“I understand and respect that. I’m close to my family too and I want you to meet them. Let’s take this one step at a time. We didn’t start off in a traditional sense but we can make this work.”

She turned into his embrace and he buried his face in her hair, the tension and panic waning as her scent lulled him.

“Will you stay over tonight? It’s closer to Cade’s from my house than from yours,” he spoke softly, his fingers sliding through her hair.

“I want to try and help you through this but I have feelings too. I need to be with you. If we’re going to be serious and have a relationship, I can. But I need to know for sure what you want.”

“I told you what I want. You and I, exclusive, serious. Can we see what happens tonight and go from there? I’m not leading you on. I do want you. Very much.” Every few words he paused to kiss a different place on her neck, pushing her hair to the side.

Melting into him she sighed, half contented, half unsure. Each time he touched her, she wanted him more. She knew it would be the same for him. Felt guilty in a sense that part of his attraction to her would be based on their new DNA and the mating than just plain old-fashioned lust. Still, as Grandma was so fond of saying, fate was fate. You sucked it up and got to it or you wallowed but wallowing never got you anywhere.

“I can stay. I always carry a duffel with me. It’s in my car.”

“Good.” He hesitated and looked into her eyes. “Tegan, I need you. I need to touch you, hold you. Be inside you.”

A shiver of need ran through her at his words, at the feel of thinly disguised desire emanating from him, rolling off his body in wave after wave. She managed a shaky nod.

Holding a hand out, he kept his eyes on her until she took it. The house was a split level and she followed him up a short flight of stairs and down a hallway to his bedroom.

It was warm and masculine, like he was. Black and white prints hung on the wall. Upon closer examination, the photographs were sexual, sensual—the long line of a back, the shine off a black stiletto heel, a wrist wrapped in a cuff. Heat flushed her skin as she slowly walked from frame to frame.

“You’ve got a whole side to you I never imagined. You’re a sensualist, Ben. These are amazing.”

“You like them?” Pleasure lit his face.

She nodded. “I really do.”

“I took them.”

She turned to look at him. “More surprises. Well.” One brow rose as she turned to look back at the wrist in the cuff. Jealousy rose within her. How the man could think she’d be sleeping in the room where some picture of another woman he’d dominated hung on the wall was beyond her.

Jealousy knifed through Ben and he realized it belonged to her. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head but he took her chin in his hands. “Tegan, you either submit to me or you don’t. I asked you a question. I expect you to be totally honest with me and I’ll do my best to do so with you. Now I felt it, I felt your distress and your jealousy. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I hate this.” She stepped back out of his reach.

“Don’t hold yourself away from me, Tegan.”

“Fuck you, Ben! God. You know I didn’t plan this. I didn’t plan to have a nice sexual interlude turn into a claiming. I spent a lot of time on my own, doing my own thing. You f**k me and walk away and want me back on your terms and now you want me to spill my guts on your terms too. It isn’t always about you, Ben. Not everything is about your goddamned expectations.”

Standing there, Ben watched her through hooded eyes. “Submission isn’t going to be a game, Tegan. We’re in my bedroom, this is my domain. Part of our agreement. Your well being is my job just as your pleasure is my job. You aren’t letting me do that job when you won’t be honest with me. Now, tell me what’s wrong.”

Her annoyance began to turn into something else as she met his eyes, and even her agitation at him began to fall away as he fully owned his power as a dominant man. His vehemence moved her even as the sharp and yet even tone of his voice made her pu**y wet. Suddenly, she wanted to know just what he’d do to punish her disobedience.

Ben’s agitation at her refusal to submit suddenly dissolved as he watched her face and knew she was deliberately pushing his limits to see how he’d react. Of course his woman would be a willful submissive. He wanted to laugh but kept his face impassive as he circled her body.

“Are you going to tell me, Tegan? Or—” he leaned in close to whisper in her ear, “—are you being naughty on purpose to see what happens?”

Her bottom lip caught between her teeth and he smiled, standing back. “All right then. Strip off and kneel at the foot of the bed. I’ll be back.” Without looking over his shoulder to make sure she obeyed, he walked into the hallway, heading into the room next door.

Taking his time, he got hold of his rampant emotions and his near-overwhelming need for her as he looked through his toy drawers to find just what she needed. He’d gone to his favorite toy store earlier, on his way home from work and picked up some things just for her. He grabbed those and the blindfold and looked out the window for another few minutes as he planned out just what he’d do to her.

Tegan removed her clothes with trembling hands. She wasn’t afraid of Ben Stoner.

No, she yearned for him, wanted him to take her in hand and let her know he’d take care of her no matter what. Needed to know he’d make things all right and cherish her above all others.