Page 25 of Sugar (Gilded #1)

Control

EASTON

M addie was getting anxious.

And it would’ve made me hard, but that ship had sailed. I’d been hard since she’d opened the door. Before that, honestly, but the physical response to her had reached painful levels when I’d seen she was in the same white dress she’d worn to the auction.

When I’d bought her.

I’d known she wanted me to dive into the impending conversation, but I hadn’t. We’d spent the drive to the restaurant discussing the start of her week, my court prep, and the weather.

Anything to extend her torture because I got off watching it.

Turnabout was fair play.

She scanned the drink menu in her hand, but I doubted she could tell me a single item on it. Her gaze kept lifting to me, going from furtive to bracing alertness every time I shifted.

Which meant I continued doing it.

“Madeline.”

Her wide eyes shot to mine.

“Want your usual drink?”

As fucking ridiculous yet fitting as it is since it’s also sweet, cute, and young…

She shook her head. “I have a class at eight tomorrow.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that? We could’ve rescheduled. Or I’d have left work earlier.” I was about to suggest we go grab a quick burger instead, but she waved off my concern.

“It’s not like I go to bed before one or so. I just don’t want alcohol slowing me down even more.”

“You need to start going to bed earlier.”

“Why? I’m fine.”

“Because I said so.” I set the drink menu down since I couldn’t have built a better opening.

Usually, I didn’t give a shit what my subs did outside of our time together. It wasn’t my business. Maddie wasn’t my sub, though. She was, for lack of a better phrase, my sugar baby. That gave me more reach. More options.

More control.

Unless she threw the burning candle on the table at my crotch for suggesting the changes.

I nudged the candle farther from her reach. “I’d like to negotiate a few contract amendments.”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth before slowly releasing it. “Did I, uh, do something wrong on Saturday?”

“No. Fuck no. It was the opposite. That was the first time one of those dinners didn’t feel like hell on earth. That’s why I’d like more.” Christ, I was nervous. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like that outside of a big case. “I want you to be my sugar baby. Officially.”

She leaned back, and there was a flash of something mixed with her surprise. I might’ve been imagining it, though, because there was no trace of anything but confused amusement in her voice. “I thought you didn’t like that phrase.”

“I don’t. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t accurate.”

“Isn’t that what I already am?”

“In a manner of speaking, but I’d like more.”

“How so?”

“I work a lot of hours at a stressful job. There are times, like tonight, where I’d like company after a long day. Would you be open to that?”

“So… extending our arrangement beyond business functions?” At my chin lift, she nodded. “I’d like that.”

Some of the tension in my gut lessened, but I didn’t accept her immediate answer. She needed to know what she was agreeing to. “There are some stipulations. Rules and guidelines you’ll be expected to follow.”

Her words came out as little more than an airy breath, and that shot straight to my dick. “Like what?”

“That I have access to you twenty-four seven.” I held up a hand to cut off her protests. “Unless it’s school. You’ll send me your schedule, and I won’t interfere during those times.”

Usually.

“What if I have other plans?” she asked.

“Depends on what they are but assume that plans with me will supersede anything else.”

She didn’t laugh in my face at that, but she also looked more hesitant than she had moments ago. It also made her question further before she instantly agreed. “What else?”

Smart girl.

“You’ll take and use my card. That money is yours regardless of anything else.

If you’re agreeable to this, you’ll be compensated for your time.

Beyond that, you’ll accept whatever I give you without making it into an argument.

If you don’t like it, that’s one thing. I want to know that.

But don’t fight me for the sake of fighting. Understood?”

“I’m not saying I agree to that, but for the purpose of moving these negotiations along, let’s say I understand. Anything else?”

I’d spent the time since our trial run on Saturday formulating my proposal.

On the exceedingly rare occasion that I was roped into helping someone—usually Tripp—negotiate a contract, we went in with a list of necessities, plus a few reaches.

Things he didn’t expect to get but were worth a shot anyway.

That wasn’t how I viewed my list of demands for Maddie. When it came to her, I wanted everything.

Or everything I would allow myself to have.

With a special kind of shit timing, the server approached and cut off our conversation. He did his spiel, but I didn’t hear a damn word out of his mouth. My focus was on the rapid rise and fall of Maddie’s chest.

And the hardness of her nipples pressed against her thin dress. Was it the frigid AC blasting through the restaurant… or our conversation?

I wasn’t sure.

If I pull them into my mouth over the fabric, will it turn see-through so I can see how perfect her pretty pink nipples are?

As if she could hear my thoughts, she broke eye contact first, and a blush spread across her cheeks. She gave a soft smile to the server, and I wanted to put my fist through his jaw that it was aimed at him and not me. “I’ll have water, thank you.”

“Same,” I said, though I knew I could use something stronger before I fucked everything up.

Like dragging her into the bathroom to test the transparency of her dress.

Or by demanding she give me more than just her time and company.

That she give me herself.

All of her.

I pushed those thoughts down and worked to get control of myself.

Not that I was selfless by ignoring my desires for her wellbeing.

My decision was made purely out of self-preservation.

There was a high likelihood that my overbearing needs would make her run for the hills.

I wasn’t ready for that outcome. Playing it slow would prolong the inevitable while I savored what control I was able to exert over her.

I might not have power over her body, but having it over her time, finances, and life was no small consolation.

And, pathetically, I would take that over nothing.

The server walked away, and I leaned forward. “That’s another thing. I’ll order for you. If you want something specific, you can let me know, but otherwise the choice will be mine.”

Her brows lowered. “Why?”

Because I bought you.

“Because,” was all I said.

For the first time during our conversation, she looked tempted to leave the table—the negotiation one and the literal one. But it wasn’t my heavy-handedness giving her pause. “Are you going to order me nothing but salads or something?”

“Do you want nothing but salads?”

She recoiled in horror. “No.”

“Then no. Along with your schedule, send a list of dietary restrictions, dislikes, and preferences.”

“That’s doable. What’s your next demand?”

I leaned back and watched her restlessly shift under my stare. Running my thumb across my jaw, I laid it all out. “My list will be continuously evolving, and we won’t always have a negotiation about every new item. You’ll do what I say when I say it.”

She opened her mouth then closed it before repeating the process.

The server returned, giving her the reprieve she needed, but one I wasn’t happy she was getting. I wanted to hear her immediate thoughts, not ones she had time to formulate.

I swallowed down my frustrations and ordered a variety of sushi and dim sum. What I chose must’ve been fine by her because she didn’t interject.

Unease prickled at the back of my neck when her silence stretched even after he walked away. “Tell me what’s going through your head right now, guppy.”

She pressed her lips into a thin line before parting them to stammer, “W-what kinds of things will you tell me to do?”

“Whatever I decide. What you eat, drink, do.” I skewered her with a look. “Even when you sleep. If I say I want to see you in a specific dress, you’ll wear it. If I say you’re attending a dinner with me, you’ll attend. If I want you to come see me at work, you’ll come.”

But not in the way I want.

Her brows lowered. “You want control over all that?”

More than I want my next breath or my left nut.

“Yes,” I said simply.

“But why ?”

“Control issues, remember?”

She looked like she wanted to say more before stopping. After a long beat, she asked, “What happens if I don’t do something?”

“Nothing. If you agree, that’s it. You’re agreeing to all of it.”

“So there’s no punishment?”

I narrowed my eyes watching for any cue or tell. “Do you want there to be a punishment?”

Punishment wasn’t my kink. Obedience was. But if that was something Maddie was into, I would find a way to accommodate that without launching over the line.

“No, no, that’s not…” She shook her head, not as a denial, but like she was trying to clear it. “I’m just trying to make sure I’m clear on your expectations.”

Fuck, so sweet, and she doesn’t even get it yet.

“There’s no punishment,” I said. “If you don’t enjoy—or at least tolerate—the things I tell you to do, then the arrangement isn’t working. We scale back to the original one, or we part ways.”

Her brows lowered as she chewed on her bottom lip again.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I demanded.

“I’m just going over it all. It’s a lot to process.” Her answer might’ve been the truth, but it wasn’t the whole one. That wasn’t all she was thinking.

“Madeline.”

The one word was enough, and she let out a small sigh. Fidgeting with the napkin in her lap, she admitted, “I don’t see what you get out of this.”

You.

Before I could think of a diplomatic way to say that—one that wouldn’t send her fleeing out the door—she continued. “I just assumed most of the men in this kind of situation are old and can’t get a date otherwise. But you’re not like that.”

“Thanks for noticing,” I deadpanned.

“What I’m saying is that you could easily get a revolving rotation of dates that don’t involve any arrangement. I’m not getting why this is worth it to you.”

“I like the control I get. I can’t deny that I also liked having you on my arm on Saturday.”

Her lips tipped. “It did seem effective in keeping Violet Augustian at bay.”

“Violet is bad, but the men are worse. Most are miserable in their marriage and think that every man should settle down to be miserable, too. Or they push the women they can’t fuck onto the single men to live vicariously through them.

Either way, it’s a pain in the ass. One I didn’t have to deal with because I had you there.

” I leaned forward. “More than that, Maddie, is the simple fact that I enjoy your company.”

I thought that would earn me a smile. At the very least, the soft expression she got when she seemed happy.

Instead, she looked panicked as she dropped her napkin on the table and stood. “Excuse me.”

The panic she felt shot through me, and I reached out to clasp her wrist before she could get far.

Before she could get away from me.

“Wait.” I stood and used my hold to tug her closer until she had to crane her neck to look at me. “You don’t have to decide right this second. Take a few days. Hell, take a week. Okay?”

She dropped her face and kept it down. “I’m just going to the restroom.”

I couldn’t stop myself from tightening my hold on her. If we were at Gilded, I would’ve used the cuffs that were attached to some of the tables and chairs to ensure she stayed. But we weren’t there.

And if she was telling the truth, torturing her when she had to use the bathroom wouldn’t help my case.

Grudgingly, I slowly released my hold. She spun, but I grabbed her hip to halt her again. That time, though, it was so she didn’t slam into the approaching server who carried a precarious tray full of food.

I tugged her closer, stopping just before she was pressed to my body and would feel the unmistakable effect she had on me. “Hurry back.”

She nodded without looking at me as she dislodged herself from my grip. I watched her speed away.

It doesn’t matter if she tries to leave.

I’ll just find her and bring her back.