Dominant trait that I couldn’t suppress, especially with her. I needed to take care of her.
“It’s amazing,” I said. “Makes Hades look like a poor third cousin.”
She laughed as she came toward me, and I saw that she’d closed the door, completely cutting off any sound from the main part of the club. “We can have music if you want.”
“I want whatever you want.” She had no idea just how true that really was. “Just tell me what to do.”
She stopped a few inches in front of me, a strange expression on her face. “And if I want you to be…Dominant?”
It was like all the air went out of the room. She’d asked before for me to be in charge or in control, and she’d asked if I’d be willing to be submissive, but she’d never specifically asked me to be Dominant. And I knew that was an intentional thing. Asking for it here, in this place where she’d never been anything but Dominant, wasn’t something I looked at lightly.
“Is that what you want?” I kept my expression as blank as I could. I didn’t want my own desires to push her into something simply because she felt like she owed it to me.
“I think…” She licked her lips. “I think it’s what I need. At least right now.”
It was the uncertainty on her face that did it for me, and I reached out on instinct more than thought, taking both of her hands in mine.
“I’ll take care of you.” I kissed her forehead. “But if you need me to stop, you know what to say, right?”
She nodded, and the tension in her body shifted to something different. Not submissive, exactly, but more like I’d taken a weight from her that she hadn’t even known she’d been carrying.
“Now, firebird, let’s get you out of those clothes.”
Twenty-Nine
Nyx
I waited for the panic to set in, but it didn’t come. I just felt…peaceful.
Which was strange because it wasn’t like Bradyn hadn’t been in charge before. Maybe it was because being here, the place that had taught me to be Dominant, made everything feel different. Like I’d handed over another piece of myself to him, but it wasn’t something I minded, at least not right now.
“Five strokes, my little firebird.”
Bradyn’s voice was gentle, and his touch had been too when he’d undressed me, but I knew what he was going to do now wasn’t gentle. I’d done it to subs myself.
The thick leather strip came down on my ass, and for a moment, I didn’t feel anything. Then came the pain. Less than any of the pinching or twisting of my now-aching nipples, less than the bites Bradyn had given me, but it sent heat through me the same way. I closed my eyes and just focused on feeling the weight and the bite of the next four lashes, each one a little more intense than the first.
Then his hand was there, sliding down my spine and over my ass, first one cheek, then the other. I shivered, my skin so sensitive. The movement made my nipples rub against the bedspread, and that sent another rush through me. When I felt his fingers slip between my legs, I made a sound halfway between a whimper and a moan.
“Don’t worry, firebird. I’ll get you there.” Bradyn’s voice rolled over me, full of promises. “Let’s see if I can make you scream with just my fingers.”
“Nyx, we’re landing.”
I jerked out of the half-sleep daze I’d been in, memories lingering as I tried to get my head together. The night we’d spent at Club Privé had been…explosive.
When we’d gone sightseeing with Kaimi and Rose on Saturday, my voice had actually still been rough from how many times Bradyn had made me scream. And that hadn’t been the only thing left from the night before either. I’d been able to hide the hickeys and bite marks since it was cool enough for long sleeves and jackets, but the ache between my legs from how hard he’d fucked me and how overly sensitive my skin still was had been impossible to keep from my friends.
Kaimi had really enjoyed teasing me about that, and since I’d given her plenty of shit when she and Sitara had first gotten together, I’d taken it as gracefully as I could.
“You all right?” Bradyn asked, concerned.
“I’m good.” I smiled at him. “I really needed this. Thank you.”
He kissed my temple. “I think it was good for both of us.”