Dex’s eyes darkened, and his smile turned sinful, making her realize she had more or less just admitted to being as unsteady around him as Opal was.
“Hopefully the other Doms here aren’t anything like Balkins.” He fell silent, but Kate noticed his clenched jaw and sensed he had much more he wanted to say on the subject.
She leaned back in her seat, careful to keep her hand under Dex’s since she enjoyed his warm, exciting touch. “Unfortunately, a lot of them here are like Balkins, or even worse. There are some good ones, but they don’t tend to stay here, or stay available for long. And there are several who are only here when they are in town, in between production or movie schedules, or even on political junkets.” She let out a long sigh before she remembered it was a breach of sub protocol to speak badly of any Dom—especially to another Dom.
Master Dex squeezed her hand again. “You look like I’m about to make you go stand in the corner, or send you to a time-out.”
The laugh in his voice warmed her, and she shrugged. “I apologize. It’s not my place to gossip about Doms.”
His heavy gaze made her look up to find him almost drinking her in, memorizing her. It was disconcerting, but somehow she was flattered rather than annoyed.
He traced his thumb over the back of her fingers, sending shivers through her body. She glanced down to where his large hand covered hers, the innocent brush somehow more erotic when she watched his hand glide over her pale flesh, exacerbated by too many hours spent indoors working.
Dex cleared his throat. “In a lot of situations I would agree. But from what I saw, Balkins wasn’t deserving of much respect.” He raised one brow. “Unless you had a previous agreement with him, and I misunderstood?”
The smile curving his lips showed he knew better, and was teasing her. But she wanted to clarify the situation anyway. “No. Definitely not.”
Kate tried to remember what she’d said that started this exchange. When she recalled it was her admission that she wasn’t supposed to speak badly of other Doms, she nodded, oddly disappointed. She wouldn’t have minded receiving a punishment from Master Dex. In fact, it might have led to the several orgasms she’d been praying for, to work through her stress after the last irritating conversation with her father. She’d been ignoring his calls for a week, needing time to detox from his lectures, but she couldn’t escape forever.
Opal returned with the drinks, bringing Kate back to the present, and making her realize Dex still softly stroked the back of her fingers.
Opal smiled at Dex and slid his coffee in front of him along with a small pot of cream and a bowl of sugar, even though he had asked for black. Almost as an afterthought, Opal set Kate’s latte in front of her.
Dex thanked the woman and then took his hand away from Kate’s to push the cream and sugar aside and pick up his cup to take a sip.
Kate missed the sizzling sensation his touch had caused, but dropped her hand in her lap rather than leave it lying on the table like she was waitingd for him to cover it again.
She didn’t think of herself as vain, always wondering about what others thought of her, but she didn’t want any man to think she was too needy or available. Not even this one. She prided herself on being an independent woman, and the “being gifted to Balkins” scenario still burned her stomach. She sipped her latte and met Dex’s amused gaze.
“How long have you been in the lifestyle, Kate?”
She broke herself out of the sensual haze his touch had left her in and swallowed before answering. “Nearly five years.” She had been so na?ve and vanilla. “A boyfriend convinced me to come here, thinking it would be a great joke when I was shocked.” She frowned, her stomach tightening at the strong memory. “But when I was intrigued and wanted to know more, he never called again.” She shrugged, even though she had been hurt at the time.
Dex’s expression showed a similar hint of anger to when Balkins had told him to find another plaything for the evening. “He was obviously not in the lifestyle, or was just a wannabe who doesn’t really get what it’s all about.” Dex’s voice was calm and smooth, but Kate sensed the displeasure at her long-ago boyfriend that simmered just beneath the surface. “Only someone not in the lifestyle would want to see you react that way.”
Kate nodded. “He wouldn’t last a second in the fetish community. I found out from a friend that he had done the same thing with other girlfriends. He would date someone who was vanilla for a while, and when it started to become serious, he would try to convince her to go to a local dungeon or swingers club to scare her. If she was offended, she usually broke up with him. If she wasn’t, he decided she was a slut and never called again.” She huffed out a breath as she shoved the memories aside.
“That man needs a good lesson in how to treat a woman. I almost hope I’m the one who catches up to him one of these days.”
The smug grin on Dex’s sexy face made her heartbeat race. She would love to see Dex teach her asshole ex a lesson.