His hands were so gentle on my skin and I couldn’t believe that these was those hands that had hurt me to begin with. Each touch soothed me and helped to erase the heat from my body. The sound of his voice was helping to relax me further. In some strange way, I felt better, even though my body was sore.

“Did I hurt you?” Xerxes asked, still massaging my sore flesh.

“A little bit,” I told him. I wasn’t anxious to endure that again and I was feeling conflicted. I understood Xerxes’s point and I had consented to submit to him, but I was a grown woman and definitely...