My eyes narrow, and I shake my head, looking down at her. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” she cries, tucking herself further into me, as if she needs my comfort even though she’s angry at me.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please, enlighten me.”

She’s quiet for a moment, and I can feel her breath puffing against my chest. She smells amazing, and my heart clenches as I relish in how well she fits into my lap.

“I don’t play games, William,” she whispers in a small voice.

“Neither do I.”

“But you do, you’re playing with me right now.”

‘You’re not making any sense.”

She sighs, and I risk lifting my hand and running it over her soft locks. She makes a whimpering sound, before continuing.

“You’re using me and Number Twelve.”

“I beg your pardon?” I say, feeling my hand stop and my body freeze.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know. You’re getting us both comfortable so you can have your way with us. You’re making us think we matter, but we don’t matter, do we, William?”

It clicks then. She’s obviously found out about Number Twelve and I. God, she has no idea. No idea how little that meant to me. How little I felt while I pleasured her. If she understood how good it felt to have my fingers inside her, how I craved her, she would understand there is no comparison.

“You’re jealous that I had a sexual encounter with Number Twelve?”

“You mouth-fucked her. It’s hardly a sexual encounter.”

I feel myself grin, even though she ca th221;n’t see it. She’s so sassy, constantly challenging me.

“Yes,” I say in a gravelly voice. “I did mouth-fuck her.”

“God, don’t go easy on me or anything,” she mumbles against my chest.

“Does it bother you, Beauty?”

“It bothers me that you’re still calling me in here, trying to get close with me. If you’ve picked her, if you’re doing that with her, then let me go and join the other girls. Don’t keep calling me in here to spend time with you. It’s pointless.”

I decide the best way to approach this is to be brutally honest with her, so that’s what I do. “She asked me to deliver, I delivered. I wasn’t sure what I wanted when that happened. I had three girls left in my group; one really didn’t want to give in to me. The other was smart-mouthing me every chance she got. Then there was Number Twelve, willing to be everything I wanted.”

She stiffens again, and her hands fumble together. “So you chose her because she is easy.”

I shake my head, leaning down, and breathing her in. “Wrong, Beauty, I didn’t choose her.”

She stares up at me, and her lips part slightly. “You didn’t?”

“No. I didn’t choose her because you’re right, she is too easy. She doesn’t put up a fight; she doesn’t challenge me. She just gives me what she thinks I want. There have been no choices made.”

“Are you looking for a lover, William?”

I think on that a moment, and once again I answer her honestly. “Yes, Number Thirteen. I am.”

“And you picked our group because the girls in it were...” she prompts.

“The girls in your group are the most damaged, but you’re also the sweetest, the kindest, and have the biggest hearts.”

“You can’t possibly know that.”

I chuckle softly. “But I can. I’ve been testing all of you. I gave you the chance to make Number Eleven your slave, but you let her go. You were the one who took lashes for your girls, so they didn’t get hurt. You were the one who held Number Three in your arms, not caring about the mess it was making.”

“I just want you to know,” she whispers, “I’m not a game-playing kind of girl. Okay, I don’t really know what kind of girl I am, but I do know that right here, right now, I don’t like to be played with. I don’t want to be competing against Number Twelve. I have no purpose or desire to.”

“So you’re saying there’s a competition to be had?”

God help me, her cheeks flush. My body tightens, and my want towards her increases.

“No,” she whispers. “I’m just saying that if you’re interested in her, then I really don’t need to be coming to you.”

“And if I’m not?”

We hold each other’s gazes for long, long moments. “Then I guess things stay as they are.”

“And if I request you as my lover, Beauty?” I say, feeling my lips twitch.

“I never said I would be your lover. That wasn’t what I was doing...I...” she stammers.

“What were you doing, then?”

“I don’t know you, William. You haven’t given me the chance to know you. But if I got that chance, then yes, I might consider letting us...I mean, letting you...”

“Mouth-fuck you.” I grin.

Her lips pop open. “I...”

..&yes

“Master?”

We both turn to see George standing at the entrance of the room.

“Yes, George?” I bite out, wondering why he’s interrupted me.

“You have a visitor, sir. It’s Ben.”

I nod, and then turn, staring down at Number Thirteen. I curl my finger under her chin and tilt her face, pressing my lips to hers. She has the sweetest, softest lips I’ve ever had the pleasure of kissing. She whimpers, and her fingers go up and splay out against my chest. I rumble and pull back, staring down at her mouth.