Why was she sitting here talking to him about this? Why wasn’t she running as fast as she could?
Because there’s something about him, pulling me towards him, making me want to trust him.
Because I don’t want this night to be over, I’m not ready to be alone again.
“God, you’re a Dom,” she interrupted, disgusted with herself. “How did I not see that?”
Boy, did she know how to pick ’em. The one sort of person she’d sworn to never get involved with again and here she was standing naked in front of him. He’d made her come twice. She’d gone down on him. Jacey covered her breasts with one arm, trying to shield her nakedness.
Did she have a sign on her face? Was it a scent she gave off? Or was she just attracted to assholes who liked to beat on people?
She knew that last thought wasn’t fair, Derrick had done nothing to hurt her, but the abuse she’d experienced at Stephan’s hands was still fresh in her mind.
“I can’t do this,” she whispered.
Derrick held out his hand. “Jacey, wait, talk to me. Obviously you know something about BDSM—”
“Enough to know I want nothing to do with it,” she snapped back, looking around for her clothes. Where were they? Oh crap, they were still outside!
“Jacey, stop,” Derrick commanded. She froze on her way to the door. “Look at me.”
Move!
But her limbs wouldn’t cooperate. She froze, but refused to turn and face him.
“Okay, that will do. I obviously hit a trigger. Well, I think I bulldozed right on over it. I’m sorry for frightening you, and I want you to know that I would never harm you. You must trust me on some level to come here with me tonight, to let me touch you.”
He was right. Crap.
“That’s all changed now.”
“Has it? I’m guessing you’ve had a bad experience with a Dom, but that wasn’t me. Not all Doms are assholes. Doms have feeling too you know.” The faint teasing in his voice had her turning to face him. She wished like hell that she had some clothing on. But he was naked as well. Except Derrick seemed to accept his nakedness with an ease she envied.
“You want to control me, punish me.”
“I want to make you feel good. Control doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Control doesn’t mean abuse. I can be in control and still cherish you. Hell, this wasn’t the conversation I thought I’d be having tonight.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Jacey, you may not believe me, but I didn’t bring you here with any sort of ulterior motive or to play any sort of games. I just wanted us to be Derrick and Jacey. To get to know each other.”
“You threatened to spank me.”
“All in the name of fun.”
There he went again. What fun? Fun for him, maybe. Not for her.
“And if I didn’t want that? What then?”
“Then all you have to say is no.”
“Men don’t like to hear the word no.”
“There you go again. I’m not him, Jacey. Although one day I hope you’ll tell me exactly what he did to hurt you. I insist that you tell me if I ever make you uncomfortable, or frighten you. I tell you what, why don’t we come up with a safe word?”
Jacey took a step back. “I’m not a submissive and I’m not doing any of that stuff again.”
“I understand. You have my word I will not push or force you into anything you don’t want. The safe word will just be about giving you control. I don’t know all your triggers yet, just like you don’t know mine.”
“As long as you honor it.”
His face hardened. “I will. I swear. I have never broken my word nor have I ever ignored a subs safe word.”