“While we eat, Kate will take turns kneeling next to each of you so that you can get to know her better. You can choose to have her sit on your lap, but while she wears my collar, I know you’ll respect my wishes that she not be touched in a sexual manner.”
They served themselves, and Banner unclipped the leash and sent Kate to visit Nick, who sat directly to his right.
Jakob, on Banner’s left, passed him the steak. “She’s beautiful. Did she have any kink experience before you?”
“No, she was vanilla before me. She wasn’t sure she’d be interested in submission, but it runs deep. I think with time and trust she’ll be less cautious about handing over control.”
Jakob turned his attention to eating and watching Kate. At first, seeing her talk to Nick bothered Banner, until he realized that although they were being polite, there didn’t seem to be a spark there for either of them.
When she returned to Banner, he directed her to kneel at his side. He cut some meat and fed her by hand while she looked up at him. She slipped farther into subspace and with the third bite of food, instead of taking the morsel impersonally, she sucked the juice from his thumb. His cock jerked, hating to be left out.
He leaned down and put his mouth to her ear. “Bad girl. You do that again, and I’ll punish you when our guests leave.”
“Yes, Sir. Sorry.”
Like hell she was.
Her eyes narrowed with interest, and he wondered if spanking her now, in front of all of them, would freak her out too much.
“Go to Will, then to Everard, Josh, and Jakob, in the order of the table. Come back to me to eat your dinner in between.”
She nodded and rose. The grace and sway of Kate’s hips while she walked to Will kept Banner’s gaze glued to her ass. His mouth watered, and it had nothing to do with the steak. The two talked for a while, but there didn’t seem to be much of a connection there either.
Kate returned to him, looking slightly bored. He fed her a few cubed potatoes, and with the second bite she brazenly swirled her tongue around his index finger, with none of the others the wiser.
With a low growl, he gave her the Dom eye. Kate smirked, even knowing he’d threatened her earlier.
When Kate got to Everard, he pushed his chair back and settled Kate on his knee. She watched the man shyly through lowered lashes but laughed at his jokes and was gradually drawn into conversation.
Jealousy ate at Banner, and he wished he’d never thought of inviting the man. The two glanced down the table at Banner at one point, and he wished he could hear what they were whispering about.
She returned, but refused food. “Sir, I need to . . . use . . . to go to . . .
Banner got to his feet and clipped the leash onto her collar. They left the room together and went upstairs to the private section of the house.
“I don’t need help in the bathroom.” Kate smothered a laugh, sounding intoxicated even though she hadn’t drank.
“No?” He pulled her to face him.
“No, Sir.” She blinked up at him, waiting.
“How are you feeling?”
She shrugged and bit her lip. “I’m not sure. I can see how a couple of them might be interesting, but one creeps me out.”
“Okay. We’ll discuss it later. Go use the bathroom, and I’ll wait here.” He unclipped her leash, and she stared at him before walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.
So she liked a couple of them. That should make him happy, right?
She was back again before he had time to process his feelings. Again, she was standing too close.
“Did you touch yourself while you were in there, bad girl?” He smiled to let her know he was joking.
“No, that I might have asked for help with.” A wink accompanied that statement, and she tried to walk past him.
Banner grabbed her arm and pushed her back against the wall, pinning her there with a forearm across her chest. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He clipped the leash back on and her eyelids drooped. “Someone likes the leash.”
She stood there meekly, not trying to get away, not looking impatient to get back to the party, studying his face through gentle eyes, breathing through parted lips.
God, she made him a lot crazy. A little crazy didn’t cover it.
“I should lift that pretty dress of yours and see how wet you are. Is getting handed around a room full of big, suit-wearing men turning you on, my dirty little slut?”
Her eyes widened. “I–I . . .”
“Maybe I should bring you back down there naked and let them all play with you.”
She whimpered and turned her head aside, presenting her throat.
Pressing against her, he parted her legs with his thigh and lifted it until her pussy was crushed against him. Her heat leached through his pants.
“Would you like that?”
She shook her head but pressed against his thigh. “No, please, Banner. Don’t.”
“What did you just call me?”
Kate arched up until their lips were almost touching. Her quiet whine filled the silence.
“What did you call me?” He growled, and she shuddered.
“Master, please don’t strip me and hand me around to—”
He cut off her plea with his mouth, kissing her the way he’d been aching to all evening. She kissed him back, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt, then sliding her hands along the bareness of his chest.
Would it be so wrong to have her right there, when there was a roomful of men vying for her attention downstairs? Probably. Did he care?
He slid his hand up her skirt. She was wet and so ready for him. His cock strained against his zipper. There was no objection when he pressed a finger up inside of her hot pussy and circled his thumb around her clit. She moaned desperately into his mouth.
He finger fucked her a few times then withdrew. When she started to complain, he pushed his damp finger into her mouth.
“Suck.”
She made a sound of protest, but like a good girl, she did it anyway.
“That was your punishment for distracting me while we have guests.”
Kate used her mouth on his finger as though she were giving it a blow job, but stopped when he glared.
“Be careful, Kate. You’re under my roof. Do you remember what I told you?” He regretfully pulled his finger from between her lips, then brushed her dress down and checked her hair.
“That if I set foot in your house, I’m agreeing to let you do whatever you like to me?” Her slow smile was a blatant invitation.
“You’re making it very hard for me to stop touching you.”
“You’re making it very hard for me not to want you to.”
“Stop sucking my fingers when I feed you, or I’ll bend you over the dining room table and fuck you in front of everyone.”
“Mmmm . . . Yes, Sir.”
Yes what, exactly? Was she agreeing to behave or agreeing to being fucked in front of everyone?
“And don’t call me Master. You know it makes me crazy.”
“I’m sorry, Sir. Sometimes I can’t help it.”
They studied each other for a moment.
“This can’t work.”
“No, it can’t.”
“I’m fucking you as soon as they leave.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He led her downstairs, wondering how to politely get rid of their guests.
Chapter 11
Finally, they were gone. All of them kissed her on the cheek as they left, but the way Banner smoldered at her from across the room was too distracting to let her enjoy the interest from the others.
In her mind, Banner had fucked her in a zillion different ways since he’d brought her back downstairs. Dessert, coffee, lounging in the basement room—all of it seemed to take several lifetimes, even though the last of the guests were gone by midnight.
Banner shut the door behind Everard, and his gaze turned menacing.
“Do you want me to get your coat?”
The way he said it, and the way he looked at her, said this was her last chance to escape.
She had no interest in leaving.
“I thought we could talk about who you thought was the most appropriate choice for me before I leave.” Asking for sex seemed a bit forward.
His expression hardened. “Take off your dress and wait for me in the dungeon.”
Shit. Was he angry?
He frowned at her and she fled to the basement before he decided she needed to be punished.
When she got to the dungeon, she pulled off her dress and folded it before laying it aside. Her heart was hammering. What was he going to do to her?
For that matter, he’d said wait, but did that mean in a specific place or position?
Kneeling was probably the best bet, but where? On the bed seemed presumptuous. That left the coffee table or the floor. How bad did she want him to use her? She knelt on the floor, hands behind her head and knees as far apart as she could manage.
She waited. In the dungeon there was no way to tell the passage of time, but it felt like at least ten minutes, or maybe days, had passed. Her knees were starting to ache on the hard floor, and although she considered getting up, she fought through her discomfort on the off chance that her patience would please him. She was cold, but she didn’t know if it was the temperature of the room or just her nerves.
He prowled in wearing jeans and nothing else, and she couldn’t help but gawk at his thickly muscled chest and arms. She got the feeling she’d be seeing the real him tonight. No more games. No more training.