“So then, young miss, shall we discuss?”
“I was hoping we could talk later,” she blurted, running hereyes over him. Seriously, she couldn’t take much more. It had takenall her willpower not to grab him. The only thing that had stoppedher from doing so was the fear of his reaction. He hadn’t liked itwhen she grabbed onto him earlier.
“Aren’t you brave?” He quirked an eyebrow.
“I’m as surprised as you are.” She laughed nervously.“Honestly, I’m not very brave at all. You should know that by now.I’ve never been so at ease with anyone else before. Which is weird,really. There’s just something about you I trust.”
“So you’ve said. And I’m hoping it’s true, because what I wishto discuss greatly involves trust.”
“Well, I’m here with you now, aren’t I? Would I have followedyou, come here with you, would I be here with you now if I didn’ttrust you?”
“True, but you need to know that while I’m quite taken with youin return, before we fuck…” He paused, scraping his teeth acrosshis lip, punctuating his point with a quirk of an eyebrow, “youneed to know what you’re getting into. Understand?”
“No, you got me there. I don’t quite understand. What am Igetting into?”
“Let’s start with this... I’m not much into vanilla sex.Understand my meaning?” He looked her right in the eye, reading herreaction. When she nodded, he continued. “If that’s what you wantfrom me we’ll stop this right now and go back to being merelytravel companions. No harm no foul.”
“Oh... you mean... you’re into BDSM? Wow... I hadn’t seen thatcoming.”
“How much do you know about BDSM?” He narrowed his eyes ather.
“Not a whole heck of a lot. Only what I’ve read about inpopular fiction, and maybe a little of it in movies.” In response,he huffed and rolled his eyes.
She frowned athim. “You did ask.”
“Fair enough,” he said with a nod. “Now do us both a favour andforget it all. Put it out of your mind.”
Gwen knittedher brow, confused. “So, are you into BDSM or not?”
“Let me clarify it for you first. BDSM stands for threeseparate or intermingled things. Bondage and Discipline, Dominationand Submission, Sadism and Masochism.”
“All that, huh?”
“Not always together, or all the time, or in every case. Bearwith me, Gwen. It’s not as bad as it sounds. You see, you only needto concern yourself with me, and in my case, I’m more about the B,the D, and perhaps a little S on your part. The rest of it Ihaven’t the slightest interest in.
“So, Bondage?” He nodded. “What does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. I want to tie you up and fuckyour brains out.”
“Whoa... will it hurt? Is it dangerous? Are youdangerous?”
“Of course not. I haven’t killed a lady yet, not in a bad way,if you get my meaning.”
At that, shelaughed even if only out of sheer nervousness. Just how manypartners had he had? She had no doubt, he’d been with plenty ofwomen before now. The gorgeous Goth reeked of experience. Yet shecouldn’t help but wonder if all his sexual experiences involvedthis darker element.
“Still with me?” he asked, stirring her from her thoughts. “Goon, ask me anything.”
“Which D?” she asked cautiously.
He smiled as ifpleased with her question. “Domination... it goes along withSubmission. I need to be in control.”
Gwen nodded,concentrating on the facts. So far, from what he said, he onlymeant to restrain her. It kind of made sense. As it was, he didn’tlike to be touched or held. Perhaps this was how he dealt with it.If she were restrained, she couldn’t hold him. The thought suddenlymade her sad. Looking at him now, all she wanted was to wrap herarms around him and run her fingers through his wavy dark hair. Herfingers itched to explore every ridge and divot of his smoothchest, to trace the intricate tattoos on his shoulders.
“Talk to me.” He drew her out of her thoughts again.
“Not the other one then?” she asked, nervously toying with herfingers.
“Discipline?” With a reassuring hand on her knee, he slowlyshook his head. “No, I don’t think it’ll be necessary, especiallyin your case. Such a good girl you are.” He smiled when she sighedwith relief. Pleased, he took her hand in his and ran his thumbover the bracelet she held so dear. “Gwen, if you go there with me,you’ll soon learn how kind a master I can be. I promise to lookafter you, to take good care of you. All I’m after is control. Andyou said so yourself, you like that about me.”
It was true andshe nodded in response. She felt safe when he took charge. From themoment on the plane, then on the train and more recently thatmorning. If all he wanted was control, she had no problem withthat. What exactly that meant, though, she wasn’t sure, but shewanted to find out.
“So, do I have to sign a contract?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He laughed and shook his head. “A verbalagreement is all I need.”
At the returnof his sense of humour, Gwen felt her anxieties lighten. “Oh, well,just so you know, I’d be okay with a little biting,” she whisperedexcitedly.
“So playful, I like that.” Unable to resist, he leaned forwardand nipped at her lips. “But this isn’t the time for playingaround. There’ll be plenty of that later, once you agree. So, whatdo you say? Are you interested?”
She had to admit, at first, she had been apprehensive but nownot so much. Breaking it down like that had put a whole new lighton the situation. She had no desire to be punished, tortured orhumiliated. Yet handing over total control did make her more than alittle nervous. Could she dothis?
“May I offer you something to think about?” He waited until shenodded before making his sales pitch. “I have read that it’s beenknown to help with some forms of anxiety as it has a great deal todo with trust.” He hadn’t wanted to be so blatant as to use herfears to his advantage but he wanted this so much, he would say ordo whatever
