Without another word, he left the room, leaving the door open between them. The carpet in the bedroom was thick and warm on his bare feet. He used the remote to turn on the fireplace. Donning a pair of loose drawstring pants, he made coffee right there in the bedroom using the setup he had installed in the corner next to the bar. It might be a long few hours. They weren’t going to make it to the restaurant after all tonight.
Absinthe ran his fingers through his hair several times, agitated, worried, afraid that even if Scarlet stayed with him he would still lose because he wouldn’t ever have the courage to tell her what he needed from her. Role-playing out of their house was one thing. She played the librarian very well. She hid the real woman behind those glasses and skirts, so role-playing would come easily to her, but that wasn’t what he needed. He wished it was that simple.
Pushing open the sliding glass door, he stepped outside onto the verandah. The sun was still high, but already a few wisps of fog had begun to drift in, looking like gray fingers. He set the mug on the railing and watched the waves crashing onto the bluffs and the rocks out in the midst of the blue of the sea.
Sometimes the sight of the waves would bring him peace, but now, all he saw in his mind was Scarlet sitting in the bathtub, her red hair piled on her head and her green eyes looking up at him. Just the thought of her like that, doing what he asked of her, waiting without moving, brought up a million different erotic images.
He caught up the coffee cup and went back inside, closing the sliding glass door carefully and setting the cup near the fireplace. He paced back and forth on the thick carpet, making certain he had the discipline not to look into the bathroom to see if Scarlet was doing as he told her.
He hadn’t used his full ability on her, but he never would. Not even with her consent. She would never know and that would make her a robot. Had she been susceptible like he thought she would be, she would have known but would have been helpless to do anything but obey. That way, she would have been able to signal to him if she didn’t like something.
“Damn it,” he whispered again. He would have taken a chance had he been able to command her. Now what was he going to do? He would never be satisfied. Over time it would become a problem, but he couldn’t live without her now that he knew she existed.
He continued to pace, letting the time pass, minutes turning to an hour. The water would cool and then grow cold. What would she do? This was the easiest way to find out whether or not Scarlet had the resolve to obey his command on her own. She would be uncomfortable. There was no reasonable explanation that she would be able to give to herself. He told himself she would never stay there. The thought that she would sent heat rushing through his veins. He forced himself to stop pacing and sit in the chair in front of the fireplace with a fresh cup of coffee and drink it slowly.
He spent another hour reading. Most of the time, he couldn’t see the words on the page. He didn’t hear the sound of the water splashing. Not a single sound. The sun began to sink. He got up and stretched and left the room before he gave in to the need to check on her. Thirty more minutes. If she could really last thirty more minutes, if she could choose to obey his command on her own, making it her choice without the reinforcement of his voice, they would have a chance together.
He paced through the entire length of the house for the next quarter of an hour, the energy building until all he could think about was slamming her up against the wall and burying himself in her. The erotic images wouldn’t stop flooding his mind. She still hadn’t made a sound. He stalked back to the bedroom and warmed towels and made hot chocolate before making his way into the master bath. The temperature had dropped by several degrees.
Scarlet sat in the bathtub exactly as he had left her. There was no attempt to cover up. No attempt to pull her knees up or make herself warmer. She was shivering and there were goose bumps on her skin. Her head was still turned looking over her shoulder, her eyes on the doorway. She focused on him immediately. Utterly. Completely.
His cock leapt to attention, became hardened steel. He continued straight to the tub, bent down and twisted the stopper to drain the water. It was extremely cold. He held out his hand to her. “You did good, Scarlet. I’m proud of you.” He kept his voice soft, stroking praise over her like soft feathers brushing her skin.