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  “Yes, Sir.” Her head tipped down in the way of submissives. Her shoulders visibly relaxed.

  Damn.

  Everything with her was a guessing game, but he clearly judged this one right. She needed to submit, let someone else control things. Not make any of her own decisions for a while.

  He could do that.

  Fuck, yes. He could do that.

  He just hoped he could control his dick at the same time and not scare the shit out of her.

  •●•

  “Let’s dance.” Gage stood, managing to lift Kayla with him simply by gripping her fists.

  She easily moved beside him, relaxing into the feel of his hand at the small of her back as he led her through the bar area and toward the dance floor.

  She’d never danced with anyone at Extreme before. Dancing always felt more intimate somehow. Absurd considering she didn’t hesitate to lift her skirt for a spanking, but nevertheless, the closeness of moving to the music with a man made her feel completely different.

  With Gage, that difference was easy. He stepped onto the floor, folded her hands over his shoulders, wrapped his own around her middle, and swayed to the slow song that played in the background.

  There were dozens of people on the floor, some moving more than others. Many were simply making out in their spot. Kayla ignored them to be in the moment with Gage. She let her gaze land on his chest and wished she’d chosen another spot immediately. His black T-shirt was tight across his pecs, and those pecs were damn fine. She almost moaned thinking of seeing them bared earlier at the fight.

  “Look at me, baby.”

  She lifted her face, glad for the reason to shift her gaze, but concerned about what she would find when she met Gage’s. Or worse, what he would read in her eyes.

  “Love the dress, baby.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  He chuckled. Though she had no idea why he found it funny when she called him Sir.

  He pulled her closer and tipped his head toward hers. “You’re not wearing anything under it.”

  She held her breath. Would he think it was an invitation? She stiffened. How stupid of her. Of course he would. And hell, subconsciously it probably had been.

  “Don’t freak. I’m just making an observation. It’s sexy as hell.” He stroked her hip through a section of the dress that was mesh, almost see-through. “The color makes your skin creamier.”

  She didn’t respond. It was hard enough to hold his gaze. The intensity always present in him made her squirm inwardly. Her pussy grew wet at the tone of his voice.

  Gage’s gaze turned darker, his eyes narrowing. And he backed her up until she landed against the far wall. It was darker in the corner away from the center of the room. “I just had a revelation.”

  “Oh.” That couldn’t be good. His revelations were always way too accurate.

  “When you submitted in the past, did it always involve spanking or flogging?”

  “Usually.”

  “For punishment?”

  She swallowed. Fear crawled up her spine. She didn’t move or respond.

  Gage waited for an answer, taking a deep inhale.

  “Not in the beginning,” she finally muttered. And that was true. In the early days, she loved the way Simon treated her. He’d bind her to their bed and fuck her until she cried out with her orgasm. He would arrange her just how he wanted her and make her beg for release. That was how she knew she enjoyed the kink. And then things gradually changed…

  Gage shifted his gaze back and forth between her eyes, from one to the other. He held her hips tighter and stroked her hipbones with his thumbs. “And then things changed.” He didn’t ask a question. He simply made a statement.

  She nodded. Things changed all right. For the worse. Slowly, over time, until she couldn’t recognize herself anymore, and she didn’t know when it happened. There was no defining moment when she stopped being one person and became another. It just happened. Exactly as Simon intended. With precision and the passage of time.

  “I think your understanding of submission is not only skewed, but doesn’t suit you.”

  “What do you mean?” she whispered, not at all sure she wanted to hear his response.

  “I mean, you think you’re a pain sub. You think you need the pain to get release.”

  She furrowed her brow, puzzled. Wasn’t she?

  “I disagree.”

  What did that mean?

  He licked his lips, drawing her attention to the fullness of them and wishing he would stop talking and use them on her. And where the hell did that come from?

  He didn’t seem poised to continue, and that made her tense. “Aren’t I?” she prompted. She did get release from a spanking. Hell, she could also get it from a beating, but she wasn’t going to state that out loud.

  “I’m not saying you don’t enjoy being spanked, or even flogged. I’m just suggesting you consider another possibility.”

  “And that would be?” She felt like she was working hard to pull this out of him. Something she wasn’t at all sure she wanted.

  “Sex.”

  “What?” The word slipped out unbidden.

  He smiled. “When you submit to me, your body responds sexually, baby. I don’t hear you screaming out with any non-verbal cues that insinuate you need a good flogging. I only get the feeling you need to come.”

  Her body went rigid. So many thoughts raced through her mind as Gage lifted one hand from her hip to below her breast. The other he caressed up her body, past her traitorous breasts to her neck. He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and tipped her head back so she looked at him.

  Her heart beat faster. She breathed harder. And the ball growing in the pit of her stomach suddenly increased to twice the size, tightening her pussy unimaginably. Her ears were ringing, but she still didn’t know quite what he was suggesting.

  “Think about it, baby.” He stroked her chin with his thumb. “Last time you submitted to me you wanted me to spank you, but why?” He waited for her, as if her mouth would work to form words.

  She gulped as she parted her lips with no particular idea how to respond. “I like it, Gage. I like the way I can sort of leave my body and tip into a different dimension. It lets me release my stress.”

  “I hear you. And I’m sure that’s true, but isn’t that just a substitute for what you really want?”

  “What do I really want?” She shouldn’t have asked that.

  He leaned in closer, his lips only a breath from hers. “To come, baby. Hard. It’s a different release, and you don’t like to ask for it, but I think you’re more of a sexual submissive than a pain sub.”

  She inhaled sharply. Her eyes widened farther. Shit. No. It couldn’t be. She shook her head.

  He lifted his hand and flicked his thumb across her nipple.

  She buckled, her knees unable to hold her up as she moaned. She grabbed his waist with both hands to keep from collapsing, but she needn’t have done so. He had her. He knew.

  His knee came up between her legs, and he pressed his body into her, pinning her to the wall.

  His gaze held hers.

  She couldn’t look away. She wanted to, but something about him pinned her eyes to his just as her body was pinned to the wall.

  And damn, what if he was right?

  “It’s okay,” he soothed, his thumb caressing her chin again. “So many people are sexual submissives. It’s not as though you should be ashamed of such a thing or think of yourself as weak.”

  His words caressed her senses just as his thumb caressed her cheek.

  “We can do a pain scene if you want. I can spank you until you either come or slip into a deep subspace. But wouldn’t it be better if you let me push you over the edge with my fingers inside your pussy? My thumb on your clit? The release isn’t less. It might even be more.”

  She breathed heavily, her arousal not only flooding between her legs, but soaking Gage’s knee at her crotch. She wasn’t even wearing pan
ties. Why had that seemed like a good idea?

  He toyed with her nipple while he watched her, his thumb drawing circles around the tight nub until all she could focus on was the need for him to flick his finger over the tip.

  She shivered. When she couldn’t hold his stare any longer, she lowered her face and set her forehead against his chest. Sex wasn’t supposed to be in this equation. She’d done scenes with other Doms without feeling anything close to what she felt every time Gage entered a room lately.

  There was no denying she needed to come. She wasn’t sure about his general assessment of her needs, but right that moment all she knew was arousal like she’d never experienced. And she would do anything to get relief. “Please,” she whispered.

  “Please what, baby?” He pinched her nipple then, shocking her with the unexpected.

  “Oh, God, Gage, I’m so aroused. When you talk to me like that…” She let her head fall back against the wall and rolled it along the cool surface.

  “I know, baby. Let me make you feel good.”

  “Yes.” She could barely hear the word and wondered if she’d even said anything, but she must have because she immediately found herself released from the pressure against the wall.

  Gage wrapped one arm around her and led her across the dance floor and through the crowd.

  She felt drunk, though she’d had nothing to drink.

  When she found herself at the entrance to the locker room door, Gage pinned her against the wall again and held her face. “I could make you come right here, in a public scene, or even in a private room down the hall, but I think it would be better to take you home.”

  She widened her gaze, her mouth falling open. He was going to leave her hanging like this and drop her off at home?

  He smiled. “You misunderstand.”

  And then she realized her error. He hadn’t meant to insinuate he would leave her, just that he would care for her in private. She nodded.

  “Can you get your stuff from your locker? Or do you want me to have someone else do it?”

  She blinked several times. “Right. My bag. Yes. I can get it.”

  “Good girl. I’ll give your thirty seconds.” He swatted her ass just enough to get her to move.

  Kayla slipped through the door to the locker room, wondering how she managed to get her legs to follow instructions. Whatever kept her upright was a miracle. She beelined for her locker and grabbed her pink shoulder bag with her earlier clothes and her purse in it. She was back at his side in less than thirty seconds.

  He smiled and took her hand to lead her through the crowd and out the entrance. Moments later, as though in a daze, she found herself in the passenger seat of his Jeep. This time when he reached across her to buckle the seatbelt, she didn’t flinch. Her fingers probably couldn’t have taken care of the simple task.

  Gage climbed into his side of the car and sped away from the club. “Spread your legs, baby. Lift your skirt for me.” He didn’t glance her way, and his voice sounded so calm, much calmer than she felt.

  As though his instructions were the most important commands in the universe, she did as he said, lifting her dress up under the lap belt and opening her thighs. She looked down to see her legs shaking, and she braced her feet on the floor to stave off the need consuming her.

  “Touch yourself, Kayla. Stroke your fingers through your pussy for me.”

  She reached between her legs with a hand that shook as badly as her legs and stroked through her labia, drawing out more of her wetness.

  Gage stopped at a light and reached for her wrist, drawing her hand up to his line of vision. “Let me see, baby.” He moaned when he saw her moisture glistening on her fingers. And then he shocked her more when he drew them to his mouth and sucked both fingers in between his lips. “Mmm.” He pulled them back out and licked up one and down the other.

  The light turned green. How the hell was he watching the road? He was, though. He released her wrist and resumed driving with both hands on the steering wheel.

  “Go on. Do it again, baby. Keep yourself aroused.”

  She obeyed, adding a “Yes, Sir.” When she pressed a finger into her tight channel, she bucked off the seat, straightening her legs and her entire body.

  Gage stopped the car at another light. He grabbed her wrist again. Instead of bringing it to his mouth, he lifted it to hers. “That’s enough playing. Taste yourself, baby.”

  Kayla shivered, but she followed his instructions. She’d never tasted her own flavor before. It was heady and arousing. She sucked her fingers clean, learning her blend of salty and sweet, much like a man’s come.

  When she pulled her fingers from her mouth, Gage spoke again. “Keep your hands away from your pussy now, baby. Set them on your thighs.”

  She gripped her thighs tight. “Yes, Sir.” What she really wanted to do was finish herself off. But he knew that.

  “Good girl.” He turned to smile as he pulled into a driveway finally. It wasn’t hers. She swallowed. “Your house?”

  “Yes.” He turned off the engine and lifted her closest hand to his face. He kissed each finger. “Okay?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Take a second. Think about this. If it’s too much, we can go to your place. But the result will be the same.”

  She swallowed.

  “I’m not going to fuck you, Kayla. That’s not what this is about. But I want to make you come under my command so you’ll know how good it can be. More than once, baby.”

  She clamped her legs together and squeezed them as she groaned against her will.

  Gage smiled again, a dimple she never noticed before puckering his right cheek. “That’s my girl.” He twisted around and jumped from the Jeep so fast she barely had time to think before he opened her door and reached in to unlatch her seatbelt. He lifted her from the car and set her on her feet, grabbing her bag from the back. “Can you walk?”

  “Yes, Sir.” But her thighs rubbed against each other as she made her way behind him to the front door.

  All she knew about his house was the front was a dark stone. Even when she stepped inside, she knew nothing else.

  She heard Thor padding across the hardwood floor toward them, but Gage hushed the dog with no more than a whisper.

  He didn’t turn the lights on. He didn’t even take a step away from the door before he dropped her bag and lifted her off the ground to cradle her against his chest. He kicked the door shut behind him and took long strides toward a hall to the right and then into the first door on the left. Immediately she knew it was his bedroom. It smelled like him, his own brand of Gage scent, maybe his aftershave or soap or shampoo or a combination of all of those mixed with his personal scent. Either way, she felt more drugged by every breath she inhaled.

  And heaven knew she was in a trance she never wanted out of.

  Chapter Nine

  Gage set Kayla on his bed, never happier that he hadn’t made it that morning. He didn’t have to pull back any sheets or the comforter, because everything was at the foot of the bed where it had landed when he got up or at some point last night.

  “Kayla, look at me.” He flipped on the bedside lamp, illuminating her in a soft glow.

  She brought her eyes to center, but they were glazed. She smiled. Her gorgeous curls fanned out around her face on his pillow. He almost groaned.

  “You with me, baby?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “I’m going to rock your world, but I’m gonna do it with my hands and my mouth, not my cock. Got it?”

  “Yes, Sir.” She opened her mouth as if to say more, but then closed it. Thank God. If she begged him to fuck her at that point, he wasn’t sure he could turn her down. And that wasn’t at all what she needed. She wasn’t ready. She would regret it later.

  Gage did strip off his shirt, though. And Kayla’s breath hitched as she got her second look at his chest. Her gaze wandered over his chest and biceps. “The geometric bands around your arms are sexy as hell.” She tipped her
head to one side, trying to read his right bicep.

  He grinned and turned a bit so she could see better. “Spec ops I run toward gunfire,” he said. That part was in all caps. And then he turned the other way and lifted his arm so she could see his six pack. “Brothers are Never Forgotten.”

  Kayla nodded. “Let me see your back.”

  Gage turned around and let her gaze at the fallen-soldier tattoo across his shoulder blade. And then he kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and kneeled between her legs, pushing them open with his knees. He set his hands on her thighs and smoothed them up her legs until they were under the material of her dress. “I want to see you, baby. All of you.”

  He pushed her dress up over her sex and then her chest before tugging it over her head and tossing it aside.

  She took his breath away. He’d waited so long to see her naked, totally bare to his gaze. He’d seen a lot of her, but there was no comparison to completely stripped for him.

  Her nipples puckered as he looked at them, the pink tips straining into the air. He let his fingertips graze over the tips and down the bottom swell of her breasts as she squirmed beneath him. “Hold still, baby. Let me explore.” As he smoothed his palms over her belly, it dipped. She wiggled again.

  Lower still, until he held her thighs with both hands. He gripped them with just the right amount of pressure and opened them wider, eyeing the blonde curls that covered her sex. So often he found women shaved bare or with nothing but a landing strip. But not Kayla. She was natural, and he liked it. He released one thigh to thread his fingers into the curls above her clit. When he tugged, she dug her heels into the mattress and lifted her hips.

  He smiled. To command her to remain still would be futile. She would fail and be frustrated, and he didn’t want that. So, he did the next best thing and flattened himself between her legs, gripping both thighs and holding them wide, effectively immobilizing her with nothing but his hands. “You won’t be able to follow any instructions I give until you’ve gotten the first one out of the way. I’m going to suck until you come, baby.” He didn’t wait for a response. Instead he lowered his face, flicked his tongue over her clit, and then dipped into her pussy. He groaned against her skin, realizing immediately that the vibrations set her on edge.