“Are any of your men, uh, dominant?”
Layla frowned. “All of them. But I think you mean something more specific.”
“Yes. I mean, in the bedroom.”
“Like BDSM?”
Ariel flushed, half wishing she hadn’t brought this up.
“Okay, well, I’d say all four of them have their moments, some more than others, but no, not like you mean. Let me guess. Stu?”
Ariel scrunched up her face. “Yeah.”
Layla grinned. “That sounds kind of hot. Is it?”
“I don’t know yet to be honest. It’s all talk so far. And then Stu left for work. But he planted seeds, probably so that I’d be thinking about it or researching or asking questions while he’s gone.”
“Hmm. How dominant do you think he is? I’ve done some research. Just out of curiosity. Are we talking whips and handcuffs? Or blindfolds and feathers?”
Ariel shuddered. “I’m not sure. He’s…intense, and bossy, and he likes to hold me down.” Ariel flushed and glanced around, leaning in closer. “They’ve mentioned spanking more than once.” She pursed her lips and drew in a breath through her nose. “Shouldn’t that infuriate me? Like I’m a child. Stu treated me like I was a kid for three months. Now he insists he never once thought that about me. He says it was just an excuse he used to keep me at arm’s length. And then he talks about spanking me?”
Layla chuckled. “Trust me. He is not thinking about spanking you like a child, Ariel. He wouldn’t do it unless you like it.”
“Like it? Why would I want someone to hit me?” She glanced back down, not wanting Layla to see her face as she lied. She felt uncomfortable having this conversation. Why did I bring it up?
Layla sighed. “I can’t believe I’m having this chat with my sister, but considering how many times you’ve shifted your weight and pushed your fork around since mentioning the word spanking, I’m going to guess you’re intrigued. And there’s nothing wrong with that. A little kink in the bedroom is fun. Don’t be embarrassed to enjoy a spanking. You’re twisting the words around. He’s never going to strike you in anger. He’s going to do it to make you horny.”
Ariel took another bite of food, not because she was hungry, but to do something. It was hard to chew and even harder to swallow. She kept picturing Stuart holding her over his lap while he swatted her. Would he really do that?
She sincerely hoped so. Which was madness.
Layla reached across the table and squeezed Ariel’s wrist. “It’s okay to enjoy a bit of kink, you know. No one is judging you. No one outside your family unit will know either.”
Ariel shrugged. “It’s a bit premature to worry about anyway. I haven’t even had sex with Stu yet.”
Layla lifted a brow. “Okay. Why?”
“Because we haven’t had a chance.” Ariel squirmed in her seat. “The four of us barely had a chance to form a cohesive unit before Stu left on this latest mission. I hadn’t, uh, done it with all three of them yet.”
“Makes sense. I get it. Then I guess you better be prepared for anything when he gets back.” She grinned.
Ariel’s hands were trembling, so she put them in her lap. Layla was right. There was a lot of pent-up arousal building in his absence, and neither Kester nor Tarin had had sex with her since yesterday. Assuming Stu returned tomorrow… Yeah, she needed to prepare herself emotionally.