Six Signs of Submission (Desire Island 6)

But now, watching Lainey, who stood with her hands on her hips staring out to sea, hair flying, eyes sparkling, he could easily imagine taking her along.

Setting the boat on autopilot, he stepped away from the controls and approached her from behind. Placing his arms around her, he pulled her back against his chest as the wind whipped around them. “I have this lovely image of you, naked and bound to the mast, completely at my mercy. I very much want to make that happen, when you’re ready.”

“Oh,” she breathed softly.

“In the short time we’ve known one another,” he continued, encouraged that, though she hadn’t instantly agreed, neither had she refused, “I get the feeling you’ve approached submission as a challenge. Something to beat and overcome. But it’s about so much more. It’s about letting go—truly giving yourself to another.”

Lainey said nothing.

He pulled her closer, bringing one hand up to her throat. But he didn’t catch her in a dominant hold. Instead, he lightly stroked her soft skin, trailing his fingers down to her chest. He pressed his palm flat against her heart, just above the swell of her breasts.

She sighed and leaned into him, letting her head fall back.

Aroused, he brought his hand back to her throat, this time gripping her beneath the jaw and applying just enough pressure to make her breath catch. “What do you say, sub girl? Do you have courage to surrender, not just to me, but to your true nature?”

Chapter 12

Lainey led Cooper to her car in the ferry dock’s parking lot. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast and the sun was already low on the horizon. “I’m starving. How about you?” she asked him. “There’s a place right near here that makes great shrimp and oyster po boys. We could grab some takeout and eat it back at my place.”

“Sounds perfect.”

She unlocked her eleven-year-old dinged-up but reliable red Subaru Outback and they tossed their bags in the back seat. Lainey told herself that her internal jury was still out regarding whether she’d let him stay overnight. But in her heart of hearts, the verdict had already been decided. No way did she want to let this guy out of her sight in the short time they had remaining.

At the seafood shack, she ordered the shrimp po boy, he the fried oyster. They added a side of the greasy but delicious fries to share. When Cooper reached into his pocket for his wallet, Lainey stopped him with a raised hand.

“I got this,” she said. “My town, my treat.”

He smiled, allowing her to pay without acting weird or he-mannish about it, which pleased her. So many guys used their wallet to announce both their superior financial status and the implied obligation it created. She didn’t get the sense Cooper was like that, though it was clear, based on that gorgeous boat of his and the few comments he’d made about selling his business, that the guy was more than comfortable.

As they drove the short distance to her apartment building, Lainey glanced at Cooper in the passenger seat. He was watching her, a half-smile on his face.

“What?” she demanded, though she couldn’t help but smile back.

“I was just thinking how glad I am that I saw you through the glass at your aerobics class. My gut instantly told me you were someone I needed to get to know better, but I had no idea that within twenty-four hours we’d be where we are right now.”

“And, where are we?” She glanced again from the road to his face. “I mean, this is nuts, right? We’ve known each other less than forty-eight hours and I think I might be—” She abruptly pressed her lips together, shocked at what she’d been about to say.

Heat rushed into her face. What the hell was wrong with her? You didn’t fall in love with someone in a day. That was the stuff of romance novels—not real life.

“You think you might be…?” Cooper prodded. She stole another look at him. His half-smile was now a full-on grin.

She whipped her head back toward the road. “Might have, uh, some submissive feelings. Or no,” she quickly amended, even more annoyed with herself. What was her problem? “Sexually masochistic feelings. I’m no sub.”

Even as she protested, his powerful command while they had made love came back to her.

“Come for me.”

The masterful words still made her shiver, sending a spasm of desire through her loins. Why had his words affected her so strongly?

Maybe it was just the heat of the moment—all the planets and stars precisely aligned just as her body was poised to climax—and those words had been the small push she’d needed to send her over the edge. Yes. That must have been it.

After all, she definitely didn’t fit the definition of a submissive—not at all. She was a strong, kickass woman who bowed down to no one. She had never fantasized about kneeling in front of some guy, waiting for permission to move or speak, addressing him as Master when she did. She wasn’t particularly into serving another and had never felt a strong desire to put a man’s needs before her own.