Aselia’s POV

I couldn’t comprehend the three words that had left his mouth as his gaze lazily travelled over me.

"What? What do you think I am? A stripper?" his words had set my whole being on fire and not in a good way. It felt like he had slapped me with his words. So much anger bred inside me, that I felt myself shaking from head to toe.

"No, I think you are my innocent Leia who doesn’t believe she is innocent and sweet. Who doesn’t realize how dark the world around her is? Who is feeling angry because I asked her to strip? Who doesn’t even know how to strip? If she hadn’t been innocent, she would gladly be doing that right now. Instead, she is angry at me for even giving a command like that. Am I right or wrong?"

He was still smiling at me as he patted Rony.

Each and every word he had uttered held truths but I wasn’t going to give up that easily. He was always treating me like I was a kid and he was mighty Xiran who knew everything while I knew nothing.

I would show him I could do what his other girls could. Even if I didn’t know how to I still would, just to prove him wrong.

"You want a strip show, I would give you one," I glared at him and he seemed a bit taken aback by my words. He wasn’t expecting me to actually do it.

Holding the hem of my baggy sweater I pushed it up and took it off, throwing it over my head. My shirt followed the same fate as I kept my eyes focused on him. He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off:

"Don’t."

I took off my pants next and threw them toward him, which he effortlessly caught. Reaching back, I unhooked my white bra and let it slide down my body. Grabbing it, I threw it in his face too. This time he didn’t catch it and let it hit him. He could sense my frustration with him, I could see it in his eyes as they pleaded with me to stop.

I was left only in my panties, I didn’t even try to hide my nakedness from him. This is what he wanted to glimpse, then this is what I would give him. This was me at my most vulnerable, standing in front of him.

With trembling hands, I reached for the top edges of my panties when he thundered:

"STOP."

He had gotten up and having taken off his robe he made a makeshift bed for Rony on his chair and laid him on it. He then turned to me, his eyes blazing, his forehead creased and his jaw clenched.

"You made your point, stop now."

"Why? I am not done yet. Didn’t you want a full show, best part is left..." I shouted at him as he climbed the table and pulled me close to his bare chest.

"I didn’t want you to do it for real, Leia. I want you to keep that innocence alive and realize how precious and unique you are. You have nothing to prove to me," he tried to take my face in his hands but I pushed back his hands.

"I have so much to prove Xiran. I can do what your other girls can because clearly, that’s what you desire. For I don’t even know how many of them I have to compete against. I don’t even understand how you find my inexperience in everything so acceptable. So if you want me to strip like a stripper I will do it for you."

My stinging words had him stiffened and he clenched his teeth in annoyance.

"Don’t you dare compare yourself to anyone else, not now not ever? I am sorry my words have offended you, that was not my intention. I intended to merely prove to you how pure and naive you are, which I love. You took it the wrong way."

He wrapped his arms around my stripped body and gently stroked my back, trying to calm my agitated heart. Why I always lost control when it came down to this man? Why was I so insecure?

"That’s the thing Xiran, you feel the need to curb your desires because of me. You have placed me on this pedestal of chastity and I don’t understand where to go from there. It breaks me to think I can’t give you everything you want and at the same time, I am not yet comfortable with all that is required of me as your girlfriend."

I wanted to cry so bad, it wasn’t his fault he was stuck with someone like me, who couldn’t even strip happily for him. Would someone else get offended by such a request?

He listened calmly to my rant and finally spoke:

"Nothing is required of you as my girlfriend except to be mine. We will do everything at our own pace and nothing which you are not comfortable with. And we will fulfill all our desires when you are ready and if there is something you dislike, we will never do it. That’s what love is, you win some you lose some. So, just relax."

How could he be so patient with me, I didn’t deserve this man. My heart was so conflicted and yet he would put it at ease with only his words. One day I wanted to be able to fulfill all his desires, all his wants, and all his needs, without hesitation, without reluctance.

"Thank you, for being patient with me," I whispered as my legs gave way. My emotions had me in a wreck. His hold tightened so I won’t fall.

"I got you," he picked me up and climbed down the table we had been standing on.

I took Rony from the chair and he silently carried us upstairs as both of us snuggled in his chest, seeking his heat.