Her Dom was feeling his age? She could fix that. “He’s not hotter than you, Sir. He’s not the one who makes me want to close the door and see what all this play is about.”
He stilled. “You said you were uncomfortable.”
“Horniness makes me uncomfortable. I think we should negotiate.” Wasn’t that what she should say? They had a contract, and it allowed for sex, but he’d taken it off the table.
She wanted it back on.
His head came up, and he straightened, looming over her, and his eyes had heated. “Are you asking for what I think you’re asking?”
“Probably.” She thought he’d figured it out since she was standing very close to him, and either his dick was engaged or he suddenly had something hard in his leathers.
His hand came up, sliding over her neck and burying itself in her hair. It was a move he used regularly, and it never failed to send a bolt of desire through her. He tugged on her hair. “Say it, Vanessa. Say you want sex.”
“I want you.” She wasn’t going to hide. She didn’t merely want sex. She wanted sex with him. “I know it’s probably a mistake because you’re being so nice to let me have a place to stay. I’m working on finding an apartment. Dani says she might have something for me.”
“Dani needs to stay out of it.” He got in close. “I don’t want you to leave. Stay with me until the training period is over.”
“That’s weeks, Michael.” She couldn’t stay that long. If she stayed, she wouldn’t want to leave.
“Only a couple. You can keep your room. It’s your space, but that doesn’t mean you can’t crawl into bed with me. Let me take care of you for a few weeks, Vanessa. Let me be your Dom. I’ll help you find a place that’s secure, and I’ll help you move in. We can start looking tomorrow.”
It was everything she needed, and in that moment she didn’t care that it wasn’t smart to say yes. She didn’t care that giving in to him would make the ache worse later. At least she would have had the joy. “All right. I’ll stay with you. I’ll let you help me.”
He brushed his lips over hers. “And we’ll play as often as we can.”
He nearly kissed the breath from her body. “Yes, Sir.”
“Then let’s begin,” he whispered against her lips.
She let everything else fall away. She was ready.
* * * *
His dick was definitely ready.
He’d almost lost it when she’d turned that gorgeous smile Kyle’s way. He’d been able to see her with the other man. They would make a beautiful couple. He knew Kyle was hung up on MaeBe, but it didn’t matter because what man could ever turn down the goddess Vanessa was?
All night long he’d been dealing with this feeling in his gut. The one that reminded him he wouldn’t be her top forever if he couldn’t figure out how to keep her. The one that had him thinking about how to do his job and keep the woman for at least a couple of weeks. A month, perhaps. That had to be long enough to get her out of his system.
“Find your position.” He forced himself to back away. He wanted nothing more than to throw her down on the bed in the middle of the room, but he had to stay in control. He needed to show her how good this could be between them.
If the sex was mind-blowingly good, perhaps she would stay even if she found out all the shit he’d done to her.
Vanessa stepped back, and there was a charming awkwardness to her as she sank to her knees, slowly splaying them wide.
He was going to see her naked. He was going to see every inch of her gorgeous skin.
She turned her hands over, palms up, resting on the tops of her thighs, and she looked up. “Like this, right?”
She was sheer perfection, and the hint of nerves in her tone did nothing to detract from it. “Yes, that’s exactly what I want.”
He moved in, planting his boots about a half a foot from where her knees were. “What did you like about the scenes we watched?”
His close proximity to her forced her to bring her head up in order to look at him. Her chin tipped back, and he could see the graceful line of her throat. “I liked how connected they seemed. Don’t get me wrong, I liked watching them play, but I loved how they seemed to flow together, how the Dom seemed to know what the sub needed.”
“We watched scenes with long-time couples and trios. They didn’t start out that way. They had to talk and explore and be honest about what works for them and what doesn’t.”
“It’s a journey. That’s what I’ve figured out,” she replied, staring up at him. “It’s not something to fumble through and hope it happens. We have to work on it.”