Page 128 of Librarian

I busy myself by spreading out the books and papers I brought with me. I am here to work after all. There are star charts up here that might even help?—

His hand lands in my hair, his long fingers weaving through the strands, using them to tilt my face up to look at him. The familiarity of it sends nervous tingles racing up my spine. Under the full force of that ice-blue gaze for the first time in months, my throat goes dry and my thighs press together.

Still, I crush the impulsive urge to bare my neck a little more.

Baby steps.

“I respect the feck out of you,” he promises, voice dropping, turning silken and devastating. “But I’m a sadist, Kyrie. If you want me as your Dom, you need to accept that I’m going to be very invested in making sure I have your full and enthusiastic consent at all times. That includes asking you to be very clear about what you want. Can you handle that?”

I nod, biting my lip as that one word bounces around in my brain.

Sadist.

One who derives pleasure from inflicting pain on others.

I’ve read books, of course. But how does that work in real life? Would I enjoy it?

Leo smiles gently, as if he hasn’t just set my curiosity into a spiral. “Good. Now, what are the boundaries of this?”

“Boundaries?” I don’t understand. The contract is right there, setting them out in black and white.

His smile morphs into a concerned frown. “You only submit to the others when you’re intimate. That’s never been the case with us before.”

It hasn’t…?

His eyes drop to where I’m kneeling on the carpet. “This is submission, Kyrie. Sometimes, I’ll ask you to be naked when you’re like this, but not always. There are dozens of non-sexual submissive acts not covered in your contract. Would you sit like this whenever we’re alone? Are you happy to eat from my hand while sitting at my feet during meals? Would you accept my choosing your underwear for you? Your outfits? Our dynamic can cross into daily life in a hundred different ways, but only if you want it to.”

I purse my lips while I think about it. The things that he’s talking about are a different kind of intimacy, one I hadn’t braced myself for.

“Nothing overt in front of the patrons.”

He inclines his head. “Naturally. But what about if we were in the Clock Tower, watching a game with the others and I wanted you naked and kneeling like this?”

My mouth twists down. “Not in front of Eddy or anyone not in the contract.”

His windstorms-and-paper scent wraps around me as he pets my hair approvingly. “Good. And if I wanted you to sit here and hold my cock in your mouth while I read?”

I hum, rubbing my thighs together to try to banish the sparks of arousal that his words have elicited. “Same condition.”

“What if I fuck your ass, plug it, and send you to work for the day with my seed trapped inside you?”

No one else would know. The damp heat building in my sex reassures me I’m more into that idea than I want to admit. Slowly, I nod.

“I’d try it.”

“And choosing your underwear?”

My cheeks crease as I repress a smirk, and innocently ask, “What underwear?”

The fingers in my hair twist subtly, his hawkish eyes turning sharp. “Kyrie.”

I let my smile break free. “They’re a modern fashion I haven’t yet adopted.”

“Are you telling me, if I tell you to bend over and push that skirt out of the way…?”

I shrug one shoulder. “Was that a request?”

Leo releases my hair, stroking my scalp to soften my disappointment as he says, “Not unless you can summon one of the others up here to be your chaperone.” He pauses, gaze melting. “Thank you for offering me this. I…I wouldn’t have blamed you if you decided you didn’t ever want to see me again. Even if all I can give you is sex, it’s more than I deserve and?—”