Kate lowered herself primly back into her chair, still bristling.
“Well, that went . . .”
“Terribly? Sorry, but that guy is a total jackass.”
Banner grimaced and turned toward her. “Part of that was you, Kate. You’d hardly exchanged two words, and you were already challenging him. I’m not saying Trev handled that well at all. He was an idiot, but you need to own the parts that were yours.” He narrowed his eyes at her speculatively.
Kate’s mouth opened and closed a few times, her glare communicating the words that seemed reluctant to come. Finally, she shut her mouth and pulled her gaze from his. She’d gone from defensive to embarrassed in the span of a minute.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I know what I want—at least partially. But when a guy says he wants to control me, it makes me want to fight. Growing up nowadays, girls are told that submitting to a man is wrong and bad, and that they’re supposed to be strong and independent. No one respects a woman that gives up her power to a man, at least not in the vanilla world.”
Banner sighed and smiled grimly when she looked at him again. “I get what you’re saying, but that’s something you’re going to have to work through if you want to be a submissive. It’s not an easy road for someone that’s fiercely independent, but you have to curb your fight-or-flight impulses around Doms or you’re going to scare them all off. BDSM power exchange is consensual. That’s the point. Most Doms won’t try to fight you for it.”
Her pretty green eyes were troubled, and it bothered him that this wasn’t something he could fix for her. As he watched her silent struggle, she slowly seemed to become aware of his focus.
“What?”
“Shh. I’m reading your mind.”
Kate laughed and playfully smacked his arm. Deep down inside, an answering growl tried to respond, but he shoved it away.
Think vanilla thoughts.
“I don’t have to read your mind to figure out what you’re thinking. You wouldn’t normally let a girl get away with hitting you, am I right?”
“Not if she was my girl.”
Her eyes went round and shone. “What would you do?”
Banner leaned in closer and whispered. “Punish her to remind her of her place.”
With interest, he watched as her breathing became deep, hypnotic. Imagining something interesting just from a small cue? Her submission was there, running just below the surface, so close that he was certain he could draw it out without much effort. He had the strong temptation to test his theory.
Kate blinked several times, came back to herself, and took a sip of her tea. “I think I need to decide what I want before I talk to another one of your Dom friends.”
She’d snapped back to business mode so fast that if he hadn’t seen it himself, he might have doubted whether she’d respond to dominance at all.
“We should go over a BDSM checklist to nail that down, then. Do you want my help with that, or do you want me to e-mail you one?”
Worrying at her bottom lip, she looked lost again. All of his protective instincts and his need for control warred with the knowledge that she wasn’t his to direct.
“Why don’t I bring one by this week so you can ask questions if you’re confused? That is, if you’re comfortable with me.”
She nodded slowly. “That would be good. And if you could give me some pointers on how not to run Doms off, that would be good too.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he started, then gave her a mock-stern look, “but you have to cooperate or it won’t work.”
Her eyes narrowed with mischief. “Yes, Sir.”
It was hard not to laugh, even if she was being cheeky.
“I’m starting to think you’re going to have a hard time being a good girl for anyone.”
She leaned closer, and her scent made him crazy. “Who’s going to make me be good?”
You have no idea what I’d like to do to you, bad girl.
He tried his best to look indifferent. “That’ll be up to whoever you choose. If you’re worried you won’t be able to mind your manners long enough, I could help you remember.”