Not for me.
He rose to his feet as she approached and held out the chair beside him, so that she and Trev were facing each other, but not directly. Hopefully it would make it easier for them to talk but with less pressure than sitting directly across from each other.
As she took her seat, his fingertips accidentally brushed the silky skin of her bare back. The buzz it sent through his fingers made him flinch as if he’d been burned. A small shiver ran through her, and for a moment her gaze found his before sliding demurely away. Without artifice, she tilted her head slightly and exposed the side of her neck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Would it be so wrong to drag her back to his place and find out what else made her shiver?
When they’d settled into their chairs, Trev turned to her and smiled widely.
“Pleased to meet you, Kate. Banner has told me a lot about you.”
She smiled back at Trev, and a spark of jealousy shot through Banner. Silently, he told his possessive urges to shut up. This was about her, and her future, not about his whims.
“He told you how clueless I am?” She scrunched her nose and laughed.
“You’re new. There’s nothing wrong with being clueless.” Trev sipped at his coffee. “I’m sure any number of people would be glad to show you the ropes, so to speak.”
Ba-dum ching. Banner groaned inwardly.
The server came and took Kate’s order. Tea. He watched how she fixed it, the smooth movements of her hands speaking to how often she drank it.
Kate and Trev chatted for a few minutes. Although they got along at first, Banner could see that as Trev continued to talk about himself and what he wanted, Kate started to lose interest. Some subs liked guys who were somewhat self-centered, but apparently that wasn’t one of Kate’s turn-ons.
“. . . so that’s why I prefer a sub that’s good at reading me. Are you good at reading people?”
“When I choose to be.” She raised her chin and the subtle challenge made Banner shift in his chair. How would Trev respond to her stubborn side?
“Well, generally submissives choose to be good at reading their Doms. It makes for a happier relationship.” He beamed at her and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.
“And Doms try their best to read their subs, too, of course?” She turned her head to look at Banner. He saw the mischief in her eyes and the smile for him alone and wondered if she was deliberately flirting with him, or if she just thought it was funny to goad Trev.
“I generally know what my subs need.”
“As a result of getting to know them or from assuming you know what they want better than they do?”
The girl had a point.
“It’s not hard to figure out what a woman wants most days, as long as you don’t let them put on airs. If a sub is a diva, it means the Dom isn’t doing his or her job.”
If Trev couldn’t figure out how to take Kate’s sense of humor as well as stop being a douche bag, this was never going to work.
“Wanting to have your needs met is different than being a diva.” She shook her head in disgust. “Thinking you know what a woman wants without talking to her isn’t always going to work. I can’t see how that would make for a good relationship.”
“Women are simple creatures. I haven’t had any complaints,” Trev said smugly.
Her brows went up in disbelief. “Did you take the ball gag out long enough to check?”
Trev’s mouth tightened.
Great.
“Hey, you two. I think you’re getting a little off track.” Banner laughed, hoping to cut the growing tension.
“No, she’s not mine.” Trev waved a hand. “There’s no reason to mince words here. It’s better to know we’re not compatible now instead of finding out later.”
“Yeah, I doubt this’ll work. It was nice to meet you, Trev.”
That was it? What a waste of time.
Trev snorted and stood when she did. “You’re a bit of a brat, Kate. Brats aren’t my thing, but you seem like a nice girl. Good luck finding someone ballsy enough to take you on.”
Kate smiled and shook his hand with the calm assurance of a businesswoman. “It would take quite the man. It was a pleasure.”
After a mock salute, Trev headed out the door.
Kate lowered herself primly back into her chair, still bristling.
“Well, that went . . .”
“Terribly? Sorry, but that guy is a total jackass.”
Banner grimaced and turned toward her. “Part of that was you, Kate. You’d hardly exchanged two words, and you were already challenging him. I’m not saying Trev handled that well at all. He was an idiot, but you need to own the parts that were yours.” He narrowed his eyes at her speculatively.
Kate’s mouth opened and closed a few times, her glare communicating the words that seemed reluctant to come. Finally, she shut her mouth and pulled her gaze from his. She’d gone from defensive to embarrassed in the span of a minute.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I know what I want—at least partially. But when a guy says he wants to control me, it makes me want to fight. Growing up nowadays, girls are told that submitting to a man is wrong and bad, and that they’re supposed to be strong and independent. No one respects a woman that gives up her power to a man, at least not in the vanilla world.”
Banner sighed and smiled grimly when she looked at him again. “I get what you’re saying, but that’s something you’re going to have to work through if you want to be a submissive. It’s not an easy road for someone that’s fiercely independent, but you have to curb your fight-or-flight impulses around Doms or you’re going to scare them all off. BDSM power exchange is consensual. That’s the point. Most Doms won’t try to fight you for it.”
Her pretty green eyes were troubled, and it bothered him that this wasn’t something he could fix for her. As he watched her silent struggle, she slowly seemed to become aware of his focus.
“What?”
“Shh. I’m reading your mind.”
Kate laughed and playfully smacked his arm. Deep down inside, an answering growl tried to respond, but he shoved it away.
Think vanilla thoughts.
“I don’t have to read your mind to figure out what you’re thinking. You wouldn’t normally let a girl get away with hitting you, am I right?”
“Not if she was my girl.”
Her eyes went round and shone. “What would you do?”
Banner leaned in closer and whispered. “Punish her to remind her of her place.”
With interest, he watched as her breathing became deep, hypnotic. Imagining something interesting just from a small cue? Her submission was there, running just below the surface, so close that he was certain he could draw it out without much effort. He had the strong temptation to test his theory.
Kate blinked several times, came back to herself, and took a sip of her tea. “I think I need to decide what I want before I talk to another one of your Dom friends.”
She’d snapped back to business mode so fast that if he hadn’t seen it himself, he might have doubted whether she’d respond to dominance at all.
“We should go over a BDSM checklist to nail that down, then. Do you want my help with that, or do you want me to e-mail you one?”
Worrying at her bottom lip, she looked lost again. All of his protective instincts and his need for control warred with the knowledge that she wasn’t his to direct.
“Why don’t I bring one by this week so you can ask questions if you’re confused? That is, if you’re comfortable with me.”
She nodded slowly. “That would be good. And if you could give me some pointers on how not to run Doms off, that would be good too.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he started, then gave her a mock-stern look, “but you have to cooperate or it won’t work.”
Her eyes narrowed with mischief. “Yes, Sir.”
It was hard not to laugh, even if she was being cheeky.
“I’m starting to think you’re going to have a hard time being a good girl for anyone.”
She leaned closer, and her scent made him crazy. “Who’s going to make me be good?”
You have no idea what I’d like to do to you, bad girl.
He tried his best to look indifferent. “That’ll be up to whoever you choose. If you’re worried you won’t be able to mind your manners long enough, I could help you remember.”
“You think you could teach me to behave? I don’t know.” She arched her back, which made his gaze go directly to her cleavage. “You seem too nice. I’d probably walk all over you, and the next thing you knew, you’d be begging to be my slave.”
Sassy girl. She needed a few of his handprints on her ass.
“I could teach you to behave, Trouble,” he growled.
Bravado apparently forgotten, Kate ducked her head, but not before he saw the pink in her cheeks.
And not before he’d needed to fight the urge to kiss her pretty mouth.
Chapter 3
“You were a bad girl,” the man with the baritone voice said.
Her knees trembled as she took a step backward.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She looked left then right. How had they ended up in a concrete, windowless room with no door? A bed appeared behind her. The backs of her legs rubbed against it.