Chapter Twenty-Four #2
“You’re not going anywhere until I’m satisfied with your answers.”
Her breath came in short, sharp bursts. With her eyes stretched wide, she stared at him. He wasn’t quite sure whether it was with fear or defiance.
“What about your potentials?” she choked out. “That’s why we’re here, not to draw out my intestines about something that has fuck all to do with you!”
His eyes turned obsidian as he squeezed harder, watching her eyes widen and her lips opening as she struggled to breathe.
“Fuck the potentials.” He growled. “This is more important.”
For a moment, she continued to struggle, but then she stilled. Her breath was ragged as her eyes locked onto his. He could see the war in her gaze—the need to fight and the desire to submit. He relaxed his hold, but only enough to allow shallow breaths.
“I’m still waiting, Xia.” The air between them was thick with unspoken words, with tension that could either break or bind. Rex’s fingers flexed around Xia’s throat, not tight enough to hurt, but enough to remind her who held the power in this moment.
For the first time, he wasn’t sure if that power was his to wield.
“I ask again. Why did you join the lifestyle, Xia?” His voice sounded rough. Not anger. Not demand, but a dark command driving every syllable.
She swallowed as her throat worked against his palm. “Because I was tired of pretending.”
His thumb stopped. “Pretending?”
“Pretending I didn’t want what I needed.” Her voice was quiet but wrapped in steel. “Pretending I was satisfied with vanilla sex, with polite touches and careful words. Pretending I didn’t crave something... more.”
His grip loosened, but he didn’t let go. He couldn’t. Not yet. “What did you crave?”
Her lashes fluttered as her gaze dropped for the briefest second before his fingers tightened, forcing her eyes back to his.
“I craved the loss of control. The surrender. The way it feels when someone else takes the wheel, when they decide what I need before I even know it myself.” A shaky breath escaped her. “I craved the way it made me feel alive.”
His chest tightened. “And being humiliated? The degradation?”
Her lips parted as her eyes flickered briefly.
“It’s not about degradation. Not really.
” Her voice dropped, barely above a whisper.
“It’s about being seen. Truly seen. Not just the version of me I show the world—the strong, capable, untouchable woman—but the one beneath that.
The one who wants to be used. Who wants to be controlled.
.. owned.” She swallowed hard. “Who craves to be wanted so badly, it hurts.”
His cock throbbed against her, but he ignored it. This wasn’t about his desire. It was about hers.
“And the cage?” His voice was ragged as his fingers flexed against her throat. “What did you feel about what we did?”
Her breath hitched, her pupils dilating. “Power.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Power?”
She nodded, her voice gaining strength. “Because even though it was partly punishment, and I was helpless, even when I was used, I was the one who chose it. I was the one who allowed it. Knowing I could stop it anytime I wanted... that... that was intoxicating.” Her fingers curled into his shirt, her nails digging in. “But with you...”
His breath caught. “With me?”
“It wasn’t just power.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “It was respect. The way you looked at me—like I was precious. Worthy.” Her eyes burned into his. “And that’s what made it different. That’s what made it real.”
His grip softened as his thumb brushed over her pulse. “I feel there’s another aspect you’re withholding from me.”
“No... I’m not.” But it was there... in her eyes, that elusive flash that every so often appeared. This time, he wasn’t letting up. His fingers tightened to the point of almost cutting off her airflow completely.
“You... you’re a bastard,” she whispered, but he remained unmoving. Blinking, she kept tugging on his fingers but soon realized he wasn’t going to budge.
“Yes, I am. I never claimed otherwise.” His eyes remained fixed on her, waiting...
He sighed as she flinched. The way she acted angered him, and that was a red flag. He was known for his master control, but here he was, growling and spitting venom at her, instead of being her Dom... being understanding, supportive, and guiding. He softened his expression and lowered his voice.
“Angel, what happened between us in the cage had a much deeper meaning than the basic BDSM recipe. You know it as well as I do. What aren’t you telling me?” He relaxed his fingers more, watching with fascination as her mouth opened to drag in deep wads of air.
“I... I...” Her eyes darted away from his direct gaze. His fingers tightened warningly to draw them back.
“How did it make you feel to be completely and utterly controlled sexually through humiliation... to the extent that had I ordered it, you would’ve fucked every Dom on this plane that night.”
“I never... I wouldn’t have... you...”
His eyebrows crawled higher. “So, you don’t have a desire to be the only woman available to be the vessel of lust in an all-night orgy, having all your holes filled?”
This time, her entire body flushed like a lobster in a boiling pot.
“No!”
“Shall we test that theory? I’ll chain you to the bed in my suite and send in three Doms, group after group, to fuck you until you beg for it to stop.
Then I will be the last one to fuck you until you have nothing more to give.
.. but I won’t stop. I’ll continue until you’re a whimpering, limbless wreck. ”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Then be honest, Xia. Tell me your darkest, deepest, and sluttiest fantasy.”
Her eyes dropped. He squeezed... hard. Her breath snagged as she blinked up at him.
“You... you just did. How... how did you know?”
“Let’s just say I also have some insight into a submissive’s true desires.”
“Now you know... so, let me go.”
“I want to know one more thing.”
She stubbornly refused to ask what it was but managed to glare at him, even though she battled to breathe.
“I managed to unleash one of your dark desires in that cage. So, little one... why do you feel shame?”
For once, he couldn’t read the expression on her face or the flash of an emotion so profound, it humbled him, except he had no idea what it meant.
“I don’t feel shame.”
“Yet, you said you became a whore... for me. Was that how you felt all the time?”
“N-No... I... can we please not talk about this anymore?” She yanked harder on his fingers. “Please, you’re hurting me.”
“Then tell me, Angel.” His grip softened, his thumb brushing over her pulse. “Why the shame?”
Her breath shuddered. “Because I liked it.” The words were raw, torn from her. “I liked being used like that. I liked being yours and Master Coop’s. And I hated myself for it.”
“There is no shame in allowing yourself the freedom to be who you want to be... even if only briefly. That’s what the lifestyle is about, Angel. Freedom to choose. You said it yourself.”
“I know, and I realized it—when I saw the way you looked at me after. Like I was enough.” Her voice broke. “Like I was yours.” She took a deep breath. “Even if only for a little while.”
The air between them crackled, charged with something neither of them dared to name. Slowly, his hand slid from her throat and cupped her face. He brushed away the tears running over her cheeks.
“You are enough, Xia. More than you’ll ever know.”
Her breath hitched as her eyes searched his. “Then why does it still feel like I’m not?”
His jaw tightened. “Because I didn’t give you what you needed. I took, but I didn’t protect.” His voice roughened with regret. “And for that, I’m sorry.”
Her lips parted in shock. “You’re... sorry?”
“Yes.” His thumb traced the curve of her cheek. “Not for what I did, but for not properly preparing you. I’m sorry I didn’t see you. Not the way I should have.”
Her breath stuttered. “Rex...”
He pressed his forehead to hers. His voice lowered into a growl. “Always remember, Angel, you are a very, very special woman. The man who finally realizes that will be the luckiest bastard alive.”
He ignored the startled look on her face at his words. Nothing had changed. She was still leaving. She still didn’t tick that one box. The sooner he broke this bond between them, the better.
But not just yet.
She stared at him, her eyes wide with disbelief for a moment, then she blinked and buried the confusion from her gaze. Clearing her throat, she looked at him. He smiled as her eyes flashed with that familiar sass.
“So, does this mean we’re done with the deep and meaningfuls? Because I really need another drink. A double this time.”
The rich and warm tremble of Rex’s laugh filled the space between them. “Not quite.”
He stood, pulling her up with him. The music had shifted, the beat becoming slow and sensual and wrapping around them like a promise.
“W-What are you doing?” she asked in a breathless whisper as he led her to the dance floor.
Yes, Oliver, what the fuck are you doing? Didn’t you just tell the guys that everyone will know she means shit to you by the time we land?
He ignored the voice in his head and smiled. “Dancing,” he murmured as he pulled her into his arms. His hand settled on the small of her back to press her close, while the other locked in her hair, tilting her face up to his. “I haven’t danced in ages.”
“And you should,” she huffed, though her body melted against his. “With Pixie. Preferably.”
“Nawh.” His lips brushed against her temple. “I feel the need for an angel... for now.”
She stiffened, her breath catching. “I think you need to have your head examined.”
He chuckled, his hand sliding down to cup her ass, pulling her flush against him.
“Oh!” she gasped as his hard cock pulsed against her stomach.
“Relax, Angel.” His voice trilled with a dark promise. “Let’s just enjoy this slow dance.”
She huffed, but her body betrayed her as she swayed against him in time with the music. “Tell that to Mister Winkie in your pants. He seems to think we should be doing a fiery tango.”
Rex laughed. The sound was deep and genuine, drawing glances from the other patrons, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was the woman in his arms, the way her breath hitched when he pulled her closer, and the way her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt.
This was how he wanted to remember her.
Soft. Warm. And sassy as hell.