Page 34 of The Vow Thief

I coughed, half choking on my sandwich and half savoring the power shift.“There you go again, making your orders sound like foreplay.”

His eyes cut to mine, flat and steady.“You couldn’t handle my foreplay, Ms. Thompson.”

I leaned in just enough for him to feel it.“And you couldn’t handle my subspace, Mr. Macon.”

For a second, his attention on me became too much, too intense. I wanted him to look away, yet I wanted him to look closer.

He reached for the empty wrapper, brushed a crumb off my hand, and stood.“You’ll stay here tonight. Back to your cell tomorrow.”

“Why?” I asked, my voice quieter.

“Because I said so.”

He turned for the door, but I called after him.“Sean.”

He stopped. Didn’t turn.

“Thank you.”

He didn’t answer. Just paused long enough for me to see the line of tension at his shoulders, the smallest break in his composure. Then he walked out, leaving me with the faint smell of coffee and soap, and a pulse that wouldn’t settle.

That night, I sat in the window of my room and stared outside until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

I couldn't stay in jail anymore. I thought of sneaking out, but I needed to pull myself together and stop acting like an idiot over a man who didn't meet his dick until he was forty years old.

I lay in the sterile smell of the hospital, and let the quiet hold me.

It had been a long time since silence felt like company.

The next morning, I woke to a nurse checking my vitals. Another followed with a covered plate. When she lifted the lid, I nearly drooled. Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, sausage links, jelly, and even a small blueberry muffin. Then came the drinks: coffee, orange juice, and water. For a moment, I forgot where I was

If this was Sean’s way of making me eat without speaking to me, fine. I’d take the silence with a side of bacon.

When Sean finally showed up to take me back to jail, he looked impatient, like this was just another errand he needed to finish.

“We have to get you back for a meeting with your attorney,” he said, handing me a folded stack of clothes.

It took me a second to realize they weren’t just any clothes. They were mine. My jeans. My sweater. My bra and panties.

I stared at them longer than I should have. The thought of him touching my panties, even for a second, made my face heat. I could not believe I was blushing, but I was.

He noticed. Of course he did.

“Didn’t take you for the shy type,” he said quietly, almost amused.

I looked away before he could see just how wrong he was.

He leaned in and whispered, "Is this an example of your subspace?"

I lost it. I laughed so loud it made the nurse, who was fumbling around with my paperwork, jump and lose a few papers.

Then, Sean Macon laughed.

God help me, I wanted to frame it, bottle it, crawl inside and live there.

Chapter 17 - Daddy's Little Girl

Lily's POV