by Livia Grant
She works hard to focus on the task at hand, but it’s not easy. It gets harder to ignore him though when he retakes his seat directly across the island from her. Apparently he wants a front row seat to her cooking show. She should feel safer with the wide island between them, but she’s not foolish enough to think the granite expanse offers any kind of real protection from the Dom.
The first minute or two tick by in quiet awkwardness. Now that they’re alone again, it feels like all her assertiveness has deserted her to be replaced by a shy embarrassment. She goes about browning the hamburger and chopping veggies for the sauce and salad, hoping to appear too busy to talk. But Lukus is on to her.
“So, are you planning on just ignoring me?”
She keeps her eyes on the cutting board as she answers him with as steady a voice as she can muster. “Of course not. I’m not sure it would be possible to ignore you, Lukus. I’m just trying to finish dinner.”
“I see that. But since you’re stuck with me, at least for a little bit, maybe you should tell me something about yourself I should know.”
Tiffany’s heart jumps. She’s confused about why he’s trying to make small talk. She’d half expected him to pounce on her once they were alone and she tries to push down her confused disappointment at his gentlemanly demeanor. She glances up as she replies. “Really? I’m surprised you’re going the small talk route.” Tiff is mad at herself when she hears the surprised annoyance coming through in her tone.
“I never said it had to be small talk. You assumed that. Maybe I want you to tell me some deep dark secret.” She looks up again to catch his devilish grin as she sees he’s teasing her… egging her on.
“I think I’ll keep all of my deep dark secrets to myself, thank you very much.” Tiffany is running out of cooking tasks to make her look busy. She knows she’s starting to look stupid by continuing to stir and stir the same pot unnecessarily. She suspects he’s noticed because when she finally aborts her stirring to look up again, he’s staring at her, waiting.
“What?” she says nervously.
“I’m waiting. Tell me one thing you think will surprise me.”
“Are you going to tell me something too?”
He only hesitates a second before smiling. “Sure. Why not.”
Her mind is racing to come up with something funny… clever… non-sexual. Tiff finds her task harder than ever since right now, she can think of almost nothing but sex with him so close. Finally, her mind blank, she gives up. “I truly can’t think of a single thing right now.”
“Really? That’s curious. How about I make it easier on you then. I’ll ask you one direct question and then you get to ask one of me. Kind of like truth or dare… only without the dare. You game?”
She knows she should decline. This is a very dangerous game to play with a man like Lukus. Still…
“I did say I was a good swimmer,” she says. “I guess I’ll take one question from the shark in the tank.”
Lukus’ grin is disarming. She suspects she’s falling into a trap.
“Let’s see. Such decisions. I think I’ll go with a rather obvious question.”
He pauses dramatically and she can almost hear the drum roll. She’s wary when his jovial expression is replaced with a smoldering, primal glare. “Tell me the truth… and I’ll know if you’re lying to me, Tiffany. After Bri, Derek and Rachel left us alone, did you expect me to bend you over the counter and fuck you? Scratch that. When we were alone, did you want me to bend you over the counter and fuck you?”
‘OMG, I can feel the freaking juices dripping down my leg now I’m so turned on. How could he know?’
Her heart is racing so hard she hears the pounding in her ears. How in the world did she not see this coming? What the hell was she thinking playing a game like this with such a dangerous man?
‘Now what? Do I tell him the truth? Will he be able to tell if I lie? How will I look him in the face if I tell him the truth?’
The flood of internal questions continues as he patiently waits for her answer. When she opens her mouth, she’s not really sure what’s going to come out until she hears it for herself. She goes with less is more and softly answers. “Yes.”
His face lights up at her answer. Tiffany can’t help but be glad she told him the truth. A stray thought flits through her racing brain that she might consider walking over hot coals if it means getting to see this sexy look on his face again. He’s truly mesmerizing.
Tiffany finally wakes up when she realizes he’s probably waiting for her to ask him a question. It’s hard to concentrate when he’s watching her so intently, especially now that he knows definitively she wants him. The only lame question she can think of for the Dom is the obvious one, but she doesn’t need to waste her question asking if he wants to bend her over the counter. His eyes and too-tight jeans already answered that question long ago.
She finally clears the cobwebs in her brain long enough to think of the question she most wants an answer to. It’s personal. It’s perfect for this game. “My turn. Tell me Lukus… and I’ll know if you’re lying to me.” She pauses to put a twinkle in her eye as she parrots his prior warning back at him. “Have you ever had just a normal, vanilla relationship or have you always been in a D/s relationship?”
Only after the words leave her mouth does Tiffany realize how truly important his answer is to this prying question. As hot as he is, she knows without a doubt she could not and will not ever turn into a 24/7 submissive. If that’s what Lukus expects out of his relationships, it’s better to know now and walk away without getting her heart… or other body parts… hurt. She’s worked hard to be an independent and strong businesswoman, and while her submissive tendencies where sex comes in confuse her, she knows that’s where her line in the sand lays. She almost holds her breath waiting for his answer.
He takes his time. It’s clear he’s putting a lot of thought into his answer. “That’s not a simple yes/no question, now is it?”
Tiffany smiles. “I didn’t know that was a prerequisite of the game.”
“Touché.” He shifts in his chair slightly, the only indication he’s having trouble formulating his answer. On the surface, he’s still the confident Dom she’s just beginning to know and even respect. She’s not sure how, but she instinctively knows whatever he says will be the truth.
“Well first, I think we need to define vanilla now, don’t we? It’s kind of like trying to define normal. What is vanilla to you?” He stops long enough that Tiffany worries he’s expecting her to answer, but he finally continues, much to her relief. “If by vanilla you mean being in a relationship where I have sex once a week, missionary style, in a bed with the lights off… well then, no. I can’t say that type of relationship has ever interested me.”
Before she can stop and think, Tiffany blurts back. “Oh, thank God. Because that sounds awful.”
Lukus is actually laughing out loud at her outburst and she can feel herself turning beet red. Thankfully he doesn’t make her elaborate before he continues on. “Listen, I know what you’re asking and truthfully, I haven’t been in many, what most people would call, relationships at all. But when I have been in a monogamous relationship, it’s always been with someone who had submissive tendencies, yes.” He’s watching her carefully. It’s clear he’s gauging her reaction.
“Define tendencies.”
“Tiffany, this lifestyle isn’t black and white. Everyone has his or her own limits, their own list of turn-ons and turn-offs. And as we age, our limits tend to change over time. I know I’m not looking for the same things today I was even five years ago when I opened the club.”
His frankness catches her off-guard. It sounds like there’s a lot more he wants to say. She wants to ask it, the question hanging in the air unsaid. She can’t resist. “What are you looking for, Lukus?”
He doesn’t even hesitate with his answer. It’s as if he was just waiting patiently for her to ask. “I want more. Truthfully, I’m not even sure exac
tly what that means, but I know that being the Master of Many, as Derek likes to call me, just isn’t making me happy anymore.”
Tiffany notices the slightest of changes in the confident Dom. It’s not obvious, but she detects a new vulnerability in him and she realizes he’s just shared something very private with her. While his statement is somewhat cryptic, she understands enough to suspect he hasn’t disclosed his feelings with many other people. The conversation is getting too personal. She feels flushed. “Well, your secret is safe with me, Lukus.”
A feeling of relief settles over the kitchen. They both seem satisfied enough with their new tidbits of personal information to fall into an easy, surprisingly lighthearted conversation. They spend the next fifteen minutes discussing their favorite movies, music and TV shows while Tiffany mixes up the brownies and puts the pasta on to cook. She’s having so much fun, she totally forgets she’s supposed to be guarding herself from him.
e
Lukus can’t believe how much fun he’s having doing nothing more than simply chatting with Tiffany as she cooks dinner. They enjoyed discussing the pros and cons of chick-flicks vs. action movies. He loves the surprised look on her face when he lets it slip that he has an actual movie theater in the loft. She immediately begs him to take her for a tour of the loft after dinner and he has to push down the urge to start the tour now. It’s as if he’s thrilled at the thought of sharing this space, his home that’s so important to him, with her. He tries not to get distracted with over-analyzing his own feelings.
‘Don’t question it, Mitchell. Just relax and go for the ride.’
Just as that thought flits through his consciousness, he hears Tiffany asking him if he’ll set the table. Out of habit, Lukus’ first instinct is to lash out at her.
‘How dare she order me to do something? I’m in charge here. It’s my loft, for Christ’s sake.’
Tiffany’s whole demeanor has changed as she watches him closely, waiting to see how he’s going to react to her request. He sees a small smile on her lips and he suspects she’d made her request to test him. Well, he’ll be damned if he’s going to fall into her trap.
“Sure. No problem.” Lukus goes about setting places at the large eat-in island. When he’s done, he walks to the well-stocked wine rack and takes down a bottle of wine along with wine glasses from the near-by stemware rack. Once he has the bottle open, he takes it all to the table before detouring to the refrigerator to grab the carton of milk. He sees Tiffany looking at him curiously as he carries the carton to the table and begins to fill one of the five wine glasses with milk instead of wine. Looking up at her confusion, he simply clarifies. “Rachel.”
Tiffany nods. “Right. Hey, where do you keep your strainer or colander for the pasta?”
“It’s in the cabinet above the microwave.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Lukus stands back and watches as Tiff heads to collect the colander, knowing that he usually has trouble reaching it. It’s really high. He likes the nice view of her bare, toned legs as her dress hikes up on the right side as she lifts her arm high, trying to reach the colander. When she unexpectedly wheels around, she catches him ogling her. She smiles knowingly before prodding him. “Well, don’t just stand there. You know I’m never going to be able to reach it.”
‘Such sass.’
It’s completely foreign to him how both Brianna and Tiffany talk to him in their unguarded moments. He’s so used to having submissives and even full-time slaves around him who would rather cut off their right arm than talk to him with such a tone. The powerful feelings their total submission and accompanying fear produce used to be intoxicating to him. He assumes in the right situation, it still will be.
But here in his kitchen, making dinner with this beautiful blond with her to-die-for-body, he realizes what’s turning him on more than anything else is her fearless ability to go toe-to-toe with him. She has fire. He knows he wants to be careful not to douse that fire completely.
Thinking he wasn’t coming to her aid, Tiffany has returned to the futile task of retrieving the colander. Lukus can’t resist the opportunity to come up behind her, pressing her body against his and the kitchen counter. He can hear her sharp intake of breath when his fully erect cock presses hard against her lower back. He knows it’s not playing fair, but he grinds his hips ever so slightly to make sure she understands the full effect she’s having on him. He reaches up to easily capture the wayward strainer, but doesn’t step away from her right away. Instead, he sets the strainer down and moves to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her fully against him. He buries his face in her hair, taking a deep drag of her heavenly scent.
‘You’d better be careful, Mitchell. You’re about to cross a line. Markus… think about Markus.’
Tiffany’s whimper as she grinds her ass backwards against his tortured tool allows his control to slip further. His mouth finds the sensitive skin where her neck meets bare shoulder. As if he needs any more sexual stimulation, the first taste of her skin is like an aphrodisiac. The quick kiss soon turns into an all out, open mouth, licking and sucking up and down the sensitive skin of her neck. He doesn’t even try to stop from sucking hard enough to leave a mark. He wants to leave them both some evidence he’d been there.
Lukus can feel her grinding back against him, her breathing ragged. He can smell the evidence of her arousal wafting up from between her legs and he lets his left hand slowly slide down her body to stroke her through her dress and panties. The second his fingers reach the apex between her legs, her entire body shudders under his touch. She throws her head back to rest against his shoulder. He can feel her legs give out from under her as a powerful orgasm wracks her body. Only his strong embrace is holding her upright now and he’s literally in danger of shooting his cum into his tight pants by the time he feels her reach back with both hands to grasp his hips, helping to hold them tightly together.
‘Jesus Christ. What the hell was that? It took all of sixty-seconds of fully clothed groping to make her come. Don’t you dare embarrass yourself by coming right now. Hold it, Mitchell.’
Lukus is smart enough to stop the grinding and Tiffany is too lost in her post-orgasm high to keep pulling him closer. They remain locked in their embrace, each of them trying to get control before they have to face each other again. This is exactly how Brianna finds them upon her return to the kitchen.
“Oh shit. I’m so sorry, you guys. I’ll come back later.”
Waking up from his trance, Lukus makes sure Tiffany can now support her own weight before releasing her and taking a step backwards. There’s no hiding his raging hard-on from anyone who cares to look. He works hard to steady his voice when he answers her. “No problem, Brianna. You can stay. I was just helping Tiffany get the strainer down for the pasta.”
“Yeah… right.”
He risks a quick glance her way and sees a knowing smile plastered all over her face. He decides it’s best to just ignore her taunt. He’s literally saved by the bell when the buzzer announces it’s time to take the brownies out of the oven. He manages to hide his precarious condition by walking away from the girls to tend to the dessert. He spends a couple long minutes willing his manhood to take a nap since it’s definitely not time to come out and play.
They somehow manage to gloss over the first few awkward moments and by the time Derek and Rachel rejoin them for dinner, everything seems back to normal. As the strange mix of new and old friends get to know each other better over wine and food, Lukus takes a minute to reflect on how quickly things can change in life. Little more than twenty-four hours ago, he hadn’t even met Brianna, let alone Tiffany. He’d been plotting with his best friend to punish his wayward wife properly. Now here he is, actually enjoying the spontaneous dinner party.
A foreboding washes over him as he thinks about Markus and tonight’s continued punishment plan for Brianna. He had no idea when he came up with the plan how very much he personally might have riding on the outcome of tonight’s ev
ents. It’s rare for him to feel apprehensive before a scene; usually he’s excited. But now he’s suddenly afraid of what both he and Markus might have to lose if things don’t go as planned. He looks at his watch and knows the time is getting close.
‘Don’t be such a pussy. You’re the Dom. The plan is solid. Suck it up and get going.’
His fingers collide with Tiffany’s as they both reach for one of last two brownies left on the plate. Lukus swats her fingers away. “Hey, you’ve already had your share. This last edge one is all mine. I don’t like the center ones.”
“Wait. Neither do I. Brianna always lets me have the edges. You take the center one.”
“Oh no you don’t. You take the center one.”
Only then does it hit Lukus that he’s sitting in his kitchen actually enjoying battling with this sexy woman over a fucking brownie. Diving into completely uncharted territory, Lukus picks up the center brownie and is immediately rewarded with a victorious grin lighting up Tiffany’s face that makes it all worth it.
‘You’re so fucking screwed, man.’
e
The girls are just finishing cleaning up the kitchen when the men come back into the loft. The mood during dinner had been jovial and Tiffany is on cloud nine. She’s discovered so much about Lukus in such a short period of time, and what she’s learned makes her want him that much more. Her original worries about him being a menacing Dom like Jake have all but evaporated and she finds herself almost giddy at the prospect of spending more time with him. Oddly, she isn’t even that embarrassed by the fact she’d orgasmed so easily. He has a magic touch and knows exactly how to push her buttons.
She looks up to see Lukus and Derek coming back into the kitchen. Gone are the light-hearted expressions. Both the men’s faces are now set in stern dominance. The shift in the atmosphere is immediate and staggering for the women. All three react in their own way.