He held her for several minutes, rubbing her back as she trembled in his arms. He was moments from canceling everything, but that would solve nothing. The only solution that didn’t involve her tied up in his dungeon was setting her free, and no matter how much guilt he felt, or how much he believed she was no longer a threat to his family, he couldn’t let her go. He had to possess her.

When she’d settled in his arms, he picked up a cloth napkin from the table and pressed the soft fabric against her face to catch the tears.

“Please don’t cry, Faith. These aren’t the kind of tears I want from you.”

“I’m sorry, Master.”

“Shhh.”

* * *

Faith’s appetite had fled the moment he’d said he was taking her to the dungeon. She was glad he hadn’t forced her to eat dinner because she was sure she wouldn’t be able to keep it down.

For the past week she’d been on edge, her appetite shrinking each day. If Leo had noticed, he hadn’t said anything. Each day she woke wondering if today was the day. She wasn’t like those other women. She couldn’t do this.

The reality of what was coming should have made her hate him. It should have wiped away any residual attraction or fuzzy emotion. If it could have, she might have begged to be released from her promise to go back to the way things had been. Even if it meant she’d never have love or companionship, it would protect her from the things downstairs.

But she still felt for him, and watching him take other women downstairs would only kill her by degrees. When he’d pulled her into his arms, he was the safest person in the world. She’d almost forgotten he was the cause of her angst.

When he opened that metal door, she thought her legs would buckle, but Leo prodded her down the winding stairway into hell.

He didn’t speak at first, instead going to the wall where all the whips and crops and paddles hung. Her legs stopped supporting her and she crumpled into a ball on the floor, her knees tucked under her body as if she were practicing for a school tornado drill. Her instincts screamed that she needed to protect as much of herself as she could from him.

“Faith, come here.”

His voice had taken on that change, that edge she’d always heard while eavesdropping. Was the nicer version of him there anymore? It was as if the upstairs Leo had receded to allow the beast in the shadows full reign while down below. She wasn’t sure if she knew this Leo, or if she wanted to.

She crawled to him, not sure she could force herself to stand. When she reached him, he bent and pulled her up, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her.

“Now,” his voice curled around her and squeezed, “which of these things is scariest to you? I want you to rate them from least to most scary.”