" Achoo.
She managed to only let the tickle overtake her once in the elevator and ducked her head even as her cheeks heated at the growl that rumbled through him. She wasn’t doing it on purpose. “I’m sorry.”
“Would you stop apologizing?” he snapped.
She didn’t want to anger him so she nodded and kept her head tucked low.
“And stop doing that. You’re not some beaten slave. Hold your head up, baby. Tell me to fuck off.”
The language didn’t shock her and cause the O of surprise. It was his insistence she defend herself. She shot him a wary gaze, waiting to see the challenging smirk. She knew how this worked. Tell her to do something, and then tear into her because she dared.
“There’s those beautiful eyes,” he teased. “Now keep them up here. I want to see you staring at my face. You’re safe here. Especially with me. You can say what you want. Whatever you want. I would never hurt you.”
He wouldn’t. Where did that certainty come from? So what if perhaps, thus far, despite their less-than-auspicious introduction, Hayder had shown her nothing but kindness? She didn’t know him well enough to gauge if it was an act. She’d fallen for the lies before. “How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you won’t turn around and hurt me when I do?” The words spilled from her, painful in their honesty, and shocking him into momentary silence.
“Because you can,” was what he finally muttered. "

― Eve Langlais , When a Beta Roars (A Lion's Pride, #2)