John shrugged one shoulder. “A friend told me about it.”
She watched him as she asked her next question. “Why this one, a battered woman’s shelter charity?”
He focused on her as he responded. “My mom took my brother and me to the shelter with her when I was nine. I owe them my mom’s life.”
“Oh.” Roni felt a little taken aback. “I’m sorry if that was too personal to ask.”
He shook his head. “No problem.”
“I’m glad it doesn’t bother you to talk about it.” She had the feeling that wasn’t something he shared with everyone. “Why did you buy me?” She tilted her head, genuinely curious.
He leaned back in his seat, folded his arms, and studied her. “I don’t know.”
Roni almost laughed. He really didn’t know what to do with her.
“I’ll tell you why.” She gave him a teasing grin. “Some part of you likes that I’m outgoing and can talk enough for the both of us.”
“You’ve got the talking enough for the both of us part down,” he said and she knew he was teasing her. She swore she saw a muscle twitch in his jaw as if he might smile.
She did laugh this time. “Don’t worry. I promise not to drive you too crazy.” Maybe.
The server arrived with their drinks. When he left, Roni sipped her rum and Coke while John took a drink of his beer.
“What do you do for a living?” she asked when she set her glass down.
He lowered his beer mug and the glass made a thunk as it hit the wood. “Security.”
“Securities or security?” She was sure she knew what he’d meant, but she liked pushing him.
“I make sure people and things stay safe,” he said, then he turned the tables on her. “You’re a fashion designer,” he stated.
She was going to ask him how he knew when she realized the auctioneer had announced it to the whole room. “I work for an upscale clothing manufacturer.”
“How long have you been doing that?” He looked interested in hearing about her career.
Maybe the beer was loosening him up, now that he was asking questions. She had the feeling that he had a knack for asking people the right questions to find out what he needed to know.
She scrunched up her nose as she thought about what he’d asked. “I graduated from a fashion college in New York City nine years ago and was hired right away by a Manhattan manufacturer. I worked there for three years then moved to Baltimore and have worked here for the past six years.”
Their food arrived, cutting off their conversation. John’s huge double cheeseburger and fries were laid out in front of him and the basket of sweet potato fries was set close to Roni.
When they were alone again, she picked up a sweet potato fry. “Do you just have the one brother?”
“Yes.” He took a huge bite of his burger. When she waited for him to elaborate, he paused in between bites. “He lives in Baltimore.”
Roni couldn’t help smiling around him. He had a tough exterior but she could see that below it was something soft, something she wanted to get to know better.
“I have a huge Irish family in South Boston.” She shifted in her seat. “My father’s a cop and my mother is a stay at home mom. I have three brothers and two sisters and a boatload of cousins.”
She shook her head and smiled. “We all grew up trying to talk over each other. My parents didn’t raise shy, reticent kids.”
When Roni had said “cop” she thought she saw a flicker of something in John’s expression but he continued eating.
They spent another hour with Roni drilling him with questions about his past and present and John turning things around on her so that she was answering his questions instead.
He polished off his burger and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “What made you decide to put yourself up on the auction block?”
“To help the charity,” she said. If he wore a triangle pin she would have told him more.
He took a drink of his beer then studied her like he knew she wasn’t giving him the complete truth. “Tell me about the circle and triangle pins,” he asked as if she had just said her thought out loud.
She started to give the same answer that she’d given the vanilla guy back at the wine tasting. She changed her mind. “I have a feeling you’d see straight through me if I told you anything but the truth.”
He continued to study her, waiting. Again she had the impression that he was good at this. Waiting for her to say something and letting her spill it all out.
“Everyone wearing a circle or a triangle belongs to an exclusive club, the Kink Club, or KC as we like to call it.” She watched him for a reaction but his facial muscles didn’t even twitch. “A triangle means the person is a Dominant while the circle indicates a submissive.” She had the weirdest feeling that he already knew all of what she’d just told him.
His gaze moved to her pin and returned to her. “You like tie-up games.”
“Are you good with rope?” She couldn’t have stopped herself if she’d wanted to as she teased him.
She could swear the corner of his mouth quirked when she said the words. Ha. She’d get him to smile yet.
He gripped the handle of his beer mug. “As a matter of fact I am.”
“Then we have something in common.” She grinned. “You like to play with rope and I like to be tied up.”
She picked up a fry and pointed it at him. “You more than know your way around a couple of ropes, don’t you,” she stated. “I have a feeling you know exactly what the kink club is and you were testing me.”
He tossed his napkin onto his empty plate. “We’ll keep it to the fact that we both like rope.”
She ate her last sweet potato fry. “Okay. For now.”
“You’re wearing a circle, but I’m not sure you’re much of a submissive,” he said, bringing the conversation back to circles and triangles.
She shrugged and wiped her fingers on a napkin. “Just because I’m outgoing and like to have fun doesn’t mean I won’t submit to the right man.”
He looked over the rim of his beer mug. “What’s your idea of the right man?”
With her eyes locked with his, she said, “The right man for me is someone confident, in charge, intelligent, and successful.”
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he looked at her. “Successful as in money?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “Success means someone who is successful at what he does. That can be pretty much anything. Someone who takes pride in what he does and works to be the best that he can at it. Money has little to do with it as far as I’m concerned. I don’t care about that. I care about being with a man who has goals, whatever those goals might be, and he strives to reach them.
“Take my family,” she continued. “My mom worked hard to raise six children and I believe she was good at what she did. She was and is successful. My father is a cop and he is good at what he does. He’s successful. My brothers are all military and they work their asses off to be good at what they do. And you know what? That’s success.
“One of my sisters is a school teacher and the other is studying to be one.” Roni went on, passionate about how she felt. “And you know schoolteachers don’t get paid nearly enough. But if they’re good teachers, strive to be good at what they do and send children out into the world prepared to face what comes next, that’s success.”
After a pause, John said, “People usually equate money with success.”
Roni pushed her hair over her shoulder. “That’s pretty shallow thinking.”
He gave a slow nod. “You’re right.”
“I know I’m right.” She smiled. “And there’s even success in BDSM. A successful Dom is one who is passionate about play and is careful and safe. And no matter how tough, the Dom really cares about the welfare and wellbeing of his sub.”
John pulled out his wallet and put cash with the bill on the table. “How are you getting home?”
“I’m planning
on catching a cab,” she said as she started to get up from her chair.
He frowned. “There’s a serial killer out there and you shouldn’t go anywhere without friends.”
A slow chill rolled down her spine. “I heard about that on the news.”
“Come on.” He got to his feet and grabbed his suit jacket and tie. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Chapter 3
Roni watched patterns of porch lights that winked through the trees as John guided his truck down the street to her home. She had already given him her address and house number.
He pulled his truck into her driveway and put it into park and she said, “It’s still early, so come on in. I have beer in the fridge.”
She was afraid he would say no but he gave a nod. “All right.”
A spark of excitement went through her. The fact that he’d said yes felt like a small victory. She opened the door to his truck and was trying to decide the best way to get down without tripping over her heels when John appeared and helped her out.
When she was solidly on her feet she looked up at him. “Thank you.” On impulse she reached up and lightly kissed his cheek. His light evening stubble was rough against her lips.
She didn’t give him time to react. She hooked her arm through his and walked with him along the path to her front porch and up the stairs that squeaked with every step. By the time they reached the door she had her key in hand. He took the key from her before she had the opportunity to use it and he opened the bolt lock and the door lock.
As he held the door open for her, she noticed that he casually looked up and down the street and wondered why. It was like he was surveying his surroundings, making sure everything was clear. The entire way home he had continued to check his mirrors as if watching to make sure they weren’t being followed.
You’re being silly, she told herself.
“Take off your jacket and make yourself comfortable,” she said as she gestured toward the couch and chairs in her living room. “I’ll get the beer.”
She passed the grandfather clock and entered the kitchen through the pair of swinging doors. A six-pack of Heineken was in the fridge and she grabbed two bottles before returning to the living room where John was relaxing on the couch. He’d taken off his jacket and tie and had laid them on a chair near the front door. She smiled and handed him a bottle of beer and set her own bottle on the coffee table.
“I have to get this dress off and get into something else.” She headed toward her bedroom and looked back at him. He had an eyebrow raised. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I don’t plan on putting anything racy on to seduce you.”
“Too bad,” he murmured and she grinned and disappeared into her bedroom.
She was tempted, really tempted, to go out in her corset and panties, just to get his reaction, but decided not to and went for a long button-up silk shirt in emerald green that she used for a nightshirt, and she rolled up the sleeves.
When she returned to the living room, John had the TV on and was watching highlights of the day’s games on ESPN.
“Color me not surprised.” Roni laughed as she approached the couch. He looked at her and something flared in his eyes, something like lust. Maybe the shirt was sexier than she had intended.
“I’ll take your empty.” She leaned down to pick up his bottle from the coffee table and as she did she looked at him to see that he was staring at her breasts. She glanced down and felt a rush of heat to her cheeks when she saw that her top button was undone and there was a clear view of her cleavage. She rushed to grab the bottle and almost tripped over his feet when she stepped away from the coffee table.
“Oops.” She held her free hand to the top of her blouse. “I’m forward, I know, but that was not intentional.”
He gave her a dark look that she couldn’t read. “I enjoyed the view.”
She wasn’t used to feeling embarrassed, but then she’d never flashed a man in quite the same way before. “Take mine and I’ll be right back.” She gestured toward the Heineken she’d put on the coffee table for herself.
He leaned forward and took it and she thought she saw amusement on his features. As she walked to the kitchen she couldn’t help a grin to herself. Amusement was a step closer to a smile.
After she snagged herself another beer, she walked from the tile that was cool beneath her bare feet to the soft carpet in the living room. He still had the sports news on but turned it off when she reached him.
He looked so hot and sexy as he studied her, dark sensuality in his eyes. She sat on the couch, next to him, and put her feet up on the coffee table. She twisted the cap on her beer and tossed the cap onto an end table before she took a long drink. She’d always enjoyed the flavor of beer over wine or anything sweet.
John took a drink then lowered his bottle. “How long have you been with the Kink Club?”
“Close to five months.” Roni tilted her head. “I dated a congressman who introduced me to the club. He was fine at the beginning and I got my first taste of submission and I know I like it.”
“Things didn’t work out, I take it,” he said as she took a long drink of beer.
She lowered her bottle. “Nope. Cheating bastard.”
John raised his beer and she watched as his throat worked while he swallowed. She had not submitted to someone like him. He was a man’s man. Thoughts of him and being tied up by him made her skin hot and caused an ache between her thighs.
“What about you?” She sloshed beer around in her almost empty bottle. She was starting to feel pretty mellow. “I think you know exactly what KC is.”
He drained his bottle then set his empty on the coffee table. “Yeah, I know what the Kink Club is.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she said, “So are you? Into kink?”
“I like it hard and rough.” The way he said it made wild tingles shoot throughout her. “And I like rope and cuffs. I like control. Is that kinky enough for you?”
“We have a lot in common.” A shiver went through her. She raised her bottle to cover her sudden nervousness, only to find it was empty. “I’ll grab another couple of beers.”
Hard and rough. Butterflies went crazy in her belly as she walked to the kitchen. She could easily picture getting naked with John and submitting to him. She wasn’t one to rush into things, but the way he talked and looked right now, she wanted to be his tonight.
When she returned, she gave him his beer then opened her own and sat facing him with one leg tucked under her. His gaze dropped to her breasts again as she took another drink, but she pretended not to notice.
She was a little tipsy, the butterflies she’d been feeling now bouncing around like drunken moths in her belly.
People at the auction had to know John or he wouldn't have been able to be there. Her friend had said all the bidders were known well by someone on the auction board. He had to be safe.
“When I was dating whatshisname,” she said. “I discovered something about myself.”
“What’s that?” John asked.
“I get excited when I experience fear.” As she said the words, his expression didn’t change but she felt a subtle shift in something in the air. “Not crazy stuff… But fear. Including being out of control to someone.
“I didn’t know the congressman well when we first played,” she continued. “I got the taste of being out of control to someone that I barely knew.”
“Is it something you think of often?” he asked.
“I do.” She nodded. “When it’s someone I don’t know well, it is a different type of excitement that is amazing. As you get to know someone in the right relationship, the submission gets better, but that certain excitement and fear from the early times can’t be recreated the same way. That might sound crazy, and some would say it is dangerous.” She raised her hands. “There you have it. True confessions.”
Yes, she was drawn to it. She wanted the feeling that she thought about alone in her bed. She wanted to experience that excitement no
w and she wanted it from John.
“Stay here.” She set her bottle on an end table as an idea—a rather naughty idea—came to her, and she stood again. “I’ll be right back.”
She hurried to her garage where she found packages of new rope and then went back inside and handed the packages to John. He took them with a wary look in his eyes.
“I want you to show me how well you know how to use rope.” She stood and held out her wrists. “Come on. Put your money where your mouth is.”
He stood and suddenly he seemed so tall and almost intimidating. Giving this man, a virtual stranger, some rope and letting him tie her up… She might as well be offering herself up as a sacrifice to the gods.
It was crazy what she was doing but she trusted her instincts. They had always served her well in the past. Okay, there was the congressman, Mr. Cheating Dickhead, but he had introduced her to KC so that had worked out just fine. She had only gone to a couple of the club’s events with him, but they had been exciting and fun.
She kept her arms outstretched, her wrists in front of her as he took a rope out of one of the packages. He clasped her wrists in his hand and jerked her close to him, so close that she could feel his body heat, smell his masculine scent and her heart started pounding in a rapid beat.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” His heated expression was doing dangerous things to her body. “Once I start, I don’t stop.”
She loved the way he said it, the power in his voice, and the meaning in his words. Yes, she wanted this.
She shivered with excitement, she said, “I know I do.”
Instead of tying her wrists in front of her, he turned her around and took both of them behind her.
She bit her lower lip as she felt him making secure cuffs out of the rope, wrapping it around each wrist so that the cuffs were about two inches wide. He pulled at her hands, testing the rope and she felt how snug and secure they were tied.
Fear mixed with excitement as he began tying her arms at the elbows behind her so tightly that they were almost touching. Her arms started aching but she didn’t complain—she loved how he was taking control.
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