She seemed surprised by my observation, but it only took her a few seconds to come up with a response. “You’re saying I’m walking a slippery slope by wanting to interview them? That I’ll be infringing on their privacy, extorting their desires? If they believe in who they are, what they want, why can’t they stand up for it themselves?”
“Easier said than done,” I told her. “If it were that easy, there wouldn’t be a proverbial closet. There are a lot of people who still live in it. Gay, bisexual, transsexual… It’s not always about not accepting themselves. It’s about fear others won’t. It may not be as frowned upon in some places, but that’s not the case everywhere.”
Jamie stared at me, as though trying to read between the lines. “You sound as though you have experience with that.”
“Perhaps I do.”
She nodded but didn’t probe where I expected her to. “Do you hide who you are?”
I laughed, then nodded toward the tiramisu. “Certainly not. I’m loud and proud.”
“And what are you looking for?” she asked, swinging her fork in small circles.
“As in?”
“A relationship? You mentioned you and Edge share submissives. Is that what you’re looking for? A relationship like Landon and Langston have with Luci?” Her head slanted just a fraction. “Or one like Ben, Justin, and Addison?”
“I’m not necessarily looking for anything. I don’t practice the lifestyle full-time. I don’t have a need to have a pet, as you referred to it. Some Dominants do and I respect that. I’m not one of them.”
“So you haven’t defined what your happily ever after will look like?”
“No. Have you?”
Jamie took a bite, her eyes closing briefly as she savored the dessert. I watched, my body warming instantly.
“I have not,” she said after she swallowed. “I’m like you. I’ll know it when I find it.”
We took a few minutes to finish off the dessert, the conversation pausing briefly. I thought she was done with the topic since we made it all the way to my truck before she picked it up again.
“Can you tell me about your relationship with Edge?”
I cut my gaze to her briefly before returning my attention to the road. “In what regard?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Is there intimacy between you?”
I figured I might as well be honest with her. If this was to go anywhere, Jamie needed to know where my head was at. “Not as of yet. But I can’t deny the desire’s there.”
“On your part? Or his?” She paused for a moment. “Or both?”
Keeping my eyes on the road and trying to hold back the hard edge to my tone, I said, “That’s yet to be determined.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” she said softly.
We drove the remainder of the way in silence. It was late and I knew she had class tomorrow. Plus, I had told Edge I would stop by.
I exited the truck so that I could walk her to her door. Once we got there, I could tell she was nervous. Before she could offer her pleasantries regarding the evening, I turned her to face me.
“Does that bother you, Jamie? That there could possibly be something between me and Edge?”
Her eyes flashed with what looked a hell of a lot like heat. “No,” she said on a breathless whisper. “It doesn’t.”
“How does it make you feel?”
She swallowed as I brushed my thumb over the pulse in her neck. “It doesn’t bother me.”
“That wasn’t my question.” I held her gaze. “I asked how it makes you feel.”
“The idea of it makes me … hot.”
I stepped closer, crowding her against the door. Her breaths were coming rapidly now, her skin warm against my fingers. I slid one hand behind her neck.
“I’ve never been kissed,” she said on a rush of air.
I smiled. “Never?”
“No.”
“There’s a first time for everything, right?”
“Yes,” she said on a soft whimper, her mouth straining toward mine.
Unable to resist being the first man to taste her lips, I leaned in. I took my time, sliding my tongue past her lips. She hesitantly greeted mine with her own. My body went rock hard, but I didn’t rush, savoring her sweet taste. When I pulled back, I rested my forehead to hers as I allowed my other hand to slide to the back of her thigh. Inching it upward slowly, I waited to see if she’d stop me.
“I don’t know what this is, Jamie, but I want to see where it goes.”
“Me, too.”
My hand climbed higher on her soft, smooth thigh. I growled when my fingers brushed against the bare skin of her ass. “I fucking love that you don’t have on panties.”
She inhaled sharply, then pressed closer, her mouth fusing to mine.
It took everything in me to keep the kiss slow, seductive. I knew if I wasn’t careful, I would devour this woman and we weren’t ready for that. While I didn’t care if Edge was there or not, I did have a tremendous amount of respect for the man. In a manner of speaking, he was in charge, and I had every intention of keeping it that way.
