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Lukus
Unfuckingbelievable. Never. Felt. Like. This. Ever.
Lukus barely managed to maintain his composure long enough to literally drag Tiffany off the club floor. By the time they crammed into the small elevator that took them from his club office to his two-story loft at the top of the building, he was shaking. Emotions he’d never felt coursed through his veins like molten lava erupting from an active volcano. He’d witnessed many Doms losing control, but never, not once, had he felt this close to the edge. He was the one who always maintained his cool. He was the one hysterical people came to for help defusing their emotional bombs.
Like helping Markus and Brianna. I’m supposed to be the one in control; not the one losing it over a damn woman.
Warning bells thundered through his brain so fiercely, he had an instant headache. On some subconscious level he suspected he was overreacting, but having zero experience handling the onslaught of sentiments raging through him, he hadn’t the first clue how to stem the emotional storm.
The second the elevator doors closed, he released Tiffany’s hand as if it were burning his skin. Unsure how long he could contain his growing rage, he distanced himself from her as far as possible in the cramped space, not wanting to scare her. Her quiet sob confused him. A quick glance in her direction confirmed she was crying. He hated that her tears always hit him hard. He felt a desire to comfort her, but it was quickly overridden with anger.
She defied me. Flat out. Fucking did the exact opposite of what I told her to do.
As the doors opened, he sprinted out of the elevator, leaving her weeping. It hit him that being blatantly disobeyed was most likely a daily occurrence for many men, but it hadn’t happened to him before, ever. For his entire adult life, he’d surrounded himself with submissive women who obeyed him in all things, in and out of the bedroom. While brave subs might have broken a small rule, it had always been part of the power exchange games he was so fond of playing. The punishments he’d been forced to dish out for their infraction were exactly what they both had wanted.
The truth slapped him hard. Her fearless ability to challenge him was what attracted him to her in the first place. Her witty charm had him acting like a fucking teenager, chasing after the girl he’d been crushing on. Up until now, the magnetic attraction between them had felt only good. Tonight, it was as if the magnet had flipped, and all he felt was the bad.
Tiffany is different. She’s special. Oh hell, who the hell am I kidding? She’s gonna run me over like a fucking truck.
Like a robot, he was barely aware of what he was doing. He rescued the lasagna from the oven. It was brown on top but salvageable. The bread sticks, on the other hand, were beyond saving. The smell of burnt bread permeated the whole loft, serving to piss him off all the more because he knew the odor would be a lingering reminder of her defiance.
It was only after he threw the burned cookie sheet, breadsticks and all, into the sink with a loud crash that he finally felt his rage dissipating. What was left in its wake was fear—fear of losing control. Wait. It was more than that. It was more like fear of losing himself. Who was he, if he wasn’t Master Lukus?
Lukus leaned over the kitchen sink, hands gripping the counter tightly as if it were his lifeline. It wasn’t helping. He flinched at the feel of her light touch caressing his back, but he was trapped. He forced himself to take several deep, calming breaths as Tiffany threw her arms around his waist, squeezing him so tight that it hurt. He felt her sobs before he heard them. The feel of her losing it brought him to his knees. Despite the fact that she was the cause of his angst, he knew the only thing that was going to make him feel better was to hold her in his arms.
Turning to lean back on the counter, he pulled her into the fold of his embrace. They clung to each other silently, still not sure what to say or feel, but knowing neither wanted to let the other go.
Tiffany found her voice first, speaking through hiccups. “I’m so sorry, Lukus. Please. Forgive me. I never meant to embarrass you like that.”
The surprise had to show on his face. “You think that’s why I’m upset? Because you embarrassed me?”
“Well… yeah. I mean, everyone was watching and knows I didn’t obey you.”
“Tiff, that isn’t the problem. Well, wait. That isn’t the most important problem.”
“So, what is?”
It took him a few seconds before he realized the truth. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’m feeling. I mean, yes, that isn’t how I wanted to introduce you to the club, but I don’t give a shit what they think. Not really.”
“Then—”
“I told you not to go into the club. We talked about it. I told you to come straight up.”
“I know, but a couple of guys came out and I wanted to take just a quick peek. I was curious. Then that jerk blocked my way when I wanted to leave, and well…”
“But I told you to come straight up. You didn’t come straight up.” Lukus was fully aware he sounded like an irrational parrot, repeating himself again and again, but well, dammit. He couldn’t get past her defiance.
“Honey, I know. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal to take a peek around.”
“Well, that’s your fucking problem. You thought. I’m gonna do the thinking in this relationship. I set the rules. Period.” His fury flared. Unfortunately, so did Tiffany’s. He saw her flinch in disbelief at his last declaration.
Wrenching herself out of his arms to step away, she let him have it. “Listen. I told you I was sorry, but you don’t need to be a jerk. Yes, you’re the Dom, and yes, you get to make the rules in the bedroom, but we’ve talked about this. I’m not some brainless twit who needs to be told what to think, say, or do. I’m actually smart enough to do those things for myself.”
“Oh, really? It sure as hell didn’t look like it tonight. Do you have any idea what kind of a sadistic asshole Robinson is? He just got reinstated after being suspended for putting his sub in the hospital. I would have kicked him out and made sure he was in jail if he’d done it here at the club. Unfortunately, he was off property and she refused to press charges against him.”
“Wow. It sounds like you have a really fine establishment here, Lukus. You must be so proud to have the kind of business in which you have to protect me at all times because my life is in danger from the clientele.”
Lukus couldn’t believe that after defying him, she was going to pick a fight with him, too. He lunged forward and grabbed her. He had no more talking in him. He had to take action. He needed to show her who was boss in this relationship, and he needed to do it in a place that would get her attention. He grabbed her upper arm and shuffled her towards the elevator. It was time to introduce Tiff to the backstage dungeon.
