Chapter 10
Reece
“That was weirdly awkward.” Throwing myself into the back seat of Hannah’s car, I closed my eyes. “Tell me it wasn’t just me that thought they were all…”
I wasn’t even sure how to describe it without seeming rude. Luckily, Eli didn’t have the same problem. “Tragically vanilla for a BDSM group?” He sighed dramatically. “Hannah, where did you find them?”
She giggled, and I opened my eyes to see her shrugging. “They weren’t that bad the last time I went.”
Eli snorted. “When was that? The Stone Age?”
“Six months ago! I meet a few nice guys there, but we just didn’t click. I don’t know what happened.” She turned on the car but didn’t put it in gear. “I swear, the last time I went, most of the people had been in the lifestyle for several years, and there were a variety of dominants and submissives.”
“There was variety tonight: tall boring guys, short boring guys, that weird lady with the dog in her purse. See, variety, but not the kind of selection you want at a BDSM get-together.” Eli was even more wound up than usual. It’d been a rough photo shoot with Roman.
They’d actually gotten along. It was frightening.
At one point, it’d gotten so quiet I’d stuck my head out the door to make sure I didn’t need to call Preston and tell him there was a dead body in the main studio. Nope. Just two professionals taking photos. It was like they’d been invaded by the pod people.
Unfortunately, something had happened, and they’d gone back to screaming at each other by the end of the session. And Eli had been in a terrible mood the rest of the afternoon, which was why Hannah hadsuggestedhe go out to the BDSM group with us.
Supposedly, it was a small group that had meet-and-greet events on a regular basis to introduce single people in the lifestyle. However, something had gone horribly wrong. Most of the men and women there were incredibly new to the scene and had no idea what they were doing. New wasn’t necessarily bad, but some of them were just odd.
“I still can’t believe that lady with the dog. Who brings a biological dog to one of these events? I mean, a pup on a leash I totally get, but not an actual dog.” Eli was still shaking his head.
“The dog was not the weirdest part.” I struggled not to laugh. “When she asked me if I was arealsubmissive, I thought that was kind of strange, but then she said she was only asking because the last time she brought a guy home who said he was a sub, he refused to clean the floors.”
“She was better than the little twink who’d clearly watched that BDSM movie too many times, because he kept asking everyone their net worth within seconds of being introduced.” Hannah giggled and turned in her seat to look at everyone. “He wasn’t looking for a red room of pain. He was looking for a penthouse hookup.”
Eli smirked. “We escaped without making any tragic mistakes, and we were the most fabulous people there. I’m calling it a win.”
“I’ll take that, but I’m hungry. I was promised food.” I was starving. I’d told a white lie to Houston when I’d said that we were eating over at Hannah’s, but she’d said they’d have food at the party.
“They had a full buffet as part of the entrance fee last time. It was catered and everything. I had a good time. I’m telling you, they must have changed ownership or management or something.” Hannah clearly felt guilty over how the evening had gone, but it wasn’t her fault.
“You can make it up to us by buying the first round. Burgers, then we’ll get drinks somewhere.” Eli leaned against the door and frowned. “I’m not in the mood to be groped by Dom wannabes at a regular club tonight.”
Music sounded like fun, but I kind of agreed with Eli on the rest. I’d gone out hoping to be able to figure out what I wanted, and get Houston out of my head, but no one in there could compare to him. He was sexy and dominant without being overly aggressive in everyday conversations. He was even cute when he grumbled about not getting the lasagna he was promised.
No one in there stood a chance when I had him at home—not that I actually had him.
Hell, I wasn’t even sure he was really a Dom or actually into me. The way he’d looked at me earlier put some of those fears to rest, however. I could almost feel his touch as his eyes raked up my body. I couldn’t help responding, but that didn’t seem to stop his heated gaze. No, he’d focused on my cock more than once. There was no doubt he thought I was hot.
Was that enough, though?
I just wished I knew more about what he liked and needed out of a relationship. When I’d asked about his previous partners, he’d been vague and unhelpful. What was I supposed to do, come right out and ask him if he liked to spank his previous lovers?Hey, what are your thoughts on handcuffs and paddles? Have you ever considered edging a lover? Do you own a cock cage?
Yeah, that would work.
He’d probably kick me out so fast my head would spin.
But no one gave orders like he did without at least being a little bit familiar with BDSM, right? And fuck, he had a look that just made me want to kneel right there and beg for anything he’d give me. Pleasure…pain…I could see it all.
Yeah, yeah, we just met. That didn’t really make much of a difference to me. It wasn’t like I was planning on marrying the guy right away. I just wanted to be bent over his lap and spanked, then fucked while he wore more of those sexy panties.
“Are you even listening to me?” Eli’s voice broke through my fantasy. Bastard.
“Clearly not.” Hannah snorted at my response, and Eli just laughed.
