Bradley gave me a teasing grin. “Betterthat than tattoos every few months.”
I snorted but grinned as I kissed himgently. “I agree.”
Because the needle was so much better andI’d probably end up doing it a lot more.
Bradley was still relaxed, but I could seesomething behind his eyes as he spoke again. “How long has it been since youguys had a…guys’ night out, we’ll say?”
That had me chuckling, but I was startingto see where his mind was going. “A few months.”
“So…” He took a breath and leaned into mytouch again. I assumed he was trying to be polite, so I waited. “So is thissomething that’s building again? I just need to know where it fits with us.”
A legitimate and thoughtful question.
“Thank you for not jumping to a sarcasticremark or accusation. I know this isn’t easy to wrap your mind around.” For aminute he was still, then he shrugged. So yes, he had been holding backsomething biting.
“It makes me feel important when you put myfeelings first in situations like that.” I kissed him again gently. “With somany alphas in the family growing up and my mother and her sister constantlybeating a drum for one cause or another, I find I don’t like conflict. I thinkthat’s part of why I picked a career where I have a lot of time away frompeople.”
Bradley quietly chuckled. “People are thehardest part of my job, and I’m including my friends in that statement.”
“They’re almost like working with family.”I grinned when he nodded at the comparison.
“Very much so.” He gently nudged my handand gave me a very fake-looking pout.
But if that was how he wanted to encouragemore cuddles, it was better than demanding something. As I went back tostroking his head, I tightened my grip as I got to his neck and smiled as ashiver ran through him.
Relaxing my touch, I kept caressing him andthought back to his original question. “It’s not something that’s pressing atme right now, but I can feel it building. I think how we handle it will be upto you. I can see a number of different ways to deal with it, but my firstquestion is if you’re handy with a flogger?”
His head popped up like I’d shocked himwith an electric current. “What?”
I was going to guess that it was a no.
“It doesn’t have to be a dominance submissionthing unless that’s how we want to play it. If we want to incorporate that sideof our relationship into it then I could make it an order or come up withsomething like that.” His brain was back to going entirely too fast for ourrelaxing evening.
“Look at me.” I made the order firm andkept my gaze on his. “What are you thinking?”
“I don’t think I could hit you.” Hisexpression was almost blank, but I could see the stress he was trying to pushaway. “I mean, I know it’s not the same thing as hitting you and I know that ifI like it then it’s reasonable to understand that you would. But I just…”
His voice trailed off and I could see I’dsomehow hit a nerve. This wasn’t the sharp-edged stockbroker. He was someoneelse entirely at that moment. I shifted my hand to cup his chin and kept himfocused on me. “I will never force you to do something that you don’t want toor that feels wrong to you for any reason. What do you say when I mentionsomething that you don’t want to do?”
I felt Bradley swallow and somethingflashed over his face, but it was too fast to catch it. “Red. That is red forme.”
“Thank you.” I kissed him gently, nibblingat his lips to feel him shiver. As I pulled away, I let him see all the desireI was feeling. “Being honest with me like that deserves a reward.”
But what kind…
We’d talked about a lot of different kinksand topics over the past hour, and for the most part, we had very similartastes. I’d have been willing to push things a bit further than he would onmost topics, but he hadn’t vetoed anything that was really important to me.
So how to reward my stressed sub forsafewording?
Two of the things he’d reacted to as we’dtalked were spankings and mild humiliation. He made it clear he didn’t wantanything like that around his friends or in public, but he’d very logicallyexplained that spankings and impact play like that aroused him most when therewas a hint of humiliation in them.
His logic was so cute I’d fought hard notto smile, but I’d understood what he’d wanted. So that seemed like the perfectreward now.
“How would you like a spanking for being agood omega?” I let my voice soften almost like I was talking to a child just topush the humiliation buttons for him.
Bradley moaned and I could hear a good bitof frustration mixed in with the desire, but no safeword and just enough colorin his cheeks to show he was excited. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes.”
We were going to have to practice how heanswered me.
