“Remove your clothing and then put your knees on the pillow, hands clasped behind your back, and don’t move them again until I say you can.”

I could do naked. Naked I did all the time. My hands hesitated when they reached the hem of my T-shirt. Naked in front of Seth seemed…different. It was more.

“Please don’t keep me waiting, Baker,” he said politely. “It won’t benefit you at all to dawdle.”

As soon as he said my name, the clothes came off and my knees hit the pillow. I was so ridiculously easy. I should be ashamed of how easily he managed to maneuver my body and mind, but I wasn’t. Okay, maybe a little.

“Good boy,” he praised. “Do you have any food allergies I should be aware of?”

“No, Sir.”

“Excellent,” Seth answered as he picked up a piece of bacon. “You need to take better care of what’s mine, Baker. There’s plenty of time for sugary sweets but it most certainly isn’t every morning of your life. Your health is very important to me.”

A trickle of warmth started in my head and slid seductively down my entire body as Seth talked. I wasn’t sure any part of me, my health or body, had ever really been important to anybody. At a very young age, I’d learned to take care of myself while my parents jetted around the world, cruised on their private yacht, or graced galas or charity functions with their presence. If I had a toasted breakfast pastry for every time my mother had reminded me of my accidental conception, Seth would really have a reason to worry about my health!

When he held the strip of bacon in front of my face, I reached up to accept the sweet gesture from him. He smacked the top of my hand hard enough to make me yelp in surprise and pain.

“What the fuck, Seth?” I rubbed the burn out of the top of my hand. “If you didn’t want me to have it, don’t dangle it in front of my face.”

Seth smiled. “That’s one.”

“That’s one, what?” I asked, still rubbing the sting.

“That’s one punishment for disobeying me. I told you to clasp your hands behind your back and leave them there. You’ll receive another punishment for speaking rudely to me and yet another one for your lack of respect when addressing me.” He took a bite from the piece of bacon he’d offered me a few seconds ago. “That’s a total of three punishments for today…and you aren’t even through breakfast yet.”

Seth was nothing more than a sneaky son of a bitch. He probably knew that slipping into my role as his submissive would ease my thoughts away from last night and toward something I was much more familiar and comfortable with. “Yes, Sir,” I answered quietly and dropped my chin against my chest. Several minutes passed with him eating and me wondering if I’d lost my last chance for food before he finally spoke again.

“Would you like a bite of your breakfast?” he asked.

Was it possible to hear a smirk in someone’s voice? Because if it was, I heard his loud and clear.

“Yes, Sir,” I answered.

“Ask me nicely, then.”

Thankfully my head was still bowed, and he couldn’t see the eye roll I gave him. “May I please have a bite of food?”

“Raise your head and open your mouth for me.”

When I obeyed, he broke off a piece of bacon and pushed it into my mouth. It was still warm and crispy, causing the delicious flavors to explode on my tongue. I chewed and swallowed. It wasn’t like I used my hands to eat, but they still felt weird clasped behind my back while I ate.

He offered me another bite, which I gladly accepted. I’d never fried bacon and wasn’t sure if it was easy to fuck up or if anybody could cook it, but I was pretty sure eating from Seth’s hand made it the best bacon I’d ever had in my mouth.

“That’s four, Baker—for the eye roll when your head was down,” Seth explained calmly at the exact moment I tried to swallow my second bite. I nearly choked on the small piece of meat.

“There’s no way you saw that,” I grumbled.

His brow arched upward. “Are you denying it?”

“No, Sir.”

“Very good, Baker,” he said as he placed a forkful of eggs to my lips.

So our breakfast continued—him eating and then feeding me. I didn’t exactly earn any more punishments, but did learn that if I allowed the maple syrup to accidentally trickle down my chin, Seth would make a tsking sound and then lick it off. Who would have ever known I could be such a messy eater?

When we finished, Seth said, “You did very well, Baker. Thank you for allowing me to take care of your needs.”

“Thank you for taking care of me, Sir.”