Page 52 of Ruthless Creatures

“What plan is that?”

He does another about-face, going from playful to scorchingly sexy as quick as two fingers snapping. He growls, “Making you mine.”

I decide this is a good time to sit down. I sink into a chair at the table and moisten my lips. My pulse is a roar like crashing ocean waves in my ears.

“You’re not saying anything.”

“Just recalibrating.”

“You already know I’m very direct.”

“What I didn’t know is that there’s no warning. I’m never ready for it. We’ll be going along at a normal speed, talking like two semi-strangers—”

“We’ve been over this. We’re not strangers.”

“—then out of nowhere,wham! Christian Grey appears and starts snapping his leather riding crop and barking commands.”

There’s a momentary pause, then Kage says, “I don’t know who this Christian Grey is, but it sounds like I’d like him.”

That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.“I need to say something before we go on our date.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It’s just that you’re very intense, Kage. You’re very… provocative. Forward.” The heat in my cheeks flares hotter. “Sexual.”

He waits for more. When I don’t continue, he prompts impatiently, “And?”

“And I’m not.”

After a beat, he says in a low voice, “I can’t tell if you’re saying you don’t like it or you do.”

“It’s a little complicated, actually.”

I hesitate, unsure how much to reveal, but decide it’s too late to back out. If I didn’t want to talk about it, I shouldn’t have brought it up. “If I’m being totally honest, I do like it. The things you say shock me, but they also…”

His voice drops another octave. “What?”

My pulse throbbing, I whisper, “Turn me on.”

The silence crackles. I hear him breathing. It’s different than before. Rougher.

“I need you to know I’ll never hurt you. I need you to trust that. To trust me, without reservations. Until you can, all of this is up to you. You call the shots. You make the rules. You have my word I won’t do anything you don’t specifically ask me to do.”

I balk at the thought of having to specifically ask him for anything. “See, that’s just it. I’m not, um…”

Be a big girl, Natalie. Just tell him the truth.

Keeping my voice as even as possible, I say, “I’m not so sure I can be as direct as you are. Truth be told, I’m pretty conservative.” I clear the frog from my throat. “In bed.”

His voice husky, he says, “You think I don’t know that?”

My stomach sinks. “It’s that obvious?”

“What’s obvious is that you’re so fucking sweet I just want to sink my teeth into every inch of you. If you’re worried you’ll disappoint me, don’t be. You’re perfect. You’re a wet dream. If you don’t like something I say or do, tell me. I want everything on the table, because I don’t want to unknowingly do something to fuck this up. That means you’re going to have to communicate with me, good or bad.”

He chuckles. “Which, so far, you’ve been very good at.”

I’m all out of breath, and the only thing I’m doing is sitting down.