They’d handle what remained of the night’s festivities. He didn’t have to watch the members surrounding him to know Bunny was right behind him. Not touching, not smarting off, or pulling any pranks.
Blinking widely, Jade’s eyes were fastened on the swinging falls of the flogger in his hand, and then her gaze flicked past him to the woman walking behind him, and her brows went up, but not in shock. She smiled. Jade, who a month before would’ve disapproved of a sub meeting the direct gaze of a Dom in the club, now smiled at him and then turned her grin on the Dom seated before her.
Blake rose to shake his hand as he paused beside his chair, and the Dom smiled down at his potential sub and then said, “I sense a paradigm shift amongst some of the subs, Joseph.”
Joseph nodded, still not looking back. He could sense her body heat, just inches from his back. “As long as there’s no mutiny happening, I’m fine with that. A periodic shake-up can be a good thing.”
“Enjoy your sub,” Blake said with a nod to him before returning to his seat.
Joseph stalked to his private entrance to the club, another of the hidden doors placed strategically throughout the mansion, and held it open for her. The door closed behind them with a soft thud.
“I thought we were visiting the dungeon tonight, Sir?” she asked softly, her hands tugging gently at his sleeve.
“We are. It’s time I showed you my personal dungeon.”
“Oh. Am I in trouble?” she asked, and the soft syllables of her query trembled.
In the quiet of the stairway, her words reverberated in his head. The hint of trepidation mixed with arousal, and curiosity. With that one utterance, she told him everything he needed to know.
He paused on the stairs and tilted her chin up so he could see her eyes. “When I had you restrained on the medical exam table, playing with you and teasing you, after a certain point it would’ve been possible for you to get off without my help—or permission, wouldn’t it?”
She licked her lip, as though hyper-conscious of his fingers on her chin but she gave him a slight nod. “Yes, Sir.”
“But you didn’t. You were begging to come. Why not just take what you obviously wanted and needed?”
Her dark lashes flickered down and the flush in her cheeks deepened. She turned those lovely blue-green eyes back up to his. “Because it would’ve disappointed you and ruined the scene.”
“But the choice was yours, wasn’t it? In essence, making you the one in control.”
“I suppose.”
He turned to continue up the steps. “That is submission, fiammetta. And no, you’re not in trouble. I’ve decided to reward you.”
She was half a step behind him, visible in his periphery as he climbed the stairs at a slow pace. “This flogger was made by a friend who specializes in the crafting of BDSM tools. Whips. Paddles. Floggers made of whatever materials your mind could conjure up. Calfskin. Suede. String. Chain. Rabbit fur.”
“Rabbit fur? That doesn’t sound scary.”
Joseph chuckled. “Oh, ye of little faith. He made this flogger for me to my exact specifications. The leather is as soft as butter, as I’d expect from him, but it’s the color I wanted to be perfect.”
He unlocked the door at the top of the stairs, the scent of leather with a hint of lemon furniture wax and wood soap providing welcome into his private space. She came abreast of him in the doorway, and as she looked up at him, he lifted the flogger and stroked her cheekbone with the super-soft strands bending away from where they were anchored at the handle. The dyed leather picked up the mix of blue and green flecks that made her eyes snap with turquoise fire.
“Perfect match.”
She bit her lower lip and reached up to stroke the strands of leather. “You had it made to match my eye color?”
“I did.”
Her hand slid over the leather, and her fingers caressed his as she gazed up at him. “Use it on me?” Not a demand. A request.
“One of these days, fiammetta, I’m going to discover the secret of your boundless energy.”
“Hey, we make time and energy for what we care about, right, Sir?” she said, her lips curving into a shadow of their former cheekiness, tempered by tenderness. “I was just playing down there but…”
He reached out to the dimmer switch and brought the lights up so she could see. He’d expected her to bounce back, say something impertinent like holy spitballs! Her jaw dropped, as expected. He heard her gulp but, otherwise, made no sound. Even more telling, she continued on with her earlier thought.
“Something happened between us down there. For a split second I thought I’d backed myself into a corner with no way out that wasn’t embarrassing for either myself…or you.” Worry reflected for a moment in her drawn brows, as if the latter thought bothered her.