My gaze dropped to the luscious curve of her lower lip reddened from wine and kisses, my blood heating up. She clocked the look and gave a wider, smug smile in return. Arching her beautiful body, currently clad in one of my white T-shirts, thong and nothing else, she leaned forward, ran her fingers down my jaw. ‘I’d love to shave you,’ she murmured, a definite savouring in her tone.
The stubble I’d kept when I arrived at the cabin had grown into a short beard and, just like my hair, she loved to play with it. Now she wanted to shave it off?
‘I thought you liked the friction between your thighs?’
‘I do. But I like the idea of shaving you even more. I’d use one of those old-fashioned blades, take my time with you.’
I stared at her, trying to work out which kink she had in store for me next. Much more than delayed gratification, she liked to keep me guessing. Not that I minded anything she’d done to me so far. Everything we did culminated in a wild and new experience. I was swiftly becoming addicted to it. To her.
I glanced out of the window, sending out a silent plea for the storm not to end just yet. I needed a few more days of this. Hopefully by then, this wild fever in my blood would’ve abated. Enough for me to let her go with no hard feelings?
My gut knotted, a hollow sensation taking up residence in the pit of my stomach.
‘Tell me another story,’ she softly commanded, relaxing against the cushions again and taking a sip of wine. ‘Tell me about your very first assignment.’
I grimaced. ‘I’d rather tell you a different story, min elskerinde.’
Her eyes sparkled, intelligence scheming in her eyes as she stared at me. ‘You know evasion merely triggers my curiosity, right?’
Yes, I’d discovered that about her. But I didn’t want to delve into this particular subject.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Why don’t you want to tell me?’
‘Because my first assignment was professional and also deeply personal.’
Her eyes widened. ‘And you can’t tell one without the other?’
I shrugged. ‘I could, but it wouldn’t be much of a story.’
She waited, one finger trailing along the rim of her glass.
And against my better judgment, the words tumbled from my lips anyway. ‘I was hired by the owner of a sex club in Copenhagen to take shots for her revamped website.’
Her smile turned a little wicked. ‘A different sort of adventure, then?’
I didn’t return her smile. ‘An enlightening one, yes.’
Slowly, her smile switched off, her face getting serious. ‘How personal?’
‘Helga, the owner of the club, became my first Dominant. She took one look at me and she knew.’
‘How old were you?’
‘Twenty-four.’
Something close to envy flashed in her eyes. ‘How long did it last?’
‘Six months.’ I let out a wry smile. ‘Then she moved on to somebody else.’
Sympathy shone in Graciela’s eyes. ‘She broke your heart?’
I shook my head. ‘I thought so at the time, but in hindsight she was breaking down my barriers so I could accept myself.’
Graciela nodded, understanding brimming in her eyes. ‘Why does that make you sad?’
‘Because even after all of that I was still searching.’
‘Searching or denying?’
I shrugged, the memory painful to vocalise. It’d been both. After the nightmare of my father, and the need to take control and keep my mother and sister safe from his abuse, surrendering that control had felt like a betrayal. One I’d struggled with for years before accepting the freedom of submission.
‘So she was your first. Who was your second?’ she asked after swallowing a mouthful of wine.
Shit, it looked as if we were doing this after all. ‘No one memorable.’
One sleek eyebrow arched. ‘Your third? Fourth or fifth?’
‘All imitations of the real thing that have disappointed more than satisfied. Till...recently.’
She gave a soft gasp. ‘Jensen...are you saying...?’
Fuck, I didn’t want things to slip into hot and heavy territory, didn’t want this perfect flow we’d found to hit the skids. But she was looking at me, expectant. And I was helpless to deny her any damn thing.
‘You’re the first to make a meaningful impression since Helga? The verdict is still out.’
She looked a little...relieved, and my stomach churned.
Damn, maybe I’d laid it on too thick?
Dial it back a notch, Jensen.
She held the glass against her lips, eyes spearing into me. ‘Tell me about Stephanie.’
Fuck no.
‘Graciela...’
She reached out, laid her hand over my arm. ‘It’s not an order. I just really want to know.’
I took a deep breath, wrapped one hand around her delicate foot. Then I lifted it, placing a kiss at the soft pad of flesh beneath her toes. She gave a soft gasp, her eyes darkening momentarily before she pulled herself out of my grasp. Great, that distracting technique wasn’t going to work either.
I sighed, sifting through the torrent of memories I didn’t really want to relive. ‘We met at a party in London. She’s an event planner, but her clients tend to be more on the risqué side of entertaining.’
‘She throws sex parties?’
‘Not always, but yeah, some of the time. She said all the right things, made all the right moves. We went out a few times and then things got...serious.’
‘How serious?’
‘I asked her to move in with me.’
She nodded, encouraged me to go on.
‘Then the cracks began to appear. It started off by her telling me she didn’t want to role play any more.’
Graciela frowned. ‘Role play?’
‘That’s what she called it.’
‘She thought it was a game?’
Bitterness drenched my mouth. ‘Apparently. She’d been biding her time, hoping I’d snap out of it. When I pushed her on it, she confessed she’d read a few books, watched videos and used what she’d seen at her parties to expand her knowledge.’
‘Bloody hell,’ Graciela muttered under her breath. ‘Where the hell did she do her research? The fucking children’s library? Because the first real Dom or sub she met would’ve told her this isn’t a damned game! That you don’t simply play at it.’
‘She was convinced she
