her face towards him. She flinched back then stilled. He narrowed his gaze but dropped his hand. He got it. She was in a strange place. With a man she didn’t know. A big, tattooed, muscular guy who made terrible jokes. He was six foot one and over two hundred pounds while she couldn’t be any bigger than five foot five and well underweight in his opinion.
“Is it me? I know my size and tats can be intimidating, I can try and find you someone else—”
“No!” she said quickly. “No, please. Don’t leave me, Sir.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” he told her soothingly, his protective instincts ramping up.
“It’s not you. In fact, I feel amazingly comfortable with you considering I’ve just met you.”
This was her when she was comfortable with someone? Holy hell.
“I mean you are a bit intimidating looking. You’re big and with all those tattoos. But I think they’re gorgeous,” she blurted out. Then she turned her face away from him. “I mean…ah…shoot…umm.”
“It’s okay,” he told her, having to bite back a smile. He didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her. “Is that a hint of a southern accent I hear?”
“Yes, I was born in Georgia. It’s mostly disappeared but it slips out now and then. Sorry.”
“Why would you be sorry?”
She stared up at him then away again as though she couldn’t stand to meet his eyes for long. He didn’t know why that bothered him so much. Many subs struggled to look him in the eyes, even with his permission to do so. He wanted her to look straight at him.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know why I said that.”
Lie. He was sure of it. He opened his mouth to censure her, but paused. She didn’t have to lay out all her secrets. However, lying also wasn’t allowed.
“You can refuse to answer a question,” he told her gruffly. “However, I won’t accept lies. Am I understood?”
Her eyes widened, fear filling her face.
Shit. Way to go, asshole.
“I understand. Sorry. I’m just a bit nervous.”
He softened. “Totally understandable. Let’s take this slow. We’ll go for a walk. We’ll stop at each scene. You can ask whatever you like. Then you can tell me on a scale of one to five whether you liked it. One is it looks fucking awful. Five being you loved it. Then we might have an idea of your limits and what you’d enjoy.”
“Yes, I can do that. Sir. Sorry, I keep forgetting to call you Sir.”
“You’ll get used to it. I’m not big on protocol, but a lot of people here are, so don’t look any of the Doms in the eye and don’t speak to any of them unless they speak to you first.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. You’re doing well. This can be overwhelming, especially when you haven’t been fucking prepared properly.” God damn Angus. He’d be having a chat with him about this later.
She gave a small nod of her head.
“All right. Another rule. If you’re asked a question you have to answer verbally. No nodding or shaking your head. It’s a good habit to get into when you’re playing. Understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl.”
Did he imagine it or was there a small flush of pleasure in her face when he said that?
“Now choose a safeword and we’ll get started.”
“But I…if I’m not playing, do I need one?”
“You always need a safeword,” he said firmly. “You can use the word red. It’s a standard word. If you call out red a monitor will come running and the Dom you’re playing with should stop immediately.”
“Should?”
“Yeah, should. Can’t fucking guarantee they will. That’s why the monitors are here. Don’t ever play outside of a club, not unless you’re with a trusted partner.”
“That is something I can easily promise,” she told him in that quiet, husky voice.
“Ask questions if you need to. We’ll stand back a bit so we don’t interrupt any scenes.”
“Understood, Sir.”
He walked towards a new scene and frowned as he realized she was walking behind him. Again.
Turning, he gave her a firm look. “Walk up here with me.”
Her eyes flared with surprise.
“Someone told you to walk behind me?”
“I thought I’d read it somewhere.” Her cheeks grew red.
“Some Doms might require it. But I want you close. Come here now.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Damn. He wondered what it would be like to hear his name coming from her lips.
Fucking heaven, he was betting. That husky voice of hers just twisted up his insides.
She was quiet as they moved around the room. Far as he could tell, she didn’t