Page 113 of Their Famous Dominant (Office Intrigue Duet 4)
“Clarissa needs this,” Xander said. “She needs you to focus on her. She needs a Dom who is willing to put forth the effort. If she even thinks you’ll be gone on the next strong breeze, she’ll never open up.”
Yes, that was obvious.
“Take her somewhere. To Chicago, your house, anywhere. It doesn’t matter,” Mercedes said again. “I’m putting her house on the market on Monday. She’s basically packed up, so I can get the rest of her things moved to my condo while she’s gone. It’ll give me a little extra time to get the house staged. It needs some work, so it’s best if she’s out of the way.”
They were giving me the perfect opportunity, which I wasn’t opposed to using to my advantage.
However, kidnapping Clarissa wasn’t an option.
I would simply have to find a way to convince her.
And the thought of deprograming the woman … that was a task I was up for. But even I knew that was going to be far more difficult than it sounded.
*
Not once since Dichotomy opened to members had I been eager for the place to clear out, but tonight I was. And by the time the last person left at midnight, I was damn near coming out of my skin. Bishop and Zeke had disappeared into the Doms’ lounge so they would be close if needed.
With the building secured, I headed up to my apartment, fully expecting to find Clarissa and Troy asleep somewhere. I had left them for too damn long without supervision and I wouldn’t blame them if they’d passed out from exhaustion.
When I opened the door, I found them both kneeling on the floor in the living room. At least they’d had the sense to retrieve throw pillows from the sofa. I should’ve considered the fact that I wasn’t coming up for an hour and a half, but I hadn’t.
Another failure on my part.
I didn’t like to fail, yet I seemed to be doing a lot of that these days. Losing my control with them, putting my own needs in front of theirs, even letting Clarissa top from the bottom. I couldn’t seem to get my shit together. I wasn’t sure I deserved to call myself their Dom.
After closing and locking the door, I placed my keys on the table and stepped farther into the room, not stopping until I was standing between them.
“Please stand and greet me appropriately,” I stated firmly, slipping back into the role I was born to play.
Clarissa rose slowly, her eyes never lifting from the floor. When she turned to face me, I didn’t say a word, wondering what she would do.
Nothing.
That was exactly what she did.
However, Troy didn’t do nothing. He moved to step in front of me, smiled, and greeted me with, “Good evening, Master.”
“Good evening, boy.” I slid my hand into his hair and tilted his head back, locking my eyes with his. “I apologize for leaving you waiting.”
He didn’t respond, but I saw the concern burning in his gaze. I knew he had no idea what my expectations were, but he was definitely picking up quickly.
I released his hair, then turned to Clarissa. “Sunshine?”
Those golden eyes finally lifted to my face. “Yes, Master?”
“How do you think you should greet me?”
“I don’t know, Master. You haven’t told me.” She tilted her head down once again.
For fuck’s sake!
I knew the woman had a brain, so why wasn’t she using it?
I didn’t like her answer one bit, but she was technically correct. I hadn’t told her specifically. Then again, I shouldn’t have to. That wasn’t what I was looking for.
I made sure she heard my disappointment when I said, “Well, an acknowledgement of my presence would go a long way.”
Her head snapped up, wide eyes peering back at me. She obviously realized her mistake. “I’m sorry, Master.”
I cupped her cheek. “Don’t apologize, pet. But in the future, if you aren’t sure what I prefer, I expect verbal communication.”
“Yes, Master.”
The fact that they were both still naked was a good sign. However, it also bothered me that I’d left them for so long.
I sighed. I was going to have to get a handle on this. No way could I let my disappointment cause them discomfort. It was one thing to punish them when they knew what they’d done wrong, but something else entirely for me to retreat without explaining myself.
“Are either of you hungry?” Because I was starving.
“I could eat, Master,” Troy stated exuberantly, causing me to chuckle.
“And you, pet?” I tilted Clarissa’s chin up.
“Only if it pleases you, Master.”
Son of a bitch.
I dropped my hand from her chin and bit back the anger that threatened to escape. This was not how I’d envisioned my time with them going. Clarissa was acting like she had absolutely no desire to be with me and it pissed me off.
