Ick. Doesn’t that leave a bad taste in my mouth?
“I think so. I see them around sometimes. I tried really hard not to keep tabs on Gavin after the breakup. Vann said it wasn’t healthy. But it’s not like Gavin packed up and left town, so we turn up in the same places now and then.”
“That must be hard.” He turns the ignition off, and Athena takes that as all the invitation she needs to leap back through to the front, and suddenly there’s fifty pounds of husky and fluff scrambling over my lap. Pamela yips and tries to scramble out of the way, but we are powerless in Athena’s onslaught, until Mason grabs hold of her leash and manages to redirect her out his door, leaving me to make my own way out with Pamela in my arms.
I’m back at his house. I mean, that’s where we’ve been driving, but now that I’m standing at Mason’s front door, this might have been a bad idea.
A new volley of barking has me rushing inside just in time to see Athena tearing through Mason’s living room, chasing after one of his dogs. He doesn’t look very upset about it, even as Athena’s nails scrabble on a tile floor somewhere farther into the house. Instead, he gently takes Pamela from me, setting her down on the floor where the other of his dogs—the older one—lowers her head to sniff her.
“I knew what you were the moment I saw you,” Mason says.
“Hmm?” I say, watching the dogs politely get acquainted, marveling at how civilized it is compared to Athena’s more rambunctious greetings.
“We were at the park, and I knew what you needed within minutes of speaking to you. You can’t help yourself.” He puts a hand on my shoulder, like he’s waiting for permission, and when I don’t pull away, he wraps his arms around me so he’s standing behind me and holding me close. “You’re the perfect kind of submissive for me.”
“But Gavin said—”
He turns me to face him. “There’s a huge amount of responsibility in taking away someone’s control. And if he couldn’t see that he was hurting you in ways you hadn’t asked for, then he wasn’t ready for that responsibility.” He tips his head down to kiss me, and I don’t feel like I’ve earned his affection, what with basically being a mess around him since day one, but I’ll take it. His mouth is warm and his hands are strong, and while I don’t fully believe everything he’s trying to tell me about my relationship with Gavin, Idobelieve that I will never find myself in the same position with Mason.
Athena and Dante come bounding back through the living room, and Mason lets me go long enough to hold the front door wide open.
“Outside,” he says, with that tone of command that caught my attention from the first time we spoke.
“No wait,” I say, watching in horror as Athena bolts outdoors.
Mason puts a hand on my chest. “It’s fine. Dante’s part collie. He lives to herd things. He’ll keep her within fifty feet of the house.”
I wrinkle my nose. “She won’t like that.”
Mason steps into my space, arms around my waist. “She’ll deal. Dogs are pack animals. She won’t go far while there’s someone to chase.”
It’s good like this, being so close to him. When he’s touching me, I don’t know why I was so freaked out before.
“What is your kink, exactly?” I ask, tilting my head like it will help me see him better.
His smile is gentle. “Exactly? I don’t know if it has a name. Kink’s about power and vulnerability. I like the power, but mostly I like seeing other people willing to be vulnerable.”
My dick’s already getting hard, just from the way he purrs when he speaks, but worries are still rattling around in my head.
“Gavin said he was a Dom, but now I’m not so sure. He liked rough sex and liked to push me past what I was comfortable with, but that’s not quite the same thing, is it?”
Mason drags his stubble along my cheek, making me I shiver. “There are bad Doms just like there are bad everything.”
“You said there were no bad dogs.”
“BadDoms, Charlie. There are definitely bad Doms.”
I laugh, burying my face against his chest. “Yeah, maybe that’s what it was.”
At that, he lifts my chin and kisses me softly. Even the gentle pressure of his lips has me straining upward, reaching for more.
“You should never settle for less,” he says. “No one should, but especially not you. You’ve got so much to offer the right man.”
Like him? I said I wanted this to be casual, but I can’t think of one thing I don’t like about Mason.
“Charlie,” he says, breath blowing over my face. “You light up when I touch you. Do you know that?”
“No.” But I definitely warm at his words.
