She wasn’t looking at me, and she hadn’t answered me yet, but she also hadn’t kicked me out…or kicked me in the nuts, either. She said she believed me, which meant she was hesitating either because she really thought I was going to treat her the way those men had treated her mother. Or she didn’t want me the way I wanted her, and this was her way of trying to get out of having to tell me.

My confidence had been thrown by what happened with Mitzi, but my night with Paige had shown me that the electricity between us was real. I wasn’t imagining this connection. I just needed to get her to acknowledge it.

I took a step toward her, the downcast eyes and downturned head speaking to every one of my instincts as a Dom.

“Look at me.”

I hadn’t heard that command in my voice in a while, and a part of me worried that it’d make her balk. Instead, she raised her head. Her eyes were wide, and when her lips parted, I couldn’t stop myself from leaning down to kiss her again.

Only to find myself stopped by a hand on my chest.

“You stink.”

The blunt statement startled a laugh out of me. “What?”

“You stink,” she repeated, giving me a stern look. “If you want to get near me ever again, you need to clean up.”

I grinned, some of the tension easing. She wasn’t saying no. “Are you offering me the use of your shower?”

The saucy turn of her lips sent the blood rushing to my cock.

“If you don’t mind smelling like me.”

I took a step back because it was either that or drag her into the shower with me, which I was still trying to tell myself was a bad idea. Her shower wasn’t nearly big enough for the things I wanted to do to her.

“Promise you’ll be here when I get out.” I didn’t make it a request, and it felt so damn good to be giving orders again. So much so that I added another one. “Naked.”

A strange expression crossed her face, like she was coming to a decision on something. I only hoped it was a good one.

“I’ll give you a chance to prove you’re different,” she said, “but only if you’re honest about what you want.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I can’t be with someone who feels like they have to hide who they are.” Her voice was firm, but not harsh. “I don’t mean you have to take out a billboard or something, but if you really want to have a relationship with me, you have to be honest about who you are and what you want.”

“I–” My mouth snapped closed. A sick feeling settled in my stomach. “I don’t need it.”

She gave me a soft smile. “You want to know why it was so easy for me to believe that you were the same as all the men my mom had warned me about?”

“Because I’m a pervert.” I repeated Mitzi’s accusation with all the bitterness I felt. “Not really a news flash, Paige.”

“No.”

I blinked at the force she put into that single word.

“I went to that club with you, and I never once said anything there was perverted about what I saw. Different, yes. Shocking, okay, I’ll give you that. But why would you think I’d…” She gave me a hard look. “Is that why things were so…vanilla when we had sex?”

The knot in my stomach tightened. “I thought it was good for you. I mean, you came…right?”

She put her hand on my arm. “Yes, Reb. It was better than I’d ever thought my first time would be. I’m not complaining. I’m just saying that after the things I saw at Gilded Cage, I really thought you would’ve wanted to do…you know…” A blush stained her cheeks.

I shook my head, hands curling into fists. “No. I learned what happens when I force my…preferences on someone. I won’t do that to you.”

She stared at me for a moment, then her eyes narrowed. “That bitch.”

Okay, not what I expected.

“That’s what Mitzi said you did to her.”

Paige was furious, but not with me.

“I know you, Reb, and you’d never force yourself on someone. If she would’ve said no, you would’ve listened.”

“Of course I would’ve listened.”

“She’s full of shit,” Paige insisted. Her expression became sly. “Besides, how am I going to learn if you won’t teach me?”

“Teach you?”

She nodded, heat smoldering in her eyes. “I’m willing to risk it if you are, but you have to put it all on the line too.”