Beneath the Scars (Masters of the Shadowlands #13)(51)

“Very good. Now, so I don’t stress you too much, the next question is about all the impact toys. We’ll cover each one individually some other time.” He chuckled. “Did you enjoy getting flogged and caned and all that?”

“Yes.” Wait, that couldn’t be the right answer. She tried to sit up—and his hard palm on her stomach kept her pinned to his lap. “No.” A breath. “Yes.”

When he laughed, she’d have thumped him if she’d been in any position to do so. Being flat on her back made reprisal…difficult.

“Does that mean you figure you shouldn’t like it but you did?”

Her grumble was all the answer he apparently needed.

“Then the—”

“All fine,” she hastily interrupted, because she just knew he was going to talk about the sex stuff. And she so wasn’t. “No one could complain about getting off, right?”

“Actually, yes.” He tipped his head and rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Some people find any sexual intimacy within a power exchange to be uncomfortable.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You climaxed because I wanted you to. I, essentially, made you get off. Not everyone likes losing that control.”

“Oh.” He really had taken any option of how she responded away from her, hadn’t he? The way he touched her, played her body… She’d have come whether she wanted to or not. A shiver chased down her spine.

But she was okay with it…because the Dom was Holt. Her mouth turned down. If someone else—like Peter—had done what Holt had, she’d have found out if that safeword stuff worked. “I liked it with you.”

She watched how the left corner of his mouth quirked up slightly, making his dimple appear. Dimples often made a man look like a boy. Holt’s made him even more masculine. “Why do you have to be so gorgeous?”

The dimple disappeared. “Sweetheart, I’m scarred up enough to make you think I’m a biker.”

“Oh, please.” The shake of her head make her brain spin. “Like a line on your face can diminish the appeal of the Thunder God.”

His laugh was as sexy as his face. “Sweetheart, you’re rambling. We’ll talk about the scene more when you’ve had time to process. I’m tied up for a couple of days, but after that… Let me think.”

He wanted to make plans? For the future? Oh, no. He was too good-looking, and she’d let him play her like a piano—and that would’ve been okay, but now all she wanted was to stay tucked in his arms and on his lap. This BDSM stuff was more dangerous than she’d realized. Not because she’d had fun, but because of the way it made her feel about the person doing it. For heaven’s sake, she hardly knew him.

“I can’t think about next week. Really, I need to get going.” She pushed at the hand on her stomach, sat up, and slid her legs off the couch.

He hauled her back. “Josie. What’s going through your head?”

“Nothing. Nothing important.” She shoved his arm away. “I’m all recovered, and right now, I need to get back and close down the bar.”

He let her rise. As he sat, arms extended along the back of the couch, his frown showed his…not annoyance…but concern. His intent gaze said the Dom would figure out why she was running.

And the idea of him getting deeper was simply terrifying.





Chapter Nine





On Monday evening, Carson looked through the stacks of books at the book fair and gave a sniff. As he’d feared, he’d read most of them at least two years ago. But there was a bunch of books for advanced readers and… Huh, some of them looked pretty good. Ghostopolis? Maybe. Trapped. Yeah, that had potential. He’d never seen a blizzard, after all.

“Cars, dude. You’re looking at books?” Brandon nudged his shoulder and snatched the book out of Carson’s hand.

Annoyed, Carson grabbed it back. “What’re you doing in here?” It wasn’t as if Brandon was into books. He was into games—and good at them.

“The mom’s here, selling books. Figured I could hit her up for some cash.” Brandon smirked. “She won’t want to look cheap in front of the other parents, so she’ll give me some.”

“Pretty smart.” Carson considered, then shook his head. Messing with Mom that way seemed kinda mean. She wouldn’t cave anyway. She was always talking about not doing stuff just to impress other people…and she didn’t.

“I know, right? C’mon.” Brandon headed for the front.

Carson hesitated. There were other books to pick out. But Brandon was cool, even if he didn’t play soccer, and apparently, he had a bunch of Mature Xbox games. It might be fun to see them. Brandon wasn’t a total geek either. Sure, he had a gut, but he was bigger than Carson and knew karate. Not that he practiced since he said his dad wasn’t on his case anymore.

Turning, Carson followed with his two books. The cafeteria section had been roped off and the tables piled high with books. Near the “entrance”, three women stood behind the checkout table. One of them was Carson’s mom.

“Hey, my mother, how about giving your one and only son some lunch money?” Brandon started on his spiel.

Carson caught his mother’s eye. She was biting her lip, trying not to laugh. Yeah, she’d seen right through Brandon. Mom was pretty okay.