I gave him what I knew was a sexy frown.“Like if you wanted our relationship to remain strictly professional andboring.”
He gave me a dry, uninterested look, but Icould see the smile in his eyes.
“Come on, you know I’m right.”
He ignored my teasing comments but wentback to our previous discussion. “I’ll keep your background in mind when Istart to apologize for coming across as odd. I’ve gotten so used to the guysthat when I meet new people, I don’t always think about how things sound.”
Nodding, I did my best to lookunderstanding. “I get it. People who haven’t been around artistic types don’tunderstand.”
He shrugged. “I do my best to look normalin public.”
I grinned. “But this isn’t public. This isyour space where you get to work however you want. You just need someone tokeep track of the more practical things.”
Like eating and sleeping, evidently.
“Probably.” His expression started tochange as his gaze dropped to his desk. “But I don’t know how…I mean…I’ve datedand explored a bit, but I’ve never submitted to anyone on a regular basis.”
I wasn’t completely sure what that meantfor his level of experience, but it was a start. “But it’s something that youwant? Something you’ve thought about as more than just a fantasy?”
His nod was confident and he seemed toforce his eyes back up to meet mine. “Yes, but it has to be with the rightperson and the right situation.”
“I agree. It doesn’t work between justanyone. There needs to be trust and a connection, even if there’s no sexinvolved.” When he nodded without replying verbally, I kept going. “I’ve hadsituations where I’ve done scenes with someone without it being sexual betweenus, but to be honest, I’m not sure I would want something like that with you.I’d always be thinking about flirting and touching you.”
He blinked several times.
That blank look had probably made people nervousover the years, but I knew how fast his brain was probably going. “Do you thinkof submitting to me as a sexual thing?”
All I got was a nod but at least it was ananswer. “How do you picture submitting to me? Do you see strict lines betweenwork and scenes or are they mixed in your head?”
“I…they…I mean.” He stopped and took a deepbreath, letting it out slowly, before looking just to the side of my face. “Idon’t think they would separate neatly in my mind. I mean, work comes first andwhen I’m writing distractions of that sort would probably not…well, work, but…”
The frustrated look that time didn’t seemto be aimed at me, so I stepped in. “So I think what you’re saying is that youdon’t want it completely separated but there will be times when that side ofthings would be negatively distracting?”
Nodding, he relaxed in his chair andfocused back on my face. “Yes.”
“That makes sense.” I did my best to stayrelaxed, but I knew if he looked down he’d be able to see how I was reacting tothe conversation. “There’s a time and a place for both work and play, butsometimes they might go together.”
His head cocked and I could see hisimagination starting to stir. Smiling, I kept going since he seemed curious.“Like if you were on a deadline for one of your sexy stories and were having ahard time writing the last sex scene, I might find a way to get your…creativityflowing.”
His cheeks pinked slightly, but what Inoticed the most was the hungry way he licked his lips. “I…”
Dakota seemed to be stuck in hisimagination, so I figured helping him enjoy it more was the only polite thingto do. “Did you know they make exercise balls with a dildo sticking out ofthem? I bet I could find one that knots if you need help writing a sexy scene.”
He swallowed and nodded vaguely, but theway his body tightened said he wasn’t focusing on our conversation any longer.
“And when you don’t get your to-do listdone or just get off track, a punishment might be in order.” The shiver thatraced through him said he was appreciating the ways I might help him. “Like…let’ssay you were playing online instead of writing the scene you’re supposed to beworking on. I might have to bend you over the desk and spank you to help youremember to stay focused.”
“I…that’s…” He stopped and took a breathbefore he continued. “This doesn’t feel real, honestly.”
“Do you want me to back off a bit or do youwant me to prove it's real?” There were several ways we could take thesituation.
“Both.” His answer wasn’t what I wasexpecting so I waited and, thankfully, he continued. “Back off while we talkabout the work part and then…then prove it.”
So brave and sexy.
“You’re the boss.” I smiled when his headcocked again. “No matter what happens and how we handle things, I know you’rethe boss. I work for you. There will just be times that we mix up the roles abit. There will be hiccups, but we’ll both have safewords and that’s when we’lltalk things out.”
I wasn’t going to promise to be a magicallyintuitive Dom, but I was going to do my best.
