“I don’t think I’m sub material,” she answered, after an awkward pause. Why had she said that? Maybe because seeming too eager wasn’t attractive? Then again, his response would also show her a bit more about him.
“No?” Vince’s body language shifted. Instead of lounging, relaxed, his features sharpened, shoulders straightened, and he edged toward her as if he’d just found a delicious challenge. “I’m pretty good at taming bratty girls.”
Oh boy.
Some of the Doms she’d encountered online had big ego problems. She didn’t want an egomaniac swinging a flogger at her, safeword or not. Something about this guy was making her want to hit the brakes. Was it too much to ask for a nice, humble man who liked to spank naughty girls once in a while? At least to start with. Maybe her expectations were too high. Reading erotic novels did that to a person.
“I’m not a brat, and I’m not a meek, innocent thing,” she warned him.
“All the better.” His smile was sinful. “Let’s go to my place. I have some things we can experiment with.”
His place? They’d just met. “Um. I don’t think so.”
“Why not? I’m friends with Chris. You can trust me.”
As a rule, she never trusted people who said “you can trust me” whether they had a referral or not. “It’s too soon. I’m not comfortable with it.”
“I thought you wanted a Dom. There’s one sitting right here.” He gestured to himself. Who even did that, like they were the hottest guy ever? She did her best not to look around the room to see if there was a prank show taping this. “This might be your only chance. Don’t you want to know what your deepest desires are? Haven’t you been fantasizing about this for a long time?”
Well, yes. But with him? His pick-up lines stunk as bad as his cologne. Was she crazy to think this was too fast? Maybe it was normal speed in kink time. Chris and Janine wouldn’t steer her wrong, right?
He stood up, his costume rustling, then held out a hand. “Come on. I only live around the corner. Let’s see if we can make some of your fantasies come true.”
Really? Did he just say that? Make my fantasies come true? It sounded like a cheesy line from bad porn.
He sighed in frustration, then snapped, “My patience only goes so far, girl.”
Warning bells went off in her head. Doms were bossy, but this guy didn’t know her well enough to have that right. So, fuck him, even if he was the hottest pirate she’d ever met. “No. I’m not interested.”
He growled, but she’d dealt with men nastier than him in her job. It would take a lot to intimidate her. “I thought this is what you wanted. What’s your problem?”
“Obviously, it’s you,” someone said from behind her.
She swung her head in the direction of the voice. A tower of well-muscled man had appeared. With dark hair and tattooed arms, he gave an impression of quiet menace. He stared the pirate down.
Kate sat there, stunned. Where had he come from? There was no way she could have missed him earlier, so he must have just arrived. He hadn’t looked her way, but maybe she could fix that? Even if he wasn’t into anything kinky, she was willing to throw herself under that bus . . . er . . . man.
“Why don’t you mind your own business?” If Vince thought he was going to order this guy around, he seemed sadly mistaken.
The mystery man took a step toward Vince, his body relaxed but ready for trouble.
Uh-oh. Was this turning into a Dom-off? She was starting to feel as though she’d been transported into a medieval movie, and she was the damsel the two knights were dueling over. Maybe she’d slip away when they weren’t looking.
Finally, Vince shrugged. “Have her, then. She’s too mouthy for me anyway.”
As he slunk off, she let out a breath of relief.
Her champion snorted, then turned to look at her. His brown-eyed gaze locked with hers. It felt like someone had snapped a rubber band in her abdomen. This man was going to eat her alive and make her beg for it.
Then, the intense air of command seemed to drain away, and with it went her urge to rub up against him like a cat in heat.
Like any other normal guy, he pointed to the seat next to her. “May I?”
She slid to the other side of the couch but nodded.
“I hope that was okay.” He gave a small, apologetic smile. “I’m sure you could have handled that yourself, but Vince pisses me off. Pressuring people isn’t right. He gives my kind a bad name.”
His kind? Meaning male? Or was he a Dom too?
“No one should expect you to play the first time you meet them.” He smiled grimly. “Or even the second or third time. It’s your decision when the time is right or if you’re even interested.”
She nodded. “This whole thing is starting to seem like a pipe dream. Between the egomaniacs online and that pushy pirate, I’m starting to regret this.”
His brow furrowed. “Regret what?”
“All of it. Getting into kink. This party.”
“Why the party?”
He didn’t know? She studied his face. It read as confused but honest. Maybe he wasn’t a Dom. Or maybe Janine didn’t like him. She glanced around the room, then caught her friend’s gaze. Janine’s eyes widened as she stood frozen, watching them. What the hell did that mean?
Kate raised her brows in question. Her friend shrugged, then nodded her head in approval, her brown curly hair bouncing with it. Well, it wasn’t exactly a glowing recommendation, but it would do. She’d have to grill her about it later, after she strangled her for sending Vince the Pirate to plunder her booty.
The polite and gorgeous knight in shining armor waited for an answer. Unlike Vince, he didn’t reek of cologne. He smelled clean, natural, as though he’d just stepped out of the shower, not doused himself in order to hide something. The only problem was his Dom vibe had evaporated.
Should she tell him the truth about the party? It was almost embarrassing now. “Um. Janine and Chris threw this party to help me find a Dom.” She’d thought Janine had invited only other kinksters, but maybe she was wrong. There were a lot of people there. Surely they weren’t all from the club they used to go to.
He didn’t say anything for a minute, and she panicked. Shit, maybe he was vanilla.
“Do you know what a Dom is?”
Chuckling, he nodded. “Yes, I know what a Dom is. I just didn’t know this was a matchmaking event.”
“Well, it’s a Halloween party too.” She ducked her head, feeling silly. “It isn’t all about me.” Way to make a first impression.
An awkward silence filled the space between them. What now? She wasn’t in the mood to get hit on again. Maybe this whole idea was stupid. Who’d ever heard of a BDSM matching party, anyway? Janine had insisted on it after Kate had been propositioned by creeps one too many times, and here it had happened again. But finding a partner wasn’t like playing a TV dating game. It was more complicated than that, which was why she’d grown desperate enough to agree to this in the first place.
She sighed and thought through ways to duck out of there and go home. Curling up on the couch with her dog and a good book was starting to sound welcome. And she couldn’t wait to peel the corset off. She probably had indentations in her ribs.
He finally broke the tension. “Can I get you a drink?”
She shrugged.
“Please? You look a bit pale.”
Space might help clear her head, and she was thirsty. “Sure.”
“Water? Soda? Juice?”
She noted he didn’t ask if she wanted alcohol. “Soda’s good. Thanks.”
“Okay.” He stood, making her crane her neck to see his face. God he was tall. It was hard to find decent men that were taller than her. In high school, the volleyball coach had seen her five-foot-nine-inch frame walking the hallways and had begged her to try out for the team. It turned out she was pretty good. The only reason she’d gone to a decent university was because of a volleyball scholarship. Being tall was good for athletics, but she’d outgrown the boys in her class by middle school. She never lost the impulse to stalk any guy that was taller than her. Now was no different. This maybe-Dom was starting to grow on her. It was possible she could train him to give her what she wanted. She’d heard of others doing that with their vanilla partners. For someone as hot as he was, it was worth a shot.
“I’ll be right back.”
She watched him walk away, her gaze sliding down to his ass. Damn, he had a nice ass. In her early twenties, a guy being hot and verbal would’ve been enough incentive to pick him up. Now, at twenty-seven, her standards were higher. Still, polite and possibly kinky could win him a date. Was she getting ahead of herself? He hadn’t even asked her yet.
Where had that dommy side of him disappeared to? Dr. Jekyll was okay, but Mr. Hyde was much more interesting.
Janine appeared at her side. “Scoot!” She motioned for Kate to move down the couch, then squeezed in between Kate and the arm. “What are you doing talking to him?”
Annoyance boiled up. “Why did you send me that pirate? He was an asshole!”
She cringed. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t know him as well as I thought. I’ll have to put the word out that he’s a bit pushy. I was about to come charging over, but your new hero beat me to it.”