile on her face pleased him.
“I said I intended to split you wide open like a ripe peach, didn’t I?” He raised a brow.
Her smile fell. Slowly, she nodded.
“If you accept my offer, you’ll quickly learn that if I say it, I mean it.” Liam drilled his stare into her through the mirror, willing her to believe him. But he knew that would come in time. “And I need you to be honest with me as well. Can you do that, lass?”
“I’ll try.” She sounded hesitant.
Any other sub, he might punish. This one needed a different approach. As Hammer had admitted, she was fragile. Beneath her sometimes-saucy surface lay a woman who could easily break, and he wouldn’t risk that. Raine was a potent mix of vulnerable femininity, intelligence, and strong will unlike any he’d met.
“You’ll do more than try. If you feel you can’t be honest, you’ll say that. But you will not lie to me. Can you agree to that?”
“But if I tell you I can’t be honest, you’re only going to want to talk about it.”
“I am.”
“Ugh!” She rolled her eyes and sighed like a teenager talking to a probing parent. “I don’t like to talk.”
Neither did Hammer, and that was part of their problem. Both found it painful. Both were going to have to change if they wanted more in life than they had now.
“I gathered that.” A smile tugged at his lips. “But that doesn’t change anything. Tell me, when was the last time you had pleasure you didn’t give yourself?”
“Ouch!” Her jaw dropped. “Don’t go for the jugular or anything.”
“Neither of us gains a damn thing if I dance around your pretty feet. Answer me.”
She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. Before his very eyes, he could see her walls rising, watch her forming a flippant answer.
“Whatever you’re thinking now, stop.” He infused the words with a sharp whip of demand. “Honesty. Not whatever you were digging out of your sleeve. Now, the last time a man gave you pleasure?”
Raine hesitated for a very long time, her face anxious. The truth was on the tip of her tongue. He just had to work it out of her.
Liam eased a hand under her little cotton halter and rubbed a thumb over her nipple. It hardened in seconds under his touch. She gasped but didn’t push him away. Her pulse began hammering at the base of her neck. His body surged. Earning her trust an inch at a time was going to be arousing as fuck. And he didn’t dare let up. As long as he did this, she would be too distracted to think up smart-assed replies.