Dominate Me

by Stacey Lynn

  “So is it okay if we crash your girls’ night?” he asked. Haley’s gaze flickered toward Anya. Both of them paled a bit before Anya nodded, answering for Haley.

  “Of course, it’s fine.”

  I gestured toward the way she was nervously spinning her wedding band around her finger. “Would you feel better if you call your husband? Have him join us?”

  “Um...”

  I had no clue what Haley had told Anya about me, but it was clearly enough to make the girl slightly uncomfortable. I’d never cared about anyone’s approval before, but for some reason, I wanted Haley’s friend to like me. I frowned at the thought.

  “We’re regular people, you know,” Dylan said, speaking up before I could. “We have other interests outside sex and it’s not like we carry around floggers and canes in our back pockets, whipping them out in public.”

  “Which I’ve always believed is a shame,” Gabby said, wiggling her eyebrows and managing to pull off a cutesy pout while she handed Dylan and me the same drinks we always ordered here. With her other hand, she slid two more beers onto the table I assumed was where Anya and Haley had been sitting.

  Master Dylan rolled his eyes at her.

  “Your call,” Haley said. “I’m good with either.”

  “It’s fine. He’d love to get out, I’m sure.” The tiny redhead excused herself and headed toward the front door, pulling her phone out of her purse while she walked.

  “Are you sure?” Haley asked, turning toward me. Her brows were furrowed in a way I didn’t fully understand.

  “Why wouldn’t I be? It’ll be fun.”

  I wasn’t actually certain. Could be fun. Could be a disaster.

  I’d been the one to draw clearly marked lines, but this week I’d shaken them up. When I wasn’t around Haley, though, I was thinking about her. And it wasn’t just the way her ass looked, or the feel of her slick, warm pussy.

  When I came home from the office, stressed when some cases hadn’t gone my way, I hadn’t given any thought at all when it was Haley’s laugh I’d wanted to hear. We’d talked for hours, about our families and our lives and our interests outside work. She’d told me more about the resort and how much it meant to her, how much she wanted to prove she could do a good job running it and ideas she had for expansion depending on how this summer went.

  I liked it. I liked her company even if it was just over the phone. I might have liked it too much. It went against my first declaration that I wasn’t going to date her. Not ever.

  A part of me wished I had never said it.

  Because at this bar, with Haley looking so uncertain at the idea of spending time with me, I wanted that to be us. For the first time I could remember, I wanted a woman to be mine. In more than one sense of the word.

  “Right,” she said, still looking doubtful, and chewed on her lip. “This will be fun.”

  I shook off the unease, the slight hesitation as she slid into the booth and I joined her. Dylan found an empty chair and pulled it up to the end of the table and we waited for Anya to return.

  When she did, only a few minutes later, she had her husband Lance with her who immediately went to the bar and ordered a Budweiser.

  The five of us sat around the table, making introductions and it wasn’t long before Lance, Dylan and I became immersed in the Red Wings’ playoff schedule and how the season opener had gone for the Tigers.

  But even while we talked sports and the girls whispered and giggled next to Lance and myself, Haley was never far from me. I threw an arm over her shoulder and tugged her close to me. With her being so close, I couldn’t help myself. I needed to hold her. To touch her.

  To keep her safe and next to me.

  To keep her warm.

  To make sure she was happy. When she continued to drink, I pushed mine away and stopped. I had already learned that Lance was planning on driving the girls home, but that wasn’t going to happen. Haley was mine to take care of. Mine to watch out for.

  And I decided, as she threw her head back and laughed at something Anya said, curling herself more firmly into my side, that I would do both...

  More than just in the bedroom.

  Haley

  We weren’t supposed to date. We weren’t supposed to spend time together outside playing, but as soon as Jensen and Dylan walked into the bar earlier, it had felt like a date.

  A triple couple’s date where the men talked about the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Tigers chance of a decent baseball season. While Anya and I laughed too loudly and drank too much, the men had only had a couple of beers and then stopped, apparently letting the women get inebriated while they stayed sober to drive us home safely.

  Jensen had been self-assured and confident. He’d been amusing and laid back.

  He’d been everything I ever wanted in a boyfriend down to his manners and chivalry.

  He’d been too much.

  He’d curled me into his side, his hand clamped around my shoulder as if he couldn’t bear the thought of me being separated from him.

  He anticipated everything I needed or wanted and then delivered them before I could think to ask.

  He had played the perfect boyfriend. I hadn’t known for sure if it was for Lance’s benefit or Anya’s, but as the night progressed, it turned into something else. Something I was learning I wanted, but already knew he refused to give me. Playing I could handle. I could learn to live with that if that’s only what he gave me.

  But in one night, in a matter of hours, Jensen made our situation murky and as he drove through the quiet, dark streets of Denton, it all became too much.

  “I can hear you thinking from here,” he said.

  How could he have missed it? I’d barely spoken a word since we got in the car twenty minutes ago.

  “Tonight was strange,” I admitted.

  “How so?”

  The sign for Portsmouth Inn appeared after he turned a corner and I relaxed as Jensen pulled into the entry drive.

  When he came to a stop in front of my carriage house, I faced him.

  “Do you remember the night we spoke at Raccoon Brewery?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you’ll remember you specifically stated we wouldn’t date. We’d play and have sessions but anything that occurred between us was training.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Get to the point, Haley.”

  Was I going to do this? I had to, to preserve my sanity at the very least. “I think we need to take a step back.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “The phone calls, the getting to know each other...tonight, even. It’s become too friendly.”

  Silently, I pleaded with my eyes for him to understand what I couldn’t bring myself to say. I was falling for him. I was starting to like him.

  His hands twisted around the leather steering wheel and he pulled his gaze off me. “I see.”

  As the silence stretched, a weight settled in my stomach.

  “Tell me something, Haley,” he said, turning back to me. “Did you not like being out together tonight? What would you have had me do instead? Ignore you?”

  I wiped my forehead, pressing my fingertips at my temples. Was all of this supposed to be this stressful?

  “I don’t know, Jensen. But I’m trying to find what works for me in this. I’m trying to understand the rules, the guidelines...to follow what you set, but your mixed signals aren’t helping.” Another moment’s pause. Another weighted silence. I reached for the door handle.

  “Stop.”

  I did without hesitation, but I didn’t look at him as he spoke.

  “It’s my job, as your Dom, to take care of you, Haley. To see that you’re getting what you need even if you don’t understand what those needs are yet. If I crossed that line, then I apologize, but I’m not go
ing to lie and say I wasn’t pleased to see you out tonight, even if it was by coincidence. This doesn’t mean we can’t, and shouldn’t, become friends.”

  The words were meant to give me comfort. Instead, they gave me hope. Something I couldn’t have.

  Earlier, it’d dawned on me how much headspace this strange relationship was taking up in my mind. It was distracting me from my job and friendships I’d had almost my entire life. I couldn’t risk damaging those, not at the expense of another man. Not again.

  “I will be your sub in the bedroom, as we originally agreed to if you want to continue,” I said quietly. My heart fluttered with the consequences of my words. I was risking putting a nail in the coffin of my first Dom-sub relationship. “But outside of that, I can’t give you more. You’ve made it clear you don’t want it, and as I try to navigate this road I put myself on, I can’t have those lines crossing.”

  “And if I’m willing to try to give you that? To take care of you of in that way as your Dom?”

  “I can’t risk you changing your mind.”

  It would hurt too much. But more than the thought of him not changing his mind, I wanted his assurances he wouldn’t. That he did want something more with me. At the end of the day, I wasn’t just a sub...I was still a girl who wanted a boy to love her.

  “I see.” His deep voice carried the hint of regret, of disappointment. Like he knew exactly what I was asking for and was certain he wasn’t that man.

  I wanted to weep. I’d just done the very thing I hadn’t wanted to do.

  When he spoke again, his voice changed, instantly sparking that need inside of me. It was cold, but powerful, and his confidence and control sparked in the space between us.

  “Very well, then. You’ll be at my house tomorrow as we previously discussed. I’ll send you instructions tomorrow afternoon, and I expect you to prepare yourself accordingly.”

  Despite wanting to cry over what I’d just potentially lost, my body went hot with anticipation.

  “Good night, Haley.”

  I glanced at him, saw something warring in his deep blue eyes, and nodded once. “Good night, Jensen.”

  His lip curled at the mention of his name, as if he wanted to forbid me to use it.

  But we weren’t playing and I’d made myself clear.

  I slid out of his car and hurried up the small walkway to my house.

  Once I locked the front door behind me, I heard the quiet purr of his car pull out of the driveway. I stood by the doorway, peering through the small window beside the door until his taillights disappeared. Then I went to bed and fell asleep with my clothes still on and a heavy knot curling inside my stomach.

  Chapter Twelve

  Haley

  His instructions had been clear, emailed to me before I woke up the next morning. Based on the timestamp, he hadn’t wasted time when he’d returned home the night before to send them to me.

  Arrive at my house promptly at five p.m.

  Bring an overnight bag consisting of only personal hygiene items. You will not bring clothes.

  I want you in a dress. Nothing underneath.

  Our play begins as soon as you arrive.

  Be ready, pretty girl. Tonight, I will be giving you exactly what you’ve requested.

  The “be ready” at the end of his email made small alarm bells ring in my mind. I re-read every word of his email again, scanned it. That weight in my stomach from last night grew to a boulder.

  His note carried a hint of anger, as if he was upset at being denied something by me the night before. Beneath all of that, my body was strumming with anticipation at what he might have planned. What exactly, had I requested? And how had he taken it?

  The expected thrill of the night ahead and what he’d give me whispered louder than the concern so I pushed those thoughts away and spent the day focusing on preparing myself, showering and cleaning and shaving.

  By the time I arrived at his building in Grand Rapids, a penthouse condo in one of the high-rise residential buildings, my pulse thrummed with need and desire.

  I clenched my hands into fists at my side as I walked into the ornate entry area and went straight for the security desk to the right.

  “Miss Portsmouth here for Mr. Rhodes,” I announced myself. The gray-haired man gave me less than a passing glance.

  “Of course, Miss Portsmouth. Mr. Rhodes is expecting you. He asked me to give you this.” He handed me a small, white envelope with only my first name scratched across the front, and stepped to the side of his desk. “Follow me to the elevators, please.”

  My hand holding the envelope shook as I followed him, and those nervous tremors traveled through my body with every step I took.

  By the time the security guard pulled out a key, opening an elevator at the far end of the row after four others, even my toes were tingling inside the red heels I’d worn to coordinate with my black dress. It was loose and flowy at the top with dolman sleeves, but it tightened at the waist and fit snugly around my hips, rear-end and thighs. It was fancier than I needed for a night in Jensen’s condo, but I chose it because the back was bare, scooping down to just above my ass and required I didn’t wear a bra anyway. The shelf bra on the inside was enough to keep the girls well concealed and lifted.

  It didn’t break Jensen’s rules, even though it skirted the edge of them.

  “Have a good evening,” the man said, holding the door open for me. When I entered, he leaned in and turned a key on the panel, lighting up a letter “P.”

  I waited until the doors closed before I glanced back down at the card. As the elevator moved, the hum from the engine of the car grew to a dull thump in my ears as my finger slid across the envelope.

  “This is it,” I whispered to myself on an exhale.

  I slid my thumb along the silver, monogrammed initials JRR elegantly scrawled on the front and then hastily opened the envelope, removing a stark white card with the same initials at the top and below it, Jensen’s concise print.

  Sub,

  I gripped the envelope harder, crinkling it in my hands at the word. Gone was his friendly use of my first name, or his affectionate Pretty Girl nickname. I was his sub. Exactly what I wanted. A chill ran through me and I forced myself to finish the letter.

  Strip.

  Before the elevator doors open, I want you naked. You will kneel for me in the position previously discussed.

  Please me, and you will be rewarded.

  Sir.

  Despite the coolness of his greeting, each command afterward sent shocks of anticipation throughout my body, sparking excited heat along with a small amount of fear.

  I glanced up to where the red numbers flashed. I had seconds to decide.

  Do I go through with this? Or call red when the doors opened?

  I skimmed the letter again. Beads of sweat popped on my hairline and the hair on my arms stood up straight. I inhaled slowly, breathing in until the cool air passing my lips burned my lungs, and filled me with courage.

  I had come this far and it was too late to turn back. I glanced up again to the corners of the elevators, scanning for cameras. If they were there, if anyone could see what his written words coldly commanded me to do, I couldn’t tell.

  But he wouldn’t do that. He knew I didn’t want to be watched.

  I slid the envelope into my purse and then dropped both my purse and the bag next to me.

  I reached for the bottom hem of my dress and pulled it up and over my head. I folded it as I dropped to my knees and then stuffed it inside my bag.

  Knees spread wide open. Ass on my heels. Back straight. Head down. Palms on my knees.

  I did exactly what he’d requested.

  Once in position, that strange flutter of disappointment, the potential of what I’d thrown away last n
ight, came crawling back to me.

  Yet, this was what I’d asked for as well.

  My heart thundered at a rampage pace, but despite the nerves, that tingling of life suffusing my skin made me feel awakened.

  Just like all the other times I thought of this, or the few times I’d been with Jensen in person...his demands pushed me outside of a comfort zone I had never fit into.

  My shoulders jumped at the ding of a bell as the elevator pulled to a stop and in the mirrored reflection of the doors, my skin was pale, my eyes wide with fear, yet my sex was already wet.

  Would anyone see me? Did other people live on this floor?

  I didn’t have to wait long for the answers. As soon as the doors swooshed open, a pair of black dress shoes appeared in my line of vision, the familiar scent of Jensen’s masculinity washing over me.

  I forced myself to keep my head down, staring only at the shine of his shoes and the slick, black fabric of his pants as he came closer, his pants almost brushing against my forehead.

  “Good evening, sub,” his voice rumbled from above. “Are you ready for tonight?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, the urge to look up strong, but I continued staring at his shoes.

  His laugh was controlled, just this side of cold. “We’ll see about that. Come here.”

  I fidgeted, moved to stand, but a hand touched the top of my head, stilling me.

  “Did I say you could walk?”

  Ummm... “No, sir.”

  “Good.” His hand disappeared from my head and then he bent. I heard the clatter of my purse straps and bag as he picked them up and took a step back. “Hands and knees, sub. Crawl to the couch and continue to kneel like you are now.”

  He wanted me to crawl? This hadn’t been something we’d discussed. Although would it have been a hard limit? I was opposed to public humiliation but assuming no one could see me, he wasn’t breaking the rules. Perhaps skirting the line like I had done earlier.

  With only a brief hesitation, reminding myself that this was about trying new things, discovering my limits, I fell forward and placed my hands on the plush carpet outside the elevator.