Free Reclaiming His Submissive by Eliza Gayle Page A

and
carried her to the end of the dock. Once there he sat them both down
facing the water with her situated between his legs so she could rest
her back against his chest. The sun had completely set but the sky
still held enough of a glow for her to look out toward the horizon
and enjoy the dim view. He was right, of course, about their lack of
communication and her inability to sit still long enough to let him
explain anything. She didn’t know what to say so she continued
to stare at the water, letting the sights and sounds of nature soothe
the frazzled edges of her nerves. So far he’d made no move to
exert his will over hers or to seduce her into giving him what he
wanted. That’s not at all how it worked between them. He told
her what he wanted and then he waited for her to offer it.
    Usually.
    Here in the quiet with the only
sounds made by nature, she could think back over the last fifteen
months and remember more of the little things he’d done that
made her a part of him. The small touches that often kept them
connected whenever they were together. Or the way he held her to his
heart when they slept together. Or like now when they sat together
looking out at the sky, although usually in front of a window looking
down at the city that never went dark or quiet.
    “ It’s really
beautiful here.”
    “ I like the quiet,”
he admitted. “We don’t get a lot of that in the city.”
    His fingers threaded through her
hair and she melted into him. How in the hell could they get past
this mess? “For what little its worth now, I’m really
sorry.”
    “ What, kitten. What are you
sorry for?”
    She drew her brows together and
frowned. The man simply never accepted the easy answer. So what was
she sorry for? That she'd assumed he’d snooped through her
purse and jumped to the same conclusions she had? Not really. You go
through a woman’s purse you get what you deserve. She stifled a
giggle before he made her confess that out loud. She had a feeling
her punishment time had racked up so high she’d never see her
lily white rear again. No need to make things worse.
    “ I’m sorry I put you
on the spot that night during our scene. It wasn’t my
intention, it just happened. The words came out of my mouth before I
could stop them.”
    “ Is that what you’ve
been doing all along? Holding your words? Hiding the truth?”
    She squirmed in his lap. “I
wouldn’t call it hiding. More like biding my time while waiting
for the right moment.”
    He wrapped his fingers around her
hair and tugged her head to the side, making her scalp erupt in a
series of tingles. “And you don’t think naked and chained
with my whip on your skin the right moment? No, wait. Don’t
answer that. Just listen. A big part of why I love being in this
relationship with you is specifically because I need to see that
vulnerability. A woman is never more open than when her mind and body
are in tune to her Master’s desire to give her pleasure. If I
wanted you to hold back from me, we’d be playing a game of
fucking chess. Ours is an intense and extremely sexual relationship
and I think we both understood that feelings and attachments would
form over time. Even so, your heartfelt admission caught me off guard
and I needed some time to work through the changes I knew were
coming. Namely, you becoming a more permanent part of my life meant
that I couldn’t keep you hidden forever. I’d have to
expose you to some of the ugly parts and, dammit, I still wish I
didn’t have to do that.”
    Torn by the desire to comfort him
and the need to protect her heart, she still turned toward him and
touched his cheek. “I’m not made of glass and in some
things I do not need your protection. Don’t you see? If you
can’t trust me to handle the bad with the good then what kind
of relationship can we ever have? I may be your submissive but as a
wife I would be equal and you’re not ready for that.”
    “ I’m not letting you
go.” The finality of his