Her expression softened. “It’s not about money. I work with your brother. I work with a bunch of your family members, and that could make things awkward. I don’t need more awkward in my life.”
“And after this, you won’t have to see me again.” It was precisely why she was willing to sleep with him.
She frowned, and her arms crossed over her chest. “I didn’t say that. I’m sure I will, but we’ll both go in knowing that it isn’t forever, so we’ll be okay with each other. You don’t seem like a man who would get angry with a woman because things didn’t work out.”
“Is that what your fiancé did?”
“Not at all,” she said with a sad smile. “Our breakup was one of the easiest things I’ve ever been through. We were logical and practical and we’re still friends.”
“And that’s why you’re not married to him.” She was one of those people who thought logic could dictate the selection of a partner. Maybe in the work world it did. She was likely paired up with someone who was perfect on paper, and she thought that was how she should do it in her romantic life, too. “There’s not a lot that’s logical about love and passion.”
She took a step back. “Maybe this was a mistake. I was only trying to make things easy on both of us.”
He knew he could lose her if he pushed too hard, but he had to make a few things plain. “It’s definitely a mistake if all you want is a quick lay to prove I’m not really the man for you because I am, and I think you know it.”
She pointed his way. “I knew it. I knew there was an arrogant jerk behind all that nice-guy charm.”
There was always a jerk down deep. The key to being a good man was knowing how to resist the temptation to let the jerk roam free. “If I’m arrogant because I know I’ll be good for you, then so be it. You want to play it this way, then let’s go. Eddie doesn’t know I’m bringing a woman with me. I couldn’t get in touch with him before we left. Communication on the island can be hard. So that leaves us with some options. I’m telling him you’re my new girlfriend and we’ll stay together in one room. Every single night you’ll come to bed and we’ll play.”
Her jaw dropped, and she stood there for a moment. “Play?”
Oh, she hadn’t thought he was kinky. That was a surprise. Since he’d started training at The Club, he’d learned pretty much everyone had a kink of some kind. She’d thought she could ride the vanilla boy a few times and walk away with the full knowledge he couldn’t give her what she needed. “Yes, play, baby. As in I’ll tie you up and have you any way I want you, and you’ll beg me to do it again the next night.”
“You’re a Dom?” The question came out with what felt like equal parts horror and intrigue. “You don’t go to Sanctum.”
“Sanctum isn’t the only club in town.” And thank god for that.
She blinked a couple of times as though allowing herself to absorb the shock of what he’d said. “I wasn’t…I wasn’t thinking that we would have that kind of relationship. I was thinking we would just have sex.”
“So you don’t like D/s sex?” David asked.
She seemed to think about that for a moment. “Uhm, I do. I’ve been going to Sanctum for a couple of years. Ever since I started working at MT. I wasn’t expecting to have it with you.”
“Because I’m not the guy for you?” It was a theme with her.
“I guess I didn’t think you would be into it,” she explained. “You seem so…”
He could help her out. “Staid? Buttoned up? Intellectual?”
Her eyes flared as though she’d finally figured out how to deal with him. “What makes you think I’m a sub? Maybe I’m a top, too.”
He didn’t hesitate for a second. While he enjoyed topping, what he really liked was exploring with his partner. He liked the openness of D/s. He didn’t need to be in control all the time. Unlike his brother, who seemed to need it on a pathological level, but that was a problem for another day. “Cool. I can bottom. I’ve done it before. It can be fun.”
“You’ve bottomed?” She was right back on her ass. Not literally, of course, but she definitely hadn’t been thinking that he was as perverted as he was.
“Of course. I’ve tried almost everything. It’s part of the program. Big Tag doesn’t make his Doms in training bottom?”
She nodded, and her eyes were wide enough to make him think she was still surprised to be having this particular conversation. “Yes, he does. You’re really a member of The Club?”
This would likely reenforce the idea that he was some kind of rich boy, but it was more about his family connections. “Ian and the owner of The Club have ties that go back decades. As their kids get older, the ones who want to experiment don’t want to do it at their dad’s club. I say kids, but right now it’s me and Kyle. I think it will probably be even weirder in the future.”
“I wondered why I never saw Kyle at Sanctum,” she replied. “All the other guys go. Now that I think about it, I totally understand. It would be weird to run into my mom in a dungeon. Not that she would.”
“How would you know?” He would bet she hadn’t talked to her mom about sex. He knew way too much about his own totally sex-positive mom’s sex life. She and Sean were all about teaching acceptance and the rejection of shame.
Her nose wrinkled. “Because she’s my mom.”
“Yeah, and if I’d said that about mine I would have walked into Sanctum and had a complex it would take fourteen shrinks to fix.” He’d dealt with this a long time ago. “But you know what? I’m glad she has Sanctum. I’m happy she’s got a Dom who adores her and fulfills her. Our parents are humans, too. There’s nothing wrong with them having sex lives. But some things should go into different compartments. So Kyle and I are at The Club. We pay our membership dues through service. We both take dungeon monitoring duties, and I tutor a whole bunch of kids in history and Spanish. Now I would be surprised if you’re a switch, but like I said, I’m happy to experiment.”
She was back to blushing. “I’m having a hard time seeing you as a top. You’re a history professor.”
She was thinking inside the box. It was time to give her a good sharp shock to the system. “Do you think only badass security guys can be sexual dominants? Or any kind of kinky? Because you’ve obviously never been to a Revolutionary War reenactment.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, those are full of freaks,” he said with a fond chuckle. “I call them sexual mullets because upfront they’re all business. I mean these people take costumes and details seriously. But the minute the battle’s called, it’s one big orgy. I dated Betsey Ross for about a year—obviously not her real name—and the things she wanted me to do with her sewing needles would shock you. I say that because I was open about my experiences with Julian Lodge, and it even freaked him out a little. So should we have a contract?”
She was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. I probably should think about this. This conversation didn’t go the way I thought it would. And I don’t know that we should share a room.”