“I had to be intelligent and up to date on the latest political and business news. I needed to be a good dancer and conversationalist. Whatever my regulars were into, I had to be as well.”
“Plus maintain a certain image.” He looked fascinated.
“Of course. If I was to be seen at a function with my date, I couldn’t be an embarrassment.”
“But you couldn’t always be seen. After all, the commissioner you mentioned being a customer couldn’t let it get out he saw someone outside his marriage.”
I shrugged. “When I wasn’t a piece of jewelry for some man’s ego, I was his dirty little secret.”
Dan’s eyes were warm on me. “I think you’re a lovely lady.”
I glowed under the straightforwardness of his admiration. “You don’t treat me like trash even though I dated men and slept with a few of them for money. There’s always been this underlying sense of unworthiness from even my best customers.”
Dan frowned. “I killed a man, Brandilynn. I committed the most heinous of acts and ruined many lives. I’m not about to judge you for having sex to feel good or to pay the bills.”
I swallowed. I’d conveniently forgotten his status of a murderer for a little while. “I just can’t wrap my head around you killing someone.”
“I couldn’t either for a long time.” Dan looked at his hands, examining them as if they held the secrets to the universe … or to a man’s soul. “I suppose if you feel backed into a corner with no way out, you can do just about anything.”
“Am I safe with you, Dan?” I blurted.
He looked me in the eye. There were volumes of truth in his gaze: strength, compassion, and weariness. The sad knowledge that in the end no one can fathom their own darkest instincts. I thought perhaps in us all lies something no better than the most base of animals. Something hidden deep beneath our pseudo-civilization. Call it survival instinct if you want to be pretty about it. But in the end, I thought the truth of human nature might be as cold as a vampire’s eyes.
Kill or be killed.
“I will never hurt you, Brandilynn,” Dan said. “In fact, if you’ll forgive the macho chest thumping, you bring out the urge to protect. You’re a tough chick on the outside, but here and there I catch glimpses of a scared little girl, begging to be sheltered.” He reddened as he said it.
I couldn’t help but shiver as my insides went all warm and gooey. If Dan did prove to be a Dom as I suspected he was, he held all the best characteristics. Strong and protective, just the thing a little sub like me crumbled before. At least in the bedroom. I wasn’t nearly as mushy when sex wasn’t involved.
My voice husky, I said, “Are you just saying that to get me in bed?”
His seriousness faded before the slow grin that crept over his face. “No, though if that’s a byproduct of this conversation I’m not going to complain.”
I stood. “What do you want of me, Sir?”
His lap bulged in response and he rose to his feet. “I want you, my pretty baby girl. All of you, all to myself.” He took my hand and tugged me to the bed. “Naked, Brandilynn.”
I thought my clothes off and stood quietly as his big, capable hands ran down and back up my arms. His course then went to where he could cup my breasts in both hands. His thumbs rubbed over my nipples, turning them hard and pebbly.
Dan’s voice turned growly with excitement. “I was raised to respect women, treat them with kid gloves. But I always had the fantasy of controlling a woman. Would it shock you to know I want to pinch your nipples? Slap your breasts until they turn red like Tristan did earlier?”
I shivered in anticipation. “I like being helpless. I want to be controlled. And a little bit of pain does things to me. Not the harsh stuff, but spankings are good. For some reason, my head turns it into pleasure.”
He continued to rub the stiff peaks, his eyes devouring my mounds. “Were you spanked as a child?”
“Never.” A little of my passion ebbed. “My parents were too wrapped up in their own selves to worry much. And I was a very good girl until college, always trying to get their approval.”
“You’re carrying some baggage, Brandilynn. But then, so are we all.”
He kissed me, starting gentle with soft lips. But his arms around me were strong and firm, making me feel safe. Controlled. Owned. And when his kiss turned more passionate, more demanding, I melted against his suddenly naked body. His cock pressed thick between us, and I thought of all the ways he could possess me. My inner thighs turned slick with honey.
Dan’s hand crept into my hair, grabbing a handful so he could tilt my head just so, allowing him to plunge his tongue deeper towards my throat. I moaned into his mouth, encouraging his dominance over me.