Chapter 2 #2
He scooped her up as if she weighed nothing. Shifting her in his arms, he winced and said under his breath, “Damned knife,” then pulled her against his chest. Carrying her. No one had ever carried her. Ever. Even when she’d been little. Her foster mother hadn’t believed in coddling children.
She didn’t even feel unsafe being held so high. His chest was solid muscle, his arms like iron bars under her shoulders and legs; the world probably would end before this man dropped her. He walked over to a chair she hadn’t noticed in the corner of the room and sat down.
When her weight landed on his thighs, her butt burned, and she jumped. What in heaven’s name was she doing? “Let go of me.” As she pushed against his chest, the blanket dropped away from her, baring her breasts. Dammit.
“I’ll let you go when I know you can walk across the room without passing out.” His arm tightened, keeping her in place. When his hand rose, she forced herself not to cringe. Her fingers curled into claws to rip him apart if he tried to grope her.
He huffed a laugh. “Quite the little cat.” His hand slowly lowered to stroke her hair with a disconcertingly gentle touch. “Gently, pet. Take a minute to get your bearings. Then you can get dressed. And we’ll talk.”
Oh, she heard a definite threat in that last phrase. But as the warmth from the blanket and his body sank into her, her muscles melted as if the trembling had used up all her energy.
He leaned back in the chair, settling her more comfortably. “Tell me. Has anyone ever spanked you before?”
“No.” Her cheek rested against the softness of his shirt.
She could hear the even thud of his heart under her ear; her pulse still raced twice as fast. “Never.” And it would never happen again.
Yet the memory of his hand holding her in place, the feeling of being overpowered, made her feel weird. Lost.
“Have you been around BDSM before?”
She tried to push away, and he eliminated her struggle to move before it hardly began. She glared at him.
“No, you’re not getting up yet,” he said. “I want to see some color in your face first.”
Her teeth ground together, but she wasn’t totally stupid.
The little flickers of blackness at the edge of her vision and the numbness around her lips and fingers said he was probably right.
She’d pass right out before she got to the door, and wouldn’t that be the perfect end to this disaster?
She pulled the blanket tighter and prepared to wait him out.
His scent surrounded her, a rich blend of exotic cologne and masculine fragrance that blended with the scent of leather. His voice deepened. “MacKensie, have you been around BDSM before?”
“I went into a club three times.”
“Ah.” Alex felt an odd satisfaction at her answer, almost as much as he felt holding her in his arms. One visit to a club, maybe two, he could attribute to curiosity. A third time? Probably she’d discovered a need that BDSM satisfied…or might satisfy.
He shifted her so he could see her face better.
She was a sweet armful, curved in all the right places.
Her big brown eyes were darker than Butler’s but could hold the same pleading look, one that pulled at his heart and a Dom’s need to make things right.
Everyone had hidden places and dark secrets, but this little vet’s eyes held something shadowy and sad. “What did you do when you were there?”
“Nothing.”
That didn’t seem right. She had a prettiness and a vivid energy that would definitely attract a dominant. “Didn’t any of the Doms come over and meet you?”
A slight nod and her shoulders moved in a shrug.
“Then you were the one to tell them no. Why?”
Eyes going cold and blank, she stiffened and tried to get off his lap again. His questions had obviously probed into something painful, and she retreated rather than attack. Why? What in her past could shut this spitfire’s emotions down? He felt a tug inside himself, a need to help.
“I’m fine now. I need to go pack,” she said, still pushing at his chest.
Her color had mostly returned, and the tremors shaking her body had diminished.
He had no reason to hold her further. He grasped her around the waist and set her on her feet, enjoying the flash of her rose-tipped breasts before she recovered the blanket.
But he shoved his normal male reaction back down.
This interlude with MacKensie had been about discipline and then aftercare. Sex shouldn’t and didn’t enter into it.
He glanced at his watch, then her. “You have ten minutes to change. Then I will meet with you in the family room for our discussion.”
Her brown eyes kindled delightfully, but after a cautious look at his face, she simply nodded and headed across the room. Quickly.
Butler sat just outside the door, whining as MacKensie picked up her clothing. And although shaken, and her ass undoubtedly hurting like hell, the woman stopped to pet Butler on her way past.
Alex frowned. He’d thought to simply kick her out of his house and notify Exchanges that she’d broken into a locked room.
But now… He rubbed his jaw. She didn’t quite add up.
The way she’d flared up at him indicated a feisty personality, and her instinctive responses to command indicated a penchant for submission, but although pleasing, the combination wasn’t that uncommon.
No, that underlying vulnerability that she’d so quickly hidden drew him. And when she petted Butler, he could see a pure sweetness under her defenses.
He’d see what came of the discussion, but she’d roused his protectiveness. Discipline and punishment could be a two-way street. She’d been taken under a master’s will, but in turn, he’d received her submission, and with that, a bond between them had been created.
Just what I need, another submissive.