As I watched him, now looking relaxed and not just saying it, he smiled and his hand came up to touch my face again. “I’ve been looking forward to tonight since we made plans Sunday.”

  Leaning into his touch felt a bit silly at first, but the way his body responded and the scent of his desire said he liked it. And if he liked it, maybe showing my submission in little ways like that wasn’t ridiculous.

  “At first I was pretty sure it would be terrible, but you’ve proven me wrong.” I scoffed when he laughed. “What? You’d prefer that I lie?”

  “Absolutely not.” He slowly unbuckled his seat belt and inched closer. “One of my favorite parts of your wonderfully interesting personality is your unfailing honesty.”

  I’d never had a man say that was his favorite part of me.

  It was usually my ass.

  No one appreciated honesty or good sarcastic wit any longer.

  “You’re aware of how very strange you are, right?” I didn’t feel bad about the question, especially when he started to laugh.

  “Yes.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “Living up to everyone else’s idea of being normal can be exhausting. So I avoid it whenever possible.”

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  “Then what about my kiss?” I wanted to make sure we felt right together before we continued. Just because he knew how to get me off didn’t mean he’d know how to kiss. Those were two very different skills.

  He inched closer but still didn’t kiss me. “Does this mean that you want the rest of the evening to be about exploring the BDSM side of things? If a date is usually ended with a kiss, does the scene start next?”

  He asked entirely too many questions.

  There was a perverse part of me that wanted to wait him out and see what he would do, but I was a bit worried he’d win…and that was the last thing I wanted.

  “Yes.” Admitting that took a weight off my shoulders I hadn’t realized was there. “I want to explore that side of this with you.”

  I might not be able to say I loved the guy or anything like that, but there was something about him that pulled at me. I wanted to see what would happen between us. I’d met a lot of guys who flirted and teased with omegas like Austin or even Wade when he was looking sweet and shy, but never me.

  I got practical offers for dinner or for financial mergers that would require a contract and rings if I was amicable to that archaic symbol. Shit. If anything got close to looking like a real relationship over the past few years, the guy was usually borderline insane.

  Austin attracted drama, but I attracted assholes with mental illnesses.

  Simon’s fingers trailed softly down my cheek. “I don’t want any misunderstandings here. When we go in, you want to begin exploring BDSM together?”

  When I nodded, he continued. “You want me to take control of the rest of our evening? And you know that your safewords stop everything?”

  “A lack of good experience does not imply I’m uneducated.” I raised one eyebrow when he smirked. “I understand that in a healthy BDSM…partnership, I’m choosing to submit and asking you to take the control I relinquish.”

  He chuckled and finally closed the gap between us. As his lips brushed mine, I expected him to deepen the kiss, but he pulled back just enough to smile again. “Do you have any idea how turned on you make me when you’re in an asshole mood and trying to pretend you’re not dying to throw yourself at me and beg for a spanking?”

  “Ass—” Before I could finish, he cut me off with another kiss. That time it was heated and passionate. He nibbled at my lips before taking it deeper, stroking his tongue against mine. When he finally pulled back, we were both breathless. I was ready to curl into him, but he smiled.

  “You are the most fascinating, sexy, intelligent man I’ve ever met.” Then he gave me a peck on the lips. “Thank you for a wonderful first date, but I have to admit, I’m looking forward to the rest of our evening just as much.”

  Would I be too much of a dick if I said I’d been looking forward to this part more?

  Probably.

  “I’m an ass, but this is the part I’ve been waiting for.” I shrugged when he chuckled. “I can get good conversation and attention from the guys. Austin loves going out to dinner and Wade is good company, but this connection and being able to let everything go is something I can’t get from them.”

  Surprisingly, he gave me another quick kiss. “I like knowing you’ll get something from me that no one else can give you. It keeps it from feeling like a competition.”

  Seeing it from that perspective made sense. “It’s not.”

  I finally gave in and leaned forward, curling against him. It wasn’t the most comfortable position in the car, but it was what I’d been picturing since he picked me up.

  One hand wrapped around me and came to rest on the back of my neck. He gripped it just tight enough that it had waves of sensations flooding through me. I couldn’t even begin to describe them, but it was like all the stress in my life faded into the background with that one touch.

  I felt Simon kiss my cheek as he chuckled. “You’ve had a long week, haven’t you?”

  I scoffed. “It’s only Wednesday.”

  “That didn’t really answer my question.” His grip tightened almost imperceptibly. “I can almost see the stress coming off of you.”

  I knew what he was talking about. “I have a client whose son is suing her, trying to claim she’s not mentally fit enough to control her funds any longer. She’s perfectly right in the head, but he wants her money. I don’t think he’ll win, but it’s going to take a toll on her and he’s making my life hell too with all the calls and demands.”

  I was already stretched thin with the club and my regular work, so each day had felt longer than the next. Just leaving work early enough to make sure I would be ready on time had been difficult.

  He kept his tight hold, but his fingers started to slowly caress my neck, drawing a low moan out of me. His voice sounded pleased. “How about we go inside and I help take your mind off everything?”

  I gave a faint nod, but he understood. “One question first. Do you have any limits right off the bat? We’re going to talk about a lot of things, but for tonight, what are your limits?”

  It probably should have been a harder question. But since I wasn’t worried about what he’d think, it was easy. “I liked what we did the other day. Mild pain for tonight until we talk about things and nothing with bodily fluids.”

  “Got it.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my head again. “How do you feel about being restrained?”

  “I don’t mind it, but I don’t want you to take away my ability to talk just yet.” He probably wasn’t insane but better safe than sorry.

  “Deal.” He turned his head and nibbled my ear, pulling another moan from me. “Besides, I like knowing you’ll be working on holding back that sexy tongue of yours while you try to behave.”

  Since he seemed to understand how hard that was for me, I had a feeling it was the idea of getting to punish me that he was enjoying.

  “Come on. I’m not going to be caught making out in the car like Tanner and Shane.” As he pulled back, I had to grin.

  “My favorite part of your personality so far is the way you like driving them crazy.” He just laughed as he pressed a quick kiss against my lips and started to get out of the car.

  As I reached for the door, he shook his head. I’d had a feeling he’d want to open it, but I wasn’t sure. Domination and old-fashioned courting didn’t always go hand in hand, but I was starting to find that I liked it when it did. Just the way he’d guided me across the parking lot had my submissive side peeking out.

  Opening the door, he took my hand and helped me stand, pulling me close. “I’d do more than help you out of the car if I wasn’t worried about people watching.”

  Other people’s opinions weren’t high on my list of things to worry about, but with the club and everything going on I appreciated his caution. “Thank you for thinking about that.”

  Shutting the door and locking the car, he kept me close as we headed inside. I glanced over at the house I knew was Shane’s. The dark windows and empty driveway made it clear they were at Tanner’s place for the night.

  Simon saw me looking and spoke up as we neared the door. “They’ve been alternating between their places, but I think it’s only a matter of time before Shane moves in with Tanner. They really don’t like being apart. It’s cute.”

  “It’s ridiculous. They’re both trying to downplay how serious they’re getting and it’s not believable at all.” I wasn’t surprised when he grinned.

  “My mom and our other siblings have a bet going about when they’re going to announce their engagement.” His grin got wicked. “I bet that they were just going to elope and turn up married and my mother about had a fucking heart attack.”

  I snorted as he opened the door. “You grounded again?”

  “Just about.” He gestured for me to head in and then followed, shutting the door. “She made it clear that just by putting that out into the universe, I’m going to be in trouble if it actually happens.”

  “She realizes life doesn’t work like that, right?” His family was nuts enough that I wasn’t sure.

  Simon shrugged as he started turning on lights, moving us deeper into the house. It was sparsely decorated but didn’t feel cold. It was more like he just didn’t see it. Knowing Austin, he’d probably already started planning how he was going to redecorate it.

  “At this point I’m not really sure.” He took my hand as we entered the living room and walked us over toward a large overstuffed couch.

  As he sat down near one end, he pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me. “A few months ago I would have said that she was a bit flighty but had good intentions and was smart, but after everything that happened with Graham’s mother I don’t know.”

  “What did you think about all that?” I didn’t really have anything particular I was curious about, but I wanted to hear how everything had seemed from his perspective.

  “I don’t know.” He leaned back against the couch, tucking me close against him. “It explains why Graham was so quiet about who he was seeing and his personal life, but I was really surprised with how his parents acted. I thought her omega rights shit was mostly because she didn’t understand real life. I didn’t expect all the crazy, honestly.”

  No one had.

  “Graham seems to be handling it well now.” I relaxed against Simon and felt more of my tension leaking out. I hadn’t always understood or accepted it, but just knowing that where I sat or how we touched wasn’t up to me was a relief.

  Austin said it probably had a lot to do with how stressful our lives had always been, but I wasn’t sure there would ever be one reason why submission pulled at some people.

  “Shane was pissed for a while.” Simon’s hand started stroking my back. “I wasn’t as shocked. I guess I expected some of the family to be kinky. They all see things their own way already. I just wished I’d paid a bit more attention to what everyone was doing. I feel like I shouldn’t have missed Graham’s relationship.”

  Then he laughed quietly. “Shane was a bit of a surprise, though. He was obsessing over Tanner, but I never saw anything dominant in his personality. I thought maybe whatever the Dom equivalent of a service kink would be, but that was it.”

  I grinned. “I’m not sure if I can see him in a French maid’s outfit, but yeah, he’s always had that air of wanting to take care of things and make Tanner’s life easier. Austin said one time he thought Shane would have made a good Daddy Dom if Tanner was into that.”

  Simon’s chest jerked as he laughed. “Yeah, I can see that. He’d be good at that, but he’d be one of those Daddies who had everything scheduled and arranged playdates around planned naps.”

  “Oh yeah.” Letting out another slow breath, I started stroking Simon’s chest, loving the way the closeness chased everything away. “I don’t remember at this point if we’ve talked about it or not, but the club is going to have a playroom for littles and pups and Austin is having a wonderful time decorating it. I think Silas is worried that Austin is going to drag home a little at some point. He keeps talking about babysitting.”

  Simon snorted. “I can see that. He seems like he has the imagination for that kind of play. Not everyone has fun with the littles and pups. Most would probably enjoy other subs coming in to play.”

  I wasn’t as carefree as Austin when it came to things like that, but I could see the draw to that part of the lifestyle.

  “He wants to get someone to be almost like a room monitor or babysitter for the unattached littles and pups.” As Simon nodded, I continued. “Do you think there are enough single subs like that who might want someone to take care of them for a short period?”

  “Rent a Daddy, huh?” He chuckled. “Yeah, I haven’t been really active lately, but in the past, I knew a variety of pups and littles. They tend to group together online and in friendships, but from what they said, finding Doms who are into that is hard.”

  I snorted. “Finding Doms into anything is hard.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I think it’s because finding like-minded people online is so difficult. And they really can’t approach domination on a date or even on a dating site without causing chaos, so it’s rough.”

  “Yeah, being honest about that kind of stuff is hard. That’s why we want the club to work. There has to be a better way of meeting the right person than hoping you’ll randomly find someone who’s interested in the same things you are.” Because that seriously did not work.

  Sure, Tanner had good luck with Shane. But I personally thought he’d been drawn to Shane’s quiet style of domination from the moment they’d met, and that had been why they’d been able to work together so easily.

  “I agree.” I felt Simon press a kiss to my head. “And on a slightly random note, once the playroom is done, let’s get some pictures of the space. We’ll make sure there are no identifying aspects to the photo, but we could email the pics to a select few people in the lifestyle so they could start the word-of-mouth advertising going.”

  That was the part that made me nervous. I liked planned, organized risks. I knew it would be necessary to grow the club, but it felt more precarious than I would have liked. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to come up with a safer way to grow things.

  “That sounds like a good idea. We don’t want the club to end up being one dimensional.” Just having a building full of subs or Doms or even people who were into just one thing wouldn’t help us last in the long run.

  “Once people realize it’s legit and safe, I think you won’t have any problems getting people from all aspects of the lifestyle.” His hold relaxed as he started stroking my leg. “We’ll keep the site as secure as possible and Eddie will make sure he screens everyone carefully.”

  Something in his voice said the job had moved over toward the Dom side of his brain and wasn’t just a job any longer. I wasn’t sure if that would change anything in the long run, but I had to admit, there was a big part of me that liked how protective he was turning out to be.

  As we cuddled, the hand from my leg came up and he cupped my face. Moving me, he shifted my head so he could kiss my lips. There was no question about what I wanted or if I’d allow it. He just wanted a kiss, so he took it.

  In the grand view of BDSM it was tiny and innocent, but the confidence and genuine domination in his touch felt like something I’d been missing all my life. This wasn’t someone playing at domination who would run scared at the first sign of my submission.

  He was the real deal.

  Chapter 12

  Simon

  “No.” Bradley shook his head as it rested against my chest. “That’s not something I was ever curious about.”

  We’d spent more time than I’d planned talking about limits and needs but he was so relaxed that I hadn’t felt the need to stop. He seemed perfectly content letting me ask one question after another and only occasionally stepping in to ask one for himself.

  “But what about you? You told Austin the other day that you liked pain. Were you just driving him crazy or was that a real response?” His question seemed very casual, but I couldn’t stop my body from stiffening up.

  I didn’t think the topic should be surprising, but the number of subs and people in the lifestyle in general who found me odd had been startling. As he lifted his head, I nodded. “Real response. I like pain. It’s not submissive for me like it is for some people, but the endorphins and chemicals that are produced when my body is experiencing pain is incredible.”

  He was quiet for a few seconds before he nodded. “Okay, then the dick tattoo thing makes sense.”

  I snorted out a laugh. “Yep.”

  That had been one of the most incredible sensations ever.

  His head cocked to the side as he continued to process it. “Why don’t you have more tattoos, then?”

  Yep, that was always one of the next questions. “It was perfect and everything I thought it would be, but I’m pretty sure nothing else will ever be that good. I don’t want to spend my life chasing a high I’ll never find again.”

  I didn’t have an addictive personality like people might picture, but I could get focused enough that I could see it turning into a problem. So I wasn’t going to start.

  “If I ever get another tattoo, it will be because it’s something meaningful for me, not because it feels good.” I was not going to end up covered head to toe in random things just because it got me off.

  “I can understand that.” He was quiet for a few seconds. I had a feeling he was trying to figure out how to word something. “But I’m assuming you’re fulfilling that need in other ways, then?”

  I had to grin. “When the opportunity arises, yes.”

  If he could ask something blandly, then that’s how I’d answer it.

  He snorted, clearly not happy with that response. “I was trying to be polite.”

  “Asking questions will never be impolite, teach, just don’t growl at me and demand things.” Like he was getting ready to do now.

 

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