Claimed (Club Sin 1)

“You thought it’d be the other way around?”

She nodded, the back of her head brushing up against his thick forearm, as he continued stroking her hair. “I would’ve have thought I’d be comfortable and sure of myself when I was in control, not out of it.” She hesitated, gathering her foggy and distant thoughts. “I wasn’t expecting to feel anything after the scene, except sexually satisfied.”

He inclined his head in clear understanding. “That, Presley, is what makes you a submissive. You find peace and happiness when you relinquish control.” His eyes searched hers a moment before he dragged a finger along her cheek. “What else has you confused?”

Exhaling a long breath, still trapped in the comfort of his warm stare, she tried to sort out her thoughts. “I’ve never had a one-night stand before, so I’m not sure what it’s like, exactly. From what I hear, they’re cold and impersonal, and this isn’t.”

One sleek eyebrow arched. “Far from it, doll.”

The tenderness in his touch and expression only cluttered her mind more. “Okay, but I got off, and you didn’t take anything back. I can’t help wondering what you get out of this.”

His hand stilled on her head. “Your submission.”

She pondered and realized that her books hadn’t taught her everything; nor had she asked Cora enough. “Which means?”

He resumed the swipe of his fingers over her hair, and his voice was smooth and controlled. “I like knowing a woman finds a certain type of peace in my care, to know I can bring her to the highest levels of pleasure, and I am the reason for it.”

Seemed simple, but . . . “That’s enough for you?”

“For now, it’s enough.” His gaze sizzled with a hot promise. “Besides, I’m not finished with you, Presley. Our scene was about you learning my expectations, experiencing your first time not only submitting to a Dom but also experiencing kink, and most important, building trust between us.” His grin turned entirely wicked. “So later, I can get off.”

Her cheeks heated, but his reasoning eased her slight guilt toward him. At least he got something out of their scene. Shifting against his lap, she didn’t feel an erection, and oddly, that comforted her. It meant right now he was in the present, not lost in naughty thoughts. That restraint warmed her to him, which made her curious about the man holding her. “Have you always needed to be in control?”

He nodded, the dim light in the dungeon cast a shadow over his chiseled jaw, and a strand of blond hair fell over his eyebrow. “I have a naturally dominant personality, but I didn’t understand what that meant until I worked at the casino beneath the vice president, Charles.”

The name instantly registered in Presley’s mind: Charles was the husband of the doctor, Mary. Now the close relationship between Mary and Dmitri made sense. Dmitri had worked with Charles at the casino, and that’s how they were all connected.

“Four years ago Charles died, and because he’d taken me under his wing and taught me everything he knew, I took over the role of vice president at the casino.” He watched his finger slide through her hair, then he looked into her eyes. “A year later, I stepped into the role of president.” Raw pain seeped into his expression before he controlled his emotions. “Our friendship changed my life, and not only professionally.”

She pondered, then she concluded, “So, I take it you mean that Charles introduced you to the lifestyle?”

Master Dmitri inclined his head, continuing to trail his fingers over her hair in light, gentle sweeps. “He recognized Dom traits in me, explained the lifestyle, and offered to guide my way as a sexual dominant.”

Leaning in to his touch, which brought forth that sexy curve of his mouth, she asked, “And that helped you?”

He looked at his fingers brushing through her hair, as if doing such a simple thing relaxed him as much as her. “Once Charles brought me into the lifestyle, I became more able to control my need to dominate in public, keeping it confined to private. Before Charles, I was very strained and unhappy. After I discovered the lifestyle, everything settled for me.”

She supposed that made sense. If Master Dmitri held a desire to be dominant and he couldn’t be that way in everyday life—since not everyone took well to it—she figured it would be stressful, even frustrating. “After that, you opened the dungeon?”

Something close to pain filled his eyes before he controlled his features yet again. “I bought the vacant land two weeks after Charles’s death. It took one year to build the mansion, and I opened the dungeon a month later in his honor. Now I enforce the rules he instilled in me and educate those as he did me.”

Warmth slid through her heart. Out of all the reasons she had thought he’d open a dungeon, that wasn’t what she’d expected. Leaning her head to the side, she scanned the dungeon. From their spot on the couch, she couldn’t see any scenes going on, only members walking by.

Master Dmitri’s motives for opening the dungeon touched her. The rules and ways that Charles had lived by would never be forgotten, because Master Dmitri made certain of it. He honored his friend and mentor in the only way he could, doing what Charles had taught him to do and passing the rules on to others.

His fingers trailed over her hair again, and she looked up into the powerful stare that reached into the very depths of her. Now she saw deeper into him than a dominant man who enjoyed kink. Master Dmitri had a genuinely kind soul.

During her scene, a certain peace had washed over her. She had thought she’d come to Club Sin with something to prove to herself, to be a different woman, but tonight she felt as if she had become the woman she was meant to be—free and calm.

Now she l

ay in the arms of a man who asked her only to be herself. He demanded honesty, and right down to the simplicity of it all, he cherished her gift of submission. When he touched her, he meant it. When he looked at her, he saw right through her. When he talked to her, he didn’t see anyone but her. For all he’d given her since her first sight of him sitting in his office, she realized an empty hole in her soul had begun to heal.

The sheer tenderness she spotted in his features, the care and compassion he’d shown her, all made her nibble on her lip as she tried to fight off the emotion in her chest. Sadly, she failed, and on a deep breath, tears filled her eyes.

His touch halted as his eyebrows drew together. “Now, doll, what are those tears for?”

Overwhelmed with emotion, experiencing an unfamiliar sense of rightness deep in her soul, she said the only thing she could think of: “It feels nice being here with you.”