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"I’ll prove it Tellleft to hide I can’t strip , I swear it"

But she rong She wasn’t stripped bare She hadn’t given hi That robe covered her He wasn’t inside her But as badly as he wanted her, ould taking her to bed again prove? She would welcome him Her peaked nipples alone proved that And fuck, he could smell her pussy The juicy, ripe flesh would be pluently he wanted her again She was an addiction, a disease with no cure

Fucking her noould prove nothing but it would ood--until he remembered that they had no trust left between the in his head The hours they’d talked about trust and control, and the essential need for theh Lucan’s head, he smiled

If Anka wanted to prove her trust, then by God, he’d let her try

"Take off your robe, get on the bed, and spread yourself wide for me"

She blinked at him, wide eyed "Lucan?"

"Do it now, or I leave Your choice Either do as I say and prove your trust, or I walk out and everything is over"

Her whole body treht to decipher his thoughts Orto happen They needed his resolve more than she needed his compassion

Finally, Anka sed and unbelted the silken robe The fliht of her lush, naked body, even after spending an entire night wrapped around her, nearly undid him Slowly, she backed to the bed and lay across it, ar himself to move slowly, control his temper and think carefully before he acted At the foot of his bed, he stood between her spread legs and stared, his eyes heavy-lidded Carnal fire singed hi froave it, maybe…maybe they could talk

"What is your least favorite implement of punishment? You’d better tell me the truth"

"I-I don’t know Shock most often used a crop I’m certain I would hate a whip No one but Mathias has ever used one onabout wielding one, but it would both take her to the edge of her fear and force her to decide whether she genuinely trusted hihtly braided leathery strip, black, long and lethal-looking He coiled it in his fist and held it up to her Instantly, Anka gasped at the sight, her eyes wide and pleading "No Please…"

"Make your choice Either stand up, walk to the wall, and put your face against it or get dressed and leave Choose now"

"Lucan…"

"You trust me or you don’t, Anka Will I really hurt you?"

"You’re angry" She sniffled back fresh tears

"I’er to you in anger Ever But I can tell you that until the stars fall from the sky You could tell me you believed me, but you have no more faith in me now than I do in you So pick"

He watched Anka quiver in fear as she got to her feet She glanced at the robe, and for a o

"If you touch that robe, we’re done"

She turned to hiood intentions If he let her put any sort of barriers between theain, Lucan feared they would be iive hiether

Just when he thought for certain she was going to grab the robe and shelter herself with it, she headed straight for the wall Stunned and a bit elated, he watched the sun strealow off her bare skin as she swayed toward the wall, then stopped, placing her forehead against it She clenched her fists God, she was terrified Lucan couldn’t ain, some stubborn, lovesick part of hio away and hold her But inside, he still reeled in disbelief that she’d kept such a huge bombshell from him for a century They wouldn’t survive another hour if he couldn’t believe that they could build trust again

Lucan followed her to the wall, stopping behind her He couldn’t resist the urge to press against her, rub his throbbing shaft into the cleft of her backside Daain

"Good, Anka Are you afraid?"

"Y-yes"

At least she’d been honest this time He wanted her to know that he appreciated how difficult it was for her to make herself vulnerable to him It raised his hopes a bit, showed that she trusted him on some level

"Thank you for that"

"Lucan" Anka spoke his na her head to rest on his shoulder

Their gazes connected, and the jolt kicked him all the way to his soul He itched to touch her, cast aside the whip, and simply feel his way over her body until she surrendered and he possessed her But trust must come before comfort, before reassurance, before pleasure

He brought the whip up in front of her, and she gasped, tried to shrink away She looked furiously for an escape, but between his body and his arive her one "You knohat this is, Anka You knohat it can do"

She looked at hi as she held in tears But she nodded "Yes"

"You know the pain it can give"

Anka squeezed her eyes shut as if she could stop the horrificher "Yes"

"I want to be clear You’re giving yourself over to ht for courage "If that’s what it takes to earn your trust again, y-yes"

Her voice treive him what he needed, and the man inside hiive him all her problems in the future, she had to know that she could

Lucan uncoiled the whip slowly, letting it slide over the skin of her back and arse She sucked in a harsh breath and tensed But she didn’t say a word as he smoothed it over her nape, trailed it over her shoulder, let it drape between her breasts

"Still afraid?"

"Yes"

Of it or hiet her to separate them in her mind so that she could focus on hi it by the handle, then set the rest of the coiled length in front of her "Touch it"

"W-what?"

"Touch it Put your fingers around it Caress it Explore it"

She hesitated, her fists clenching defiantly

"Do It," he co her head, she hunched her shoulders as if bracing for an explosion of pain

"Relax," he whispered in her ear "Breathe Then touch it"