"You wouldn't understand."

She was close to turning him over her knee. "Try me."

Rocking back, he straightened up and turned to face her. "You grew up with a nice family. You always had something to eat when you got hungry, and you didn't get the s.h.i.t beat out of you on a daily basis."

Katrina's heart squeezed painfully. She knew the outline, the barest details about his upbringing, so what he said wasn't news to her, but it was vague. Malcolm kept Keith's confidences to himself, as a good friend should.

Now wasn't the time to push him on that issue. She stood and let the blanket fall to the floor. "Just because you grew up in a house like that doesn't mean you have to live in one. It doesn't mean you have to be alone your whole life."

Taking a chance, she crossed the room and stopped in front of him. He yanked the cord to the drapes and let them slide into place. It was probably best not to flash the neighbors or give her stalker ideas. She shivered in fear. Being with Keith made her feel safe, so considerations like that slipped from her consciousness.

Keith folded his arms over his chest. "Don't get ideas, Kat. I'm only good for one thing. Keep that in mind, and I won't break your heart."

Too late for that. For far too many years, she'd nursed romantic intentions toward him. Those dreams didn't go away easily, especially not when she had him within reach. Nonetheless, she rushed to a.s.sure him of the thing he needed to hear. The subtext of his concern brained her over the head, loud and clear. "I don't have an endgame in mind."

It wasn't a lie, because she didn't want this to ever end.

"I do." He grabbed her hips and pulled her closer. "I'll train you. You'll figure out what you want from a D/s relationship, and then you'll find someone who can give you what you need and treat you the way you deserve to be treated."

Then he devoured her lips, plunging his tongue between them to take possession of her mouth. The pa.s.sion he unleashed was completely at odds with the coolness of his stated intention. She lifted her knee and wrapped one leg around him in an attempt to get even closer. She wanted him inside her, their skin slapping together as he held her down and found solace in her body.

But he tore himself away, reining in his baser instinct to regard her with icy eyes. "Get dressed. Pack an overnight bag. You're staying at my place tonight."

__________.

Keith fumed at himself as he shifted into third and pa.s.sed someone about to turn right into one of the many businesses lining the highway. He'd never meant to reveal so much about himself. He knew Kat too well to think he hadn't whetted her appet.i.te for making him her next project. She possessed a generous nature and a warm heart. If anyone she cared about was in need, she was the first one there to help them out.

He didn't want to be one of her f.u.c.king charity cases. He'd long ago come to terms with the way his life had to be.

"Limits." He growled the word at her.

She whipped her head around and regarded him curiously, but she didn't say anything.

"You said you had a better idea about what you want from this training. I can't give it to you if you don't tell me what that is."

In the glare of lights from the mult.i.tude of parking lots, he saw her scrunch her nose as if she smelled something bad. "I guess when I said I wanted you to train me, I was asking you, Keith, not you, the Dom. I really didn't think there would be a difference."

But there was. He put on a good face for her. With her, he could relax and be the person he wished he was. Dominating women tapped directly into his dark side. It was an outlet for the ugliness and bitter hate he harbored. She couldn't have known that when she asked him to train her.

He gritted his teeth. "Now you know there's a difference."

She seemed unaffected by his grouchiness. He could hear the sound of gears churning in her brain, and he knew she was searching for a diplomatic way to make her point.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't like when you act like an a.s.shole." She paused, gauging his reaction.

He didn't react. He couldn't. She didn't usually describe him using terms like that. When she'd called him out on his behavior that morning, it was the first time she'd hurled names. Of course, beginning last night was the first time she'd seen what a b.a.s.t.a.r.d he could be.

"I want to be treated as a person, a woman worthy of respect. You can tie me up and f.u.c.k me however you want, but you need to remember that I'm a person with thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I get the sense that you aren't in your body when you're with me. The look on your face just before you came on mine was cold and remote, almost hateful. You had the same thing going on last night when you wouldn't take some of the clothespins off."

They'd already discussed this issue. He didn't see a reason to make the connection between his behavior and his description of the kind of Dom he was. She was a bright woman. Eventually she'd figure out he hadn't lied.

"I only want you to be a Dom during a scene."

He snorted. "You're sure you want to be trained as a submissive? Because right now you're about the farthest thing from submissive."

"Asking for things doesn't make me not submissive. Being silent about what I want makes me a doormat. I refuse to let you wipe your feet on me." She sounded confident, even a little derisive, but the way she twisted her finger in the fabric of her shirt told a different story.

Keith had never once allowed a submissive to ask for anything. When he'd originally asked her what she wanted and she threw the ball back to him, he'd mentally categorized her with other submissives he'd kept. That had been a mistake, and he was only now realizing the magnitude of it.

Kat represented so many firsts in his life. He'd known from the start that she wasn't a 24/7 kind of submissive. Dominating her was proving to be more problematic than he'd thought. Never once had he considered that she'd lay down the law. He thought she'd put up with him until she reached a breaking point, and then she'd never speak to him again. He'd live on memories and fantasies.

"No feet wiping. Noted."

He hit the b.u.t.ton on the garage door opener and pulled his SUV inside. Normally he'd make her undress before he let her in the house, but he had a feeling Kat would rebel. He reached into the backseat for her bag, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Keith, I meant what I said about the t.i.tle thing. I can submit to you just as well using your name instead of a t.i.tle I'm just not comfortable using. Maybe one day I'll feel differently. Right now I feel like it puts an artificial barrier between us."

Bulls.h.i.t, she wasn't comfortable calling him "Master." She'd cried out his t.i.tle and whispered it on a reverent breath. This was something else. He focused on her comment about the barriers. Using t.i.tles had always been a way to keep women at arm's length. Kat had started out already close to him. No, it wasn't the t.i.tle that made her uncomfortable; it was the distance.

Moving slowly, he retrieved her bag and set it on his lap. Old dog, new tricks. He could handle this learning curve. "No t.i.tles. For now."

She leaped on him, simultaneously pulling the bag from between them and tossing it into the seat she'd vacated. In the s.p.a.ce of two seconds, she straddled him. He had a momentary glimpse of her smile before she peppered his face with kisses.

n.o.body had ever done something like this to him. Keith stiffened under the force of her onslaught. He sought to control her with his hands on her hips, but she only rolled her pelvis forward in a sultry move that made his c.o.c.k stand up and take notice.

A light feeling suffused his limbs. The strange sensation traveled up his body. "Happy you got your way, Kitty Kat?"

She stopped, her hands resting on his shoulders and her forearms draped against his chest, and regarded him thoughtfully. "I'm happy you're open to negotiation. I looked up all these protocols, you know, and I talked to Darcy. Negotiation and communication are vitally important to the success of a D/s relationship."

That light feeling took flight, replaced with a leaden sense of dread. A successful relationship didn't end. This thing between them would eventually end, and Kat was going to get hurt. "You talked about this with Darcy? She's going to tell Malcolm. A good submissive never keeps secrets from her Master."

Kat shrugged. He couldn't tell if she'd changed her mind about not wanting Malcolm to know, or if she didn't think Darcy would say anything. "It was a theoretical discussion. Neither your name nor p.e.n.i.s size was mentioned."

Speaking of his p.e.n.i.s, he shifted her back a little to ease the pressure there. "As long as you're truthful, I don't mind you bragging about my size."

She giggled. "I can't imagine how to do that without sounding like a bad p.o.r.no film. And then we'd have to show it off. There would probably be a tape measure involved."

Keith shook his head, but he was glad to see her in such a good mood. He'd been afraid that she might fixate on the idea of her stalker and remain tense the entire night. "Never going to happen."

He slid one hand from her hip to her breast and gave it a playful squeeze. She closed her eyes, and her breaths came a little faster. d.a.m.n, but she did love breast play. Perhaps he would introduce her to his set of suction cups.

In the midst of his musings, she'd gone silent and still. When he lifted his gaze, he found her studying him again. She'd better not choose to use this moment to make him a project. He'd rip her clothes off, tie her to his spanking table, and stuff every hole in her body until she forgot about anything but the pleasure rioting through her system.

"Let's go inside." He tapped her hip, an indication she needed to move.

"Wait. One more thing."

Christ. Here it comes. He steeled his nerves. "Spit it out."

"I prefer to swallow." She grinned briefly. "Seriously, though. This isn't all about me, or it shouldn't be. You have fantasies too. I'm willing to role-play. Actually, I'm kind of excited about it."

For all he'd fantasized, tantalized, or threatened, Keith had never once actually role-played with anyone. They'd all been down-and-dirty scenes. Plans for how to make it work played out in his head, not much differently from how he ch.o.r.eographed a raid.

"Okay. I'm not set up for what I'd like right now. How about I figure it out and give you the details later?"

She nodded. The self-satisfied smile on her face made his heart beat a little faster. She really wanted to do this.

Chapter Seven.

"Tonight is all about pleasure."

That was what he'd said just before he'd excused himself to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Katrina checked the digital clock on his chest of drawers. Twenty-two minutes had elapsed, and now she heard the sound of his footsteps echoing up the wooden bas.e.m.e.nt steps and vibrating against the closed door.

She felt safe here, in his house. Anxiety drained from her shoulders. Every second alone in his bedroom was a step toward a different kind of tension. Keith's decision to bring her here was a good one. She hadn't realized how on edge she was. She wouldn't have been able to enjoy his company or the upcoming scene if they'd stayed at her condo.

The bas.e.m.e.nt door rattled and opened. Then he started on the second set of stairs, this one carpeted, m.u.f.fling the sound of his approach. She knew he could move stealthily when the situation warranted. That meant he wanted to be heard coming up from his dungeon.

He appeared in his bedroom door, a playful smile highlighting the sin in his eyes. Having just unpacked her toiletries bag, she stood in the opening leading from the bathroom, her hands clasped together in a false display of calm.

He grabbed her by the waist, lifted her in the air, twirled around, and pinned her against the wall.

Her crotch rested on his thigh, the only thing holding her off the floor, and he imprisoned her wrists by pressing them to the wall. Focusing on his eyes made it easier to regain her bearings. Her chest heaved with excitement as she tried to slow her breathing. His wicked grin let her know he liked knocking her off balance.

"Tonight I'm going to use strict restraint and a TENS unit on you. I'll let you choose the flogger."

The pressure of his thigh against her p.u.s.s.y made it throb in antic.i.p.ation. Cream soaked through her thin leggings, a consequence of not wearing panties. She now understood the concept of strict restraint-she'd be bound so that she wouldn't be able to move a muscle-but she had no idea what a TENS unit was. And she didn't know enough about floggers to select anything.

She tore her attention from his lips. They hovered so close she could almost feel them. They were bait, a promise, incentive. "What's a TENS unit?"

He kissed her, devouring her lips with tender possession. He ground his pelvis forward, dry f.u.c.king with small movements that made her l.u.s.t for him even more. Heat bloomed, and she wanted their clothes out of the way. Just before she crossed the line from arousal to madness, he stopped.

"You'll find out."

The topic of conversation had fled her mind. Find out what? Oh, the TENS unit. "Will it hurt?"

"It could, but I won't go that far. You should find it stimulating. Frustrating. Relaxing."

Those descriptors didn't seem to go together. "Frustrating and relaxing are diametrically opposed ideas."

He grinned, a sloppy, lopsided look that highlighted his evil charm. "Frustrating you relaxes me. Eventually. The journey is positively o.r.g.a.s.mic."

And she'd be tied down, unable to move while he teased her body. "Are you going to gag me?"

"With my d.i.c.k. Maybe. If you earn it."

Her knees grew weak, and she felt every fiber of her being yield to him. She knew he'd make her cry again, but this time, she was looking forward to it. She didn't know why, exactly, but she wanted to turn her every thought, her reason for being, over to him. "I don't know how to choose a flogger. I don't want one that hurts too bad, but that last one almost put me to sleep. I liked the floaty feeling."

"Floaty with a little bit of bite coming up." With that, he sank his teeth into her shoulder.

The heat of his mouth and the unforgiving pressure of his bite sent her fragile control into a tailspin. Her nerve endings short-circuited, and her legs liquefied. If he weren't holding her up, she'd slide down the wall. She moaned, a low primal noise she'd never heard before.

He nipped a path up her throat, using his tongue to soothe away the hot sting. Then he devoured her mouth once more with his kiss.

The hands holding her arms dropped. She felt liquid, malleable and free. Unable to control the trajectory, she let her arms dangle at her sides. This lack of control only seemed to fuel the voraciousness of his exploration. Small bites stung her lower lip, and he sucked it into his mouth, easing the pressure and letting her know that she was completely at his mercy.

And she was. No thoughts of resistance or worry about logistics or the real world crossed her mind. She didn't remind herself to call him by his t.i.tle instead of his name, or think about the fact that he'd agreed to forgo that protocol. At her core, she accepted his dominance and reveled in her submission.

He enveloped her breast with his hot hand and kneaded the small mound. She marveled at how in tune with her body he was. Most men she'd been with hadn't taken the time to discover how sensitive her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were. Keith had realized right off how much she enjoyed his touch there, and he used that pleasure to control her even more.

In a sudden spurt of controlled violence, he ripped her shirt away, pulling it over her head and tossing it to the floor. That, too, was uncharacteristic behavior. According to Keith, clothing didn't belong on the floor. Ever.

Taking a chance, she did the same with his shirt. He stared at her for a long moment, his well-defined chest heaving, and a spark of tenderness glinted wildly from his eyes. She ran her fingertips over his solid abs and upward. His heart thundered a furious rhythm beneath his thick chest muscles. She paused there, fascinated by her effect on him.

Pinning her hips to the wall, he fell to his knees and pressed his lips to her stomach. Small stings punctuated the path of his affection as he made his way along the waist of her leggings. Inch by agonizing inch, he eased the thin fabric down.

She alternately rested her hands on his shoulders and ran her fingers through his short hair. Looking down, she watched his progress and admired the view. The taut muscles in his broad shoulders shifted and bulged as he fed her pa.s.sion. For the first time, she noticed the smattering of freckles sprinkled across his skin. They were light and only appeared closer to his neck. Though she felt like she was moving through gelatin, she traced her finger from one small dot to the next.

He lifted her feet, one at a time, and removed her leggings. Now she stood before him, naked. He was the one on his knees. She accepted his sovereign right, and she felt power surge through her body. This gorgeous man desired her.

Wordlessly, he lifted one of her legs and brought it to rest on his strong shoulder. He eyed her p.u.s.s.y hungrily and licked his lips. She trembled with antic.i.p.ation.

Last night he'd been rough, but she'd been primed so well that she'd climaxed quickly. Tonight he teased her with long, slow laps of his tongue. He paused frequently to draw his fingers through her wetness.

She arched her hips, trying to establish a rhythm or to encourage him to penetrate her v.a.g.i.n.a. Even one finger would bring welcome relief.

"You have the most beautiful p.u.s.s.y I've ever seen, Kitty Kat. Tomorrow we're going to make it even better." He pressed a kiss to her c.l.i.t, rocked back on his heels, and stood in one smooth motion.

Leaning forward, he f.u.c.ked his tongue between her lips, and she tasted the musky flavor of her juices. She didn't know what he meant by making it better, and she really didn't care. Right now, she wanted him to grab a condom and make good on the promises he insinuated.

"And you taste like heaven. I could lick you for hours. Tie you down and not let you move until I've satisfied this craving." He spoke against her lips, breathing the words as smooth taunts, more promises. "Soon. You won't be able to escape."

Escape was the last thing on her mind.

"I'm going to take you to the dungeon now. Say your safewords."

After two false starts, she cleared her throat of the pa.s.sion clogging her airways. "Red, yellow, green."

He backed away, giving her some s.p.a.ce. "When do you use them?"

"When I need you to stop, adjust something, or let you know everything is all right." She noticed there were no words to signal wanting more. Acutely aware of her nudity and her need, she lifted her gaze. "Keith, what about if I want more of something?"