Page 42 of Ruthless Reign

“Julia,” he cut in. “Please. Let me.”

His begging stopped me, and I froze to look at him. He had his hands on his hips and a soft expression on his face, as if it was his honor to do it. So I let him. I lay down and spread my legs, and he returned with a warm washcloth to wipe away anything he hadn’t played with. When it was done, he nodded toward the primary bathroom and grinned.

“C’mon,” he said. “Let’s play pretend some more and shower together like a real couple.”

I should have told him no. I should have insisted I go back to my room and clean up by myself. But I couldn’t resist him, not when he looked so damned adorable. So I took his hand and let him lead me to the amazing walk-in shower with four showerheads.

“Wow,” I said, glancing around.

“Ru’s father helped me renovate this part of the house. We were working on the rest before he got arrested.” Roman turned on the water and held out a hand to gesture me inside. “But I’ll finish it one day.”

I smiled and ran my gaze over the assortment of shampoos and conditioners, mostly male oriented, but when I got to the end, I paused. Right next to his sat my favorite brand, newbottles of the exact versions I used. Picking one up, I scowled and turned to face him.

“What’s this?” I asked.

He ran a bar of soap over his muscles and grinned. “I wanted you to be comfortable.”

“In yourshower?” I sneered and opened the lid, but he took it from me and poured some into his hand. “Quite presumptuous.”

“Well”—he moved behind me so he could run the shampoo through my thick hair, massaging and rubbing at all the right spots to nearly have me moaning—“you’re here, aren’t you?”

“Mr. Montgomery,” I said, pretending to be offended. “Don’t tell me this was a ploy all along just to get me wet and naked.”

He chuckled low in his chest and leaned down so his mouth was right next to my ear. “Mrs. Montgomery, there’s not much Iwouldn’tdo to get you wet and naked.”

I couldn’t help myself. I laughed and leaned into his touch while he cleaned me.

“Is this your first time experimenting with kink?” he asked.

I tensed, unsure what he meant. Was that what we were doing? I’d always liked it a little rougher in bed, but I’d never been so quick to heed a lover’s demands.

“Yes,” I finally said.

“How do you feel?” he asked, massaging the shampoo deeper into my scalp.

“I like when you tell me what to do,” I said. “It’s like…it’s like I don’t have to think anymore.”

“I like taking control,” he said, his fingers working down my neck into my shoulders. “I like when you give in to me. It makes me feel powerful.”

“Is this unusual, what we have?” I turned to face him, squirting some of his shampoo on my hand so I could do the same to him.

“No, not at all.” He let me wash his hair, even leaning his head back and humming when I hit a particularly sensitive spot. “But if you do like it, there’s a lot more we could do. We could explore the dominant/submissive thing…only if you want to.”

“I’ve never done anything like this.” I’d been raised a good Catholic girl, and even though I’d had sex with Vittori, it was extremely conservative. Hugo had been more traditional. He’d wanted to wait for marriage. We didn’t do much more than heavy petting. It had never been anything like this. Roman was the only man to ever fuck my throat.

“I’ve never been in a relationship with someone I’ve done kink with,” he admitted, his voice low and husky like it pained him to say.

Are we in a relationship now?I supposed we were, even if we were doing it backward.

“How would that work?” I couldn’t help my curiosity.

“There are lists online,” he said. “I’ll print two off. You fill out one, I’ll fill out the other. Then we’ll compare and see what we have in common.”

A rush of heat coated my veins, but I wasn’t sure if that was anticipation or nervousness. Still, never one to back down from him, I nodded. “Okay.”

“There are limits to this thing,” he said. “We don’t have to…pretend…in public. Only in private. There’s a lot more I’d want to do to you, but only if you consent to it.”

Consent.I nearly melted when he said it. I’d been called beautiful my entire life. I’d started growing boobs in middle school and hips before I was in high school. Older men had touched, pinched, and grabbed at me for as long as I could remember. No one had ever asked me for what I wanted.

---