“Never,” she replied with a sharp jerk of her head. “I just…she is so different…from what I thought you wanted.” She glanced up at Randall and then put her hand over Joseph’s, where it gently gripped her arm. “I’m so sorry, Sir. I’ve spoken out of turn and don’t mean to be an embarrassment.”
At Joseph’s nod, Randall gently cupped her shoulders and said, “Look at me, Jade.”
With reluctance, Jade looked up into Randall’s eyes, her watery gaze showing honest confusion. “Sir?”
“We all come to this lifestyle with different backgrounds, hang-ups, and upbringings.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said with a nod. “You’re right.” Turning her gaze to Joseph, she said, “I will do everything I can to make…”
“Bunny.”
“…to make B-Bunny feel welcome.” She hesitated on the name but then smiled. “I promise.” Joseph nodded and then patted Jade’s shoulder as she turned and made her way over to the bar to meet the potential Dom. Cecilia nodded at him when he caught her eye, and he went back to surveying the club.
Randall said, “I’m having a hard time reconciling the present reality with your past prerequisites. All these years, I’ve pictured you with a tall, willowy blonde, Joseph. Someone named Tara or Suzanne. Never a Bunny. I guess I’m just as guilty of stereotyping as anyone else.”
“I’ll be honest and say I felt the same way, Randall, but her name suits her. It’s not as if she could easily change it. And I don’t think I’d change her either.”
“I can’t wait to see the two of you in action.”
Crossing his forearms over his chest, Joseph said, “She’s just dipping her toe in the kiddie pool tonight.”
“That explains why you don’t have her dressed up.”
Joseph shook his head. “Not this time. She had some preconceived notions, and I want her to have time to see that she’s safe here.”
“Does she have background issues?”
Shrugging, Joseph replied. “We haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“You haven’t done anything yet? Once you decide something, you usually pursue it relentlessly.”
Joseph knew he was referring to sex as well as her submission, but Bunny was different, and he hoped his patience would be rewarded.
“I am, in my own way. Give me time. She met Mona a few weeks ago, but I need to introduce her to you. Be nice,” he added with a chuckle as he scanned the room. “Now where did she go?”
Randall looked over his shoulder and cleared his throat, and amusement entered his eyes. Joseph instantly recognized the little feminine growl he was coming to know well, followed by a familiar raspy baritone.
“Is this yours, Joseph?”
Prepared for just about anything, he hid his laughter when he turned and spotted a good friend, and inveterate sadist, Samson Cutter, with a red-faced Bunny slung over his shoulder.
“Yes, Samson, thank you. What has Bunny been up to?” he asked, pointedly ignoring her in favor of hearing from the Dom. Even Samson chuckled a little at her outraged snarl as he set her on her feet.
“The imp was trying to get a rise out of me at the bar.”
Joseph turned to Bunny, who looked sufficiently guilty, and raised his eyebrows. Finally, she said, “He was sitting there like a big ol’ grumpy bear. I was cheering him up.”
Samson arched an eyebrow at her. “By sassing a sadist?”
Bunny scoffed right back at him and said, “How was I to know you’re a sadist? I was being nice!”
Samson gestured at Joseph and then looked down at her with a squinty eye. “Tell him what you told me, after you kept poking me in the arm.”
Bunny’s lip pooched out for a second as she noticed the conversation had attracted a few onlookers. Finally she turned to Joseph and, with big innocent eyes, said, “I wasn’t poking him. I was tickling him. I wanted to make him laugh. He was sitting there all grumpy, and I told him I bet if I let him motorboat my tits he might cheer up a bit. I was joking!”
Joseph nearly swallowed his tongue trying to not react. “And?” he asked because he knew there had to be more to it.
“I plaited his hair while I was chatting with him. He didn’t seem to mind. Just sat there like a bump on a log…growling. Seriously, like I was gonna be scared of a big ol’ teddy bear?”
Samson reached back and showed Joseph the braids in his long, thick, silver-streaked hair. Joseph was impressed she’d approached him, of all the Doms in the place.
“You have pretty hair, you big grouch. I didn’t realize I was poking a real bear,” she said with her hands on her hips. “Your mama didn’t socialize you very well.”