Chapter 231

“I haven’t yet.”

“But you will?”

“Eventually.” He took her shoulders gently. “Remember, everything I do is consensual. That’s the reason I insist on a safe word. Ultimately, any woman I take to that room would have all the power. A word will stop me; you know that.”

“Red.”

“Exactly. I can only give as much pleasure as any woman trusts me to give. There are other safeguards I employ to ensure she doesn’t feel as if she’s performed any act against her will.”

She frowned. “I believe you mean that.”

But she didn’t ask more questions, probably because she wasn’t ready to hear the answers. And Trees wouldn’t push her.

Besides, she wasn’t staying with him forever. It didn’t matter that he was in love with her. His sentiment wasn’t reciprocated. What was the most he could say about her feelings? She didn’t hate him. She didn’t completely distrust him. That was progress, sure. But anything that would lead to a happy ever after? No. He lived in the re