My mum always teased that I was part monkey.”
“And you’ll remember that if a scene gets too intense?”
“I will.”
“Monkey it is, then.”
“And when am I supposed to use my safe word?”
“Ideally, never. Just as I expect you to read my visual clues, I will read yours. As my sub, you will be in my care completely. I take that obligation seriously. I want to push you to your limits. Then I want to push you past them.”
Her heart rate had slowed when she sat across from him, now it accelerated again.
“I will do it respectfully, aware of where you can and cannot go. But I will do it. If we are to be successful, Marnie, you’ll need to trust me. But I won’t ask for it, I won’t demand it, I’ll earn it. My promise to you is that I will always stay in control. I will never punish you from a place of anger…”
“You’ll never punish me?”
He shook his head. “When you deserve punishment, you’ll receive it. But if I am angry, I will wait until I am not.”
He paused, and she knew he gave her a chance to back out.
“I don’t play at dominance and submission,” he said. “I live it. If you’re my sub, you’re my sub. That doesn’t mean you can’t use a safe word or tell me to go to hell. But I expect obedience, and failure to be obedient will result in swift punishment. You need to be aware of that before you tell me yes.”
“Honestly? I can tell you to go to hell at anytime?”
“You can. And if you do, you’ll not hear from me again. I respect your decision to quit at any time.”
“In that case, yes. I want to submit.”
“Let your hair down.”
She pulled out the chopsticks she’d stabbed through her hair while she took a bath. He took the two polished strips of wood from her.
“They’re different from the ones before.”
“Made out of teak. I have a small collection.” She shook out her hair, feeling its weight on her neck.
“Now strip and kneel.”
She blinked. That was it? No more preamble? No sweet words? No warm up? “Now? Here?”
Instead of answering her, he silently regarded her. There was no compromise in the unyielding set of his jaw.
She’d thought they might ease into it, but that was obviously not his intention. Remembering what he’d said about wanting to look at her, she stood.
Her hands shook slightly as she pulled her sweater over her head and dropped it onto the floor.
“In the absence of specific instruction in the future,” he said, “please assume you are to be naked in my presence.”
Next, she lowered the zipper on her jeans, then shimmied them over her hips and down her thighs.
“You’re not to wear knickers again.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with a brief shake of his head.
Already, she was coming to rely on his visual clues.
He finished his tea, then moved the cup and saucer to the middle of the table.
She unhooked her bra. Then, self-consciously, she shrugged the straps from her shoulders and allowed the material to puddle on the floor with the rest of her clothing.
In the chilled air, her nipples pebbled.
“Beautiful.” He paused. “Now the knickers.”
In seconds, she stood before him, completely nude. She wished she’d trimmed after her earlier bath; it was all she could do to resist the temptation to cover her mound with her hands. When she started to, he arched a brow. Instantly she dropped her hands and lowered herself to her knees.
“Do you have lube?”
“In the drawer of my nightstand. Beside my bed.”
He left her there, and she fidgeted. Her insides were tumbling. She knew that in her bedroom, he’d find her vibrator, an expensive little thing she’d bought on a trip to Spain. If he searched any other drawers, he would find her reading literature, her magazines, and her naughty little secret nipple clamps.
She waited impatiently.
He was taking way too damn long, giving her too much time to wonder what he intended to do next. She laced her fingers and placed her