Page 36 of The Devil's Spawn

“Yes.”

He leaned forward and brushed the hair from my eyes. “You have nothing to be scared of, baby. Just let go and trust me.”

“I’m trying, but I still think we should go over a few things.”

He settled back into his seat. “I was up most of the night considering everything you said yesterday at Dr. Keenan’s office, and I came to a decision, Kayla.” The tone of his voice put me on alert, and I sat up straighter.

“You said you needed security, so I’m going to give it to you in the only way I know how. There will be no negotiations. The only thing I want from you is trust. In return, I will give you a safe word after tonight.”

“A safe word?”

“Yes.”

Technically, I had a safe word, but I never used it, and he didn’t allow me to use it during punishments. “In what way will this be different from what we do now?”

He cleared his throat. “You know how I dislike giving you control, but in this situation, a certain amount of it is necessary, so long as you don’t abuse the privilege. Because that’s what it is. A privilege. You’re my slave, but you’re also carrying my child, so I want you to feel…safe.” Lowering his head, he ran his fingers through his hair, and I realized how difficult that concession had been for him to make.

“I do feel safe, Gage.”

“Do you?” he asked, lifting his head.

“Yes.”

“Even when I’m punishing your ass?”

I gulped. “Yes, Master.” Didn’t mean I liked or even handled his punishments well, but I hadn’t truly feared him since…

Since the day I cheated on him with his brother.

“Then why are you having trouble submitting?”

That was a good question. Fear of the unknown, perhaps, or that voice inside me that constantly shouted how love shouldn’t be like this. “I guess it’s in my nature to dig my heels in.”

“Baby, I love that part of you more than anything. But rules are rules, and you’ll never be allowed to deny me.” He paused, letting his statement sink in. “That being said, if something I’m doing is too difficult to handle, no matter how well-deserved, you have my permission to speak up about it.”

“Kinda hard to speak up when you gag me half the time,” I grumbled.

“I don’t gag you to quiet your opinions. I do it when I need you to hear what I’m saying, without interruptions or distractions. And Kayla,” he said, a gruff note entering his tone. “I do it because it turns me the fuck on.”

God, how I loved turning him on.

“Are you still feeling ill?”

“No, Master.” Why was my voice suddenly raspy? Tight with need and want? Had he conditioned my body’s response to fall in tune with the way he spoke to me?

“Don’t move,” he said, scooting his chair across the hardwood. “I’ll be right back.” He gathered our dishes before disappearing into the kitchen. Running water sounded from the other room for a few seconds before he returned.

“Hop up here,” he said, patting the middle of the dining table.

“Master?” My attention swerved between his face and his hand, which still rested on the table.

“I’m fairly certain you understood me. I want you up here now, legs spread. I intend to make you edge all day.”

Just in time for tonight, so I’d be so out of my mind with wanting him that I wouldn’t question the things he planned to do to me. Even as I slid onto the table in front of him, opening my legs and exposing myself to his darkening gaze, I knew his end game, and it would be one hell of a ride that would soar me to the highest of highs before dropping me into the bowels of agony.

He buried his face between my thighs, and that’s how much of the day passed. Between bouts of morning sickness, Gage pushed me to within inches of tumbling over the forbidden ledge of ecstasy.

On the table, bent over his desk, in the shower, even against the window with the curtains drawn. That had been particularly fucked up, as he’d positioned me facing our street while he crouched between my legs, out of view. He’d licked me to madness underneath my skirt, and the only way to save my dignity had been to keep my face blank as the cars rolled past.

---