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Olivia looked surprisingly thoughtful, as if that was an angle she hadn’t considered before, one which held merit. Which meant she probably wasn’t going to give him too hard a time anymore, which Rick could be grateful for.
“That’s exactly it,” he said with relief. “I feel like I’m putting myself out there. All the things I want and need, and she’s either going to reject me or accept me... and that really sucks.” Especially because, as a Dom, he was a bit of a control freak. Even more so when it came to sex than some of his other friends. He loved it when a woman gave up control to him; but even if Maria submitted to him at Stronghold, it would be like being on probation. Not a happy feeling for anyone, much less someone with his inclinations.
“She’s doing the same thing though,” Olivia said. “Maybe not as blatantly, because you know what you want and need from the scene and she doesn’t yet, but just by showing up here and telling you that she wants to try, she’s putting herself out there. For her, it’s all one big unknown.”
“Plus, she’s definitely worried about disappointing you,” Adam said, backing Olivia up. “Don’t discount that. Angel will get bratty with me if I’m ticked at her about something, but if she thinks she’s disappointing me she’ll run in circles trying to find a way to either fix it or make it up to me.”
“Right before bursting into tears if she thinks she’s failed,” Olivia murmured so softly Rick barely heard her. Adam shot her an exasperated look. He must have been getting relationship advice from the outspoken Domme. Coughing, Rick hid his grin. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one dealing with issues out of his depth. He could only imagine how panicked Adam would be over Angel crying. Talk about feeling out of control. Part of him wanted to ask what had happened, but going by the closed expression on Adam’s face, he doubted the man would answer. He knew the two were having some issues because Adam wanted her to move in and Angel wasn’t ready to take that step yet. Another situation where Adam felt out of control, but he was working through it and doing whatever he needed to keep Angel happy.
The little trickles of doubt and insecurity were still inside of Rick, but he definitely felt much better already. After all, Maria was being brave just by wanting to try something she had little knowledge and no experience with, especially when he’d mishandled her first introduction to the scene so badly. No wonder she wanted to try it before she committed to it, and he needed to remember this was completely new to her and she wasn’t auditioning him. At least, he hoped she wasn’t.
She was showing a great deal of trust in him, trust that he’d worried he’d completely broken. So he was going to man up and trust she wasn’t going to reject him outright, and she wanted to try an Introductory Scene because she really wanted him and not just the kink she now knew existed.
13
Rick was coming up on the pool’s wall when he saw two legs dangling down in front of him. Reaching out to grasp the ankle, he really hoped it was Maria’s leg, as he used his other hand to tickle the sole. Rising up from the water, even with it filling his ears, he could hear her shriek and giggling.
Grinning, he raised his eyebrow at her. “Don’t you know to keep your feet out of the lap lanes?
An expression which looked a lot like relief was on her face as she smiled back at him. Going by her body language, he could see she felt a little awkward, her muscles were tensed as if she was ready to flee in case he wasn’t happy to see her. But he’d responded playfully, and she was taking her lead from him.
“What are you going to do, spank me?” She was half-defiant, half-anxious, and Rick couldn’t help but laugh, seeing right through her brave front. Maria was probably going to be a bit of a bratty sub. Right now she was acting out a bit because she didn’t know exactly how to handle herself. On the other hand, she was completely honest with her emotions, and she wasn’t going to avoid talking about the elephant in the room. Nope, it was going to come spilling out of her mouth and make her blush a bright red that matched her bathing suit. Rick eyed her bathing suit and the snug fit it had on her curves, wondering if one day he might be able to fulfill his reoccurring fantasy of sliding his fingers under the fabric and making her so wet she’d have to get in the pool or give away her state.
Gripping her ankle tighter, he tickled her foot again as she shrieked, water splashing him in the face when she kicked out with her other foot.
“It seems to me maybe you want the spanking,” Rick said, teasingly. Keeping it light. Non-threatening. He had the feeling she was probably going to try and top from the bottom at first—she was too assertive and too untrained not to—and he was going to very gently show her it wasn’t going to happen. Sassiness was all well and good, he liked that, but he wasn’t going to allow her to take control of any scene between them. Just by basically daring him to spank her, she’d initiated a kind of scene and he was going to respond appropriately. “Tickling is probably a better punishment.”
Maria gasped, trying to yank her ankle out of his hand. Even with the water making her soft skin slick, he had too tight a grip for that to work. Instead she just went slightly off balance, her breasts wobbling in an incredibly enticing way. “Tickling isn’t a punishment.”
The screech of the lifeguard’s whistle from across the pool got both of their attention. The teen in the chair pointed at Rick and then jerked her thumb at the main part of the pool. He got the message—if you’re not swimming laps, get out of the lap lane. Grinning, happy Maria was there, he decided he didn’t need to finish his workout. Giving her foot one last tickle, he laughed at her outraged shriek as he finally released her ankle and ducked under the rope to head to the main pool.
When he resurfaced, he saw Maria already sliding into the water, giving him a moment to reorganize his thoughts.
They’d been pretty flirtatious before he’d taken her to Stronghold, afterwards he hadn’t been sure whether or not she’d show up again here. Now that she was here, he still didn’t know whether or not she’d want to be with him after her Introductory Scene. He needed to revise how he was going to deal with her until after the scene. Not that he was going to stop flirting with her, but definitely nothing more than that.
Last night it had been instinct not to kiss her, to hold back, to take control of the situation. Denying her had, in some ways, been almost petty, but it had also been self-protective and had given him back the steering wheel in the situation. Something which, at that point, he’d needed. Right now he needed to stay in control and not let things go beyond where they already had, not until after next Thursday.
It soothed him to see she was back to being nervous as she approached him. Rick smiled and started chatting with her, not reaching out to touch her, but keeping things friendly and just a bit flirty. Slowly, Maria relaxed as she told him about her week at work, including Leigh and Angel’s visit. When he told her about assisting Angel for her class’ final exam, she laughed so hard she actually went underwater for a few seconds. Especially when he told her about Lexie’s turn and the way she’d managed to get Patrick in the nuts, twice.
By the time Rick had to leave to get ready to head over to Andrew’s, whom he was helping today, he was feeling a million times better. He and Maria weren’t quite back to where they had been before, but that was okay. The biggest change was that the sexual tension between them was even higher than before. As well as their anxiety about the Introductory Scene. When he told her that he’d scheduled the scene and gotten the okay from Patrick, she’d brightened and then immediately looked anxious again.
He didn’t try to soothe her too much. A bit of anxiety, and even fear, was good for a scene.
“Don’t forget to do your research,” he said, tapping her on the nose with his finger before he left. The temptation to kiss her was incredible, especially because the bikini she wore made him want to put his hands all over her and he could tell she wanted him to when she tilted her head up at him, but he held onto his self-control.
Maria narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes, Professor.”
Rick raised his eyebrow, letting his voice deepen to a more powerful and threatening tone. “I’ll tell Patrick to make sure he reserves the school room for us.”
Chuckling at Maria’s dropped jaw, Rick considered that a fitting exit line.
Pushing away from her computer desk, Maria decided she needed a break.
Friday night... less than a week until her Introductory Scene. Excitement and tension fluttered in her belly in equal measure, the same way they always did every time she thought about Rick and Stronghold. It was still hard for her to reconcile the man she flirted with and chatted with in the mornings with the stuff she was reading online.
Granted, she knew he wasn’t going to be interested in everything she was finding online, but still, she didn’t know everything about him. And she didn’t think his female friends possibly could either. Even if Jessica had slept with him at that school.
I really need to stop dwelling on that.
