There were more texts. She simply didn't have the energy to read them yet.
When the phone rang, she flinched. She lifted it up, saw that it was Dominic, and decided it would be easier to take the call than send it to voice mail. He was a persistent man. He wouldn't give up. A part of her was glad.
"Hey." She spoke softly.
"You make it home okay?" His voice was calm. Concerned.
"Yes."
"You want to talk about it?"
"My drive home?" she joked.
He laughed. "Well, we can discuss that if you want too. But I thought maybe if I wasn't standing in your personal space, it might be easier to open up to me."
"You can't let this go, can you?"
"Nope."
"How do you know I have a problem, anyway? You don't know me at all. Maybe I'm just a bitch and I changed my mind about you. Maybe I decided I don't like the way you dominate me."
"No. That's not it … " he said, as if they were attempting to solve a mystery together.
She giggled, in spite of herself. The smallest shred of relaxation filtered through her body. She was alone in her apartment. Luke couldn't see her. He had no idea she was on the phone with Dominic. She was safe. For now.
"Lily, I know we haven't spent much time together, but I like you. And I'm pretty good at reading people. You like me too. You're curious. You want to explore the possibilities. It's reasonable that you would be a little scared. But you're intrigued. I'm going to go out on a confident, cocky limb here and say that whatever has you spooked has nothing to do with me.
"You have a personal problem. It started with a disturbing text. Someone is sick or dying or lost or something. Though I haven't figured out why you can't tell me about it. I'm not an ass. I can listen. Maybe I can help. But give me a chance. Don't shut me out."
She sucked in a sharp breath he surely heard.
"If you don't want anyone to know we're seeing each other, I can respect that. There are lots of reasons you could throw out to support that desire. I've heard them all. Maybe you don't want your friends to know you're titillated by BDSM. Or you don't want the notoriety of dating a baseball player. Maybe you don't like paparazzi. All of the above. I can work with whatever parameters you want to set. But go out with me. Start with one date. I promise not to pressure you or dominate you in any way."
"You're right about one thing, you're one persistent guy."
He chuckled. "I'm used to getting what I want. Entitled, my mom calls it."
She smiled. "Why don't I believe you could ever go on a date with anyone and not dominate them? Not even for a minute. Not buying it."
He laughed harder. "Okay. You might be right. I mean, I do date vanilla women, but usually only once. If I don't get a vibe from them that they can role-play at least a little, I lose interest fast."
"And what about me gave you that vibe? I've never done anything like this in my life."
His breathing was heavy through the connection. "When you turned around and looked at me standing in my bathroom, I knew by the hunger in your eyes. Your gaze roamed up and down my frame, devouring me. Maybe you thought for a minute that we might just enjoy a good fuck and move on, but then you realized it was more than that.
"You submitted to me as if you'd been doing so your entire life. It was dormant in your personality. You just haven't ever been with someone who pulled it out." His voice dipped deeper, nearly a growl. "You came so hard at my command. It was so hot."
She couldn't breathe.
He continued. "I'm gonna bet you went home after that first encounter and researched the hell out of the lifestyle and its possibilities because now you have an interesting grasp on BDSM. And you're intrigued. Last night, in your car, you lit the engine on fire. You needed to come so badly. It was beautiful. Your face was filled with rapture. When you let loose, you do it completely."
She swallowed. "What do you suppose that moment might look like if we had a photo?"
"Oh, baby. I would love to see that. I'd probably blow it up and hang it above my bed. My dick is hard all over again thinking about it."
"What if the entire world saw it?"
He hesitated and then slowly spoke again. "Not sure what you're getting at, but if you think I'm into overt exhibitionism, you're wrong. I don't mind role-play in a club, but I'm perfectly capable of staying within the boundaries of my partner."
She bit her lip, unsure if she should continue.
"Give me something else here, Lily. Where are you going with this? Were you afraid someone might have seen us in the parking lot? Did that make you hot? Or bother you? More words, baby."
She blew out a long breath. So far she had no idea how she was going to get out of this mess. Going it alone seemed impossible. She needed help. No way was she going to bother Zia or Brett, and she had no one else she could call and explain what she was doing that got her in this bind. No one but Dominic.