“You, April, are two-natured. Half of you is pure. Chaste. Modest and fearful. Timid, sweet, and virginal. This is the part of yourself you choose to show the world,” William said.

                                                                       

I jumped when I suddenly felt his fingertips on my face, slowly trailing across my jaw.

                                                                       

“But there’s another half of you...the half you keep bound, and hidden. I saw it at Alyeska, and again at Demimonde. And, April...it’s passionate. It’s fierce. It’s powerful. It’s greedy. It’s...raw sex,” he said, and he placed the strawberry in my mouth.

                                                                       

I couldn’t contain my moan at the first taste of the creamy confection, melting on my tongue in a sumptuous wave. I could feel every taste receptor activating in fervor, far more intense than what I remembered of a sugar high. My entire body felt overstimulated by the highly concentrated sweet.

                                                                       

I licked my lips and swallowed the sinful fruit. “Open your eyes,” William commanded.

                                                                       

I obeyed, and it seemed as if the world around us had disappeared. William, in front of me, was my beginning and end. His pupils were enlarged, and his mouth was slightly parted.

                                                                       

He licked his lips.

 

“I can smell submission on your skin, April. Tonight, I want to taste it.”