The next morning, the shop smelled like rain and old sin.
I arrived early. Again.
Still aching.
Still wearing the bruise he gave me like it was stitched into my skin.
Jesse didn't speak.
Didn't look at me for hours.
Until he did.
"Back room. Now."
No hint of emotion. Just command.
My heart thudded.
My stomach dropped.
And still—I followed.
---
The back room wasn't much.
One desk. A shelf of manuals. A rusted chair.
He closed the door behind us and turned the lock.
Then, silence.
He leaned against the edge of the desk, arms crossed. His eyes pinned me there like screws. I could feel the tension crawling between us—tighter than before, like we were standing at the edge of something we couldn't take back.
"You like pushing people, huh?" Jesse finally said.
I licked my lips. "Only the ones I want to bend me in half."
His nostrils flared, but he didn't rise to it.
"You're reckless," he muttered. "You don't know what you're asking for."
"Then teach me."
He stilled.
"What?"
"Teach me," I repeated. "Control me. Use me. I can take it."
He stepped forward, slow and deliberate.
"I don't do soft," he said. "I don't do safe. What I want from you, Kade, it's not gentle."
"I'm not asking for gentle," I whispered.
He stared at me.
Long.
Hard.
Then he moved.
Sudden. Intentional.
His hand wrapped around the back of my neck, not tight—but heavy. Authoritative. My body reacted instantly, back straightening, breath hitching.
"That right there?" he said quietly. "That's what I want."
I swallowed.
"Obedience. Stillness. Submission."
His thumb stroked behind my ear once.
Gentle. Sinister.
"If I take this further, there's no guessing. There will be rules. There will be consequences. You don't get to brat your way out of them."
I nodded.
"You speak now," Jesse said, voice sharp. "Clear. Do you understand?"
"Yes," I breathed. "Sir."
He froze.
His hand tightened ever so slightly at my nape.
And then he exhaled like he'd been holding it in for years.
"Say it again."
"Sir."
He let go, stepping back.
I almost collapsed from the heat still dancing under my skin.
His voice was low, dark, and steady when he spoke next:
"Tonight. My place. You show up clean. Sober. Silent."
I nodded.
He walked past me, unlocking the door.
"And Kade?"
I turned to face him.
His eyes were wildfire.
His smirk was damnation.
"Wear the bruise."