“As hot?” He raised an eyebrow. How was that possible?
“Yeah, I mean, I guess I’ve always just considered myself to be pretty normal looking and average.”
“Sweetie, there’s nothing average about you,” he told her. He lifted her chin with his hand so she was forced to look at him. “Do you understand? Nothing.”
She looked at him as though she wasn’t sure whether he was lying or not.
“Thank you,” she finally said.
“Good girl,” he kissed her again, happy that she wasn’t going to try to say anything bad about herself. If there was one thing that Doms hated, it was their submissives trash-talking themselves. Oh, Meredith might not be “his” yet, but she would be. He’d decided just now that he was going to win her over and steal her heart.
This time, she was even more interested in the kiss. If possible, she kissed him even harder and faster than she had before. She ran her hands up and down his chest. She reached for his neck and pulled him close.
“Meredith,” he whispered against her lips.
“Daniel,” she said, giggling a little. She pulled back and looked at him. “Wow.”
“What is it?”
“It’s just that I never thought I’d be locked up in a house with my boss, or that we’d be making out like teenagers in his dining room.”
“I suppose I never really thought about that, either.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why now?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve been working for you for a long time, Daniel. You’ve never so much as looked twice at me. Why did you suddenly decide to show an interest in me? Not that I mind,” she added quickly.
“Why did you suddenly decide to eat on my couch or talk back to me when I called you out on it?” He asked her in response.
“Valid question,” she said carefully. “I suppose I felt I’d had enough of your rules, and besides, you weren’t home, and I didn’t think I’d get caught,” she laughed. Her giggle was so sweet and lovely that he couldn’t quite contain his contentment at this moment. He reached for her, pulling her close, and he kissed her again.
And again.
And again.
Finally, he stopped. He had to stop before things went too far. He liked her, and that was the thing: he really liked her. He’d had plenty of one night stands with women. He’d had plenty of encounters where the only thing that mattered was coming. That wasn’t what things were going to be like with Meredith.
Not on his watch.
With her, things were going to be different and sweet. They were going to be wonderful, and he was going to do whatever he needed to take care of her and to show her just how important she was to him. He still wanted to top her. He wanted to play with her and tease her and make her fall apart, but he wanted more than that.
He wanted to worship her body.
He wanted to make her feel like she was the sexiest damn goddess alive, because she was.
She was.
Chapter Five
Three days into their quarantine, Alice came down with a cold.
“I’m fine,” she said, sniffling, but she was so congested that it sounded like “I’m find.”