Awakening Veronica(Divine Creek Ranch 17)(55)

Veronica smiled. “You were an excellent distraction, although I got nervous for an entirely different reason. Crowds and social events like that are something I tend to avoid.”

Hank said, “Thank you for being honest about it. I’ve had other friends who dealt with panic attacks. If you ever feel one coming on while we’re playing, or anywhere else for that matter, I want you to promise that you’ll tell us, either through your safeword or however you’re able to. I can’t stress how important that is to us. And if you’re ever taking your anxiety meds, we’d need to know that, too, before we play.”

“I promise.”

“That leads us to the next question. What’s your safeword?”

“Marshmallow,” she said with a smile.

Travis’s barking laughter and the sparkle in his eyes as he slipped the sweater from her shoulders made a corresponding happy sensation bubble up inside her. She was afraid to give it a name but liked the way it felt.

Travis said, “She has us nailed, doesn’t she, Hank?”

“Speak for yourself, asshole. She’s going to think she can wrap us around her finger. You should’ve let her discover on her own that we aren’t uber-Doms who want her to kiss our feet.”

The siren in her surfaced and Veronica turned back to gaze at Hank for a second and said, “Who’s to say that I would mind kissing your feet. I might like that. I should show you my list.”

“I’ll make a note, sassy.” Hank growled and she heard a zipper being unzipped behind her. “You’re not naked yet.”

Travis shook his head and drew her attention again. He liked being able to look in her eyes while she talked. “Let’s talk about health for a second. Hank and I both have clean bills of health, with paperwork to prove it. I don’t engage in casual sex and I use a condom every time. I’d love to be a dad but I want it to be a planned event and not a surprise, although I would step up if something happened.”

Hank said, “We’re like-minded in that regard, Nika. When we say we want to take care of you, it extends to all facets of our relationship.”

Her eyes widened. “Is this a relationship?”

They spoke as one in reply. “It is, Nika.”

“I’m on the pill. I was tested a couple of weeks ago when I discovered Brent was cheating. I’m clean, thank God.”

Travis growled as he slid his warm hands into the low waistband of her yoga pants and eased them and her panties down her hips. “Damn, I’m going to enjoy showing you how real men take care of their woman, Nika. Spoiling you is going to be my pleasure.”

“Our pleasure,” Hank chimed in. “It sounds like your hard limits agree with ours. In addition to your safe word, I’m going to give you a ‘slow word’ that you should use if you feel like you’re nearing the point of safewording, so we can back off a little rather than risking ending a scene on a negative note. Since you chose ‘marshmallow’ as your safeword, your slow word is ‘bonfire.’ Use it if you get a leg cramp, which can happen when restrained, or if a cuff is pinching and distracting you, or if you get scared for any reason and we’ll fix whatever the problem is and give you time to catch up with us. If you use ‘marshmallow,’ the scene will stop immediately and we’ll talk about what happened.”

“Will it make you angry if I have to use the safeword?”

Hank frowned. “Angry?”

“If I say ‘marshmallow’ will it call a halt to the relationship completely?”

Travis scoffed. “Jettisoning a relationship because of one isolated incident? Not likely, Nika. Think of your safeword as the emergency brake on a car rather than the ejection seat in a fighter jet.”

Hank came to her and said, “We value your submission too much to do that, Nika. We’re mature men and we’d never throw away something so precious because of one bump in the road. It’s our job to watch you and make sure we never get to the point of you needing to safeword because of our actions during play.”

Veronica smiled up at him, wanting to give him whatever he asked even more. He smiled back, those gray eyes of his warming her as if he’d wrapped her in a soft blanket as he kissed her.

Travis steadied her while she slipped out of the pants and undies puddled at her feet. She was struck again by the contrast between what she’d always thought a Dom would be like, expecting her to strip and then undress him on command. They were a complete surprise to her. She realized that they were right. She’d expected a switch to flip at some point and for them to show her a harsh, stern…stereotypical Dom-side.