Chapter 23 Obidience Shouldn't Be This Intoxicating

• The silence had turned suffocating. Her knees burned against the rug, not from the ache of the posture alone but from the stillness that followed his final word. She remained exactly where he left her, stripped, kneeling, hollowed out by a punishment that required no ropes, no cane, no command. Her body shook quietly with exhaustion, but her pride held her upright.
• Still, she waited.
• She didn’t know how much time had passed. The quiet felt endless, curling around her like smoke, impossible to hold or resist. Her thoughts spiraled. She could still feel the heat of him behind her, though he hadn’t moved from the chair in minutes. He hadn’t touched her again. Not since reminding her that “please” meant nothing in this room. Not since making it clear that his silence would hurt more than any belt ever could.