Page 28 of The Intimacy of Control

“Just me?”

“Just you,” I whimpered.

His fingers around my neck tightened—he wasn’t squeezing. He was showing me who owned me. Who had power over me. Who had control. “Such a good slut for me. I could do whatever I wanted to right now, couldn’t I?”

Yes, he could. I’d do anything for him.

“I could take complete advantage of your body.”

I wanted him to.

“I could bend you over this sink and fuck you. Or edge you until you were begging for me. You’d let me, wouldn’t you, Jackson?”

Anything.

“Talk to me. Say it.”

I swallowed back a moan. “Yes. Anything you wanted, Forrest. Anything.”

His hand moved away from my throat. “Get in the tub, sweetie. Let’s get you clean and fed. Then maybe I’ll give you something else.”

The tub.

I opened my eyes, remembering where I was. I’d gone somewhere else for a minute there. Everything had faded away, leaving just me and Forrest in a space where only we existed and nothing else. I’d almost floated away. I’d almost left the world as I knew it, orbiting Forrest like he was the sun and I was the earth.

A tub that big wasn’t going to work. I’d drown. I’d slip and fall, and I’d drown. I couldn’t do that again. Not even if Forrest was the one asking me to.

Shaking my head, I turned to him. “I want to shower. Please.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You sure? I thought you were fine with a bath.”

“I changed my mind.”

“I got it all warm, and there’s Epsom salt in there to help your muscles. Might make you less sore.”

“Thank you, but I want a shower.”

He nodded and started walking back to the tub. “Okay, no problem. If that’s the case, I’ll start cooking, and I should be done by the time you get out. I have a towel hanging on the wall over there, and your clothes are hanging underneath.”

I didn’t look away from the tub until it started draining. If I didn’t let it out of my sight, it couldn’t hurt me. Right? There was no way I’d slip on the floor and somehow fall face first into the water. I wouldn’t wake up surrounded by miles of water, unable to fight the current, wanting to scream but not being able to. I wouldn’t float away. I wouldn’t scream into my lungs instead of into the water.

I’d be safe.

“Hey, you okay, sweetie?”

I looked up at Forrest, whose head was tilted. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. I guess I’m still groggy.”

He switched the shower on, letting the water run on his hand for a second before walking back toward me. As he came closer, I didn’t dare move back. I wanted to show him that I was fine. That nothing was wrong. “Come find me in the kitchen when you’re done.”

“Okay.”

I wasn’t expecting the kiss on my forehead he gave me. I wasn’t expecting it, or how it’d felt just as intimate as when he had his hand around my neck. Or how easy it was to breathe when he was in front of me.

I was so fucked.

chapter eleven

Seeing Jack in my clothes was an otherworldly experience. If I hadn’t been hell-bent on feeding him before eating him, I would’ve thrown him against the kitchen counter already. But I could control myself. Most of the time.