And Mona kneeled beside her Dom. She and Randall both wore wedding bands, so they, too, were committed to more than just a BDSM relationship. Mona looked more than content in her place kneeling on the cushion beside Randall. She certainly didn’t look like a doormat, and earlier, she’d looked thrilled to be of service to her Dom, rushing off to get the icepack and the first-aid kit.
And little Shae, still sitting silently with perfect posture, listened intently to what the others were talking about, every so often casting a glance around, watching the couples with something akin to hope in her eyes. She obviously wanted what they had. She didn’t seem to feel as though she was on the fringe or ignored and smiled and responded when Randall spoke to her and when Ivan asked her a question.
“You’re willing to be that patient?” she asked as she stroked the top of Samson’s hand where it rested on her hip. “Even if I need more time?”
“To have you here with me? Of course.”
She cast her gaze out to the crowd on the dance floor, and he turned his head to observe with her. The conversation among the group flowed around them as she said, “I can see the attraction to the dynamic. Heck, coming from my background, I can even understand it to a degree. But, Samson, there was truth in Jillian’s words. I’m soft and overweight. Would you really want to see me in a skimpy outfit like Bunny’s or Mona’s? I’d look ridi—“
He put a finger to her lips and said, “Bunny gets punished when she voices body-shaming thoughts, just so you know. I agree with Joseph on that rule, so watch what you say about this gorgeous body of yours.” She sensed a shift in Ivan’s attention toward their conversation as he turned toward them.
“From the waist up, I could handle the outfit she has on, I think, but from the waist down? Let’s not be ridiculous.”
“That’s one,” he said quietly, a smile drawing across his lips.
“One what?”
“One pop on your gorgeous ass.”
“My dimply ass, you mean?” she asked, not feeling threatened at all. Odd. “Would it be a punishment sort of pop or more of a therapy pop? Because I’m not sure I’d be willing to cry over the categorization of my ass. Or is it an erotic spanking? Would you use your hand? Or a paddle?”
Samson rubbed his forehead and sighed softly, and she felt his cock thicken beneath her. “Keep pushing and it’ll be a public spanking, which I don’t think you’re quite ready for.”
“Not during this first visit, I don’t think,” she replied. “But we can table our discussion until we’re alone, I’ll grant you that much. Back to what I was talking about. The fetish apparel. Do you truly want to see so much of me exposed?”
“Within these walls there’s nothing I’d like more. It’s a travesty nobody has ever taken the time to affirm your beauty, not your ex-husband and not your father, and I count myself among that number as well. When you and I were dating, I should’ve been telling you how beautiful I thought you were on a regular basis, and I guess I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. I even saved some of the notes you wrote me in my cedar chest. I…Not that it matters now, but I don’t think I believed you. I thought you were sweet and wonderful for telling me, though.”
“I spoke the truth, then, I promise. And you’re more beautiful now, despite whatever you may look at in the mirror and see as a flaw.”
“Look around, love,” Ivan murmured from right by her shoulder. “How many model-perfect bodies do you see?” She scanned the room, but before she could tell him none of them were perfect, he continued. “You hold yourself to an unreasonably high standard.”
Craning her neck, she looked from one man to the other and then said, “I don’t want to be an embarrassment to you, either of you.”
Samson nodded, gazing into her eyes, and she hoped he could see the truth she was speaking in them. He said, “I have never been so damned proud as I am for every person in this room to see you with me. You’re mine as much as I’m yours. Tell her, Ivan.”
Ivan kissed her shoulder again, the touch tender. “I’d be more inclined to tie you down and feed you cheesecake than to tie you down and spank you, love, but yeah, that’s how I feel. I’m so proud to have you with us, to be seen as yours.”
“And if you chose to wear fetish attire, it wouldn’t necessarily need to be something constricting or uncomfortable. Something revealing and daring would certainly meet with my approval.”
“Black lace,” Ivan whispered. “Stockings and a garter belt. A baby doll nightie. Mmm.”