Henry unzipped his coat and tossed it to the side. “Give me your coat, and then I want you to take off your shirt very slowly.”
He ripped his own shirt off. It was the same one he’d worn to dinner. A plain black cashmere sweater over a black T-shirt. He pulled them both over his head and they went the way of the coat, slung to the corner of the room in a random pile. Nell couldn’t help but stare. His chest was a work of art. It was rather shocking. When he was wearing clothes, there was a blandness to his features that belied the hard state of his body. He was quite cute. She wouldn’t deny that. He was handsome but in a professorial way, not a superpredatory, athletic way, yet his chest told a different tale. Perfectly sculpted and defined, Henry liked to work out. No doubt about it.
She wasn’t close to him. She was a little out of shape. She walked a lot, but there was a curve to her belly that never went away no matter how well she ate. What would he think when she got her clothes off?
“When I said slow, Nell, I didn’t mean a snail’s pace.” He held out his hand.
She took a long breath.
“What’s wrong, Nell?”
“I’m not as pretty as you.”
His dark eyes rolled. “Uhm, I call bullshit on that. You’re far prettier, and I want to see you naked. Are you going to give me hell about it?”
He wanted to see her naked, and she kind of wanted to be naked with him. Totally wanted to be naked with him. She could be a coward or she could try to get what she wanted. If he laughed and walked away, she would totally rethink her stance on nonviolence. She unbuttoned her coat, passing it to him. Unlike his own clothes, he hung her coat up and held out his hand for her shirt.
With shaking hands, she pulled her cotton shirt over her head, leaving her in nothing but a plain white bra. She shivered in the still chilly air.
“Damn it, you’re still cold.” His hands went to her feet, pulling her galoshes off and then her socks. Her feet were in his hands. He put them to his belly, covering them with his palms. Her freezing feet were enveloped in heat, his skin covering her.
It was the sweetest gesture. She was surrounded by his heat. Her feet. They weren’t sexy. There was nothing even vaguely sexual about her feet. His hands rubbed on her skin. After a moment, he pulled one into his hand and started a long, slow rub that nearly made her purr.
“What do you like, Nell?”
She liked him. Oh, she really liked him. “I like social justice.”
Sexy. That was so sexy. Well, it was sexy to her. Probably not so much with him.
“I was talking about sex, Nell. What do you like sexually?” He kept up the press of his thumb against her foot. It made her eyes threaten to close with just how good it felt.
“I have no idea, but I really like the foot rub. It’s making me reconsider pedicures. I’ve heard the technicians at Polly’s Cut and Curl always give a foot rub, but I’ve stayed away because they also use toxic chemicals. Do you think I could get the rub without the chemicals?”
“Nell, are you trying to tell me you’re a virgin?” Henry had stopped his slow rub and stood there staring down at her.
Maybe she shouldn’t admit to that. He didn’t look like he wanted to hear a “yes” to that particular question. “I was just trying to tell you about the foot rub.”
His eyes hardened. “Are you a virgin, Nell?”
She was going to give lying a really good try. “No.”
He flipped her over, and she nearly screamed when his hand came down on her backside in a short, sharp arc. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Henry, you spanked me.” She felt her eyes widen as she turned and looked back at him.
A slow, incredibly sexy smile crossed his face. “And I’ll do it again if you don’t answer me honestly. It’s not like you can hide it, baby. I’ll know the minute I shove my cock inside, so you should tell me now.”
“You spanked me, Henry, and you didn’t even set up limits before you disciplined me. We don’t have a contract.” She wasn’t dumb. She knew how things worked. She’d read an enormous amount of erotic fiction. Not that she mentioned it to any of her protesting friends.
He flipped her back over. He needed to stop treating her like she was a toy he was playing with. She was just about to mention that fact to him when he looked down at her with the darkest eyes. “Who’s your Dom?”
“I don’t have a Dom.” She shook her head. “You were right. I’m a virgin. But you should know I have done some kissing in my time. And some heavy petting.”
He didn’t laugh, just loomed over her, holding her wrists in his hands. “What do you know about contracts and discipline?”
“I read books,” she admitted. He would laugh at her like everyone else.
A little smile finally lit up his face. “You read books? Books about BDSM? You read BDSM romances. You read silly romances, don’t you?”
“They aren’t silly. I like them.” He was going to make her cry again. Damn it. Sometimes those stupid books were all that got her through the day. They were her comfort food.
“Hey, I’m sorry. Don’t take it like that. I think it’s sweet.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “You read erotica. I wouldn’t have expected that. I like it, Nell. You can read it to me. We can get hot together and we’ll make love.”
“They’re really about love you know.” She felt a need to defend her chosen reading.
“Of course they are. You wouldn’t read them otherwise.” Henry’s lips brushed hers, and she started to sink into that nice, drugged feeling she got whenever he was close. “And it makes it easier to explain what I want from you. I want submission, Nell.”
“I don’t know that I’m very submissive, Henry.” The words came out in a breathy puff that had Henry laughing.
“Not in your normal life, baby, but here you will be. You’ve reacted beautifully any time I’ve taken control. Tell me you’re not getting wet right now.”
“Henry, that’s very forward of you.” And yes, her panties were in a state from attempting to soak up her arousal. She hoped that one hundred percent organically grown cotton would do the job, but she was getting really damp.
He pushed off the bed and stood over her. “I’m going to get a lot more forward, sweetheart. You need to make a decision. I want to fuck you tonight. I want to be your man for as long as I’m here and while I’m your man, I’ll be in charge of this part of our lives. I’ll let you take control of everything else.”
She hated that phrase “for as long as I’m here,” but she understood. He was trying to be honest with her. He couldn’t stay here forever. He had a job and a life. This was a brief moment in time. This moment was really all anyone could count on. “All right, Henry. For as long as you’re here.”
“Take off your clothes, Nell. I know this is new to you, but you can stop me at any time. No safewords tonight. A ‘no’ will suffice.” He pulled out the chair that accompanied the small desk every single room had. He curled his lean body into it and sat back. “I want to see you naked. I want to see what my little submissive has to offer me.”
His little submissive. She wasn’t all that little, but the way he said it made her feel sexy. “You really want to see me?”
It seemed too good to be true.
“Baby, I can’t fake this.” He scooted his hips out, allowing her to see the way his erection tented his pants.
Wow. That wasn’t some teeny tiny thing. That was a really big thing. A really big penis.