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He rocked back on his heels, staring up at Emily with a smug and satisfied grin. If he was body weary and exhausted, she was spent. She sagged against the post; her legs seemingly unable to hold her. Her knees bent as she slouched against the bed. She was also smiling, but it was different. Her smile was more like one of relief, as much as release. The expression on her face was a faraway one and her eyes looked blankly around the room, never seeming to settle on any one thing. He could tell she was about to drop both physically and emotionally.
Forcing himself to stand, he carefully and methodically untied her, starting at her wrists and then her middle. Once she was standing on her own two feet, she started to sway and he scooped her into his arms, setting her in a nearby chair. He fetched a bottle of water from the fridge and thrust it into her hands.
"Here. Drink," he commanded.
She stared at the bottle, then back at him. "Like this?" She seemed surprised and unsure as if she expected him to pour it into a bowl on the floor and make her drink it that way.
"Yes. Like this," he answered gruffly. "This is not the time for games or scenes. You need to hydrate."
"Okay." With her face still set in a blank stare, she slowly twisted the cap of the bottle and put the mouth of it to her lips, taking a tiny sip, and then another.
"Okay?" he questioned sternly, with a raised brow. "Try that again. I don't want to have to punish you again tonight. I'm currently feeling every one of my forty-three years, and I would quite honestly rather go to bed right now.
"Oh. Yes, Sir. I mean… yes, Daddy." She spoke slowly and her voice seemed disconnected. He frowned, hoping she was just tired.
"You okay, pet?"
This time she looked at him, her eyes met his, and she smiled. "Yes, I am. I'm okay, I promise. You may have nearly twenty years on me, but I'm feeling an exhaustion far beyond my age too. I'm ready for bed, Sir, if that's okay.”
Not entirely convinced, he grabbed an energy bar from the kitchenette and placed it in her lap.
"As soon as you finish this and that bottle of water, we’ll go to bed. You played hard today. You need rest, but you also need sustenance and water."
"Yes, Daddy." She dutifully unwrapped the protein bar and took a bite while he watched, following it with a giant swig of water that drained half the bottle.
Satisfied, he nodded. "You finish that up, I'll get your bed ready."
"My… bed?" The hitch in her voice told him she hadn't given much thought to the question of where she would sleep. It also told him she hadn't noticed the large adult-sized cage he had tucked away on the opposite side of the bed. That wasn't surprising, as she had spent most of their time together staring at the floor.
While she watched, he moved around the room and grabbed it by a thin metal handle at the top. He began to drag it slowly around the side of the bed. When it came into sight, her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped in surprise.
She blinked wordlessly and licked her lips. She didn't protest, but her eyes never moved from the cage. He dragged it across the room and settled it next to the bed, on the opposite side of where it had been before. He undid a latch and one of the sides slid up before lying flat against the top. He took two pillows from the bed and settled them on the floor, at the same end of the bed where his head would be, and then got some linens from the closet, creating a nest on the hardwood floor that was padded enough for her to sleep on, He left a folded blanket near the bottom of the cage for her to cover herself with. When he was finished, he looked at her. "Your bed is ready, pet."
Still looking shell shocked, she blinked at him. "That’s… that’s a cage," she stuttered.
"A cage for a pet," he responded. "I made it up nice for you. You'll be comfortable enough, and you'll be safe. We’ll each have our own space."
He didn't say that it would cut down on the intimate tension that seemed to slice the air between them. He didn't remind her that after the contract of this weekend was over, they would still have to work together for the foreseeable future, and he didn't mention the roles and distant headspace he had worked so hard to establish and stay present in. He only nodded again, raised his eyebrows and regarded her sternly, daring her to argue.
"My pet sleeps in her bed next to mine," he said with a tone that bore no argument. "No pets on my bed."
She seemed to get it then and accept it with an unspoken resignation in her eyes that spoke of the obstacles between them without saying a word.
"Yes, Daddy." Her voice trembled a bit and her throat contracted as she gulped. She finished off the last of her water and the protein bar he insisted she eat, then wordlessly sank to the floor on her hands and knees and made her way to the bed he had fashioned for her.
His stomach knotted as she glanced at him before crawling in, but he knew this was for the best. They couldn't have this continuing intimacy between them, and he needed his space. Her eyes were guarded and her expression uncertain as she lowered herself onto the nest he had built. Resting her head on the pillows, she pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.
When she was settled, he lowered the side, effectively caging her in.
"Goodnight, pet," he whispered as he turned off the light and climbed in bed alone.
"Goodnight, Daddy."
