Under His Care Read Online Free PDF Page B

being overly sensitive.”
    Blake took a long sip of wine. “So this master slave deal,” he said, smacking his lips. “It’s like some kind of sexual fetish, right?”
    She sighed. “I don’t know what it is. I just know that it’s more than a sexual preference. It affects the whole way he interacts with me. I have to follow his orders, basically. He’s in charge and I do what he says, and if I don’t do what he tells me to do than he pulls away.”
    Blake made a face. “I can see why you’re trying to stay away from him,” he told her. “And I get that you two care about each other, but if there’s that kind of power imbalance, I don’t see how the relationship can work.”
    “Exactly,” Kennedy replied.
    “But then again, maybe you like it this way?” he said.
    She turned her eyes toward him, staring. “I like it this way?”
    “Maybe you like being his…you know…slave.”
    “I don’t want to be anybody’s slave, Blake.”
    “Are you sure?” he asked, seeming innocent.
    “Don’t be a jerk.”
    He continued to look at her. “No judgment, Kennedy.”
    Suddenly, she was furious. “You’re just being an asshole now,” she said, pushing her chair back and starting for the door.
    “Kennedy!” Blake cried out, as she pushed past him and opened the door.
    “Leave me alone,” she yelled back at him.
    “I wasn’t trying to be mean, Kennedy,” he said, but it was too late. She left Blake’s apartment and went back into her own, tears of anger and sadness streaming down her cheeks.
    She slammed her door shut and then looked around the room for something to throw, something to break. There was nothing that seemed to serve her purposes. Kennedy grabbed a book and threw it on the floor but it didn’t make her feel any better.
    Everything inside her was wound so tightly, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
    Why had Blake’s question upset her so much?
    Had he truly hit a nerve?
    No. He was just being a jerk, attempting to get me upset because he’s jealous of my feelings for Easton.
    Kennedy began pacing around her apartment, fists clenched, looking for something to do, anything to take her mind off of the churning in her belly and the coursing blood in her veins.
    “Dammit,” she muttered through clenched teeth.
    Everything felt so slow. Every second that ticked by was moving at a snail’s pace, and she had nothing but time in front of her, nothing to beat back the dreary emptiness without Easton Rather in her life.
    She hated Easton for ever having existed, and she hated herself for having pursued him, because now she’d never be able to forget him.
    He was going to haunt her for the rest of eternity. At that moment, she realized that her temper tantrum had absolutely nothing to do with Blake or his comments, and everything to do with her own fears and wants and needs.
    There was a barely audible knock on her apartment door. “Kennedy?” Blake called from the hallway.
    She turned, feeling slightly guilty and childish for having stomped out of dinner, and opened her door to find Blake standing there with a sad look on his face.
    “Hey,” she said softly.
    “I really didn’t mean to offend you,” he told her.
    She smiled at him. “I’m the one who’s sorry,” she told him. “I just got angry because you said some stuff I didn’t really want to hear.”
    “If I was being judgmental—“
    “No,” she said. “Seriously, it’s fine. I’m just emotional and tired and I probably need to go to bed.”
    Blake nodded. “So you’re not mad at me?”
    “Not at all. We’ll get together again soon when I feel more myself. And next time, I’ll cook you dinner. Deal?”
    “Deal,” Blake said, and then gave her a slight wave as he walked away. She closed the door and locked it, and then let out a slow breath.
    Unfortunately, despite having apologized to Blake, she felt no relief from the building pressure inside her.
    Kennedy went into the bathroom and started running the