Feral King (The Dominant Bastard Duology 1)

“Why not just stop?” Safewords had never made much sense to him, but then he’d never had a reason to find out more even though he could have looked it up or asked Rodrigo why people used them.

Her teeth caught at her lip. “Some dominants like hearing a submissive beg for mercy without having to stop, and some submissives like that too. A random word the submissive wouldn’t normally say in that situation lets the dominant know when there’s a problem.”

A reddish tinge had crept up her neck to her lovely face, even though her tone was nonchalant. Was she remembering things she’d done with other men? Part of him was pleased she knew what she was doing, but at the same time the knowledge she’d done all of this before made him want to stamp his mark on her.

“You trust me to stop?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“I suppose you’ll find out.”

There was a hum

of energy across the connection of their gazes. Was she as aroused as he was? He felt barely in control of himself.

“I’ll use the word...” She paused in thought.

“Tattoo.”

“I’m supposed to choose it!” She grinned at him, and it was the prettiest smile he could remember seeing. How had he never noticed her dimples? Fucking adorable.

“With me you don’t get to choose anything.”

“No?” She shrugged. “You don’t scare me.”

He stood and walked around to her side of the desk, standing behind her. She didn’t turn to look at him.

“Listen to me carefully. You are never to touch me without asking. Not only do I hate being touched, I can’t guarantee your safety if you do so without warning me.”

She stared down at the desk, but her forehead creased. “Yes, Mister Leduc.”

“I’m not fucking kidding about this, girl. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“You will do as you’re told when we’re alone together. I won’t tolerate balking or attitude. As much as I referred to this as a game earlier, it’s not a game. There’s no start and end – it just is. Your employment is not dependent on us doing this. If we decide to stop for whatever reason, your job is safe.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“For the past few days.”

“Do you know much about BDSM, Mister Leduc?”

“A bit.” Why lie? She’d have him figured out soon enough. “I’ve watched but don’t understand everything about the interactions. I’ve never let myself research it.”

“No? Why not? The internet is your friend.”

“I’ve had thoughts like these since I was young. I’ve always done my best to keep them in check – mostly by ignoring them. If it wasn’t for a friend of mine, I wouldn’t know anyone else even felt this way.”

She did look back at him then, her gaze full of compassion. “You aren’t alone. We’re everywhere.”

He aware of that from an academic perspective, but it was different hearing it from someone he knew, other than Rodrigo.

“You don’t know what I think about,” he warned.

“You don’t know what I think about either.”

True.