Reveal Me, Sir (Doms of Decadence 9)

“All right,” he said easily. What? He wasn’t going to try to convince her? And why did that disappoint her? Did she want him to push back? Or was she sad because it seemed he didn’t want her as much as she did him?

“If you don’t want to play, that’s your choice. But I’m still going to insist on driving you home. I don’t like that Jerry knows where you live.”

“He doesn’t know which apartment I’m in,” she told him. “And I checked earlier, he’s still locked up.”

He kept his movement up and down her back. It was almost hypnotic.

“What-what happens to Sophie now?” she asked.

“That’s up to Roarke. And Ajax.”

“Not sure how I feel about all this.”

“Sophie’s a big girl, Ria. She can make up her own mind. If you want, you can sit her down and talk all this over with her.”

She nodded and went to slip off her stool. Connor wrapped both hands around her waist, stilling her. “Not tonight.”

“But—”

He shook his head. “They both need some time together to sort this out. She needs to hear from him what he expects. Then she can agree or not. And then you can make sure she knows what she’s signing up for. But they need to figure this first part out on their own. You know he’s not going to hurt her. You can’t protect her all the time, Ria.”

“I can try.”

“And burn yourself out in the process. Tell me, while you’ve been taking care of Sophie, and everyone else e, who’s been looking after you?”

“I don’t look after everyone.”

“You’re like a little mother hen, except with an excess of attitude and a foul mouth.”

“Wow, you really know how to flatter a girl,” she muttered.

“I’ve tried to call you beautiful, you threw it back in my face,” he pointed out calmly. Damn him. Did nothing rattle him? She was used to being around men whose emotions ran hot. It had been a bit of a culture shock to find herself around men who remained calm and controlled. And Connor was worse than most.

And now he’d made her feel guilty about making light of his compliment.

“I look after myself.” It wasn’t something she’d ever had to do growing up. Even if her upbringing had been unusual, she’d been well protected. Well, so she’d thought.

“That sounds pretty tiring. And lonely.”

He wasn’t wrong, even if she wouldn’t admit it out loud.

He turned them both so they faced one another. His feet were on the floor, his legs on either side of hers. He pla

ced his hands on her thighs, squeezing lightly. “You’ve definitely been trained, haven’t you?”

She thought about playing dumb. But truthfully, she was getting tired of the subterfuge. Of having to hold back.

“Yes, I guess you could say that.”

“You guess?”

She shrugged. “I had a Dom for a while. Turns out he was a complete prick. He taught me basically everything I know about BDSM, who’s to say whether it’s right or not.”

“I don’t buy that.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re a smart woman, Ria. You’d have done your research. You’d know what was what.”