A Little Harmless Submission(41)

He held his hand out, and she took it readily. Her easy compliance had his blood humming. She rose out of the water, and he sighed. Water dripped down her flesh, off her nipples. He helped her out of the tub.

“Stay there.”

He grabbed the towel and dried her off. He moved his hands over her body, his pulse pounding.

By the time she was dry, he was ready to strip off his clothes right there and take her. Hell, his hands were shaking. Not for the first time did he realize he was acting like some green Dom, not truly ready to take on his first sub. She turned him inside out without even trying. And the hell of it was that she didn’t realize her power. If or when she did, Rome knew he was going to be in big trouble.

He wanted to set her up on the wide bathroom counter and feast on that sweet little pussy of hers. But he had toys he’d bought her, ones he wanted to use on her and only her. Somehow he pulled himself back from the brink of losing complete control.

“Come on, Maria. Let’s have some fun.”





Chapter Ten



Maria followed Rome into his bedroom. Every step took considerable effort. From the first, she had known sex with Rome would be different, but this was…beyond what she would have accepted just two weeks earlier. She was naked, walking through his house, following him like she was some kind of slave.

She shook that idea away. It wasn’t the way Rome saw her. Being the sub didn’t mean he didn’t respect her. But this was one thing she wasn’t prepared for. She’d never been ashamed of her body, but walking naked through a house with a man wasn’t something she did on a regular basis. As she stepped into the room, she had to fight the urge to run screaming. She knew he would push her, and ask things of her that she wasn’t sure she could give him. She had done enough research to know that last night, Rome had taken it easy on her. She didn’t know if she could do it. It would be harder this time. Rome would push her over the edge, push her farther than she’d been before.

He took her to the bed. “Sit down.”

She did as ordered and waited. The silence stretched as he went to his dresser and took out some things. At this angle, she couldn’t see what they were and her imagination ran wild with the possibilities. Rumor was that Rome preferred anal sex. Could she do that? She had never done it before, but she had been interested in it. In fact, it was the one thing she thought about during masturbation that sent her over the edge.

He turned to face her, a small smile playing over his lips. She loved when he smiled. It made him look so carefree, so much younger. He had these little crinkles that formed around his eyes that just caused her to sigh. It was then that she noticed the wide paddle he had in his hand. She felt her eyes widen at the sight. Large, wooden, with one side padded with red leather.

“You understand when you became my sub last night that you are now mine to pleasure.”

She nodded, unable to tear her gaze away from the paddle. He kept stroking his long fingers over the soft leather. She could remember the way his fingers had skimmed over her flesh with the same kind of delicacy he now showed the paddle. Damp heat gathered in her pussy, and she had to force herself not to squirm. She knew without being told that Rome would punish her for it.

Like that was a deterrent.

“I want to go back over the rules, although you apparently have the ‘do not speak unless spoken to’ rule down.”

She said nothing, her focus on the paddle. Did he intend to use it on her? What a stupid question. Of course he did. There was no reason he would have it out right now if he didn’t plan on paddling her. Just the thought of having him spank her had her blood churning. Fear and arousal slipped through her veins as she tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

“Maria, look at me.”

It took her a second, but she finally raised her gaze to his. His expression was impassive, but she could already see the heat building in his eyes. His gaze was so intense she could feel it all the way to the soles of her feet. If she’d had to speak at that moment, she would have failed. Maria knew without trying that words would have escaped her. No man had ever looked at her like she was the only thing on earth he ever needed. She was trying hard to ignore the way her heart trembled as her lungs seized. All her rational thought started slipping away. For once, she wanted to pretend that this was for good, forever.

“I am going to test some of your limits tonight. There are situations that might make you uncomfortable. Don’t ever think that using your safe word is a coward’s way out. We all have boundaries. We all have things that we can’t do. This is all about learning these things to better understand our true selves. Do you understand?”