Page 69 of Double Down

“Green means you’re good. Yellow means you need to stop and reassess, and we either stop or keep going. And you’re going to have a word that ends it all. You say it, even as a whisper, and I’ll stop. No matter what we’re doing. Pain or pleasure…it all ends if you say it.”

I can see the rapid rise and fall of her chest, her arousal already making her pupils dilate.

“Pick a safe word.” We both know she’ll need it.

Her answer comes almost instantly, making me impossibly harder than I already am. “Titans.”

This woman doesn’t even know how perfect she is. But I’ll show her, if I don’t break her first.

When the tension between us is almost at a boiling point, I motion to the rug at my feet. “I want you to crawl for me.”

She doesn’t move to her knees. Her lips curl into a smirk, and she crosses her arms over her chest.

We’re using the light system, yes, but this is where the lines start to blur into something we both understand without speaking. She pushes me, and I push back harder.

It’s why we need the light system. Because I’m going to push her until she’s ready to break.

“Don’t make me say it again,” I warn.

Her chin lifts, defiance lighting her eyes. “Maybe I’m not in the mood to crawl.”

My jaw tightens. Little brat. She knows exactly what that does to me. She wants this as much as I do.

“Good,” I murmur, circling her like a predator sighting prey. “Then this will be interesting.”

This game isn’t pain for pain’s sake—it’s so much more than that. It’s about the peace that we’re all searching for.

Phoenix is going to fight me, and she’s going to lose her control. She will be mine. To use…and maybe hurt a little…to that point that exists on the line between pleasure and pain.

My little kitten may have teeth and claws, but she doesn’t truly want to be in charge. She wants me to strip all of that from her and give her true power.

She wants the peace that comes from being controlled by a man she can trust.

And while she sure as shit can’t trust me with her heart, shecantrust me with her physical body.

I need the control. I’m going to use it to strip away the noise in her head until there’s nothing left but the sound of my voice. And in return, I get to burn off this restless rage that’s been knotting tighter inside me every day since she moved into the penthouse.

“The rules are simple, Kitten. You know that. I give a command and you obey. If you don’t… if you misbehave, then I get the pleasure of correcting you however I see fit. If I ask you what color you are, what do you say?”

If I do my job right, she learns that obedience feels better than defiance. Brat-taming isn’t about breaking her—it’s about reminding both of us I can restore order to something while the rest of the world burns.

“Green is good. Yellow means stop and check. Titans means we stop for good.” Her voice is sure, and the pleasure in her eyes is building.

“Do you want to stop?”

She shakes her head.

“Then crawl to me, Kitten.”

The subtle shake of her head is answer enough. My kitten is refusing to do what I tell her.

“Last chance.” I let steel bleed into my tone. “Get on your knees and crawl to me, or I’ll have to punish you. Don’t think I won’t remind you exactly who and what you are.”

I lean in a bit closer. “Who you belong to.”

Her dark-pink lips curve into a wicked smile. “Make me.”

I move before the smile fades, catch her wrist, and spin her so fast her back taps the wall. My palm plants beside her head, caging her in.