“Sofiya,” he says.

I gasp and run away. I need to get away from him. He’s a bad man. He was hurting that woman, even though she seemed to enjoy it. None of this makes sense. I should be back in New York with my sisters. My parents shouldn’t be dead. I should be safe.

But none of that is true anymore. My parents are dead. I’m no longer with my sisters.

And I’m definitely not safe.

“Sofiya,” Mikhail repeats, running after me. Before I can reach the stairs, he grabs my arms. “Sofiya.”

“Please, let me go,” I cry out.

To his credit, he does. But I stumble and fall back onto my butt.

“Sofiya,” Mikhail says gently, reaching out for me.

I can’t. I can’t do this. I can’t.

Darkness hedges at my vision, and then I slump to the ground as everything goes black.

Chapter

Five

SOFIYA

The darkness slowly leaves me as I wake up. Blinking, I stare at the ceiling, realizing I’m in Mikhail’s bedroom.

And Mikhail is standing over the bed, staring down at me.

I jerk away from him. “Don’t hurt me,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut.

Mikhail sighs. “I won’t hurt you. Sofiya, look at me. Let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you were beating that woman?”

“Look at me,” he repeats more firmly.

I open my eyes and force myself to meet his gaze. It’s overpowering. For a moment, I think I might pass out again.

“I’m a dom,” he says.

“A dom? What’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of a dominant/submissive relationship before?”

“No,” I whisper. My father kept me sheltered from most things in life.

“A dom is someone who likes to be in control. I like to have a woman submit to me. In all areas of life. Eventually, I want you to be that way. But I know this is all new for you, and I didn’t want to push you too hard. I had planned to introduce you to the lifestyle over time, but then you saw what you saw.”

“What I saw didn’t make any sense. You were beating her.”

“I was spanking her. She liked it.”

My breath gets caught in my throat. It feels like I’m sinking through the mattress. “I don’t understand.”

“Some people get aroused from pain.” He holds my gaze as he says this. I’m acutely aware of my body. The way my top clings to my chest. The way my skirt flares out around my hips. The tiny scrap of underwear underneath my skirt is the only thing protecting me from Mikhail.

“What you saw,” he continues, “was a form of play. The woman, Irina, has been my main sub for a long time. Everything is consensual.”

“She agreed to let you …” I gulp. “Spank her?”

“Yes.”

His simple word sends a jolt through me. “So … you and this woman are in a relationship together?”

“A dominant/submissive one. Nothing else.”

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, but I need to know the answers. “What does a relationship like that entail?”

“I use her body for my pleasure, and she lets me. I spank her, flog her, sometimes whip her. She loves it. And then, we usually fuck.”

I gasp. How can my husband be saying these things to me? He has an entirely other relationship with a woman. On the plane, the flight attendant, Elizabeth, made it very clear Mikhail loved to partake in orgies, so it’s not surprising he likes more … unusual things. I know Mikhail is a man with experience. That he has certain appetites I can’t fill.

But I just assumed that meant sex. Now, I realize it’s so much more.

If I can’t even have sex with him, how can I partake in anything else? The thought makes me shudder. Mikhail has awoken something in my body, but he also scares me.

I also realize I’m a little jealous. He told me he’ll be the only one to touch me, and yet that rule doesn’t apply to him.

“Were you planning on … sleeping with her tonight?” I finally ask.

Mikhail’s lips twitch up. “Sleeping with her? You can say fuck, Sofiya.” I blush. He leans in closer to me. “Though, I do love your innocence.” His eyes flick down to my lips and back up to my eyes.

I make a point of scooting farther away from him. I need to think right now, and I can’t think with Mikhail looking at me like this.

“To answer your question,” he says, “no. I didn’t plan on fucking her tonight. Normally, I would. But now that we’re married, you’re the only one I want to be with.”

“But you were still in that room with her.”

“Just to do a scene together. We already had it on the schedule. I couldn’t disappoint her. She needed her dom to tell her what to do.”

A flash of hot jealousy rushes through me. “Shouldn’t it be me who you don’t want to disappoint?”

He sits on the bed—so close to me—and skims his fingers over my arm. Instantly, goosebumps arise on my skin. I don’t pull away, but I also don’t move closer. Frankly, I don’t know how to feel.

“You’re right,” he says. “You’re mine now. I want you to be happy here. But I also need you to understand I’m in control here. That you serve me.”

“But I’m not a …” What did he call it?” A submissive.”