There’s only silence as the call disconnects. I press his contact again. No answer. Third try, and it goes straight to voicemail. I blaze my thumbs over the messages, but he texts me first.
AIC
I’m not responding unless you address me properly.
Seething rage shoots through my nostrils.
Me
Give me back my stuff. Asshole.
He leaves me on read.
With a glance at the two guys clogging my doorway, I nod at them. “Let’s go! I don’t have all day!” I say and shove past them.
I’m fuming, fingers digging into the cream leather armrest in the back of a black Mercedes as we pull up toThetaManor.
“It’s meeting night tonight. I don’t think I should miss,” I tell them. But the two pledges turn the classic rock up louder to drown me out.
By the time I’mescortedto Aiden’s room, I’m nervous. Histhreats didn’t sound fun. Or maybe I’d learn to enjoy them.Reallyhoping he’ll use some lube. Maybe I should’ve taken his advice about the petroleum jelly.
The boys open the doors, and Aiden strolls out of the bathroom on the far wall, wiping his hands on a towel. He tosses it onto this desk. His broad, tall figure makes my belly flip after not seeing him in three days. Shaggy black hair looks disheveled for once. Like maybe he just got done with a workout. His white T-shirt strains across his muscles, and the gray sweatpants he wears leave nothing to the imagination about his size…and girth.
He nods at the two men behind me, dismissing them, but doesn’t even cast a glance my way. Once they shut the doors, I toss my Louis Vuitton onto the bed, but Aiden hurriedly grabs the handles and carts it into a walk-in closet.
I follow.
“Where’s my stuff?” I ask, a little unsure of his mood.
The door cracks, and I peek inside, where all my clothes hang in his closet. Like they live there. Shoes. Panties in the clear drawers. Even my jewelry box!
“Hey!”
He turns toward me and shuffles me out of the little room, then closes the door behind him. Those fierce blue eyes narrow on my face. “You have beensucha bad girl. So fuckingnaughty, baby. Look at me.” With a finger, he tips my chin up, making me cease all movement.
“My bitch can earn her things back when she does as she’s told. Until then? You’ll sleep here.” The grip he tightens on my upper arm is not gentle. He spins me toward the middle of the room, pointing to a large, red velvet cushion with bolsters that’s sitting on the floor. “On this.”
“That’s adogbed.”
“Yes. For my pet…”
“Aiden, this wasn’t?—”
He grips my throat and squeezes. “What was that?”
“L-Lord?”
“Great. Now. You can speak when I ask you to. You’ll get your clothes returned when you obey. Otherwise, I’m in charge of what you wear. When you wear it.Howyou wear it. Where you go. Who you talk to.”
He walks me backward until I hit the wall, with nowhere else to go. His cut arms block me in as he leans closer. I’m surrounded by him. His scent like uncharted territory. “When you get tobreathe. Howdeepit will be. Food? Yeah. I’ll allow that, too. But only with permission.Everything, Ashlyn…”
The muscles in his neck tighten as he swallows, pressing his thumb to my lower lip to draw it down. His eyes follow the motion, mesmerized. “Everythingabout you is under my control now.”
Tingles shoot down my spine until I shiver. I try to ignore the way my body wants to sink into him. To yell,Yes, please! Rip everything from me until there’s only you…
“Tell me you understand.”
It takes a moment to gather the resolve to respond without my voice shaking. “Yes, my lord.”