In a nanosecond, he ninja’d his way back and put one gloved hand around my waist and the other barely, like a ghost, holding my throat. The leather of his gloves absorbed the pulse racing away at my throat. The power poured off him and my body responded, bowing and wanting him to exert his dominance.
His voice came out harsher, cracked and broken. “I wasn’t sure until now what my plans were to train the Dominatrix hiding inside, but you’ve made it crystal clear to me now.”
I yearned to howl for him to let me go, instead I may or may not have whimpered. “I have?”
“Oh, yes. To learn to dominate, you must learn to submit first.”
No pinches mamas.
I’d been down this yellow brick road before, with my scarecrow, tin man, and not so cowardly lion in tow. My wizard left me crying into my ruby glass slippers too. “I’ve already been a sub, so that plan won’t work.”
His fingers played at my throat. “I doubt you truly subbed. Maybe topped from the bottom, but you never submitted soul deep.”
I squirmed in his arms. “You don’t know me, and you don’t know any damn thing about my soul.”
His hand stilled on my waist and his fingers tensed, tightening his grip. He whispered into my ear again, the rasp so intense my own throat ached. “I know more than you think, Angel.”
Every muscle in my body clenched. “Don’t. Call. Me. Angel.”
He ignored my protest, but I’d never let him repeat that error again. One slip of the nickname Gray called me and I’d have his gonads on a platter for all the world to see.
“That’s the deal, sweet Dominatrix. Sub for me to learn your trade or get right back on that private jet of yours with your puppies and go crying home.”
Puppies? Seriously? Despite the hard grip Anon Dom had on me, I spun to face him. His face was completely covered by a black mask ala Spiderman or Deadpool. I could make out the shape of his face, but not the actual features.
“Take off your mask.” I had to know who was hiding behind it.
“No.”
“Take it off before I do.”
His gaze didn’t waver from mine. “All you will see if you remove this mask is a shattered and damaged man.”
I glared at the eyes behind the mask, but for the first time took the chance to see the man hidden there. The mask not only covered his face but most of his neck. Not even the thinnest line of skin showed between it and the collar of his shirt. His black gloves extended up into the cuff of his oversized shirt. Despite the way it hung on him, I could still tell his body was muscular, and not in the gym rat sort of way.
Was he truly injured and covered himself to hide scarred features? There was clearly damage to his vocal chords, the wounds must extend to his skin.
“What you see is what you get. I will hide my face behind this mask for my own reasons, but everything else I am is open to you, if you’ll allow me to train you, to dominate you, and teach you to dominate in return.”
He stood there patiently while I examined him. If he could have his armor on, so could I. I had my own brand of damage. Instead of leather, my protection was made of snark.
I pointed from his pants to his mask and back again. “What’s with the superhero bit? Who are you BDSMan?”
He chuckled but didn’t answer and even with the mask, I could tell he was smiling.
Those eyes. So familiar, if they hadn’t been such a brilliant green, I would have sworn they were Gray’s. I studied them for any sign he wore contacts but couldn’t tell.
The familiarity of his scent, his build, his eyes, I wanted this man to be Grayson.
It wasn’t though.
Unless Gray had been in some sort of accident that damaged his voice and skin and suddenly flown to Texas and been a long-time member of The Red Ranch, it simply wasn’t him.
Anon Dom tipped his head and studied my face. His whole being seemed focused on me which was both flattering and disconcerting. He’d been examining me the same as I had him, not on the surface, and I didn’t like feeling he could see more of me than what I’d chosen to show tonight.
He reached up and stroked the back of a finger down my cheek and then grabbed a loose curl, twining it around his finger. “That was a whole lot of gears turning in your mind. Did you come to a conclusion?”
His skin on mine was warm, searing even. Dammit if I wasn’t attracted to him and his proposal. I stepped back like any smart person would when burned by a flame. “I have a few questions first.”
The fabric around his mouth moved as his grin widened. “Ask anything if it will help you trust me. I am an open book.”
Yeah, a leather-bound one. If we were going to establish a D/s relationship I needed him to be open and willing to discuss anything. I started with what was on my mind, even though it wasn’t couth to ask. “What damaged you?”
His body went rigid and still. Only his chest moved as he breathed. “A horrible mistake.” His already craggy voice cracked and a darkness veiled his eyes.
Okay, I wasn’t asking more about that, for now. At least he had answered somewhat truthfully. “What will happen to my harem if I agree to be your submissive?”
The tension across his shoulders released and he closed the space I’d put between us until there was nothing but air. “Hmm. I think you’d like to involve them in our play, but only because you’re relaxed with them. I want you far outside your comfort zone, so they will be off-limits.”
I bit one side of my lip trying my best to ignore the fact that with each word he pushed all the right buttons. It didn’t help that his gaze fell to my lips and stayed fixed there. Or maybe it did. I’d take any advantage I could, because I had a feeling these moments would be few and far between. “That’s not fair to them.”
He cupped my chin and his thumb grazed my bottom lip. “They are important to you. While I won’t sway on my decision, I can have Tate assist them with finding play partners while we train.”
“That’s not what they signed up for.” Was that my voice all Marylin Monroe breathy? Couldn’t be. “What else you got?”
His hand moved from my face down my neck and to my bare chest. He skimmed the tops of my breasts. “We’ll ask them what they’d like then. I’m sure your Ilario will do whatever you ask him to and have fun doing it. I have an idea for Dominic.”
He’d done his research on me and my guys. But when and where? There were only a handful of people in my life he could have wheedled information out of and three were here in this room, one I wasn’t talking to, and the other was a total dickhead. It either had to be Tate or Foster. I didn’t want anything to do with Anon Dom if Foster had sent him. “How do you know what Ilario, or Dominic, or I would like? Did Foster send you?”
“Suspicious, are you? Foster Bennett is a sycophant, a personal foe of mine, and I would never do his bidding. Ever.”
For a second, I thought he’d start spewing fire like an angry dragon. Okay then, he wasn’t Foster’s minion. “Then how do you know all this about me and why would you want to train me?”
“All in good time, but as for the training, Tate may be suave, but he’s not qualified to train you.”
I already understood that. I could tell simply by his demeanor, the sexual appeal he had, and the tension building between us that Anon Dom was the right teacher for me.
If he could handle me, that is. “And you are? How did you even get involved?”
“The kink community isn’t that big. Word travels fast.”
I had no problem being the gossip du jour, and Anon Dom made it through my Spanish Inquisition, so with trepidation, I was going to do this. “What do I call you?”
Without hesitation, he said, “Master.”
“Uh. No.” Blech. Master? Seriously?
He laughed.
My feminist wiles were getting offended. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” he tempered his laughter and cleared his throat. “If not Master, then you can call me Sir.”
“Sir
what?”
“Just Sir.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to agree to calling him anything. “I don’t like it.”
“Why not?”
I sighed. What could I do, but be honest? “It feels so... so subservient.”
He took my hand and stroked the back with his thumb. “Then Sir it is.”
“I hate it.” I was no shy flower and this simple act of deference rankled.
“Maybe you do, but you will call me Sir, Angelina. You will be subservient to me, submissive for me.”
I swallowed hard. That tone of voice and the absolute demand from him surrounded me like a sensual haze. There went another zing to my girly bits. I didn’t expect or want to be turned on like this. Only Gray had affected me this way before or since.
He stroked his thumb across the small of my neck and bent his head to my ear. “Because in that submission, you will learn what true control and power is. Better than anyone else.”
This was bad. I couldn’t let him get to me. I couldn’t allow someone into my heart again. That wasn’t what he was asking for.
He might not be Gray, and he wasn’t what I wanted, but to allow my mind the time to grieve and heal, he was what I needed.
I could give him my body while taking from him, learning. That was why I was here. I would be his sub so that I could become a Domme.
“Okay,” I said. Yes, I was giving in, but I fully expected everything in return.
“No. Not okay.” He cupped my chin and forced me to look up at him, tilting my head and exposing my throat. His grasp slipped down, and his fingers wrapped around.
I didn’t pretend not to understand. I knew what he wanted and while I would always struggle to get the words out, they were a smaller pain compared to not moving toward my goal.
“Yes, Sir.”
He closed his eyes as if the words were a cool breeze washing over him on a hot sultry night. “Say it again and be mine,” he stroked my neck sending shivers over my skin, “at least for now, Angelina.”
I didn’t know if he was pushing me to make me uncomfortable or because he simply liked hearing the words. It never meant that much to me when the guys called me mistress. They’d never truly been my submissives either.
If I was truly going to be a Domme studying his wants, needs, and reactions would help me identify why he was a natural Dominant. Everything I’d wanted to understand about Gray.
But not right now. I shoved my questions to the back of my mind for later. This was a test of my submission, and I’d already learned the hard lesson of what happens when I didn’t truly submit.
“Yes, Sir.”
“That’s my girl.” He let go of my neck and kissed the pulse point. “Now, let’s find someplace more private. This first phase of the training is between you and me and we need to talk terms and negotiate limits.”
My hand in his, we walked away from Hawk and Lilly, but I don’t think either noticed. If I had the chance I definitely wanted to see how that relationship developed.
Anon Dom signaled to one of the staff who excused himself from the group of members he’d been entertaining and met us at a set of double doors.
Sir indicated to the bedroom designed for the club’s high-rolling members. Ten-thousand dollars a night for exclusive use. “If no one else is booked in the Master suite tonight, we’ll be using it.”
I hadn’t been in yet and here was Anon Dom simply demanding use of it. The staff guy glanced and me, checking to see if I was on board. I nodded and tried to smile. My nerves at spending alone time with my new Dominant kept me from doing more than a grimace. But the man seemed to understand.
“Of course.” He pulled the keys from the lanyard at his waist and unlocked the private suite.
Not sure what I thought would be on the other side of the doors, but if someone had said sumptuous hotel suite decorated in French boudoir meets BDSM they would have nailed it, in all the right ways.
A massage table, a seating area with plush chairs, a cabinet full of naughty goodies, a basket of multi-colored rope, were all dwarfed by the oversized bed with hooks in the ceiling above it and in multiple places along the bed frame, all accented with a wall of paddles, whips, and floggers.
“Oh, and let Ilario and Dominic know that Angelina asks that we aren’t disturbed. Tell Ilario he is to indulge in any and every desire with any Dominant he cares to entice tonight. He is to report to Angelina tomorrow exactly how many orgasms he gave and received.”
“Yes, sir.” Again, he looked to me, but I shrugged. I didn’t love Anon Dom speaking for me, but I’d agreed to submit. Protesting now wouldn’t be the right way to move the relationship forward.
“And have Dominic shadow your bouncer and floor monitor. He’s got a solid protective streak in him and Angelina would like to see that put to good use.”
That was true about Dominic and I wish I had thought of something like that myself.
“Thank you,” Anon Dom said and then closed the door. He crossed to a beautiful inlaid wood minibar and took out some glasses. “Please sit down.
I made my way to the seating area but stood next to the chairs trying to figure out what he wanted me to do. Ugh I hated that. I might not be a bonafide Dominant, but I sure as shit wasn’t used to waiting for direction and not knowing what to do with myself. Not anymore. Not in a long time.
He poured a glass of water and brought it over handing it to me. “Ange, you’re overthinking this. We haven’t even begun. Just sit down.”
I took the glass and plopped into the chair. I hadn’t realized my feet were sore until I did. These boots were hawt, but not made for walking. My pre-Texas spending spree had included way too many pairs of new shoes, none of which were comfortable, but they were all so pretty. I stretched my ankles, tilting each foot to the side.
“Take your boots off, and I’ll rub your feet.”
I got why Tate would want to give me a foot massage. He was a switch and liked the submissive role, doing for others. What was with Anon Dom? “Uh, shouldn’t I be doing that for you?”
He shook his head. “Don’t question me. Pay attention and do as you’re told.”
Oh, like I hadn’t heard a good ole do-as-your-told four billion times in my life. “Fuck you.”
He sat, propping his ankle on one knee, spreading his arms across the back of the chair, examined me, head to toe. But he didn’t say anything.
I may not know who Anon Dom was, but he wasn’t my father, my ex-fiancé, or the myriad other controlling, and not in the fun way, men from my past. He didn’t deserve my potty-mouth disrespect. “Sorry.”
He nodded. “Take off your boots. I don’t like to repeat myself.”
I undid the laces and shoved at the boots until they popped off one by one. Anon Dom indicated for me to raise my foot and set it in his lap. I did and he rubbed his thumb up and down the arch. I almost whimpered it felt so good.
“Don’t say you’re sorry to me. Either you want to do this, or you don’t. In my experience doing something half-assed creates chaos and misunderstanding, which leads to mistakes.”
Lord knew I didn’t have half an ass. “The kind of mistakes that lead to leather masks?”
His fingers paused for a moment, then dug in harder. “That’s a question for much later.”
“You’ll tell me eventually?”
“Possibly. Now, let’s talk boundaries and limits. What are your hard, absolute red-zone hard limits?”
Shit just got real.
We started with the big six, which were completely non-negotiable. No kids, no animals, no bodily waste, no vomit, no blood, and no dead bodies. Which he immediately agreed to. Next was the use of toys, yes, use of paddles, soft limit, use of whips, hard limit. Then we moved onto penetration.
“Oral?”
Hell yeah. “Yes.”
“Vaginal?”
He was being awfully formal. “Yes.”
“Anal?” His voice was so calm and collected through all this questioning
. It was as if none of this even turned him on. It was all business.
I wasn’t so unaffected. I shifted in my seat and pulled my foot away. “Yes.”
“Hmm. You like anal, don’t you?” He waved his hand at my other foot coaxing me to give it to him. My foot really wanted that rub down, so I gave in.
He set in on that one and my feet screamed at me for waiting so long to let it be touched by this man’s strong, able hands.
If I was ever going to be open and honest about my own sexuality, this was the time. I thanked Gray in my head for providing me with so many of these experiences already. “There’s something about it that gets me hotter than anything else.”
“I’ll remember that. Double penetration?”
I’d done it before. “Yes.”
“Pain?”
“Maybe, it’s a soft limit. I’m not a masochist.”
“Nor am I a sadist. But some erotic pain can enhance the experience.” More of his businessman voice. I wondered if that was what he did in real life.
“Then, yes.”
“Good. We’ve covered most of the limits I wanted to cover, and we’ll see if we can find a few to push you on. Are there any others you want to bring up?”
“I’m here to learn and experience, so I’m trying to stay as open as possible. However, I don’t enjoy orgasm denial. I won’t say it’s a hard limit, but it has come between me and... a partner, before.”
“It’s an important skill and I will use it when I think it’s appropriate. That will have to do.” For the first time his scratched voice had that same emotion as when he’d first asked me to submit to him.
Okay then. “I won’t say I’m not concerned, but not enough to end this negotiation.”
“Good, then let’s talk protocol.” Back to business.
I’d heard once that Gray was into high protocol. “I don’t really have any experience with that.”
“Yes, I know.”
Hmm. “How?”
He cleared his throat, and since I couldn’t see the expression on his face, I wasn’t sure if he was laughing or if I’d said something to make him uncomfortable.
“I will lay out my rules. There is room for negotiation as in all things, however, there isn’t a lot.”