Mason rubbed her biceps. “Totally expected. I’ve placed more on your plate than any one person usually faces in a lifetime, and I did it all in one evening.” He smiled at her, but then grew serious. “I need you to understand that I’m a Dom. I’ve never had a woman outside of this life, at least not for many years. Not since college. I don’t date. I don’t do flowers.” He grinned at the irony.
Jenna stared at him and let him continue.
“My only relationships have been inside these walls for a long time. I don’t know any other way. I haven’t craved anything else for as long as I can remember. I like to dominate women. Not that I hurt anyone. I’ve never left a permanent mark. I just like the appeal of a sub giving up her control to me and letting me take her places she wouldn’t ordinarily go. Does that make sense?” He narrowed his gaze at her wide eyes.
She shook her head. “Not at all.”
He smiled. “I didn’t think it would. It’s hard to explain.”
“So, you’ve never had a girlfriend? You don’t go to dinner, the movies, bring a woman home with you?”
“Nope.” He shook his head.
“What is this, then?” She nodded between them.
“I have no idea. It’s scaring the shit out of me.” He squeezed her biceps and held her closer. He opened his mouth to say more and paused a beat. “You didn’t run,” he muttered.
“Not yet,” she whispered.
He hadn’t banked on this possibility. He’d thought of nothing but Jenna and her milky white skin for weeks, the way she came undone at his touch. The way her face and chest flushed under his gaze. The way her lips felt when he’d kissed her. He rarely kissed anyone. It was so personal. Intense.
The only way he’d known to purge himself of this obsession was to drag her from her home tonight and parade her around his real life until she fled.
His plan had backfired, and now he was standing in Extreme in a dark corner, holding a woman against him, and wanting her like never before. His cock swelled against her belly. His legs shook with the need to consume her.
He had to close his eyes and take deep breaths to avoid pressuring her into something she couldn’t possibly handle right then. What he really wanted to do was strip her down and lay her over the bench where Katy had just been. He wanted to see what her ass looked like all pink against white until she writhed with pleasure and begged him to fuck her.
And he knew that’s what would happen. She wasn’t cognitively aware of it yet, but she would need the release. She wouldn’t be a pain sub. She would need to come under his hand if he strapped her down.
Mason moaned as he pictured her beneath him, begging for release. He whipped his eyes open when the sound came from his lips.
She still stared up at him, her face completely red. “I should go talk to Katy.”
“Yeah. I’ll take you to her.” Katy didn’t know yet Jenna had watched the scene, but it wasn’t as though Jenna would keep the secret and lie to her friend. It would be easier to face her now.
Mason released Jenna and reached for her hand. He led her to a row of couches where he knew Rafe would be.
As they approached, Katy lifted her head from Rafe’s shoulder. She smiled and sat up straighter next to her husband. She patted the sofa next to her, indicating Jenna should take a seat.
Rafe had already prepared Katy. Thank God.
Jenna sat next to her friend, and Katy wrapped her arms around Jenna’s shoulders.
When Katy released Jenna, she pulled back, and they stared at each other for moments.
Rafe stood and nodded toward the bar, indicating Mason should join him.
Mason reluctantly agreed. He didn’t want to let Jenna out of his sight. He’d brought her here, and he intended to see to all her needs while she was with him, but Rafe was right. The girls needed time alone.
Perhaps they could grab two seats at the bar and Mason would be able to keep half an eye on Jenna.
Chapter Eight
Jenna took a deep breath. “How come you never told me?”
Katy chuckled. She shook her head. “I didn’t think you’d want to hear about this.”
“We’ve been friends for years. You can tell me anything.” She pouted, but it was fake. In reality she knew this was huge, and she never would have understood without seeing for herself. She wasn’t entirely sure she understood even being here. It was surreal, as though she’d stepped into an alternate universe.
“I started coming here with Rafe when we first met. I fell into the lifestyle and realized I loved it. But it isn’t something a person blabs to all their friends. I’ve been very quiet about it.”
“Apparently. Even with me.”
“You’re so—”
“Don’t say it.” Jenna shook her head. “If I hear one more time this evening how sweet and innocent I am, I’ll vomit.”
Katy smiled. “Well, if the shoe fits…” She squeezed Jenna’s hand and held it in her lap. “You’ve had enough issues of your own over the last few years. You didn’t need to deal with this on top of it. And besides,” she glanced down at where their hands lay tangled on top of Katy’s blanket, “I love you. I didn’t want to risk losing you as a friend if you couldn’t handle this. Selfish?” She lifted her eyes.
Jenna was stunned. “You could never lose my friendship. It’s solid as stone. Is there anything else you’re hiding? Are you a boxer too on the side?”
Katy laughed. “He took you there also? Man, he is smitten.”
“What do you mean?” Jenna narrowed her gaze.
“That man can’t get you out of his system. I guess he decided to toss you to the wolves tonight and make you run for the hills.”
“He talks about me?”
Katy rolled her eyes. “Rafe says he can’t even concentrate in the cage.”
“Wait, Rafe’s a fighter too?” She should have realized that, given how much the two men resembled each other in size.
Katy nodded. She shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d be interested in that crazy world, either.”
“Am I that shallow?”
“No, but…”
“Is Rafe one of The Fight Club?”
Katy nodded.
“Look, I know my life is crazy, and my parents can sometimes drive me to drink, but I’m your friend. Please don’t leave me out of life events in the future, okay?”
“Deal.” Katy hugged her again. “So, were you not horrified?”
“I’ve been floating outside my body since Mason picked me up this evening. First hanging with the groupies at the arena and then walking on air inside this dark crazy world. I can’t begin to tell you what I’m feeling because I don’t know myself.
“I’m scared. That’s for sure. And I don’t know that I can be lured into Mason’s idea of what the perfect woman is, but I also have to admit to being incredibly aroused. Watching the scenes…” Jenna trailed off and glanced down at her lap. “It’s strange. I’m in knots.”
“Perfectly normal. You’re gonna need some time to think about all this.”
“It’s like this other universe was happening parallel to the one I lived in, and I never knew it.”
Katy nodded. “It is. And I’ve never thought this was something you would want to open your eyes to, so I kept it hidden.”
“I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions.”
“I know you can.”
Jenna leaned back and rested her head on the back of the couch. “It all makes so much more sense now.”
“What?”
“Mason. He’s so bossy. The man got under my skin from the moment I laid eyes on him at the rehearsal dinner. He drags me around like a rag doll, situating me where he wants me like he doesn’t know any different. As though it’s normal to order women to do his bidding.” She sighed. “Too bad it makes me fucking horny.” Jenna giggled and turned toward Katy. “What does that mean about me?”
“It means you might enjoy the submissive side of yourself. There’s only one wa
y to find out. But I can tell you this—you need to educate yourself thoroughly before you jump in. I’ve never seen Mason so smitten before. He doesn’t do women.” She paused. “I don’t mean to imply he does men. He’s totally hetero. I’m just saying all his relationships are Dom/sub. I’ve never known him to date.”
“He told me as much.”
“You’re my best friend, and I love you more than anything in the world, but you need to know if you go into this with Mason, he will take you places you’ve never been before, and it won’t be for play for him this time. I can tell by the look in his eyes when he follows you around a room with his gaze. Even now, don’t look, but he’s staring at us. The intensity of his gaze is making me squirm.” She giggled. “And I’m married.”
“He’s so…demanding.”
“Yep.”
Jenna wiggled. Her breasts were tight under her camisole, and she squeezed her legs together against the need to be touched. Hell, she longed for Mason to cup her pussy with his huge hand as he had twice before.
But she knew that wasn’t a good idea tonight. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m suggesting you think this through before you make any decisions. If you don’t and you play with fire…you might get burned.”
Jenna nodded. She heard between the lines. “Or Mason might.”
“Yes.”
“I should go.”
“Sleep on it. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Do you have to work?”
“Yes. Of course.” She always worked on Saturday. It was the busiest day of the week at her shop.
“After work, start Googling. I’ll come over tomorrow evening, and we can chat.”
“Got it.” Jenna let her head bump against Katy’s. “Thanks for being so helpful.”
“Any time. Thanks for not freaking out.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. You have no idea what’s happening inside this quiet façade.”
“Can I have Rafe drive you home?”
Jenna pondered the idea. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all. We weren’t planning to stay much longer, anyway. We can drop you off. That way you don’t have to sit in uncomfortable silence with the brooding, intense Mason.” Katy grinned.
“That would be a relief. Plus the man has a way of controlling me. If he takes me home, he’ll have me naked at his bidding before I can open the front door.”
“Then it’s settled. Naked with Mason isn’t a good plan right now. He’s in so deep he can’t make good choices this evening.”
Katy stood. She shrugged off the blanket, and Jenna was surprised to see she was dressed underneath. She wasn’t wearing enough to go out into the general public, but she must have put her clothes, such as they were, back on before Jenna had approached.
“Nice outfit,” Jenna teased, running a finger over the lace across Katy’s stomach. The corset her friend wore was a sexy black material that lifted her breasts so perfectly Jenna was envious. She wore a tight leather black skirt that barely covered her ass to round out the ensemble.
Katy smirked. “Wanna go shopping?”
“Not yet, no.”
»»•««
Jenna stepped into her apartment and kicked off the high heels that hadn’t gotten her fucked this evening. As much as she would have loved for Mason to bring her home and have his way with her, she knew it would have been a horrible choice.
Katy was right. She needed time.
The look on Mason’s face had spoken volumes when Jenna told him Rafe would bring her home. The man hadn’t wanted her to leave with someone else, but he nodded and walked her stiffly to the door. He kissed her forehead and hugged her before she left. His only words had been brief. “I’ll call you?”
Jenna had nodded consent.
With a deep breath, she padded across the worn carpet of her apartment. She poured a glass of water from the tap and hit the button on her answering machine.
“Jenna, darling. We haven’t heard from you in weeks. Please call home, or better yet, come to dinner this Sunday. We’re having Chicken Marsala. You love that dish.” Her mother’s voice grated on Jenna. The last thing she needed tonight was to listen to the woman’s pleading in her usual haughty tone.
Jenna shut off the machine so she wouldn’t have to hear the rest. Joann Mathews was not a woman to be ignored. She called every Friday to check on Jenna and invite her poor lost lamb back into the fold. Every week she insisted Jenna attend Sunday dinner. And every week Jenna ignored the woman.
She had her own life to live, and it didn’t include glamorous parties with caviar and pâté served by underpaid waiters wearing tuxedos.
Jenna cringed and flopped down on the couch. She popped her ass back up and moved a few inches to the left when she hit a loose coil.
As punishment for not agreeing to live up to her parent’s standards for a true debutante of her age, she’d been cut off from the family’s allowance. And good riddance. It was much more gratifying making it on her own, anyway.
When Joann called inviting Jenna to dinner each week, what she really meant was, “Have you come to your senses yet, young lady?”
Jenna was an embarrassment to her parents. They had a long line of lies they used with their friends to explain her lack of appearance at family functions, none of which made Jenna so much as flinch. She’d never bought into the family wealth as a child, and she had no intention of starting now.
How she’d managed to be raised in such affluence without succumbing to the lure of money was a mystery. Well, maybe not. It might have had something to do with the little boy she’d played with for years as a child. The head maid in the house had a son Jenna’s same age, and she lived in a guest home on the Mathews’ property. Jenna spent long hours running with David, climbing trees, scuffing knees, and making a mess of David’s room at his house. His mother, Mariel, took Jenna under her wing and let the young Jenna get into all sorts of mischief.
Jenna learned at a young age she could trust Mariel. And through a woman who was more of a mother than Joann had ever been, Jenna learned humanity. David was no less of a person to be respected in life than Jenna. He was her friend. And when it later turned out he was also gay, Jenna hadn’t cared a bit.
They’d been teenagers at the time, and David had hidden his sexual orientation for years. Finally one day when he’d been seventeen, he’d come home with another guy, and Jenna’s mother had seen them holding hands. Joann had promptly fired her head maid of almost fifteen years, and Mariel had been left destitute on the street.
Jenna was outraged. She’d fought incessantly with her mother over the issue, to no avail. With tight lips, Joann Mathews made it perfectly clear if Jenna wanted to remain in the family fold and attend the college of her choice, she would shut her mouth and let bygones be bygones.
In retrospect Jenna wished she’d have told the woman to go fuck herself and left with Mariel and David. However, that wouldn’t have gotten her where she was today.
Instead Jenna played the game for five years, finishing high school and then college, all the while seething inside about the injustice of her mother.
She considered her father, Patrick, to be a browbeaten man who didn’t have a spine of his own. He didn’t say much, and Jenna often caught him with one brow lifted at his wife’s decisions, but he let the woman rule like a true matriarch.
Jenna let her head fall back on the couch and groaned. Why was she pondering all this shit from the past when she had far more pressing issues to deal with in the present? Starting with sleep. She needed rest before she had to work all day tomorrow.
Owning her own flower shop had been challenging, and she’d barely scraped by for years. But it was her dream. As much as her mother tutted about the absurdity of her daughter working, Jenna was determined to prove her mother wrong.
She could and most certainly would make a life for herself. She didn’t need her family’s wealth and had no interest in participating in the farce that was their lives.
Her o
nly regret along that line was she also had no relationship with her only sibling. Jean was two years younger, and at twenty-four, still lived at home. Jenna hadn’t seen her in two years. She hated the loss but wasn’t sure how to breach the gap.
She hauled herself off the couch and padded to her bedroom, pulling her camisole over her head as she walked. When she reached the bed and saw her shorts and tank top lying tossed on the covers, she smiled.
Mason. For all his oddities, he was a much better subject to ponder than her family.
Jenna stripped naked, used the bathroom, and then slid between the sheets. She never slept naked, but her skin was so hot and over-sensitized tonight she couldn’t contemplate putting on a T-shirt.
She closed her eyes, but the top sheet rubbed against her nipples, seeming to abrade them into tight points as though the sheet were made of sandpaper instead of cotton.
What the hell world had she slipped into? Now she couldn’t sleep because she was so horny, she was on fire. She’d never been horny—with the exception of the two times she’d been out with Mason before tonight. At least not so aroused she couldn’t concentrate.
She crossed her hands under her breasts and tried to tent the sheet to get it off her nipples, but instead found herself stroking her fingers over her skin until goose bumps rose. She moaned and squirmed against the mattress, lifting her knees and digging her heels into the bed.
Maybe she should have let Mason bring her home. No. Bad idea.
The way the man looked at her, eyes smoldering with desire, made her panties wet. Hell, tonight she hadn’t even worn a thong. She’d been bare under her jeans, and her pussy rubbed against the denim all evening, driving her insane.
There wasn’t anything Mason could do to her right now she couldn’t do to herself.
Sure. Go ahead and tell yourself that.
Picturing the last time she’d been with Mason and imitating his movements, Jenna pinched her nipples and tugged on the distended tips. Her mouth fell open, and her head tipped back as she thought of his hands roaming over her body, his mouth licking and nipping at her breasts, his cock—the one she’d never seen—straining toward her entrance.
The Fight Club - Boxed Set Page 29
