The silence broke only with Anthony’s profanity.

“Fuck.”

He swore. Twice. He sat back, his hands resting on his thighs. A tendon in his neck tensed until I thought it would pop. I rose to my elbows, carefully refolding my legs.

His frustration mirrored my own. I looked away.

“You’re a virgin?”

He moved off the bed, fixing himself to tame the raging erection straining to return to my heat. I edged to the pillows, plucking one from the set to hold in my own comforting hug.

He only stared.

But this wasn’t his usual attempt to make me feel vulnerable. This was real astonishment.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“You lied to me.”

“I know.”

“I told you I expected honesty.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Christ, Morgan. If I knew that—”

“You’d have stopped?”

“Fuck, no.” His jaw tensed. “I’d have gone slower. Trying to a teach a virgin the things we do at Duchess? It’s madness. You don’t know the first thing about your body, your mind, your desires.”

That wasn’t fair. “I can figure it out.”

“Could you?”

Not a fucking clue. “Anthony, sir, I know I hid this from you, but—”

“No.”

I quieted. His words were sharp, severe. He pointed me to the bed.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

“What?”

“You lied to me, Morgan. I told you we had to be honest with one and other. That’s the only way this will work.”

“I didn’t have to tell you. I could have let you take me.”

The thought seemed to both arouse and frustrate him. “Would that have been fair to you?”

My body still ached for him. “I wouldn’t have complained.”

“You deserve more than a quick rut, Morgan.” He rubbed his face. “And I need a submissive that I know will be honest with me.”

My pulse raced. “Anthony—no. I promise. I just got scared.”

He sensed my distress, but the hand to my cheek wasn’t the comfort I needed. “I never want you to be afraid of me, Morgan. Never.”

“I wasn’t afraid of you…” My voice weakened. “I was afraid of losing you.”

“Losing me?”

“You don’t understand…” I hated revealing this miserable ugliness to him, but the tears threatened to reveal so much more. “You’re the best thing in my life, sir. The most fun. The most dangerous. I’ve never known I could feel this way, that my body could do so many things and like so many…” I looked away. “I’m inexperienced, Anthony. But I’m not that naïve. I want you. I know that. And I’m not afraid to tell you how much it’d mean to me if you were my first.”

A long moment passed.

One desperate heartbeat. Then another. And another.

Anthony sighed, but his calmness returned. He pulled back the sheets, not saying a word until I was tucked under the blankets. Safe. Warm.

Protected.

“Sleep,” he ordered. “We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

“Aren’t…you coming to bed?”

“And trust myself to not ravage you in your sleep?” He sucked in a frustrated breath. “If I get in this bed, nothing is going to stop me from impaling that sweet, innocent pussy all night long.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Yes, it does.” The warmth in his voice betrayed a sudden mischief. “Especially when I have plans for you.”

“Sir?”

“Sleep, Morgan.” He teased me with a hungry glance. “Tomorrow…I’m going to teach you the true meaning of submission.”