WhatHeDemands (domination erotica) (7 page)

He stood too. “Goodbye.” He jerked his head toward the full
glass sitting on the table. “Please, take it.”

“Thanks.” I grabbed the glass and circled around him,
leaving as much space between us as I could. The place was packed. It certainly
wasn’t a lot of space. Inches. It wasn’t enough. I could smell his cologne. I
could feel the heat of his body. I hesitated, wishing I could lean in to him
and stay there.

Remember, he shares his women. He has lots of women. And
he’s not looking for a relationship. It’s all about bondage. Whips and chains
and safewords and control. You made a break. Don’t go back. You’ll only regret
it.

Pulling in a deep breath, I hiked up my chin and pushed on,
wriggling through a crowd of men gawking at the women shaking their asses on
the dance floor.

I’d done it. I’d talked to him without throwing myself at
him. And had I wanted to.

Side stepping and inching through tiny gaps in the crowd, I
made my way back to our table. Every now and then,
I’d
steal a little sip of wine. It was good. Really good. I discovered the table
I’d been sharing with Jill was occupied. But not by Jill. I downed the rest of
my wine, set the glass on the first empty horizontal surface I could find and
headed outside.

Ah, much cooler. The air smelled better, not like stale beer
and sweaty bodies. I click-clacked out to where I remembered having parked the
car, on the street, in front of a bagel shop. I stopped. I looked left. I
looked right. I went down another street and another. It wasn’t there.

It freaking wasn’t there.

“I am going to kill her,” I grumbled as I fished my phone
out of my pocket. I listened to the phone ring. One, two, three…five, six. It
clicked to voicemail and I left an angry message, asking her why she’d
abandoned me then clicked off. A split second later, as I was scurrying back to
the bar to decide what to do, my phone rang.

“Where are you?” I demanded. I was getting tired of being
abandoned at the bar. Really effing tired of it.

“Um…” She giggled. “Stop that.” She giggled again.

“Jill, where are you?”

“Oh. Bristol? Hi. I ran into Dave at the bar. You remember Dave.”

Sure, I remembered Dave. How could I forget him? He’d used
Jill to make an old girlfriend jealous and then dumped her like yesterday’s
trash. The guy was an absolute asshole. “I’m ready to leave. Come and get me.”

“Oh. Sorry. I can’t.” She giggled again.

“Why not?”

“Well, because you parked the car illegally. It was towed.”

Gah!

Fortunately, I was near a bench. I plopped down.

“Bristol? I’ve gotta go.”

“Bye.” I ended the call.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Jill had been my best friend
since I was in kindergarten, and had seen me through some of the biggest
heartbreaks in my life, I might have vowed to never speak to her again after
this. But she had been, and would always be, my best friend. And it hadn’t been
her fault the car was towed. I was the one who’d told her it was okay to park
in that spot.

I glanced around, suddenly aware of the fact that I was
alone on the street. It was late. And there weren’t that many people out there
with me.

Feeling a slight sense of unease, I started back toward the
relative safety of the bar and the masses of people inside it. As I turned the
corner, a black car pulled up alongside me and honked the horn. I glanced.

Looked like Shane’s car. The passenger side window was down.
The woman in the seat was waving her hand out the window at me.

“Bristol!” she called.

The vehicle was idling at the curb, hazard lights blinking.

Great timing. Just great. If Shane found out I was stranded,
he’d offer me a ride. I didn’t want him to do that because if he did, I would
take it.

“Bristol Deatrich,” the woman said.

Against better judgment, I approached the car and peered
into the window. “Hi.”

“Are you okay?” Shane asked.

“Sure. Of course I’m okay.”

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said.

“Thank you for the concern. I’m heading to my car. I’ll be
fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How about I make sure you get to your car safely? I can
drive you to it. Where did you park?”

Of course he offered to drive me to my car.

“It isn’t necessary. I’m just down the street.” I pointed in
a random direction.

“I don’t mind.”

“Really, it’s okay.”

He got out and circled the front end. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

His eyes narrowed.

Dammit, he was like a hound on the scent. “The car was
towed.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“You don’t have to—“

“I insist.” He was already pushing me toward the car.

I managed to blurt out one last, “Really, it isn’t
necessary,” before he’d practically forced me into the backseat.

Within seconds, we were zooming down the quiet streets,
going in the opposite direction from my condo. He knew where I lived, so my
assumption was he was taking his friend home first.

“You’re going the wrong way,” I told him, hoping he’d turn
around and take me home first instead.

“Bristol, this is Kayla. Kayla, Bristol. Kayla lives just a
few blocks from here. Since you and I live south, it makes sense to take her
home first.”

It made sense, sure. But that meant I’d be in the car with
Shane alone. I didn’t want to be in the car with Shane alone. Not for a minute.
But I knew there would be no changing Shane’s mind, so I sat back and kept
quiet during the short ride to Kayla’s place. A few minutes later, I learned she
lived in a high priced condo in a converted old factory. Nice. Definitely more
Shane’s speed.

I waited in the backseat while Shane walked his guest up to
her building’s door. He didn’t touch her, I noticed. Nor did he kiss her. When
he returned, he opened the passenger side door. “Why don’t you come up here and
sit? I feel like a chauffeur.”

“All right.” I made myself comfy in the front seat, buckled
in. As Shane pulled back out onto the street, I said, “Thank you for taking me
home.”

“You’re welcome.”

As much as I wanted to sit closer to him, I forced myself to
lean against the door the whole trip to my condo. Of course, like he had with Kayla,
he walked me up to my door. But unlike what he’d done with her, he placed a
hand on the small of my back as he did it. And he didn’t leave when I unlocked
the door.

“Thanks again,” I said as I pushed open the door.

He didn’t move. “I’ve been waiting for a chance like this.
Can I come in? For just a minute? I’d like to talk to you.”

Oh God.

Maybe it was a dumb, impulsive, foolish thing to do. But I
let Shane into my condo and I shut the door.

A part of me didn’t want to hear what he was there to say;
another part did. The part that did got her way.

I motioned to the kitchen. “Can I get you something to
drink? Coffee?”

“No. This won’t take long.”

Good.

Appearing a little nervous, he glanced around my living
room. “I’ve had some time to think about things, about you, about my life,
about a lot of things. I even went to…a counselor. I’ve never done that. Not
even when I was a kid.”

That had to be significant.

Wanting to avoid interrupting him, I didn’t speak, only
nodded.

“I’ve concluded that I don’t deserve a woman like you. I
don’t. I don’t know how to make you happy. I don’t know how to have a real
relationship. I have…challenges…I need to work out.” He heaved a visible sigh. “But
I can’t stop thinking about you.”

At the sound of those words, my heart literally jumped in my
chest. I could tell, by the way he’d said them, by the expression on his face,
that I had become more than a submissive, more than a plaything to be used and
then thrown aside when he became bored.

“What does this mean, Shane?”

“It means…I want to learn to be a better man. And I want you
to teach me.”

I staggered a tiny bit. “Me?” I said through them.

“Yes, you. Only you. I don’t want another submissive. I
want…a girlfriend. A lover. A partner.”

Those were the words I’d longed to hear. My spirit soared.
My eyes burned. They were happy tears, not sad.

“No sharing?” I asked, almost afraid to believe what I was
hearing.

“No. Never.”

“No other submissives?”

“No.”

“What about the rest of it? The bondage? The rules?”

“I can’t just turn it all off, and I don’t think you want me
to.” His lips curled slightly into a hint of a smile.

“Maybe I don’t want you to turn it all off,” I admitted.

His smile amped up to full wattage. “Does that mean you’ll
give me a chance?”

Did it?

I wanted Shane to be the man of my dreams. I had a feeling
he could be. But how many times had I heard about the dangers of trying to
change someone? Was it fair to expect him to change for me? Was it realistic?

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “I’m a stubborn ass sometimes,
and I’ve learned some of the issues I have run deep. But I can promise you that
I won’t give up. If there’s one thing I’m not, it’s a quitter.”

That I did believe.

Arms folded over my chest, I studied his handsome face.
Would that be the face I would look at someday as I spoke my wedding vows? Or
would that be the face of the man who would destroy me? I had a feeling it
would be one or the other. I wasn’t sure I had the courage to risk the latter.

“I need some time to think about it, Shane. We’ve spent so
little time together. And what time we’ve spent has either been having sex or fighting.
If this goes bad…I don’t want to think what it might do to me.”

“Fair enough.” He reached for the doorknob, twisted it.

I set a hand on his arm just as he was about to leave. “I
want to be brave for you. I do. I’m just scared.”

“I’m scared for you.” He reached for me then pulled his
hands back as if he felt he didn’t have the right to touch me. “Call me. I
won’t badger you.”

“Thank you.” I stepped up to him, stood on tiptoes, wrapped
my arms around his neck and hugged him.

He folded his strong arms around me and held me tightly.
“You’re welcome.” He kissed the top of my head.

Ohhhh. This felt so good, so right. A pleasantly warm
feeling of comfort and contentment flashed through me. I felt myself smiling.

Until he released me. Then I felt sad and lonely.

“If I don’t leave now…” He lifted a brow. Then he stepped
outside.

I watched him go, my heart pounding in my chest.

I had a decision to make.

Already, my heart knew what it wanted.

I didn’t need time to think it over. Even my subconscious
knew what I wanted.

I was terrified, yes. More scared about facing this next
stage in our relationship than I had the first. Because now it wasn’t just a
casual thing. It wasn’t just sex or kinky games. It was about feelings,
developing a real connection. Building the foundation for something that might
last the rest of our lives.

My heart in my throat, I raced out the front door. I saw Shane’s
car. The engine was rumbling. But the headlights were still out. He hadn’t left
yet.

Waving my arms, I barefooted it down the front walk. His
door swung open and he was out of the car before I’d run more than a few feet.
We met somewhere in the middle. Our bodies smashed together. Then he grabbed my
face, sandwiching it between his hands and kissed me.

Shane was one hell of a kisser. Every kiss he’d given me had
sent my mind reeling. But this kiss was different.

It was a claiming, yes. It was a possession. But it was also
a surrender, as if he were surrendering to me, to his need for me.

While his mouth told me how much he’d missed me, he swept me
up into his arms and carried me back to my house. In we went, through the front
door. I giggled in our joined mouths as he kicked it shut. He carried me to my
bedroom and set me gently on the bed.

I could count his every breath as he stared at me, he was
breathing so hard. His pupils were so wide I could barely see the color of his
eyes. His face was flushed.

He visibly swallowed. “I want…I want to make love to you
now.”

Ohmygod, the way he’d said that, I felt like I might soar to
the clouds.

“Yes,” I said, extending my arms to pull him to me. “Please
make love to me.” My hands found the bottom of his shirt. “May I?”

He nodded, lifted his arms to allow me to pull off his
shirt. Then, kneeling upright on the bed, I removed his pants and underwear.
For once, he was nude first, exposed to me while I was still dressed. While his
domination games made my blood pound hot through my body, I liked this change.
I liked seeing him like this. He wanted me. His flushed skin, tense muscles and
erection told me that.

I wrapped my hand around his thickness and teased it, and he
closed his eyes and gave a little growling sound. His breathing was rough and
fast. So was mine. His erection was hard, a glistening droplet of precome
gathered on the tip. My tissues were wet too, my muscles tense, my skin
burning.

“Bristol,” he said on a sigh, reaching for me.

“Oh, no you don’t. We’re making love. Sometimes the woman
gets to make the rules during lovemaking.” Turning the tables on him, I caught
his wrists in my fist and held them out to the sides. I was in control this
time. Me. But only because he was letting me. And only until I pushed him over
the edge and he became too desperate to play along with my game.

“Lay down,” I told him.

He reclined back, and I positioned him so his hands were up
over his head. What a sight this was. Shane lying before me, his body laid out
for my pleasure, only mine. I could lick and taste and tease and torment to my
heart’s content.