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“Like what?” He helped her to sit up, and he picked up his jacket, smoothed the wrinkles, then draped it around her shoulders.
“I don’t know…” She gathered the lapels and drew them together, partially to warm up, partially to hide from the vulnerabilities he’d exposed. “You’re gruff but thoughtful.”
“Maybe not in all relationships, but for me? Yes. I like this part of the BDSM dynamic. The aftercare. I want you to enjoy it as well. And there can be a hell of an emotional component to any scene, even a short one, resulting in a hormonal rush and crash.”
Too well, she understood what he was speaking about.
“It’s crucial the Dominant be there for the submissive as long as needed. When we play, I will ensure I take care of your needs.”
“That was the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had.” It had been the difference between a rainstorm and a hurricane.
“Pleasing you is my greatest reward.”
“You say that as if you mean it.”
“I do. Now, for your spanking, would you like it at your house or mine?”
The hot desire that lashed her told her it would be a terrible mistake to spend more time with him. “Mr. Sterling—”
“After what we’ve shared?” His words were light, but a reprimand lay beneath.
She wrapped herself even tighter. “Rafe.” Using his first name created greater intimacy, as he no doubt wanted. “We shouldn’t go any further.”
“That’s fine. If you mean it, please use your safe word.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Damn him.
Spending more time together would be disastrous for her emotional state, yet her safe word lodged in her throat.
Rafe didn’t move away from her. His stance—feet rooted to the floor, arms folded—spoke of resolve, making it clear that he would wait as long as necessary for her to be honest with both of them.
After endless moments, she whispered, “No.”
“Let me take you to dinner. Then we can decide which house to go to.” He offered his hand.
After a short hesitation, she took it. He helped her from the table, and she stood in front of him, no longer client to vendor, but submissive to Dominant.
“I’ve spent plenty of time thinking of you since yesterday morning.” His voice was rough with gravel. “You’re everything I imagined.”
And he was more than she’d dared to dream about.
Since the table was smudged from her feet, buttocks, and the shattering orgasm, she said, “I need to clean it.”
“You could leave it for the morning.” His grin was cheeky, a contrast to how serious he was a few moments before. “The reminder will be a nice start for your day.”
With her luck, Tony or Skyler would arrive first and they’d know what she’d done in the office. There would be dozens of questions that she didn’t want to answer. “No, thanks.” On unsteady, bare feet, she pulled out a soft cloth and furniture polish from a storage cabinet.
He plucked his jacket from her shoulders and draped it across the back of a chair.
No way was she cleaning the room nude with him standing there. She froze. “I’ll meet you in the reception area.” Where her belongings were scattered on the floor.
“I prefer to watch.”
An hour prior, she would have bet money that she would not be naked in front of one of her clients. More, she would have scoffed at the idea that she’d allow him to drive her to a soul-splintering orgasm.
Hope’s heart slammed, and she exhaled. With quiet power, Rafe had exerted his will, and she’d yielded, not because he overwhelmed her, but because her own scandalous behavior had been unusual and thrilling.
She picked up his cufflinks. Though they were a pair, the designs were mismatched. One was engraved with an odd-shaped Z. The other, the owl with gemstones for eyes, she’d seen when he took them off. The same symbols were probably on his ring. She traced the lightning-like Z pattern. “This is unusual. Do they have special meaning to you?”
“It represents the Zeta Society.”
“The…” Hope blinked. She’d heard of it, in shadowy terms. A few years ago, she’d come across an article in her favorite online magazine. Most of the quoted sources had been anonymous, and she’d learned that the organization had been formed in the nineteenth century, and they had thousands of members worldwide.
