Matteo's eyes narrowed on me, studying my face. "You're pissed off today. Are you feeling okay?"
I squinted back, daring him to comment. I'd been hit with sudden spells of nausea the last couple days, at the most random moments. Nothing severe, and the moments passed almost as quickly as they appeared, but I could see the control freak in Matteo rebelling against the notion that something could be wrong with me.
"I told you, I'm fine. I just need fresh air. I need to run, but you won't let me leave the fucking property!"
"Christ, Ivory. The property is huge, you act like you can't run out there."
"It's not the same," I whined. "Please, Teo."
"Not yet," he sighed. "I haven't heard shit about Adrian in over a week. I don't trust it."
"Fine," I groaned, turning back to the counter to mix. If I couldn't exercise, maybe dark chocolate brownies could fix it.
"If you're looking for a workout, I can help with that," he chuckled, stepping into my back and running his lips behind my ear.
"Oh how convenient," I laughed. "I don't think sex is safe anymore. I mean, I could get hurt, you know?" I mocked him, testing his limits. He and I both knew that sex with him wasn't such a workout for me. He put me where he wanted me and took it.
"You can run the show," he whispered, and I froze, turning to face him.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "For how long?" He twisted his lips in thought, and I fought the rising chuckle. "Don't hurt yourself."
"Ten minutes," he offered.
I chuckled, "thirty."
"Fuck woman, what the Hell are you going to do to me that will take thirty minutes?"
"Should we find out?" I whispered, giggling when he turned for the stairs to our bedroom.
???
Matteo lasted thirty minutes on the dot before he hauled me up from between his legs, rolled me underneath him and slid inside me. He fucked me until I came on a scream, only then finally letting himself find his own release.
"I wasn't done," I protested with a pout.
"Woman, thirty minutes was up. You were done."
"What were you, counting the minutes?" I giggled, but the serious look he leveled me with made me roar with outright laughter.
"How the fuck else do you think I managed not to come down your throat?" I bit my lip. I never liked blowjobs, never enjoyed swallowing, but something about Matteo was intoxicating, and I wanted him everywhere I could get him.
His gaze darkened, and he cursed. He rolled off me, muttering about how I would drain him dry as he went to the bathroom. I got dressed, deciding that while my jaw had been the only thing to really get a workout, I would make those brownies, anyway. By the time I made my way back to the kitchen, a tiny, delicate trinket dish sat on the counter. I bit my lip, resisting the urge to smile. Gilded in gold around the edges, it was hand painted in a marbled pattern of icy blue and sea green.
Slipping my ring off, I dropped it in the bowl before washing my hands and starting to work on my brownies. When Matteo emerged from his office a few minutes later, he whispered in my ear briefly. "Back on your finger as soon as you finish, yeah?"
I nodded with a smile.
It wasn't about the dish.
It was about him listening to me, respecting my wishes on something, even if it might seem small.
First, he let me be in charge for sex, at least for a little while, then the dish.
Matteo was learning to compromise, and I knew our relationship would be all the better for it.
???
The funny thing about boundaries is that they constantly fluctuate.