Mercy (Salacious Players Club, #4)(31)

She sets the paper back down. “That reminds me—we need a safe word.

“I can’t just say stop?”

“No,” she replies. “Well, technically yes, you can, but in some scenarios, that’s not enough, so the safe word is necessary.”

“Okay…” I say. Reaching down, I scratch the giant gray dog nudging my leg for attention, and he jumps up, putting his massive paws on the counter, nearly matching me in height. “How about Ringo?”

“Absolutely not. We are not using my dog’s name as our safe word. Ringo, down!” she snaps, and the dog immediately obeys, dropping down to the floor. I continue to scratch his head when I look up at Maggie. She’s wearing an uneasy expression. “Mercy.”

“Excuse me?” I ask.

“Mercy…will be our safe word. Can you remember that?”

I nod. “I guess.”

When I look up at her again, I notice something is different. Her shoulders are pressed back further than normal and she’s keeping her expression more guarded. She looks more confident today.

“We have to go over a few rules too,” she adds.

“Okay.” I stop petting Ringo to give Maggie my full attention. Soon, he loses interest and disappears into the living room.

Maggie scratches the back of her neck before quickly composing herself. “I don’t want you seeing anyone else while we do this. Even if we don’t have sex, it’s important to me that this is exclusive.”

My brow furrows. I wasn’t getting laid much anyway, and I sort of figured I’d be spending all of my free time—which is all of my time lately—here with her.

“Okay,” I reply, but she quickly cuts me off.

“Yes, ma’am,” she snaps. “You’ll address me as ma’am, and as long as you’re at my house in this setting, then you can assume we’re in a scene.”

“A scene?”

“Yes, that’s what it’s called…when I’m your Domme and you’re my sub.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She’s getting stern and serious, and I notice the way it has my skin prickling with excitement and a smile fighting its way onto my face, but I manage to keep a serious expression.

“Get down,” she barks in command, much like she did to her dog. I slip off the counter to stand in front of her.

With one small step, she’s standing closer to me. I don’t kneel or bow or anything because she hasn’t really told me to, so I just stand here and wait.

“Last rule is…no one can know about this. No one. Don’t tell your friends or anyone online. Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I wasn’t planning on telling anyone anyway. My friends clearly wouldn’t understand after the way they reacted to the app the other day. I’m not using this like a quick pussy scheme like they did.

With another step, she’s now only an inch away from me, and I get a whiff of the coconut scent of her hair and the subtle hints of her perfume. Seeing her so close in the daylight, I notice the hazy freckles across her nose. I want to brush the overgrown bangs out of her face. Instead, I wait patiently.

After a heavy breath, as if she’s preparing herself, she reaches out and lays a hand over my chest.

“I want you to know that as long as you’re here as my sub, I’m going to control everything you do. As long as it’s within the parameters of that list, I’m going to make you do whatever I want. You should want this. If at any time you stop wanting this, I need you to communicate with me.”

Her eyes are focused on my chest where her hand rests, and I wonder if she can feel the way my heart rate has sped up. When she lifts her eyes to my face, I’m pretty sure it stops. Because the next words out of her mouth nearly knock me out.

“I’m going to use you, Beau. In fact, when you’re here, you’re not Beau anymore. We are not friends or lovers or acquaintances. You are my property to do whatever I want with, and if you deserve it, I’ll punish you. It will hurt, and I’ll try to make sure you don’t enjoy it. But if you earn it, I’ll reward you, and I’ll make sure you do like it.”

Her large blue eyes are on my face, and I have to remind myself to breathe.

“Yes, ma’am,” I whisper.

“Good.”

Then her hand trails down, over my chest and stomach, stopping when her fingers brush the elastic band of my shorts.

“So, what about last night? Were you good or bad?”

I know she’s referring to her instructions not to masturbate, and I feel a sense of pride swell in my chest because I really did make it all night, and it wasn’t easy. After our texting and browsing through that spreadsheet, it was tempting. But I kept my hands off my dick.

“I was good,” I reply proudly.

Her eyes scrutinize my face. “Good.”

Suddenly, her hand drifts lower over my shorts until she’s rubbing her palm over my cock, making it jump behind the fabric. I suck in a breath as she strokes, making me hard in record time.

With her eyes on my face, she stops her stroking and reaches for the waistband. I’m frozen in place, silently begging her to touch me, as she reaches her hand into my shorts and wraps her warm fingers around my hard length.

“Oh fuck,” I mutter in a breath.