For a brief moment she noticed an odd, far away look in his eyes before he refocused on her and the heat of desire bored into her instead. Had that been sadness?
“Are you sure you want to be here?” The question popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.
His gaze darkened. In the span of a heartbeat, she had no idea what he’d do next. His hand moved to her chin and tilted her head farther than necessary for her to meet his eyes. “You, little one, are headed for trouble. Relax, follow and observe. And above all else trust me if you can. Trust me to give you what you need tonight.”
It was strange how comfortable she felt with him. She nodded her head and he frowned. Oops. She’d forgotten again the direct answer he preferred. “Yes, Sir.”
He smiled, but it didn’t quite seem real. “Very good,” he offered before unpeeling her from his chest. The rush of cool air puckered her nipples. Maggie’s sharp intake of breath set off a chuckle from Tucker.
“Your responsiveness is incredible.”
Maggie lowered her lashes and grappled with composure when at the moment she wasn’t above getting down on her knees and begging him to take her. There was so much she wanted to see but only one thing she wanted to do. Suddenly, all the trappings of a public club no longer appealed. If Tucker wanted to be her Dom, they didn’t need any of this to make it happen.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing—I mean—I don’t know,” she stammered, “I was so excited by the thought of finally seeing a public dungeon. Now I don’t remember why it was so important.”
“You’re here tonight because it’s what I want. I desire to show you some of what you missed out on before and to learn more about what turns you off and on.”
“But I—”
“Enough with the reasoning,” he snapped. “You’re my sub and if I want you here then that is enough. There isn’t always going to be a grand scheme and you won’t get to plan every detail when it comes to our relationship. I’ll make the rules based on what I’ve learned and you’ll choose to either follow them or not.”
Maggie’s insides quivered under the change in tone. He’d cranked the Dom voice to high and it was enough to make her knees knock together. She loved it.
“Your response is…”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.” She couldn’t get the words out fast enough.
“Good. Now turn around and let the crowd see you. They’re waiting.”
“What?” Her stomach dropped to her feet.
“Maggie,” he spoke sharply. That was all it took to make her realize they had an audience and if she pushed much farther things might get out of hand like he’d mentioned before. She slowly twirled on her too-high heels and came face to face with numerous faces watching their exchange with different levels of interest. A few of the submissives dared small smiles while many of the Doms looked on disapprovingly. Before either of them made a move, three people broke from the crowd and headed their way. A lovely submissive wearing nothing but an underbust corset and a thick collar around her neck and two male Doms each holding a chain that attached to small D-rings on the woman’s leather collar.
Maggie tried not to stare at the other woman’s nudity but it was impossible not to. The men beside her were gorgeous but she stood out anyway. The woman had the body of Venus and Maggie wasn’t sure she’d ever seen such gorgeous curves in her life.
The pretty submissive caught her gaze and smiled knowingly. Maggie felt the rush of heat equal to a thousand suns fill her cheeks. Caught red-handed, she didn’t know how to react. The thought of turning to Tucker and burying her head in his chest again certainly appealed. But she’d done enough already to embarrass him without making things worse.
“Tucker!” one man called out. “Leo mentioned he’d seen you the other night and I didn’t believe him.” He held out his hand and Tucker took it in his for a quick shake.
“You should know better than to doubt Leo. He’s not the one who’s so fond of gossip.” A wicked smile crossed Tucker’s face.
The bald man on the other side of the submissive laughed. “Poor Quinn, he forgets how long a memory you have.”
“Tucker knows I’m only giving him a hard time.”
Maggie sensed an awkwardness she didn’t understand. Fortunately, Leo stepped forward and spoke.
“Have you brought us a present tonight?” Leo asked. The other man’s gaze raked over her body, a smile crossing his face.
It was all Maggie could do not to squirm.
Tucker’s arm wrapped tight around her waist and pulled her against his side. “Fraid not. This one’s all mine.”