He held out a hand to help her down since he hadn’t found a wide cutting board and kneeling with grace was something completely new to her. On her way down, Mystery glanced up at him, those sultry hazel eyes wide open in thanks.

The second her knees hit the cutting board covered with the hard pellets, she sucked in a breath. Her eyes widened in shock. “What the hell?”

“It’s punishment.”

She nearly choked. “The cruel and unusual kind. The rice digs into your skin. Holy crap!”

“Quiet,” he reminded softly, striking his open palm with the wooden spoon to drive his point home.

“You sure you’re not a sadist?” she hissed.

“No.” But he definitely intended to give her an experience she wouldn’t soon forget. To do that, he needed a few more implements. After a glance around the room, he had an idea or two.

“Stand.”

Relief crossed her face, and when he held out his hand to help her up, she placed her fingers in his palm. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now come over here.” He pointed to the other side of the cutting board, facing away from the bedroom door. Once she’d complied, Axel brushed a hand from her nape to the base of her spine, petting her softly. “Kneel again.”

“Are you kidding me?”

He leaned in with his most intimidating glower and grabbed her chin until they stood nose to nose. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

Mystery hesitated a long moment, and he wondered what thoughts spun around her head. “What happens if I use my safe word?”

“Then I know you’re unable or unwilling to submit. I’ll back off and leave you alone for the rest of the night.”

She bit her lip, and Axel wanted to take the plump red flesh between his own teeth and give her a playful nip. Hell, he wanted to fuck her into next week, but if all went well now, that would follow.

Finally, she held out her hand to him. As soon as he balanced her, she knelt on the cutting board again, hissing as her knees bore her weight on the little white hard granules.

“Wow, that’s uncomfortable.”

“That’s why it’s punishment.” Axel watched for a moment as she winced and tried to shift her weight, then he decided to throw her a bone. “You know . . . the more you move, the more uncomfortable it is.”

“Staying still is no picnic, either,” she complained. “It’s like kneeling on glass.”

Normally, Axel wouldn’t put up with backtalk and bitching. But she’d endured a lot today, and he had to admit he found her adorable, no matter what she did.

“It’s not supposed to feel like feathers,” he shot back, casting his gaze around in search of a few extras he needed. “Does anyone sleep in this room?”

“No. Aunt Gail lives alone. It used to be my mom’s room when she was a teenager, but it’s all been redone. I think my aunt uses it now as storage and an occasional craft room.”

Which explained the sewing machine, the bolts of fabric, and the shelves of plastic bins filled with stuff he couldn’t possibly explain.

“Anything in the closet?”

Mystery shook her head. “I think she uses it to store her off-season clothes. Why?”

Axel didn’t answer, just prowled to the closet—and found exactly what he needed. He grabbed everything that might prove useful, then curled them in his fist and wrapped them around his hand.

He turned back to Mystery. “Rise and kneel on the bed, facing the window, away from me.”

She turned to stare at the items curled around his fingers, then met his stare. That one glance of her hazel eyes sizzled down his spine and settled in his cock. Weirdly enough, something a lot like happiness took up residence in his chest, too. Then she brushed the residual rice from her knees and gave in to his demands. Axel gobbled up the sight of her lush breasts and thighs before she spun around to give him the visual of her lean spine, graceful hips, and rosy ass.

For years, he’d been stationary, living in Dallas, taking care of Sweet Pea, working for Thorpe. He enjoyed his life and liked knowing he did right by his friends, but he’d never been too close to anyone, never allowed himself to really latch on, much less fall in love. He didn’t want to be that sad sack hugging his bottle of gin on Christmas day, trying to forget that he had four hungry mouths to feed and no helpmate to cook, love, or keep him warm at night.

In a flash of clarity, the truth hit him like a two-by-four in the face. He’d drifted into Dominance not only because he enjoyed giving women what they needed but to control his interactions with them. After all, if he kept a tight leash on everything, he couldn’t lose his heart, his hope, or his future, right?

This one woman had shown him that was just an illusion. She’d knocked his world on end with one pickup line. She’d made him crave her like an addict after a single afternoon fix. She’d dug her way into his heart in one late-night rave. Or maybe what he felt had been years in the making. Whatever.

Mystery Mullins was in his heart for the rest of his fucking life, and he couldn’t control a damn thing about it.

“You want to know what I’m going to do to you?” he murmured against her neck as he stepped up, blanketing her back, and set all the items in his hand on the mattress beside her.

“Yes, Axel.”

“Steal your control.” He shouldn’t be alone in that. “Put your hands behind your back.” Instantly, she complied, clasping her fingers together just above the sweet curve of her ass. He set her hands side by side, then wrapped an ugly green and tan scarf he’d found in the closet around her wrists, knotting it off. “Can you get out of that?”

She wiggled her hands and tried to work her way free. “No.”

“Comfortable?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Move your fingers,” he demanded.

She did as he bid. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll be watching. If they turn numb, you stop me immediately. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Axel,” she breathed.

Almost as if she felt the submissive urge, she released the tension from her shoulders and bowed her head. Did she have any idea what the fuck that did to him? After everything they’d been through since she’d picked him up in that bar, to see her trust in him made his cock ache and his heart flip. A spanking wouldn’t stop her from being the one woman he couldn’t forget, and he didn’t want to change her.

He wanted to devour her.

“If this hurts or pushes the limits of your ability to endure, say ‘yellow.’ You got it?”

“I understand.”

He uncoiled one of the belts he found in the closet, a thin shiny yellow number that would provide just enough give but still be plenty secure. He buckled it around her forearms, pulling it a bit tighter. Her shoulders lifted, and Axel had no doubt that if he stood in front of her, he’d have seen those beautiful breasts thrust out for his greedy stare.

“Too tight? Am I straining your shoulders?”

“No.” Her voice sounded even more soft and thready than before.

He adjusted himself in his jeans, aching to take them off. And he would. It better be really damn soon or he’d combust.

“Good.”

And because he couldn’t help himself, he moved the long fall of her dark curls over one shoulder and pressed his lips to the curve of her neck. She smelled like wanton woman. The musk of her pussy combined with the sweetness of her skin to waft into something so intoxicating, Axel had no idea how the hell he was going to keep himself from pouncing on her in the next two minutes. The urge to not only take her, fill her and give her pleasure, but claim her rode him hard.

He nipped her gently with his teeth, scraping over her skin so she couldn’t possibly forget that he touched her. He listened to her moan and smiled in masculine satisfaction.

“Not a sound,” he warned, then took the wide tail of the next belt and gave her hip a little warning snap—just enough to get her attention.

Mystery wriggled and pressed her thighs together, sending him a frantic nod.