She considers it for a minute, and then nods shyly. “I think I’d like that,” she replies, and I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face.
Ten minutes later, we’re at the Chinese place Astrid orders from frequently. She looks around the restaurant, her elbows propped on the table, while I sit across from her in the booth. She looks a little awkward, but her face is happy, and she smiles when the waiter comes to take our order.
I gesture for her to go first, and she nods. “Um, I’m going to have two orders of the ginger salad and the veggie tempera, please,” she tells him, and I lift a brow at her in question. Normally, she likes the sesame chicken. “I’ve got a nervous stomach, so I’m taking it easy.”
I reach over and take her hand on the table, my eyes returning to my menu. “I’ll do the sweet and sour soup and the pepper steak with fried rice, please,” I order, and he takes the two giant menus from us.
“That’ll be out in about fifteen minutes. Ma’am, would you like your salads first or with the meal?” he asks her, and at her look of indecision, I answer for her.
“She’ll take the salads now, thanks. And if you could, please bring her a glass of ginger ale.”
He bows a little and says he’ll have it right out.
When my eyes turn to her, her cheeks are blushing furiously, and I tug her hand toward me until I pull her close enough over the table that the light above us washes over her face. “What’s got you all flustered, goddess?” I ask when she bites her lip.
She smiles a little. “I’ve always read about Doms and subs going out to dinner, and the hero orders for her, knowing exactly what she likes. It always sounds so romantic. Just never thought it’d happen to me.”
I pull her hand up to my lips, kissing across her middle knuckles. “You ordered for yourself,” I remind her.
She shrugs. “Well, yeah, but I told you about my belly, and you went all hero mode and took over, telling him to bring out the things that would settle it faster. That’s a total romance novely thing to do, Viking.” Her eyes look dreamy, and the Dom in me that I’ve been trying to tamp back smirks and flips me off.
“Noted, baby,” I tell her, loosening my grip so she can slide back to her side of the table. “So do you have any details about the kind of makeup they want to do tonight? Yours looks amazing tonight, by the way. I like how you incorporated the yellow of your shirt to make it pop.”
She giggles, shaking her head. “You know you don’t have to do that anymore, right?”
My brows furrow. “Do what exactly?”
She tilts her head to the side. “Pretend to be interested in my makeup stuff to try to get me to talk. I’m much more willing to converse about things you’re actually into.”
My lips pull down in a frown, my eyes darkening. “I’ve never pretended to be interested in anything when it concerns you, little one.”
She swallows thickly, her head straightening and her eyes widening a little before she looks down, contrite. “Oh, um…” She fidgets with her napkin, not knowing how to respond.
My Dom cracks his knuckles then jerks his head from side to side, warming up to be tagged in off the bench for what feels like the first time in forever. And it’s only because everything she does, in and out of our bedroom, has been begging me to let him out lately.
I lean back in my seat, one hand resting on the top of the table while the other is pressed to the top of my thigh, my elbow out, my big body taking up this entire side of the booth. “Get up,” I command, and her eyes lift to mine. It’s time to see how receptive she is to actually submitting and not just reading about it in her books. Just a taste, nothing too harsh.
“Wh—” She looks around nervously, seeing if anyone is watching us. I don’t give a fuck if they are. I saw two members of the club sitting at different tables as soon as we walked in. Besides a discreet nod, we didn’t acknowledge we knew each other. It’s called Club Alias for a reason.
“Get. Up.” When she still doesn’t move, I give her a little incentive, since this is the first time I’ve dominated her before, and we are out in public. “Unless you want me to turn your little ass red before you walk into your first night of work, get up and come to me.”
Her eyes flare before going half-mast, and I see her chest flush just above the neckline of her tee. Ah, that’s my girl. Aroused by the idea of a little punishment. I was worried she wasn’t ready for that, after everything she went through with that sadistic motherfucker, but I’m so fucking happy to see that she’s turned on thinking about it, if it’s coming from me.