Feral King (The Dominant Bastard Duology 1)

A warm feeling swept over her.

He cleared his throat. “So did you come here tonight to play or watch?”

She blinked. “Oh. Um, play I guess.”

“I’m free,” he said simply. “If you’re interested.” He paused then when she hesitated, he added, “No would be a perfectly understandable answer. I won’t be insulted.”

“Won’t playing together be awkward?”

“Awkward?” He chuckled in that sexy, dominant way. “I knew you when you were a virgin.” He winked.

She smirked. “Funny, I’m pretty sure you were a virgin at that point too, buddy.”

“But we fixed that.”

“Oh, we sure did.”

Chapter 2

Nate couldn’t tell how desperate he looked, but Riley showing up at Fitte seven years after giving him an “I want to take a break” line, then ghosting him, was too good a chance to pass up. It was like fate had given him the chance to get the closure he’d needed so desperately, years after he’d needed it.

He’d had so many fantasies of this moment – of what he’d do to be petty and prove she’d never meant anything to him. Yet his first instinct when he’d laid eyes on her tonight was to try to impress her. They weren’t eighteen anymore, but he felt awkward and stupid talking to her. It’d been years since he felt that way around anyone.

Vulnerable.

He didn’t do that pathetic “please notice me” shit anymore.

Not even for Riley fucking Dawson.

And how had she gotten hotter, for fuck’s sake? How was that even fair?

Part of him had thought he’d glorified the memories of her – but that beautiful oval face and expressive eyes. If anything, he’d forgotten how mischievous she looked when she smiled, and the way she bit her lip when she was horny.

Just like she was doing now, with her gaze stuck to his face but trying to drift down his naked torso. She wasn’t letting herself check him out. He was trying not to check her out and failing miserably.

And she was a teacher? She’d always been out of his league, though. Always would be. However, kink leveled the playing field, at least temporarily. Maybe for tonight, if he was lucky.

Her body had always responded to his, even when they’d been young and fumbling around in his sweltering attic bedroom at his grandmother’s. Good thing Gran had been a sound and frequent napper.

He’d always felt like Riley was hinting at things she wanted from him, but he’d never been good at reading subtlety until he’d spent time as a dominant.

And here they were years later. He always thought he’d tell her off if he ever saw her in person, but instead he’d prematurely invited her to play with him. Was she even submissive? Maybe she was a dominant.

“I –” she gave a delicious little shrug that made him growl so low she couldn’t hear it over the bass line of the music coming from the speakers. “I guess I could tie you up and flog you for a while, for old times’ sake.”

“You’re dominant?” he asked, more disappointed than he would have liked to admit. Dominating her and tormenting her might have made him feel better about how things had ended between them, even though it was ancient history.

“No, not at all. But neither are you, from what I remember.”

He gave her his best “you’re so fucked” smile and she shivered, amber eyes wide. “You and your little hints. It took me forever to catch on to what you’d wanted, and by then you were long gone.”

She shrugged again. “I just thought you were vanilla.”

“I didn’t think there was any way you meant what I was hoping you meant.”

They both laughed. Something in him eased. Maybe it wasn’t why she’d disappeared, but it was something. An answer he’d never thought he’d get.

She’d tried to get her needs met, but he hadn’t met them. Nothing personal. After a few failed vanilla relationships after high school, he understood that.