a long pause. She licked her lips. “Yes.”
“Anal play?” He knew the answers from her application, but she needed to respond. To verbally admit to what she wanted.
“Yes.” Her replies were getting softer, barely spoken.
“Spankings, flogging, whips?”
A hesitant, “Yes...I think. Some.”
“Threesomes or more?”
A deep inhale held then slowly released. “Maybe.”
“Public displays?”
“I...don’t know.” She chewed her lip, her gaze finally darting away before returning to meet his. “Maybe. But not tonight.”
Her breathing was now erratic, her fingers so tightly clenched together that her knuckles were white. Her cheeks were flushed an attractive shade of pink, but her spine was still stiff and straight. The questions were obviously hard for her to answer.
“And dominance. Will you submit to me, Cali? Are you willing to follow my commands, to let me lead you through the Scene?”
“Yes...sir.” The quiet, hesitant tone of her voice was negated when she turned her head to force his thumb to rub over her chin. An act he would not tolerate with another sub. But with her, he let the small insubordination pass.
“Thank you,” he said, swiping his thumb over her lip once again. “For that, I’ll let you choose your reward. What do you want?”
Her tongue slipped out to touch the pad of his thumb, the action at once daring and teasing. Again, he let the act pass, more captivated by her courage than angered by her aggression. He held still and let her play. The barely there stroke tingled over his skin, testing his own tightly held restraint.
She challenged him in a way no one else ever had and he was letting her get away with it. For that reason alone, she screamed of danger. Any other sub would be gagged and bound for such defiance. But with Cali, he couldn’t find the will to stop her, let alone punish her.
“Can I kiss you?”
Her soft request tore through him and hardened his dick to an almost unbearable degree. He kept his face neutral, withholding his shock and subsequent desire.
He didn’t kiss subs, especially clients.
The very nature of the act was too personal, too intimate. All of his regular clients knew this and would never dare to ask. No good sub would ask for something so personal. He should deny her and define the act as one of his boundaries, like he always did.
But he didn’t. Instead, for reasons he couldn’t fathom, he found himself giving a short, sharp nod. He was certain his voice would give away too much. Show the sudden longing coursing through him to feel her lips on his, to taste her.
Tilting her chin, Jake dropped his head and brushed his lips over hers. He made it deliberately light, a temptation more than an assault. His restraint was as much for him as her. Her lips were as soft as they looked and, for the first time in years, he wanted more.
She sighed and strained forward, seeking a stronger touch, more contact. Abruptly he backed off and she followed before she pulled away and peered at him with questioning eyes.
“Are you ready to proceed?” he asked, trying to regain control of the situation. Of himself.
She inhaled and released the air slowly. “I want safe words.” She glanced down then returned her gaze to his. “I read about those.”
He smiled, an unwarranted sense of pride burning in him. She was new to this, but she wasn’t stupid. “Of course. Do you want your own or the traditional red, yellow and green?”
She thought on it for a moment. “Red, yellow and green are fine. Red means stop, yellow slow down, green go. Right?”
“Yes.” He dropped his smile and stepped back. “Does that mean you want me to continue?”
She gave a slight nod.
“I need the words, Cali.”
She looked down and closed her eyes. This was it. She might run. Right here, right now, after all of the progress they’d made. But she had to come willingly, completely, or not at all.
He waited, the silence extending around them in lengthening