Page 77 of Tangled Hearts

Well, that doesn’t clear up anything at all. “I’m so confused, Eli.”

“It’s like…” he starts but trails off, nibbling on his lower lip while he thinks. “I think I like it. When you’re touching me and stuff and… I don’t know. I get all squirmy inside. And you like… tease me about it. But you’re not mean.” His eyes find mine. “I don’t want you to be mean to me.” The sincerity in his gaze has my heart pounding.

“I would never be mean to you.”

He nods. “I know, but sometimes you kind of are, but in a nice way.” His cheeks flush bright pink. “Like when you tell me how much I’m leaking or how good I’m being, but you get this tone. Like condescending but not. Like I exist just for you.” My dick throbs at his words and the heat in his voice as he says them. “I like that.”

“So, you want to feel a little… owned?” I ask, studying his face.

His cheeks flush deeper, but he nods. “Yeah. Like I belong to you.”

Fuck. Fuck me. “Youdobelong to me, Eli.” His pupils blow wide, his breath hitching. “I can do that.” He nods, licking his lips. “This is turning you on, huh? You like being told you’re mine.”

He nods again. Slower this time, like his brain is starting to shut down. I can’t have that, so I straighten and help him sit back in front of me on the bed instead of being in my lap. “I think what you’re describing is a bit of a humiliation kink, baby. Maybe not full-blown, but a touch of it.”

His nose turns up. “I don’t want to be humiliated. I just said I don’t want you to be mean to me.”

I shake my head. “No, that’s not what I mean.” I crawl over him, shoving him back on the bed. His eyes widen, but I push on, trying to tell my dick to calm down because we’re proving a point and nothing more. “Look at you,” I whisper, letting my voice take on a teasing edge. “So desperate already. I don’t even have to touch you for you to want me.” Eli whimpers, his flush spreading down his throat. I brush my nose along it, feeling the heat from his skin. He arches up, whimpering. “Needy little doll. I bet you’re already leaking for me, aren’t you?”

He shudders. “Yeah. Yes. I—”

I climb off him, ignoring the way my dick is just as desperate as I was teasing him for being.

He sits up, inhaling a sharp breath. “That’swhat you mean?”

I chuckle. “Does it make you feel a little squirmy and embarrassed?”

He pauses, like he’s checking in on himself to see how it feels. “Yeah… Yes, actually. But I like it.”

I wink at him. “Teeny humiliation kink, doll. You don’t want me to be mean, and I never would. But you like being squirmy and embarrassed, and you like when I point it out.”

“Okay, yes. Fine. I like it.” He swallows hard. “Like,reallylike it. Ugh. Being hard because I’m hard about being embarrassed is sostupid.”

“Anything that gets you off isn’t stupid, doll. You’re allowed to like whatever you want. What else? What does ‘giving me control’ look like to you?”

It’s like with that confession from him, the floodgates open. “I like when you put your hand on my throat. It makes me feel safe, but I know you won’t likeactuallychoke me.”

I shake my head. “Of course not.”

“Right.” He nods. “I like when you dirty talk me. And when you tell me I’m good.” His cheeks haven’t lost their pink hue at all, and he looks fucking adorable and sinful all at the same time. “I like when you take over. When you tell me what to do. I don’t have to think, you know? I just have tobe.I like that. Not having to think. Just beingyours.I want you to have free rein to do whatever you want to me. Fuck me. Or make me suck you off. Touch me however you want. Anything. I just want to be yours. That probably sounds dumb.”

It doesn’t escape my notice that he’s listed two things we haven’t done. Right after telling me to do whatever I wanted with him. I brush my finger down his cheek. “Nothing about your wants is dumb. I’m good with all of that. For the record, you telling me you don’t want to think and just be mine might be the hottest thing I’ve ever heard. And also, no will always mean no. But do you want to pick a word that means no, anyway?”

He nods slowly. “Most people do red, right?”

“Some do.”

Eli gets a teasing glint in his eyes. “What if I want something ridiculous, like dinosauror apple pie?”

I can’t help the laugh that bursts from my chest. “Sure, doll. Whatever you want.”

He grins. “Okay. No means no. But also, apple pie means no. Now, we’ve done all the boring talking. Get undressed.”

“Look at you being all bossy seconds after telling me you want me to take control,” I say, laughing a bit. “I do have a question.”

“Ask away,” he murmurs, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to the side before lying back and shimmying out of his skirt. When he’s down to his panties—which are soaked in pre-cum, just like I knew they would be—he looks up at me. “Well, are you going to ask?”

“Sorry, doll.” I swallow hard. “I’m a little distracted.” I clear my throat, forcing my eyes to his. “When you said fuck you… Did you mean like now? Or sometime in the future? Like hypothetically?”