“All you have to do is be.”
When had any man ever said those words to her? When had anyone ever had that intention? She wanted to fall into the very idea of it. With Duff. Because she knew he meant every word he said, and it made it safe. He was the real thing. The kind of Dominant all the others should have been and never were.
Duff.
She sighed, let her body sink against his, because she knew she could. His arms held her, so, so strong, wrapping her up. His scent was all around her. Pure sex. But also pure man, pure dominance. Pressing back into him, she reveled in the hardness of his cock against her back, loved knowing she’d caused it. And her sex went wet—soaking wet—in an instant. She ground her ass against him. He moaned and pulled back, spun her until she faced him, holding her at arm’s length.
“This is going to get very dangerous very fast, my lovely girl, if you keep that up.”
“What if I want it to?” she challenged.
He ground his jaw tight for a moment. “Then it’s my responsibility to see nothing happens.”
She shook her head. It wasn’t computing. “Nothing?”
“Not with you in subspace. It was damned idiotic of me not to initiate negotiations around sexual contact.” He yanked her in close, his breath warm against her cheek as he murmured, “Because as badly as I need to throw you up against this pillar and fuck you until you scream into the night, I need to make you come even more. Oh, yeah. Make you come over and over. Until your knees buckle. Until you’re limp and sobbing my name. Until you can’t even beg me for more.”
“Mmm.” She bit her lip, her body absorbing his words even more than her brain, and all of it was scorching hot. Making her need with a white-hot fury. Making her tremble all over.
“Duff . . . please.”
“You see, there’s the idiocy in this. Because experienced Dom that I am, I’m also the stupid arse who didn’t even think of discussing it once you said you wouldn’t sleep with me. So now I do the noble fucking thing and take you home, then spend the rest of the night stroking off while I think of your gorgeous skin and the sound of your panting breath as I cuss myself into the dirt.” He paused, his grip on her arms clenching and unclenching. “Then, tomorrow, if you’re still talking to me, we start a new part of the negotiations, with you having a clear head and me being so damn horny for you I won’t be seeing straight.”
As bereft as she was, her body buzzing with desire, she couldn’t help but laugh at his self-deprecation.
“Ach, I’m funny, am I, princess? I’m a sad, sad case, I tell you. Have you no pity for my plight?” He clucked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk. Another check on the ledger for you, my lovely.”
“You are not the only one suffering, you know.”
“I know. But that makes it even worse. I haven’t done my job with you, and for that I must apologize.”
“Wow.”
The dim moonlight lit his face just enough that she could see him arch his dark brows.
“Wow, what?”
“A true gentleman Dom. I was beginning to think you were nothing more than a myth.”
“Yeah, us and the Loch Ness Monster.” His small grin faded as his face sobered, and he touched her shoulders with gentle hands, making her heart swell in a way she didn’t quite understand. “It really is unforgivable of me. I need to make sure you come out of every scene satisfied, fulfilled. Feeling good. It’s what I’ve charged myself to do, beyond any Safe, Sane and Consensual code of ethics. It gets me off, to be honest, but it’s also the only way I’ll feel good about myself. And I want that for you. I want this to be good for you. I understand how fragile you are going into this, given whatever your negative history has been. I don’t take that lightly, despite my joking around. Right now, with us—this timing—it can either make or break you. And while I want to break you down in order for you to reach the heights of submission you’re meant for, I have no desire to break you. Or I do. But only in the way that will serve your needs. And you do need it. I saw it from the start—that side you keep hidden because it makes you too vulnerable. That need to be broken in exactly the right way.”
Her chest went tight. She couldn’t believe he was saying these things to her.
“How do you get me so well?” she asked.
He pulled a breath in, paused, blew it out slowly. “We all have some damage, the detritus of our pasts, yes? Yeah. We’ve all been broken in some way. We’re all of us seeking some sort of rebirth through kink. Even my big, ugly self. Me maybe more than you.” Pausing, he cleared his throat, his hands going gentle on her. “Now, my lovely, I think we ought to get you home.”
She nodded, even though she didn’t want the evening to end. But she also had enough experience in kink to know she was a little out of her head, and it was best that he was the one making the decisions tonight.
Give it over to him. He really will take care of everything.
The idea almost made her want to cry, but she wasn’t much of a crier. Still, she had to swallow past a lump in her throat.
He took her hand and led her back to her car, where he took her keys and put her into the passenger seat, then went around to the driver’s side and let himself in.
“Thank you for trusting me with your car,” he said. “You know I’ll treat her as the precious thing she is.”
“I do know that,” she answered as he started the engine. “I know a lot of things about you after tonight.”