"Relax, Zoey." His voice was as insistent as ever, but tempered by a real desire to see her ease in his presence, at least while such easiness was appropriate. Her nervous, wooden motions were grating when he had no desire to do badly by her, and it was a mild offence that she was yet to learn how to rest gently with him. Indeed, her fear that a few minutes ago had been so exciting and welcome was suddenly a source of minor irritation. He implored her a second time, this time at more length but in the same psrudo-soothing tone. "I won't harm you without a good reason,and rarely will that reason be anything other than your own misbehaviour or lack of achievement. I see neither - you are being very well behaved in difficult circumstances - so won't you please calm down and rest with me a while?"<br/><br/>The worst of it was that he was not nearly so sure of his ability to drag her back from her terrified state. He mused that frightening and harming her was easy, but clearing it afterward in order to keep her as the calm, doting pet he craved was the harder, and perhaps more important part. Still, it would be necessary if he wanted her to be any sort of company when he wasn't ploughing her.<br/><br/>To that effect his arms tightened around her. One was across her side, just above her hip, and the other was higher and encircled both her shoulders and the top of her arm. Both squeezed, pinning her near side against his chest while his one hand rubbed at her arm at the hand of the other arm idly rolled around the curve of her slightly pronounced hip.<br/><br/>Once she was a little more at ease - or at the very least acting that way - and because she had twisted to face him, there was a long moment in which he locked his eyes with hers. His gaze was piercing and unyielding, trying to discern if she was offering through the fear he could all but feel buried in her, or through genuine obedience, or because she felt she had no choice in the matter. He hoped it was through a sense of pride in her new lifestyle and loyalty to him, but neither was he so sure as to dismiss the other options. Her soft and wet eyes were appealing to him but he looked past them searchingly all the same; not cruelly but invasively weighing up her words in his usual contemplating way of his. Finally, and perhaps inevitably, he gave a short nod and even went so far as to offer a slight smile.<br/><br/>"Alright, once you're fed, bathed and dressed, then we'll head down and you can do it at your leisure. Today will be easy for you, as promised... I have guests for dinner and you will attend to that, but I do not mean to share you. Beyond that there are your normal duties, and a chance for you to rest up." The smile flickered a little wider, and seemed to grow in certainty. He was doubly handsome when he smiled instead of snarled. "If you're done eating, go and set the bath running, then come back here so we can wait it out. A kiss, though, before you go?"<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>