“So, was she just not good at her job, or...”
“He,” Neil clarified cautiously.
“Oh.” Neil slept with men, too? That was a surprise. Not necessarily a bad one, when I started imagining it in my head. In fact, it might turn out to be some quality tub time material, if I left out the whole “bad experience” part.
“He wasn’t a very good Dom. At the time I thought he was quite impressive. He suggested I sub for him so that I would know what it felt like when I was the Dominant,” Neil explained. “But not being submissive myself, I didn’t enjoy it at all. I was bound, I panicked, and I seriously injured my neck and shoulder.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag up bad memories.” Gosh, I knew how to kill a mood, didn’t I?
Then I had another thought, and I couldn’t not ask, not if I was supposed to go back into work tomorrow. “Um, I’m sorry for asking, but... it wasn’t... Rudy?”
He looked horrified. “My god, Sophie, no. He’s my best friend. I may be fairly easy going when it comes to sexuality, but my private life is more or less compartmentalized. Once I see someone in a certain light, I’m very unlikely to re-categorize him. Besides, Rudy is a bit of a prude.”
I snorted. “Okay. But listen, you don’t have to keep going on and on about the safe words. I know them. And I trust you to know if you need to stop and check on me.”
“I will take that note,” he promised. “But I will always be sure the safe words and signals are clear before we begin. That’s not just for you, it’s for me as well.”
“Deal.” I eased from the bed reluctantly, before I could be lulled to sleep by all the gentle touching and warm, naked skin. As I dressed, he watched me, saying nothing. I’d just pulled my sweater over my head when he finally broke his silence.
“Stay the weekend with me.”
I had bent over to pick up my bobby pins from the carpet, but I straightened quickly at his words. “Excuse me?”
“When I’m back in my own apartment, where we’ll have privacy and not be bankrupted on take out.” The corner of his mouth twitched with a half-smile. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’m very rich. So, my apartment is spectacular.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Listen, I’m not rich, and my apartment is still pretty spectacular, Mr. Elitist. But I thought we were keeping things strictly sex. Do you think it’s a good idea to spend a whole weekend together?”
He rose from the bed and walked to me, totally comfortable in his own nakedness, and pulled my clothed body against him. One hand groped my ass through my jeans, the other pressed against the small of my back. “Do I think it would be a good idea to spend forty-eight or more hours fucking you? Taking you in every room of my house, on every bed, desk, chair and table in the place?”
I purred a long, slow, “Mmmmmm,” as he nuzzled my throat. “You make a very compelling argument.”
“I should be settled in again weekend after next,” he murmured against my skin. Red-hot sparks of desire simmered my blood. How could I already be craving him, when I was still exhausted from our last encounter?
I groaned inwardly. “No, I can’t that weekend. Holli wanted to throw me a party to celebrate my new job. Which is really just an excuse for her to invite all our friends over to get hammered, but she’s really excited, and I promised her I’d do it.”
“Well, I can hardly ask you to turn your back on your friends.” He lifted his head and stepped back. “What if I sent my driver to pick you up Saturday night, instead? We could sleep in on Sunday and have breakfast?”
I hesitated. “You don’t go to church or anything, right?”
A look of shock crossed his face. “Of course I do. You knew I was devoutly religious, didn’t you?”
I didn’t know how to respond. Then I realized, in a moment of panic that turned to indignation, that he was joking. I slapped his shoulder. “Very funny.”
“I worship at Our Lady of Extremely Late Brunch,” he quipped, bending his head to kiss me, and I lost myself in him as he wrapped his arms around me again. When he raised his head once more, he asked, “So, two Saturdays from now, is it?”
“Yeah, I think that would be great.” It would also be about a month into our “relationship” at that point. I supposed one month wasn’t unreasonable for a first overnight. And it would be like a little vacation for me, just in the same city I lived in.
Oh, who the fuck was I kidding? I wanted to spend more time with him because I had a crush on him. No matter how casual I might want to keep things, I really liked this guy. That didn’t mean I had to hang my hat on some romantic ideal. But I did like being with him.