“Yes,” she told him.
“Huh?” His deep blue eyes stared at her for a moment in confusion.
“As long as you’re only with me while I’m your sub. No one else for you either.”
“Kitten, there has been no one for over a year,” he confessed to her.
Over a year? Wow, what was wrong with the women in this town?
“I haven’t been interested in being with a woman, a sub, for a long time.”
“This dominance stuff, how far are you planning on taking it?”
“Dominance stuff? You mean the power exchange we’re going to engage in? Because that’s what this is. It’s not me taking anything from you. It’s you giving me your submission. I don’t think you quite understood that when you came here, and it should have been explained. You thought you would control everything.”
She didn’t think she’d been in control at all.
“It’s me promising to look after that gift. To look after you. Sometimes it might mean me pushing you. And while you might think you want to keep this restricted to sex, I think you’ll find it bleeds over into the rest of your life.”
“I don’t need someone telling me what I can and can’t do. I don’t want that.”
He reached up and placed his hands around the back of her neck. Her pulse raced. Did everything he do turn her on?
“You know very well that the women in Haven are expected to obey their men when it comes to their safety. Even though you haven’t got a boyfriend or husband here, the Fergusons are still charged with watching over you.”
Seriously? She hadn’t realized that.
“If you’d done something that needed addressing, they would have brought it up with you. Now I will, because you’re my sub. If you have any problems, you come to me. Not because I’m going to solve them all or because you’re incapable of taking care yourself, but because, as your Dom, I’m here to support you. I especially want to know if you’re in any danger or you’re sick. Understood?”
She nodded. The guilt ate at her for a moment. But he didn’t mean serious things like the shit she had going on. Not for a temporary relationship. In fact, she was kind of surprised he was taking this so seriously.
Who am I kidding? This is Jake. He takes everything seriously.
“All right,” she agreed.
“And if you get into trouble, it will be my hand heating your ass.” He looked deeply satisfied at the thought, and she barely resisted rolling her eyes. Luckily, she’d enjoyed the spanking. At his hands, not with that other Dom. Was Jake right? Had she come here expecting to control everything?
Yeah. Maybe.
It did kind of sound like her.
“Next rule. Communication. I need more than just ‘I’m fine’ from you. That isn’t a permitted reply from you when I ask you a question. So be prepared to give full answers. Which leads to the next rule. Honesty. We can’t do this without honesty and trust. All right? They’re both connected.”
She nodded.
“Good. Those are the big ones. The last thing I want to make clear is that you will use your safeword if you need to. I am not a mind reader. Yes, I will push your boundaries sometimes. But I never want you to feel like you did earlier, understand? So, if something truly scares you or makes you extremely uncomfortable then you will use it.”
“Doesn’t everything stop if I use my safe word?”
“Where did you get that idea from?”
“I dunno.” She glanced away.
He grasped her chin, turning her head back. “I asked you a question. I want an honest answer.”
She huffed out a breath. “From some of the books I read. Some of the Doms told the subs that if they used their safe word then it was all over. They wouldn’t play with them anymore. They’d walk away.” Her stomach clenched at the thought.
“So they gave them a safeword and then made it a punishment to use it?” He looked perplexed by that. “I think I better have a look at what you’re reading. I may need to filter out the crap.”