Not Safe for Work(14)

I nodded, caressing his cheekbone with my thumb. “You want nothing more than to be on your knees and begging, and you know just how far to push the brattiness so a Dom will make sure to put you in your place.” I tilted my head. “Am I close?”

He gulped.

“That’s what I thought.” I nodded sharply toward the plush carpet at our feet. “Get on your knees.”

He obeyed immediately, kneeling in front of me and watching my eyes the whole time.

“Good.” I stepped closer and ran my fingers through his hair. It was always so perfectly arranged at work, as if he spent hours on it and would’ve been pissed if someone messed it up, and here he was on his knees, not protesting in the slightest as I methodically de-styled his hair. Oh yes. Dominating a man like him—a powerful, has-his-shit-together man like Rick Pierce—was going to be f*cking fun.

I moved a little closer, enough to encroach on his space. My erection was pushing against the front of my jeans just inches from him, and his eyes flicked toward it a couple of times.

“I’m going to have so much fun with you.” I jerked my head toward my backpack on the floor. “Get my bag.”

He leaned to the side and grabbed the strap, which was just within his reach, and dragged the pack toward us. I crouched down, and as I unzipped the bag, he licked his lips. I hadn’t brought much—cuffs, some bondage tape, lube, condoms. There’d be plenty of opportunities to try out different toys. Tonight was still for feeling each other out, finding boundaries and figuring out if we were comfortable enough together to move on to the more fun stuff. And I hoped like hell we were—I’d already thought of lots of ways to tease and torment him.

“So.” I glanced at the toys. “What do you have in mind for tonight?”

He eyed me, not letting his eyes flick downward for even a second. “What do I have in mind?”

I nodded.

“You’re the Dom.” He moistened his lips. “The only thing I have in mind is whatever you tell me to do.”

Oh, be still my beating heart.

“Good,” I whispered. “Perfect.”

He smiled, shifting a little.

No, my beating heart wasn’t going to be still any time soon.

“You really are a sub, aren’t you?”

Rick nodded. “Very much so.”

I touched his face again. “I get how and why you kept it out of sight at work, but looking at you now…” I grinned as he pressed against my palm. “I can’t believe I never even thought you had a side like this.”

“I guess we’re all full of surprises.”

“Did you think I was a Dom?”

“I…” He swallowed. “I had my suspicions.”

“Did you?”

He nodded, his skin hissing against my fingertips. “Might not be obvious to someone who isn’t into kink, but I got that vibe the first time I met you.”

We’d met well over a year ago. That whole time, he’d suspected I was a Dom? “Is that right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well.” I held the back of his neck, leaned in and kissed him. “Guess we should make up for lost time, shouldn’t we?”

“Yes, please.”

I kissed him once more before I stood, my knees and ankles cracking loudly and painfully.

Note to self—getting a little too old to crouch like that for more than a few seconds.

“So all that time you thought I was a Dom, did you ever think about what it would be like if we did this?”

Rick nodded. “A few times.”

“A few?”

His cheeks colored. “Quite a few.”

“What did you think about us doing?”

“A lot of things.” He licked his lips. “Fucking. Playing with…” He looked down at the bag of toys in front of him. “That kind of stuff definitely figured in.”

“Anything in particular?”

Barely whispering, he said, “Handcuffs.”

I leaned down and hooked a finger in the set of silver cuffs and lifted it so it was dangling in front of his face. “You like being cuffed?”

“Very much so.”

“You know that means you’re completely at my mercy, right? Kneeling, with your hands bound?”

Rick nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

And you like it, don’t you? God, where have you been all my life?

“I don’t have one with me tonight,” I said, “but I think I’d enjoy putting a spreader bar between your ankles.”

Rick squirmed, as if he were trying and failing not to shiver.

“Would you like that?”

Another nod.

“Answer—”

“Yes.” He pulled in a breath and sat straighter. “I’d like that. A lot.”

“Good. For tonight, though, these will have to do.” I flipped the cuffs up into my hand, letting them clink and jingle, and Rick squirmed again. “Safe word is red. Understand?”

“Yes.”

I stood upright and stepped around behind him, pausing to rub my knee gingerly because being forty-five sucks, and then opened the cuffs. Carefully, I closed one cuff around his wrist and paused, waiting for any signs of distress or uncertainty. When he gave none, I cuffed the other. Once everything was secure, I let go, and his bound hands settled on his lower back, fingers curled but not fisted.