Chapter 17 - The Room He Built

I pushed to my feet in a rush.

"Don't," he warned in a dark purr. "You're not running yet. We're not done."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Being under someone else's thumb—losing my right to say no!—was never going to happen again. "You know what I went through. I need control as much as you do."

"Sit down, Aviwe."

I stayed on my feet, just to prove my point.

His smile widened and my insides melted. "Do you have any idea how crazy I am about you?" he murmured.

"You're crazy all right, if you think I'm going to put up with being ordered around, especially sexually."

"Come on, Aviwe. You know I don't want to beat you, punish you, hurt you, demean you, or order you around like a pet. Those aren't needs either of us has." Straightening, Menzi leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desktop. "You're the most important thing in my life. I treasure you. I want to protect you and make you feel safe. That's why we're talking about this."

Yoh. How could he be so wonderful and so insane at the same time? "I don't need to be dominated!"

"What you need is someone to trust—No. Close your mouth, Aviwe. You'll wait until I'm finished."

My protest spluttered into silence.

"You've asked me to reacquaint your body with acts previously used to hurt and terrorise you. I can't tell you what your trust means to me, or what it would do to me if I broke that trust. I can't risk it, Aviwe. We have to do this right."

I crossed my arms. "Clearly I'm as thick as a plank. I thought our sex life was pretty damn good."