“Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to bring my impressionable sub here,” Joseph said as he placed a fresh Manhattan in front of Bunny.
She glanced up in time to see his warm smile directed at her.
Bunny shook her head, adopting what she hoped was an innocent look. “Oh, no, Sir. She was just telling me about how much she enjoyed being a sub at Hazelle House. She wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
He smirked when Camilla nodded, zipped her lip, and threw the imaginary key over her shoulder, and he asked, “Are you sure the two of you aren’t related?”
“We would make an awesome team in your club, Sir!”
“A team of troublemakers, perhaps,” Joseph said with a smile and then held his hand out to Bunny as the music changed to a slow tune. “I requested a song for you, fiammetta. You said you wanted to dance.”
A little dazed, Bunny looked up at him, warmed by the heat in his eyes as her current Eric Church favorite, “Like a Wrecking Ball,” began to play.
“Beastly,” Bunny murmured into his ear when he pulled her close in the center of the dance floor. “Does this mean we have a song of our own?”
He smiled down at her and stroked her cheekbone. “That would make you happy?”
“Well, yeah—I mean, yes, Sir.”
“That was five, by the way,” he said, gently squeezing her ass cheek and pressing her against him.
“Good of you to keep count, Beastly.”
“You keep me on my toes. Right now I’m imagining showing you my dungeon, just so I can tie you up and try out my own paddles on your beautiful ass. Are you enjoying yourself?”
Bunny nodded. “All teasing aside, yes, I am. I’ve done more reading and research like you asked me to, but getting to talk to an experienced submissive outside the club has been educational. I like Mona, too, but she was tied up. I mean—er, you know what I mean—so much at the club, and I was just getting warmed up, talking to her and Robert and Shae when…Well, when all that mess with Mr. Hunter happened.”
“It makes me happy that you’re doing your homework, fiammetta. How do you feel?”
“Languid. My legs are still a little rubbery from earlier,” she said as her cheeks grew warmer, remembering the way he’d pushed her to orgasm faster than she’d ever experienced before.
“I’m glad.”
“I wish I could do something for you, to make it up to you, Sir.” She felt the thickening bulge of his erection pressed against her.
He shook his head as he took her through a turn on the dance floor. “I’m not keeping score, fiammetta. Will you stay with me tomorrow night?”
“Yes. But don’t be surprised if the next time Grinnie sees you she asks you what your intentions are.”
Joseph chuckled. “We already covered that ground tonight. And before you ask, it was fine. Why do you call her Grinnie, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“It’s what our grandfather called her when we were little. He said she was always a happy person, but when we were around, she grinned even more, so he called her Grinnie, and that’s what we grew up calling her.”
“Your grandmother is a delight. I can see where you get your sense of humor from,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ll bet she gave your grandfather a run for his money when they were younger.”
“And more limber. I imagine she did.”
Joseph laughed and then hugged her to him. She enjoyed the easy way he was with her. She’d miss this if things didn’t work out between them.
“Does she manage all right with your brother? She seemed a little disgruntled with him earlier tonight. Teenagers, regardless of circumstances, can be a handful.”
She bit her lip. “There have been a few times when I’ve come home to find out he’s been hanging around with our neighbor’s grandkids. That’s why I was outside with him when you arrived earlier. He just wanted to be outside for a while but he doesn’t really understand the difference between playing in his front yard…and hanging around on the porch of probable gang members. Grinnie is still on edge after the drive-by shooting. She was a guidance counselor for the school district for years and she had personal experience dealing with kids who either were involved in gangs or dealing drugs, or raised by parents who were.”
He didn’t immediately say anything, but the concern was in his eyes, even though he gave her a slight, sideways smile. “I can see her being a counselor.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think they’d hurt him. They know he has a head injury. But if there was another incident like last week’s…”