She gave him an irritated look. “I just met the guy. Hunter had to take Cady home, so he called over that Javier guy and told him . . .”
“Told him what?”
She gave him a nervous look. “Nothing.”
“Lacey,” he growled.
A shiver of anticipation ran across her skin. There was something in the way he said her name. That soft hint of warning that had her wondering what he would do if she refused to obey him. Would he threaten her with “ten” like he had that other woman? She hated to admit it, but she’d been the teensiest bit jealous of her at that moment. Not that she was going to get punished. But that she had Gray’s complete and undivided attention.
He’d looked at her like she mattered.
And all Lacey had ever wanted was to matter. What was wrong with her? He’d been threatening to punish that girl just for touching him. What sort of rule was that? She didn’t think just touching him warranted giving her ten. Whatever ten was. Ten spanks? Ten whacks with the cane? A whip?
She bit her lip as apprehension filled her. She couldn’t do this. She needed to go home and figure out how the hell she was going to drag herself to work on Monday morning without dying of embarrassment.
Gray took a step closer and grabbed her chin with his fingers, raising her face, so she was forced to stare up at him.
She licked her dry lips. “Let me go.”
“No.”
“Oh, so it’s all right for you to touch me, but that poor girl can’t touch you?”
“That ‘poor girl’ as you put it has been a sub for years and knows better than to touch a Dom she doesn’t belong to without his permission. She wanted that spanking she had coming, and that was her way of getting what she wanted. Instead of negotiating a scene, which would have been the proper way to handle things, she attempted to manipulate me, and that’s unacceptable.”
Okay, that sort of made sense. “She was topping from the bottom?”
His dark gaze narrowed. “What do you know about topping from the bottom?”
“I did a lot of reading before I decided to come here tonight.” She liked to be prepared.
“Did you? You can read everything on the subject you can find, but it still won’t prepare you for reality.”
Boy was that right.
“Anyway, Hunter and Cady had to go home, and you’re obviously busy with . . . well . . .”
Jeez, Lacey, just spit it out.
“You’re busy, so I’m going to go.”
As she turned away, disappointment filled her.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Gray grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her around.
“You can’t make me stay,” she told him. But there was no real conviction in her voice. Despite her nerves, she wanted a reason to stay.
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “No, but I don’t have to. There was a reason you made the decision to come here tonight, and that reason hasn’t changed. Hunter placed you in my care, and that means I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to see that you get what you came here for. Whether that’s just to observe or to engage in some play, I’ll see that you get what you need, Lacey.”
And what if what I need is you?
The words burned her tongue with the need to be released, but she held them in tightly. She’d already pushed him away once. Did she have the fortitude to do it again? She wasn’t so sure, which is why she should just walk away. Except she knew she wasn’t going to.
He could see the desire and need in her eyes. She wanted to take the next step. She just needed a little push. “Go back into the bathroom and take off your jacket. Put everything you don’t need back into the locker then return to me. You have two minutes.”
She just stared at him.
He tapped his watch warningly. “Your time is ticking down.”