One Night in a Storm (Savage Kinksters 1)

“It was.”

“What if I like things to be slow and gentle?”

My chest tightens a little, and though I hope she doesn’t mean exclusively, I’m willing to work with it.

“I’m versatile. I can give you what you want, but when it comes to my preferences, I like it rough. Very rough.”

“I thought you said you weren’t into pain?”

“Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

“Was it rough?”

“Yeah, I guess it was.”

“So, you see that there is a difference. Pain and rough don’t have to go together. That said, like rope, I tend to leave a few bruises.”

“Bruises hurt.” Kas narrows her eyes.

“Honestly, I think most people don’t even notice them until later. How do your arms feel?”

“Fine.”

“Look at your upper arms.”

She holds her arm out to get a better look in the dim light. There are clear, crisscrossed marks where the ropes were the tightest against her skin. They’re actually all over her body to a lesser degree, but the arms are the most noticeable.

“Technically, those are bruises left by the ropes. Do they hurt?”

“No,” Kas says, poking at her marked skin. “I guess I’m getting caught up in the terminology.”

“There are a lot of kinks out there,” I say, “and no one is into them all. It’s easy to get a little lost in the terms.”

“So, when you say you’re not into pain, what exactly do you mean?”

“I mean I don’t get off on beating my partners.” I reach forward and take her hand, wanting to maintain a physical connection between us. “Some Doms are into that. I don’t begrudge anyone their consensual preferences. It’s just not my thing. When I have people ask me to tie them up and beat them, I politely decline and point them in the direction of a rigger who is into that.”

“But you do like rough sex.”

“Yeah, I do. I’m guessing you haven’t tried any. The question is, do you think you’d like it?”

“Maybe.” Kas looks away.

I close my eyes and try to reel in my frustration. I have to remember that this is new for her. She’s probably never even had such an open conversation about sex, let alone sex with kink in the mix.

“This is why I need your honesty,” I tell her. “It’s so, so important, Kas. I’d hate myself if you said yes to sex with me and didn’t set the appropriate guidelines.”

“I guess we’ll just have to see,” Kas says with a shrug.

I cannot let her brush this off so easily.

“Do you like spicy foods?” I ask.

“Um, a little.” Kas eyes me, confused. “Nothing too hot, but some spice is okay.”

“Nothing ‘too hot.’ Gotcha. I like going to the authentic Thai places and asking for the drunken noodles at a level ten. That’s not too hot for me, but I’ll get you one, too, and you can try it out.”