“A little.”
He stepped forward, closing in the distance between them. He cupped her cheek in his hand. Jade trembled against his hand. Some would consider him an asshole, but he didn’t care. He loved the fact she was scared. Loved knowing she was forcing herself not to move away. Facing uncomfortable thoughts for him.
She was so brave. He ran his hand down her neck slowly and stroked his thumb up and down her pulse point. “It’s one of my favorite things.” Her breath quickened, and he tightened his grip on her neck slightly. “Don’t be afraid, little Jewel. I promise I know exactly what I’m doing. It’s probably nothing like what you’re imagining.”
“That’s good.” Her voice was breathy, and her pulse raced under his thumb. “I’ve watched videos.” Her nipples stood out against her blouse like little beacons of temptation. The combination of her fear and obvious arousal was intoxicating. “I’ve been thinking about you and Hannibal, and what we did, a lot. I’ve never felt like that before. It was overwhelming.”
“I’m glad you think about me. I’ve definitely been thinking about you.”
“I can’t get you out of my mind. Overwhelming or not. I want to feel that intensity again.”
Ink leaned in and let his breath brush over her ear. “If you think that was intense, you’re going to love what we can do to your body. That was only a tiny taste. If you really give yourself over to us, we’ll show you what it’s like to fly.”
“Why do you want to do those things to me? What do you get out of it? I mean, the books I’ve read all talk about a submissive enjoying it because they get to relax. Hand over control and exist in the moment. I’m going to be honest, that sounds unbelievable and wonderful at the same time. But it doesn’t seem fair to put all the stress on someone else, or I guess in our case someones else.”
Ink raised his head and looked into her eyes. He saw a desperation there that called to a dark part of himself. He tried to put into words what he knew and liked about BDSM on an instinctual level.
“Being the dominant means using all your skills, focus, and attention to bring out the best in your submissive. Whether that means giving them pleasure or making their life better in other ways. They give me their trust and I enjoy being the one who they look to. During a scene, I let go of all the petty worries of the day and focus on that one person. Reading their breath.” He slid his hands down from her neck, down the front of her chest until his hands circled around her breasts, lightly brushing over her tight nipples. “Being aware of the signs that your body gives off. When to be gentle and when to push you past what you think you can handle.”
Her eyes softened, and he saw the hunger he expected in their depths, but also pain. “I know I shouldn’t, but I want that so badly. I want to let go of the day I’ve had. Forget everything except now. Can you really do that for me?”
It was tempting to say yes. Drag her to the back of the house where Hannibal and he had their private dungeon set up. But her tone held an edge of brittleness which told him something bad had happened. More than the jerk breaking into the office trying to get some extra cash. He wouldn’t play with her if she was as likely to break as to fly. She was in trouble and he wanted to know about it before they went any further.
“What’s going on, darlin’? You said your night was stressful and your day even more so. But from what Hannibal told me you both had a good time last night.”
She shook her head, and he was sad to see some of the lust drunk look leave her eyes. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Does it have to do with Eric?” Ink didn’t even like saying the guy’s name. The thought that the asshole was going to drag her down with him made his anger rise.
“Yes. Let’s just say things came to a head. I need to buy him out now, instead of on the timetable I originally had planned. So I spent most of the day talking to the banks and moving money around to make that happen.”
“He’s giving you more problems?” Ink didn’t want to say too much and risk giving away how much he already knew. She wasn’t likely to appreciate finding out that the Dark Sons had had her investigated. That they knew all too much about her private business.
“Yes, he said some things last night that were cruel.” She took a deep breath. “No one can hurt you like someone who has known you most of your life. It doesn’t matter, because, like I said, tomorrow I’m going to be buying him out. The contract’s being drawn up now and the money’s all been moved to the local bank. It’s hard knowing that when I give him the check and have him sign the contract tomorrow, it’s probably the end of our fifteen-year friendship.”
“Do you want one of us to go with you tomorrow?” His offer surprised him, but he hated the idea of her having to face the man alone.
“Thank you, but no. This is something I need to do by myself. We’ll be somewhere public, so it’s not like he can do anything. I swear I’m okay. I honestly just want to forget everything for a little while.”
Ink hoped it would be that easy, but he couldn’t say more. Respecting her wishes would be hard. He didn’t want to steal that sense of strength that was at the core of her being. But she raised an instinctive need to protect and make her life easier.
If what she needed was to forget and lose herself and sensations, then he could do that for her. He glanced at the clock on the wall by the TV. Hannibal would be home soon, if his Brother didn’t linger at work. Maybe he could set up something that would help all of them.
“Are you willing to give yourself over to me? Trust me and Hannibal to take away all your worries?”
She looked around as if she expected his Brother to appear out of thin air. He couldn’t help but laugh. “He’ll be home soon and I promise you, I won’t be done doing even half the things I want to do to your body by the time he gets here.”
“Oh.” The word was more a gasp than anything else. “Yes. I think I’d like that.”
Ink wrapped his hand into the back of her hair and pulled back. Her body arched, and he continued the movement until she was off balance. Her pupils were wide as she looked up into his eyes.
“No thinking. Just feel. I’ve got you. Just let go.” Her breath hitched, but she was still tense, not trusting him to keep her from falling.
“Yes, Sir.”
He used the hand not in her hair to pinch down on her nipple until her gasp turned into a whine. “Little Jewel, in this house, when we’re like this, you call me Master.”
Jade hesitated, and he twisted her nipple. Her groan was loud, but she finally relaxed into his hold. “Yes, Master.”