“I’m not just curious,” Valentine said softly. “I know what I want. I’ve looked into it—read as much as I could find about it.”
Shane felt a surge of relief. “So you’ve just been reading about it, huh? What books?”
“SM 101: A Realistic Introduction. Erotic Surrender: The Sensual Joys of Female Submission. Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns. Just to name a few.”
Inwardly he groaned. “That last one—it’s practically the submissive’s bible. Is that what you’re interested in? Submission?”
“Among other things.” Valentine put down her spoon and took a sip of her rose dessert wine.
“What else?” Shane felt his throat go dry as he spoke. The thought of her naked and kneeling at his feet, ready and willing to submit was hard to shake.
Valentine licked her full pink lips nervously. “Punishment. Spanking. Role-playing. Sensation play.”
“My, my. You have done your homework.” He kept his voice dry, trying not to let her words form pictures in his head. Valentine tied to his bed or bent over his knee, her gorgeous heart-shaped ass high in the air for a spanking. Valentine dressed in various costumes. Valentine naked and helpless as he touched her, tasted her, pushed her limits one at a time until she gave herself to him without reservation…
She nodded without a trace of irony. “I have. But I’ve decided I can’t learn any more from books. As I said, I need a guide. And after what I saw last night at the Black and Blue, I think you’re the one to guide me.”
He didn’t even have to stop and think about it. “No, absolutely not.”
“Why not?” she demanded.
“You know why not. A lot of what you’re asking crosses the line and you know it, Valentine.”
“What line? Why does there have to be a line between us?” She leaned forward and covered his hand with hers, touching him the same way he’d touched her earlier. “I want to submit, Shane. More than that, I need to submit. I need to have my boundaries pushed. Need to give myself completely to someone I can trust, someone who knows what they’re doing. You fit the bill on both counts.”
“I can’t do that with you.” Though God knew his cock wished he could. Just the thought of turning his little Valentine over his knee and spanking her until she was wet and hot between her thighs, of hearing her moan and cry while he punished her tight little pussy with his cock was almost more than he could stand. “I can’t,” he said again, his voice gravelly with suppressed need.
“Fine.” She leaned back and crossed her arms over her full breasts. “I’ll go back to the Black and Blue and find someone who will.”
“You do that and I’ll tell Peter what you’re up to.” It was the worst threat he could think of but unfortunately it fell flat.
“Maybe I’ll tell him what you’re up to then.” She arched one delicate blonde eyebrow at him. “Does Peter know about your…proclivities?”
“This isn’t about me.”
“It’s about both of us. Are you going to help me or not?”
Shane shifted angrily in his chair. “Threatening to put yourself in an unsafe position when you know I have to watch out for you and saying you’re going to give away private information to get your own way—you know what we call what you’re doing in the lifestyle?”
She smiled happily. “Topping from the bottom. I’m pretty good at it, don’t you think?”
“I think you’re biting off more than you can chew, little girl.” He could feel the anger building in him and the words came out as a growl.
Valentine’s tilted green eyes widened and for the first time she looked scared. Good, she needs a scare thrown into her if she’s acting like this.
“You know my reputation around the scene?” Shane leaned closer, looking into her eyes.
Slowly, she shook her head.
“I’m a Dom who doesn’t take any shit from his subs. They do what I say or I cut them loose. And it’s strictly nonsexual. Nobody gets fucked—at least not physically.” He deliberately made his words crude, watching with grim satisfaction as she flinched. Valentine was used to being treated like a lady and that was fine—in everyday life. If she really wanted to be a submissive she’d have to learn to submit—which appeared to be a skill she hadn’t quite mastered.
Was there a flicker of disappointment in her face before she nodded? Surely not. Shane knew she’d had a crush on him back when they were kids together but he had no illusions about how she felt about him now. He was just another big brother, like Peter. Probably the only reason she was asking him to do this was because she trusted him to stay in control for exactly that reason.
“No sex, just submission. I got it,” she murmured.
“Master.”
“What?”
