Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Okay,” she finally agreed by the time I reached one.
Unsure of how much to trust her, I lifted slowly, helping her stand, and not releasing my clasp around her wrists until the last second. She turned, pressing her back against the desk, and eyed me cautiously. I almost laughed, expecting to hear the old western music they played during a duel in the movies my dad loved to watch.
When she leaned back instead of bolting, I released some of the tension clinging to my muscles since she stormed in.
“Okay,” she said again.
Deciding to give her the upper hand, I sat back in my chair, but placed it between her and the exit.
“So…you like…” Her delicate neck worked over a swallow. “You like it when a woman fights you?”
I licked my lips, choosing my words carefully. “When it’s consensual, yes.”
“You didn’t have my consent,” she argued.
“One, you were hitting me, and I defended myself. Two, I wouldn’t have forced myself on you in any way that hurt you, and three, if you truly demanded I let you go, I would have in an instant.”
She looked away and heat spread across her cheeks, but she quickly went back to holding my gaze. “I’m sorry about hitting you. That was uncalled for and unacceptable.”
“Thank you.” I would never hit a woman in anger and appreciated her understanding that it went both ways.
She adjusted, sitting atop the desk, tapping her thumbs on either side of her legs. “What other things do you like?”
This time I restrained my smirk, knowing I’d kill myself if I ruined the opportunity to soak up Aspen, trying to appear powerful and regal while innocence oozed from every pore.
I considered my response. Part of me wanted to lay it all out there and watch her reaction as I shocked her with my more extreme preferences. The other part of me wasn’t ready to give up the carefully balanced truce we found ourselves in. After yesterday, the other part of me wanted more.
More than the bantering foreplay we used at the office.
More than sharp barbs and sexy glares.
“A lot of things. Things that most people consider taboo or things that they don’t consider at all.”
“Like spanking? That’s…taboo?”
“It’s definitely not something you’d see in the latest romance movie or sitcom.”
“Because it’s not something an adult should even think about. Like their some child who needs to be punished because something is wrong with them.”
Wrong with me.
I heard the words she didn’t say, and my gut twisted.
“There is nothing wrong with any desire as long as it’s legal, consensual, and safe. There is nothing wrong with wanting something others don’t agree with. There is no need for their opinion in the first place. It’s not about them. It’s about you.”
“Yeah. Me,” she scoffed.
I remembered discovering my sexual preferences and trying to understand them. I’d felt isolated and alone. I saw the same isolation in the way her shoulders dropped. I saw the same doubt in the way she curled her lips around her teeth, biting back the self-reprimands.
“You’re not the only one to be curious about alternative forms of pleasure,” I assured.
“I’m not,” she blurted. Then amended, “I—I…I don’t know.”
“I’ll tell you what…” I started, an idea forming. “How about I take you somewhere and show you the things I like rather than explain them?”
Aspen’s unguarded reactions, from her timid thank yous to her angry confusion, and all the innocent questions in between, showed me I’d awoken something in her she hadn’t been aware existed. The thrill of revealing the world of pleasure waiting for her to explore was more than I could resist.
“What? Like your pleasure room?” She scoffed, using quotations.
“No. More like a club for people who have preferences like ours.”
She reeled back. “I’m not like you.”
This time, I let my smirk come out and play with the full intention of challenging her. “We may be more alike than you think, princess.”
CHAPTER 12
ASPEN
“You can stare all day, Aspen, but you still won’t magically know if it’s the right thing to wear to a sex club,” I muttered to myself.
Three pairs of pants lay strewn across my bed, cast aside next to a handful of dresses and skirts. I studied each of them like they’d jump up as the right choice while overthinking consumed me.
If I wore pants, would I look like a prude, closed off to…to…whatever they did there?
If I wore a skirt, would people take it as an open invitation for easy access?
Would they notice me at all?
What if they did notice me?
I was there to observe, but what if something more than observing happened? Then I’d want the skirt.
Not that I expected anything to happen. I was going as Lucian’s guest.
Oh, god. What if Lucian expected something to happen?
I should wear pants to affirm nothing would happen between us.
Unless…I wasn’t allowed to wear clothes at all.