Chapter 35
-BEA-
She wasn’t sure what she’d find when she went back to his chambers. She’s spent the last half hour trying to make sure that the food she’d requested was purchased and set up correctly in the kitchen. She’d also made sure that the kitchen area was cleaned and had a small staff that took care of the smaller things that she didn’t want to do.
It was odd at first, as it was normally she who was being ordered around, but she found that she liked being the director instead of the one being directed. She’d spent most of her life with these types of duties, so she knew exactly what it would take to complete the things that she requested.
The staff was also not what she had expected. She thought that they would argue with her or be sluggish in their duties because it was she who was asking, but they were quick and efficient. While they worked on the breads and other minor preparations for the food she would eventually cook, it was always she who completed the meal. She trusted no one, yet, and while Dax’s safety was of the utmost importance, she truly enjoyed cooking for him.
After making sure that they had started the broth she would be using for lunch, she returned to her previous
quarters. She needed some time before she saw Dax again.
He ruffled her more than any other being had ever ruffled her before. Normally, she held a calm demeanor,
completing any tasks that were given to her with quiet ease, but Dax got under her skin.
She thought back to their little tug–of–war with the blanket and his stubbornness in allowing her to care for him. She couldn’t understand why he was fighting her over it, but that shouldn’t have mattered. She should have done as he asked immediately. She should have hung her head like a good little slave.
Dax’s voice rang in her mind. “You’re no longer a slave. I’ll not have my wife thinking she’s still a slave.”
You’re my wife. She felt freer here than she had in over a decade, but she also felt suffocated. It was almost too much, and she couldn’t stop the emotions as they overwhelmed her.
She collapsed to the floor against the door and held her center. She wouldn’t let herself cry again. She’d cried enough these last few weeks, and she was done with it, but still… “So, moving forward, I’ll know where you are.”
She felt so torn. His actions over the last few days suggested that he wanted her close because he was fond of her, but his words sometimes contradicted that. She couldn’t understand what it was that he wanted. He said that he wanted her, and the thought sent a fiery thrill through her.
Was that what she wanted? She’d never actually ever thought about what she wanted. Her thoughts were always on how to best either serve her Masters or how to hide from them. Dax didn’t want her to hide. He wanted to see
her and talk with her. She’d never talked so much to a person before.
Her stomach rumbled, and she realized that she’d left Dax’s bowl of breakfast on the side table and had forgotten to eat the rest of it. Which meant she was running on empty. While that was what she was used to, her body had become accustomed to routine nourishment.
Thanks to Dax. Her cheeks heated.
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Chapter 35
When she’d been caring for the cut above his eyebrow, she was so distracted by his full lips that she couldn’t stop the flow. Thankfully, he hadn’t noticed her staring, but now she had all the time she wanted to think about them.
She stood and leaned against the door with a soft sigh. She imagined pressing her lips against his and feeling how soft they were instead of how she imagined them to be. She touched her lips then and allowed herself a short moment of fantasy before turning and walking back out of her room.
