"How was the trip?"he asks the second I answer.
"Good," I say, grabbing a clean pair of jeans."Better than I expected.Met with some great professors at the university.They were more excited than I thought they'd be about helping us build the BDSM curriculum.One of them already had a research proposal started."
"That's amazing," Carter says, and I can hear the grin in his voice."I can't wait to see the first draft.This is going to be huge for the club and for the community.You're really doing something important."
"Trying to," I reply."It felt good to have those conversations, to know we're being taken seriously."
Carter hums in agreement."You needed that."
"Yeah," I say, then pause."What about you?How's the wedding planning going?"
He laughs."Honestly?I don't care what the centerpieces look like or what flavor the cake is.I just want to be married.Everything else is noise."
I chuckle."You're so far gone."
"Damn right I am," he says proudly."And you'll be the same way one day."
My stomach twists a little at that.Not in a bad way.Just unexpected.I change the subject."Well, as long as the planning is making her happy and not stressing her out, it will be worth it.”
"Oh, it will be worth it.You going to the club tonight?"
"Yeah," I say, the corners of my mouth tugging up."Meeting someone."
"This new sub I keep hearing about?"
"Yeah."
"Good," Carter says."She grounds you."
I hang up a few minutes later and finish getting dressed.In the mirror, I catch myself adjusting the buttons on my sleeves, and I pause.I look...different.Not in the physical sense, but something about the way I carry myself lately.Lighter.More grounded.Is it her doing this?That is the only change that I can think of.
How the hell does she have this kind of pull already?
I grab my keys and head out the door.My phone buzzes with a message from her responding to an earlier conversation, simple and perfect.
Skye:Yes, Sir.
That's all it takes.My pulse kicks up, and by the time I'm sliding behind the wheel, I already know tonight is going to be something else.I don't just want to play with her.I need to see her.Touch her.Hear the sounds only I can pull from her lips.
I grip the steering wheel tighter as the need curls low and tight in my gut.It's more than lust.It's more than control.
It's her.And I'm not sure I know how to stop this.
Now I'm pacing in my private suite on the third floor, waiting for her.The St.Andrews cross stands ready, polished, waiting.The cuffs dangle, the scent of leather thick in the air.My body is already keyed up, as anticipation vibrates beneath my skin.How the hell does she have this hold on me already?
When there is a knock on the door, my nerves ramp up.She’s here.I open the door, and when she walks in, everything inside me goes still.
She's wearing a dark green dress, one that hugs all her curves and clings to her hips and whispers over her thighs like it knows what kind of torment I have in store for her.Her eyes meet mine, and there's that little spark of challenge.She wants to be pushed tonight.Needs it.
"You came," I say, voice low.
She steps forward and lifts her chin."You asked."
I stalk toward her, watching her pupils dilate, her breath hitch.My fingers brush her cheek.
"Strip."
She obeys slowly, a deliberate tease.By the time she's bare before me, I'm already hard, already aching.I take my time securing her to the cross, adjusting the cuffs so she's stretched just right.Vulnerable.Beautiful.Mine.