CH.123

Serena's mind was in absolute turmoil, unable to stop replaying Knox's jaw-dropping question from earlier in the bathroom.

She had tried repeatedly to get him to explain what he meant by that. But the man had stubbornly avoided giving her a straight answer no matter how much she prodded and pushed after that mind-meltingly hot, passionate kiss.

‘Seriously, what did he mean by that?’ she had asked herself for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Don't worry about it. Focus on getting ready for brunch." This was the only response she got from him after her incessant questioning.

Serena’s thoughts were an absolute muddled, chaotic mess ever since he had so nonchalantly dropped that crazy bombshell on her.

Part of her desperately kept wanting to believe that Knox had just been trying to feel her out or test her reaction to something along those lines - maybe get a sense of her boundaries when it came to that kind of thing in the bedroom. However, another part of her couldn't shake the nagging worry that he had actually been trying to tell her, in his typical cryptic way, that he was some kind of sadist deep down.

As outlandish as that idea seemed, she couldn't entirely dismiss it either.

Serena found herself analyzing every interaction they'd had, searching for clues she might have missed.

The whole sadist thing just seemed to go against pretty much everything about how Knox had treated her so far though.

He had been so exceptionally gentle, caring and attentive with her, practically worshipping her body and doing everything in his power to lavish her with pleasure and affection.

"Not really the kind of behavior you'd expect from a full-blown sadist," Serena muttered to herself as she rifled through her closet. "Unless he has some sort of crazy split personality thing going on..."

She shook her head firmly as if trying to physically clear her mind of the tangled, unanswered questions currently occupying it.

Serena turned her focus instead to getting ready for their casual brunch plans.

She decided for what she considered a simple outfit - though she knew full well that by most people's standards, it would still look pretty elaborate and over-the-top.

After careful consideration, she selected a beautiful floral print sundress in a vibrant array of black, pink, green and white that flared out from the waist in a flattering a-line down to just above her knees.

The dress featured a straight neckline with thin spaghetti straps in a bold black hue holding up the bodice.

The fabric was light and airy, perfect for the warm weather.

Serena admired herself in the full-length mirror, smoothing down the skirt. "Not too shabby," she murmured with a small smile.

To pull the whole look together, Serena added a pair of strappy 3-inch heeled sandals in a matching shade of black that made her toned calves look incredible.

She knew they weren't the most practical choice given her current state, but she couldn't resist how they completed the outfit.

She applied a light touch of makeup and ran a brush through her hair one last time before finally emerging from the dressing room, looking all freshly put together and ready to go.

Knox's eyes immediately narrowed in a disapproving frown from where he'd been waiting for her on the plush, oversized sofa in their bedroom suite the second she stepped out.

He gave her a look that’s said “Why are you wearing those ridiculous high heels when you're clearly still not fully healed yet”?

"Those painkillers you had me chunk down worked like magic. And these are not that high. And they look great with this dress." She said.

Knox's frown deepened. "You're still recovering."

It was true that while Knox had used his healing abilities to reduce her discomfort just like he had done the last time, allowing her to actually move around on her own two feet again instead of being completely immobilized, he could still plainly see how she was walking unevenly and stiffly.

It was obvious to him that she was still suffering from some lingering pain and soreness from their vigorous activities.

He just didn't understand why on earth she would choose to wear heels, even if they were just having a casual brunch in the villa and not actually going out anywhere too fancy.

Of course Knox absolutely loved seeing her all dolled up and looking nice and sexy for him, but he didn't want her putting herself through any unnecessary suffering or discomfort just for the sake of looking hot.

Serena gave him one of her most disarming smiles, trying to reassure her overbearing husband she was good. "It's okay, I can totally manage. I'm really not in that much pain anymore, I swear." She insisted, taking a few steps towards him and trying to demonstrate how fine she was.

However, Knox wasn't buying it. He could see the slight wince she tried to hide with each step.

"Serena!" his voice was low and warning.

She opened her mouth to continue trying to explain and justify her choice of footwear.

"Go put something else on. Now." Knox immediately cut her off firmly. His eyes had slowly darkened to a stormy shade that told her he was getting legitimately pissed at her defiance in disobeying his instructions.

Serena was displeased. She tried to reason with him again, to keep insisting that she was really okay and didn't need to change, but the look in Knox's eyes made her think better of it.

She could see the anger and displeasure at her disobedience was on the brink of exploding, and she didn't want to push her extremely scary, overbearingly dominant husband's buttons too far.

Even though she could certainly be a real spitfire with a stubborn streak a mile wide when she wanted to be, Serena didn't dare provoke Knox to see just how far his infamous temper could go when riled up.

She had experienced his particular brand of "sweet torture" the night before, and had absolutely no desire to find herself on the receiving end of that overwhelming force again so soon.

"Fine. But I still say they looked amazing.” Serena muttered under her breath.

With that, she slowly turned and headed back into the dressing room to change out of her impractical footwear choice.

She decided to change into boyfriend shorts and an oversized T-shirt paired with a much more sensible simple flat.

Knox's expression softened slightly as he looked her over. She still looked cute and stylish, but without the torturous high heels this time.