She turned to look at me, and I wanted to toss her down on the bed and take her again right there, but instead, I gently took the items she’d brought upstairs from her hands and set them in prominent places around the room.

“I’m not much for decorating, so if you want to change something, go ahead. Did you want to shower?”

“Yes, please.”

Walking over to the bathroom door, I opened it and pointed inside. “Everything you could want is in there, and your clothes are hanging in half of the closet. All your underwear and socks are in here.” I tapped the top of the dresser.

Walking back over to where she stood in the center of the room, I couldn’t help but admire her beauty and the artwork I’d created on her stomach and chest. It would be healed in a couple of days, and I already knew the next masterpiece I wanted to create using her as my ultimate canvas. I knew I needed to control how much I played with her, but the thrill it brought was well worth the wait.

“I’ll go make dinner. Come down whenever you’re ready.”

“No chain or rope, or will you sit and stare at me?” Her small smile spoke volumes.

“Not anymore.” Leaving her in the room alone, I jogged down the stairs and began cutting the vegetables for the stew I’d planned on making. As soon as I could hear Sunshine in the shower, I jumped in the one on the main level and quickly rinsed off. Everything was simmering by the time the water turned off upstairs, and my Sunshine wandered down.

“It smells good down here,” she said.

I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she spotted the large knife on the counter. I knew she’d go for it. She snatched it off the counter and pointed it at me.

I slowly turned to face her and wiped my hands on the dish towel as I analyzed her face. She looked very uncertain about what she wanted to do. This was the moment that she needed to decide who she would be once and for all. While the cuffs were on it was easy for someone to think they knew what they wanted, but what would they do once set free of the shackles? Sunshine had expressed that she loved me. I believed her. I’d looked into her eyes and saw what she was thinking and feeling, and the same emotions danced in her eyes now.

“Stay back. I will kill you,” she said as I stepped forward. “I said stop,” she said, and her hand shook.

I knew she wasn’t scared. She was tougher than that. She had a war going on inside her, and it was just a matter of who would win out—the old Kirby or the new Kirby ready to emerge.