“It’s hard for me to figure out why you were single.”
“I’m picky, and I didn’t want to take on a submissive on the rebound. That would have been cruel and irresponsible. I don’t take D/s lightly.” He grimaced self-consciously. “Besides, I think I was waiting for you.”
Her heart felt ridiculously huge in her chest, and she wiped away a tear that leaked out. It sounded like a line, but the way he’d said it felt sincere. It made sitting naked on his desk with sore knees and a metal plug in her ass feel beautiful.
“I have no idea why you were single either,” he continued. “I just have to thank every other man you know for being an idiot.”
He kissed her again.
“I hope you don’t find out how boring I am anytime soon. I’m having too much fun, and I’m not ready to give you up.”
His hand wrapped around her throat, and his gaze turned hard. A thrill of apprehension ran through her.
“Fun? Is that all I am to you?”
She squirmed under his glare. “No, Master. You’re more than that.”
He exhaled a shocked breath. “You don’t have to call me that.”
“I want to, unless you don’t want me to.”
“If you insist on calling me that, I’m going to have expectations you may not like.”
“From what I’ve seen so far, our interests seem to line up pretty well.”
“You’re new, so I’ve been taking it easy on you,” he said, a steel edge under his soft words.
“I trust you to convince me to like anything you want me to like. You’re a pretty convincing guy when you set your mind to it.”
The hand on her throat had loosened its grip, but it had stayed in place, reminding her that he was not a man to be trifled with. Not that she was taking any of this lightly. His hand on her throat had transformed from a vague threat to a symbol of ownership, as significant as a collar even if she was the only one who knew it was there when he took his hand away.
“Well, then I guess I’d better make sure you’re thoroughly trained as my slave before you change your mind and try to run away.”
She was eager, even though she was a little scared.
“You’re going to love this and you’re going to hate this,” he warned. “As for me, I’m going to love this.”
Chapter Nineteen
Working by Juliet’s side in the kitchen was an adventure for Will. First of all, she whirled around as if she was in a televised, time-sensitive cooking competition. She also didn’t measure anything, and seemed to be expecting to feed the entire club rather than just Grant and Dex. Dutifully, he peeled carrots and cut onions, but since she was obviously in her element and he had a habit of burning Pop-Tarts, he was content to follow directions. Not to mention the fact that the view from the kitchen table was spectacular with Juliet only wearing an apron and a pair of boy-short panties that showed a lot of ass cheek. It had to be the first time in his life that he got a hard-on while peeling potatoes.
It was his own fault for refusing to let her put on clothes, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take his sexual frustration out on her later.
The timer went off, and she switched some pans out of the oven and put others in. The house smelled delicious. With all the cleaning Tabitha did and the fact that Juliet kept organizing projects to finish the house renos, the place was starting to feel like fancy rich people lived in it.
“It’s too bad Tabitha took the day off. It would have been nice to have an odd number of guests so that it doesn’t feel like a double date.”
She stirred something in a bowl, and her movement made the bare sides of her breasts jiggle enticingly. The stiff white fabric did little to conceal the buds of her nipples, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, thinking about sliding the apron over and closing his teeth on one of those pale pink tips. Even though he bit her nipples all the time now, she still squealed in shock. It was one of his favorite sounds.
“Your brother and Dexter used to be good friends, you said? It’s hard to believe considering how much they bicker now.”
“Huh?” He had to replay her last few sentences in his mind to figure out what she’d just said. “Oh. Yeah. It’s weird. I don’t know what’s up with that. It makes things difficult considering the fact that we’re business associates.”
“You don’t think she’ll start overcharging you for beer, do you?”
Will snorted. “Dex has no problem with me now that you’ve forgiven me for our first night together. I was on her shit list for a couple of weeks.”
“Wow. She holds you to a pretty high standard.”