“Just as I’ve been thinking about you,” h
e whispered against her mouth and then kissed her again. Softer this time, but no less intense. Rather, the kiss felt like a slowly communicated promise that he had every intention of showing her exactly what he’d been thinking about. But they had other things to discuss first.
With a guttural groan, he pulled back. “We need to talk before we do anything else.”
Sasha nodded and walked to the door to turn the sign to Closed. “Easy enough,” she said after locking the door. “My apartment or the break room?”
He was already walking to the back of the store. “Break room.”
She turned to double-check the door was locked before following him to the back. He was already sitting when she joined him. His fingers drummed on the table and he appeared to be concentrating on the wall across from where he sat.
In fact, he was so deep in thought, she cleared her throat. “Cole?”
He shook himself out of his trance and smiled. “Come and sit down. I was just thinking.”
She took a seat next to him, careful not to get too close. Though why it mattered, she wasn’t sure. It was obvious they were going to talk about sex.
And being Cole, he got straight to the point.
“Are you still interested in slave training?” he asked.
She blinked. Twice.
“That isn’t what I thought we were going to talk about,” she finally said.
“To be quite frank, it isn’t why I came over. But hearing how you handled Peter made me rethink things.”
She didn’t think he’d actually consider giving her a taste of the twenty-four/seven lifestyle. Now that it sounded like he was, she was equal parts turned on and scared out of her wits.
“I dropped by so we could discuss adding a more physical element to our time together,” Cole said. “But now, I think you might be ready for a, what did you call it? A taste of what a Master/slave relationship would be like.”
“Why was that the thing that changed your mind?”
He leaned forward. “Because you have to be strong to serve someone twenty-four/seven.”
You think I’m strong?
“And after the way you conducted yourself over the weekend as well as what happened today, I think you’re ready. Tell me, Sasha, do you still want me to give you a taste?”
He heart pounded so hard, it shook her body. A taste of Cole. Would it be enough? Just a taste? She feared she knew the answer, but that wasn’t going to stop her.
“Yes,” she said in a breathy reply. “That’s what I want.”
“I need you to realize how hard this is going to be and make sure it’s what you want. It’ll be intense, and you’ll see and experience a different side of me. I’ve come to value our time together.” He shook his head. “I don’t want anything to ruin that.”
“I can’t imagine anything changing my opinion of you.”
“You haven’t seen all of me.”
He said the words to discourage her, but it wasn’t working. She wanted to see all of him. Needed to experience all sides of him. And truthfully, the idea of him being stern and forceful didn’t scare her near as much as it turned her on.
She pushed back from the table and stood up. His chair wasn’t far, she only had to take a few steps to be at his side. Once there, she went to her knees and dropped her head. “Please, Sir. Allow me the honor of seeing and experiencing all sides of you.”
He sucked in a breath and buried his fingers in her hair. “Sasha, little one. You disarm me. How am I to argue with that?”
With her head down, but a smile on her face, she simply replied, “You’re not.”
• • •
Cole knew he had no business giving her even a taste of the Master/slave relationship he liked. But when he’d walked into the shop and she off-handedly told him about her conversation with Peter, the thought hit him: This is the one you’re meant to be with. And it’d struck him in the chest that this woman, this submissive, with all her scars and her past and her emotional hangups, might just be his perfect match.
And damn it all to hell, if she wanted to see what it was like to serve twenty-four/seven, he wasn’t about to turn that down. Of course, now that she’d agreed, they had to work out the details.
He dug his fingers deeper into her hair. “Very well, then. I propose two weeks of training. It’s not optimal, but since it’s just to give you a taste, I think it’ll do.”
“If it’s not optimal, why not extend it? Let’s do a month.”
Her enthusiasm was delightfully refreshing. He hated to see it whither, but knew it would with what he’d say next. “I don’t think you’ll want to do a month when you hear what I think best for our two weeks.” The corners of her mouth dipped low and he continued. “You’ll move in with me for those two weeks. No need to bring anything with you, I’ll supply everything you need. And you don’t work at the shop.”
“I don’t work? What? But we’re completely booked with events for at least the next month. Two weeks . . .” Her arguments died on her lips when she noticed him shaking his head.
“I can only do two weeks and, frankly, it’s not worth doing if you spend eight hours a day working. Look at it this way. Remember I told you that you would only work if your Master allowed it? This is me not allowing you to work.”
“It’s not negotiable?”
“It’s negotiable in that the other option is not to do it.”
She was silent. He could almost see her mind working through the options.
“Julie’s going to hate me,” she finally said.
“No,” he said. “I’m quite positive I’ll be the one she hates.”
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“Don’t you think you should hear the rest of what I want?”
She nodded.
“We’ll have more discussions before we start anything, but in general, at dinner each night, we’ll go over how your day was, talk about any issues or items to work on, and I’ll give you my expectations for the following day.”
“Will I have any free time? Be able to call and text my friends?”
He nodded. “This is all new to you, and though others might disagree, I think it’d be beneficial for you to have some down time each day. I’ll build two to three hours a day into your schedule. During that time, you’re free to make calls. Though I do suggest you put my number on your outgoing message. That way, if there’s an emergency, I can get that information to you.”
“That makes sense.” She nodded and her head tilted in that endearing way she had. “How do I address you?”
He’d have to give that issue some thought. Kate had typically used “Sir” or “Master,” except when he’d institute lower protocol, which gave her permission to use his first name. While he liked hearing his name spoken by Sasha, he found he liked hearing her use “Sir” a lot more. He didn’t think she was ready for “Master.” Or maybe he was the one who wasn’t ready.
“I think ‘Sir’ is fine for now,” he said.
“I should bring my journal, right? I’m sure you’ll have lots of writing for me to do.”
“Yes, bring your journal and your purse. Like I said, I’ll provide everything else you need.”
“Do you need my clothes size?”
Making his voice as dry and deadpan as possible, he asked, “What makes you think you’ll be wearing clothes?”
Her eyes grew wide. “I won’t be?”
“Sasha, if you have to ask that, I question whether this is really the right thing to do.”
She looked down at her hands. “No, I knew I’d be naked some, but I didn’t know it’d be all the time.” She peeked up at him. “Will it be all the time?”
He swallowed his laugh. “It won’t be all the time, but it’ll be damn well as often as I want it to be. And I have to say, now that