Page 218 of Sin City Dark
Had he not been so insanely aroused, he would have laughed. Instead, he hauled her against him, his fingers splaying across her bared lower back.
“Yes.” He pressed—hard—into her. “We are.”
She gasped.
He’d never handled her so roughly, but this was his domain. And she needed to find out exactly what he was about.
She closed her eyes.
“Look at me,” he said.
When she looked up at him, her expression was so very heated that he thought he’d burst into flames.
“No one can hear us.” He pressed her harder into him. “No one can see us. Let go of the person you force yourself to be outside of these walls. Show me the real you, Jannie.”
She started to turn her head.
He gripped her chin, just firmly enough to prevent that from happening. “Don’t look away again. Unless I say you can.”
Was that a flash of defiance that flared in those blue eyes?
“I’ve been wondering…” he began in a low voice. Easing his grip, he stroked her cheek with his thumb, feeling a surge of satisfaction as he felt the tension start to leave her body.
“What have you been wondering?” Her nostrils flared, and he knew she was getting her fill of the scent in the room, which he was well aware mixed with his own to make a potent combination.
“That night you came to my bed …”
She swallowed hard. “Uh-huh.”
“And found me lying there naked and bricked up …”
“Yeah?”
He could hear her panting now, feel the puffs of heat on his chin as she looked up at him. “What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“No?”
“I was feeling.”
“What were you feeling?”
“Urges.”
“Urges.” He waited a beat, but she didn’t elaborate. “You say that as if they’re a bad thing.”
“They are.”
He shook his head. “Not in my world. Not to me.” He bent to brush his lips along her forehead, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. “Nothing is shameful, Jannie. Nothing is wrong or dirty if the people involved are consenting adults.”
She leaned into him then, as if her knees were about to buckle.
“There’s so much guilt and shame associated with sexuality. Repression, hiding, being unable to let go …” He stroked her flushed cheek. “When there’s a way and a place just to be, people can find a deeper, more meaningful connection. The BDSM world is as varied as the participants themselves. The beauty of it is that you can make it whatever you want it to be, however you want it to be.
“Sometimes, yes, it’s a whip, for those who enjoy that type of play.” He took a step forward, compelling her to step back. “Sometimes, it’s dressing up and acting out a fantasy. Sometimes it’s being onstage and cutting—” another step “—or being cut, as you witnessed that night.”
One last step, and Jannie exhaled sharply as her back bumped the wall.
