“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.”
“You naturally are. Which is why you’re perfect and why I wanted you. I could tell by the way you danced on that stage. By the way you averted your eyes when anyone else looked at you. By the way you didn’t put up a fight when I told you we would marry. You’re naturally submissive, Sofiya. And you will be my sub. Soon enough. When you’re ready, that is.”
“When will that be?”
“When I say so.”
I drop my gaze to my knees. Mikhail wants to spank me—that’s pretty much what he’s telling me. Panic seizes my heart. “I don’t want you to hurt me.” Tears begin to fall from my eyes before I can stop them.
For just a small moment, Mikhail’s eyes soften. “I’m not going to hurt you, Sofiya. But I will push your body. It will be for your pleasure. Always your pleasure.”
“And yours?” I whisper.
“And mine, too.”
I look toward the door, thinking of that naked woman downstairs—Irina. “What about Irina? Are you going to … continue to see her?”
“I will, yes.” I flinch. “Until you’re ready to become my sub.” He cups my cheek. “But Irina isn’t the one I can’t stop thinking about. She just fills my desires until you’re ready.”
I have no choice but to meet his eyes again as he holds my face in his strong hand. “What if I’m never ready?”
“You will be. For me, you will be.”
How can I tell Mikhail that he both excites and frightens me?
“Is Andrei a … dom, too?”
“He is. We like to do scenes together. Sometimes, we share women.”
I jerk away from him. “You share women? Like …”
“Yes. Andrei has fucked Irina before. It doesn’t bother me.”
My head is swimming. Mikhail really is a stranger to me. And now I’m married to him and stuck living in his home in a country where I don’t even speak the language.
Realization dawns in Mikhail’s eyes. “He won’t touch you, Sofiya. I would never share you.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that.”
He rubs his thumb along my cheek, comforting me. “You don’t have to say anything. I am a man with needs. With desires. And I desire you and no one else. I will never let another man touch you. You’re mine and only mine.”
