Free Disciplined by the Dom by Chloe Cox

far away. She needed him to be close to her and she needed to hide from him all at once, and because it was impossible, she felt herself starting to get angry.
    “Everybody lies,” he said, and rose.
    She had no answer for that.
    He reached down to cup her cheek and tilt her face up to his. “If I had asked you if you enjoyed bondage, I am not sure you would have been truthful, even to yourself. You think you like to fight. And you do, at times. But you also have kept your hands clasped behind your back this entire time, without the aid of physical restraint. We have learned something new.”
    Catie forgot to be angry for a moment, and instead was bewildered. She had. She still was .
    “You may release your hands now.”
    She brought them back quickly to her lap and found that they were trembling. Jake had been inside her head again. Despite her best efforts, despite the fact that she had her own job to do, despite everything that made it a terrible idea. He’d been inside her head because she’d let him in. Burning with recrimination, she pulled her skirt back down and moved to close her shirt.
    “No,” he said sharply. “Leave it open. I like to look at you.”
    Catie paused. No, she hesitated. There was a moment where her hands hung in the air, and they could go either way, when she was deciding whether to obey. It was only that he had come so close to her again, had been inside her, even if he hadn’t…
    No, she could do this. She let her hands fall to her sides and felt herself begin to flood with warmth again, even so soon after coming for him.
    His thumb brushed her cheek, a gesture of approval, and without thinking, she turned and took it into her mouth. She sucked on it and let her tongue slide over it before nipping it with her teeth.
    She heard his intake of breath as she let his thumb go and she looked up at him, feeling somehow triumphant. He was rigidly motionless, his face on fire.
    Stiffly, he said, “There is one last question.”
     

chapter 8
     
    “Who would you call if you were in trouble?” Jake asked.
    Catie blinked. She must have misheard.
    “What?”
    “Who would you call if you were in trouble? If you needed help—if something went wrong here. Someone you could trust to come to your aid, no matter what the situation,” he said.
    He was still looking at her. Catie wanted to look anywhere else but up at him. She cast about wildly, looking for something, anything. She thought she had been prepared for his questions, she thought she could rely on her improvisation skills, but now her mind was blank. It wouldn’t allow her to think about this. Her eyes fell on the black box, still on the table, and she almost wanted to cry with relief.
    “You said I could choose a card from the box if I couldn’t answer,” she said, her words coming very quickly. “I choose the box. I’ll choose a card.”
    “No.”
    His fingers threaded through her hair, and she remembered the last time they’d been together and looked over at the table, wondering. But he wanted her to look at him.
    “Not for this question. This question, you must answer.”
    “I don’t want to.”
    “You must.”
    “You can’t make me.”
    She cringed. She hadn’t meant to sound like a child. She hadn’t meant to be reminded of her own pathetic situation. Volare was an escape from that, it was her way out, it was a place where she could be someone else, not the poor little rich girl who wasn’t rich anymore and whose family didn’t give a shit about her.
    That was it. She wasn’t just drawing a line in the sand. She didn’t want to answer because she knew the answer, and it was terrible.
    “Catie,” he said softly.
    She looked back up at him again and pretended she didn’t have tears welling up in her eyes.
    “Is it because there isn’t anyone?” he asked.
    He’d know if she lied this time. He’d know, and he’d know she could lie about anything. And yet, admitting it would make it real. She hadn’t