She jumped and snapped her gaze to his. “Yes, sir?”
This time he didn’t bother to hold back his reaction. Hearing that honorific from her lips was erotic as hell. “I think we’ve been dancing around this long enough. We can move the tour to tomorrow if you’ll show me where the locker rooms and aftercare are.”
Her pupils dilated, making him want to thread his fingers into her hair and dislodge her tight ponytail while he showed her what pleased him. And discovered what pleased her.
“Sir?” Her voice was husky, her eyes glazed.
He gave a soft laugh. “I love to hear that word from your beautiful mouth, Kate. I’m asking if you would like to play a scene with me.” He grinned when her nipples hardened against her thin V-necked top.
She raised her chin, and her expression slowly smoothed and relaxed, giving the outward appearance of utter calm. “I would enjoy that.”
He wondered if she heard the smoky quality that invaded her voice more with every passing minute. “It’s my job as your Dom to make sure you do.”
Chapter 4
Kate squirmed in her seat. Master Dex hadn’t been cocky and overtly suggestive the way she was used to with a lot of Doms. But she was still damn close to the first of those dozen orgasms she’d told him she needed. If he could cause that reaction in her body from simply talking and getting to know her, what could he do with an actual scene?
At that thought, a shiver ran through her, followed by searing heat. Both headed straight between her thighs, where she was already slick and ready for anything Master Dex might dream up for her.
Dex cleared his throat. “Let’s discuss your preferences and limits. I like to make sure the information I’m working with is up to date before I make a plan for a scene.”
Kate wrestled her thoughts out of the endorphin haze they were caught in. “My safe word is pickle,” she blurted, since she wasn’t sure where to start.
Dex raised a brow, looking genuinely curious. “I’ve heard a lot of interesting safe words since joining the lifestyle, but that’s a unique one. Is it something you’ll remember in the heat of passion?”
She nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ve had the same safe word since I entered the lifestyle. I know it sounds silly, but it’s from a cheesy British zombie movie my friends and I watched until we had it memorized.”
Dex laughed. “That was Shaun’s mother’s pet name for him in the movie, wasn’t it?”
“You’ve seen Shaun of the Dead?”
“Many times. It’s a classic.” His expression and demeanor showed her he was being honest and not just humoring her.
Kate was sure she looked surprised. “I’m not used to Doms admitting to having actual likes and dislikes that don’t sound like their answers have been developed specifically for a press release.”
She took a sip of her latte, watching him over the rim of the white porcelain cup. “In college, my friends and I started using pickle as a word that meant ‘stop’ or ‘I don’t like that.’ It began as a joke between us because we were all so glad our parents didn’t dub us with ‘Pickle’ as a pet name.
“When safe words were explained to me, my first Dom demanded a word that I would use automatically if I wanted all play to stop. That was the first word that popped into my head.”
Dex gave a quick nod of approval. “Good. That’s one we’ll both remember. Now what about your limits?”
She tried and failed to hold back a smirk. “No cricket bats during play.”
He laughed at her direct reference to the weapon used in the movie to kill zombies, and she joined him, loving this nonsexual connection with a Dom outside of a scene. She wondered what it would be like to have a Dom she played with as a friend, rather than just as the equivalent of a human sex toy. Not that any Dom would appreciate being called that.
She looked past Dex at the far wall behind him. Talking about her limits was her least favorite part of negotiating with a new Dom. Although she hoped she wouldn’t have to argue with Master Dex that her limits were reasonable, and that she meant them.
She returned her gaze to his. “I have a few preferences, but to be honest, I haven’t told quite a few of the Doms I play with exactly what they are, because most of them withhold a sub’s preferences. I think more for the appearance of them controlling their subs than any type of tactic to heighten the sub’s pleasure.” Her brows bunched, and she frowned. “I mostly emphasize my limits.”
A flicker of some dark emotion in Dex’s gorgeous dark brown eyes was gone before she could be sure she’d seen it. He was a very different kind of Dom than the ones who had abused her trust, and she wanted to be able to trust him.
He laid his hand on the table between them, his palm facing up. He glanced down at her hand still lying on her lap, and then met her gaze.