A small sigh escaped her lips, and he breathed it in as he parted them, exploring, delving with his tongue. And sweet Jesus, her mouth alone, the hunger in her kiss, was enough to nearly bring him to his knees. His cock, his entire body, pulsed with the hard beat of desire. When he pulled back, they were both a little breathless.

“That, my sugar girl, is why I didn’t kiss you right off. I wasn’t sure I could responsibly carry on negotiations after I had your sweet mouth under mine.”

“And now?” she asked. Her cheeks were flushed pink. He ran his thumbs over the baby-soft skin there.

“And now it’s maybe a good thing we at least got started. That we had a chance to set down the ground rules. But I’m going to sit back and take my hands off your lovely body or things are going to get real dirty real fast and we may never get the negotiating part done. Which means none of the kinky stuff for you, young lady.” He grinned, giving her nose a small tap, and was surprised to see her blush.

She was already falling into subspace and he knew it was his own fault. Time to cool down. He pushed his chair back and stood up. “I’m getting a Coke. Want one?”

“Yes, sure.”

He went to the mini-fridge on the other side of the room, grabbed two cans of soda and handed her one, careful not to get close enough to breathe in that violet scent that always made his dick hard.

Down, boy.

He sat in his chair once more, careful not to touch her even though his hands itched for the satin of her skin. He flexed his fingers. “Okay. Let’s move on. Do you like some rough body play? Really more manhandling in my case, I guess. Do you know what that is?”

“There seems to be different levels of it from what I’ve learned. But what I think of as manhandling I think I’ll like a lot. You sort of did some of that with me already.”

“And?”

Her tone lowered. “Come on, Jamie. You saw how I responded.”

“Yes, I did, but I need you to tell me.”

“Then you saw how much I liked it. The way you used your body to overpower me. Oh yeah, I am definitely into it.”

Her eyes were glossy with desire, her voice low and sultry. She meant every damn word she said. She wasn’t one of those girls who would say only what they thought he wanted to hear. If Summer Grace said she loved it, then she did. He loved that intensity about her. Her frank sexuality. He’d been an idiot to have held her off all these years—once she was legal, anyway. But what mattered now was that she was sitting there on his desk, all that simmering heat aimed at him. This was one time when he was more than happy to be the target. She’d already hit him dead center.

Do your job.

“Is there anything else you want to try?” he asked, buying himself a moment to get his head back together. “Anything I haven’t brought up?”

“I don’t know. There’s so much variety. It seems endless.”

“That’s true. I think the best way is to start off fairly simply, look around and see what else piques your interest. If you find anything you think you’d like to try, talk to me about it. Your limits can always be renegotiated later.” She nodded. “Okay, hard limits and triggers? Do you understand what that means?”

“Hard limits are things that are just a ‘no’ for me—that aren’t even up for discussion. And triggers are anything that will set off some sort of unpleasant emotional response. Right?”

He nodded.

“Well, my hard limits are the squicky stuff I filled out on my form at The Bastille—the usual stuff, from what I’m told. No scat, animals, blood. No age play. And right now, until I get to know myself better, no electrical play, no whips, no knives, no needles, and I never even thought of this until Allie brought it up, but for God’s sake, no damn clowns!”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, sugar, no clowns for me, either. But let me ask you this: breath play?”

Her breath caught, as if he already had her in his grip. “That takes a lot of trust. But with you? Yes. And Jamie? You can take it a little further than you did at my house.”

He had to suppress a shiver as an image of his hand around her lovely throat crossed his mind. He gave himself an internal shake, cleared his throat. “Anal sex?”

One corner of her mouth lifted in a half-smile. “Yes. Definitely.”

“Are you basing that answer purely on theory?”

“No, I am not,” she answered, her blue eyes twinkling.

“What about mind-fuck?”

Her lips quirked. “Like you can avoid doing that? But, yes. Please. I think it helps me . . . get out of my head. Which is good because to be honest . . . Well, sometimes I sort of think I’m too smart for everyone else. It’s actually comforting to be taken down a few notches. I think too much in general and it’s good to be forced out of that pattern. It also means I’m not . . . responsible for everything.”

He saw her swallow hard. Scooting the chair closer, he tucked a silvery strand of hair behind her ear. He asked gently, “What do you think you’re responsible for, sweetheart?”

She swallowed again, and her glance darted away for a few moments, then back to him before she answered. “For everything. For . . . keeping my family together after Brandon died.”

“Aw, sugar, that was never your job.”

She shook her head, and he saw how hard she was hanging on to that well of emotion. It didn’t matter that the conversation had shifted from kinky sex to something so deep, so profound. No—it did matter, because it was them. And maybe no one else in the world could know the inside of this thing—Brandon’s death and what it had done to the Rae family. He knew it because he’d become their second son before they lost their own. And because he knew what the loss of his brother Ian had done to his own family. It tore a hole that could never be repaired, only patched in some haphazard fashion.

“Summer Grace, look at me, baby.” He took her face between his hands, cradling it in his palms. Her eyes were enormous. “This is me. And I’ve been doing this for a long time. While you’re with me, I promise you can let it go. Turn it all over to me. Into my hands. Do you feel how strong they’ll hold you?”

She bit her lip, and there was so much emotion in her big blue eyes it made his chest ache with some sensation he couldn’t quite get a handle on. Just this raging need to protect her. To make her feel safe. If nothing else, he would do that for her. And suddenly, to his surprise, she flung her arms around his neck and buried her head there. As he wrapped her in his arms, drawing her down into his lap, he heard her soft sigh. Of release. Of surrender. And everything in him—the sex and the emotion, the kink and the chemistry, the heat and the history between them, melded into one thing. Into that moment. There was both beauty and terror there. Old grief and new delight. They would explore it all together, and he would keep her safe. He would not let her down.

There was a small roar inside his head. A fierce need in mind and body—for her, to do what he’d just silently vowed. How was it possible that it was all connected? But it was.

“Hey, sugar,” he murmured as he lifted her chin. “Do you know how Goddamn beautiful you are? Do you have any idea how much I’ve needed you all this time? I held back because I thought that was what I had to do. And maybe for a long while it was. But now, well, everything has changed.” He swallowed hard at the desire and the trust in her eyes, the swallow expanding until it was an ache in his chest he couldn’t think about right then. “I need to hear your consent one last time. It’s not like there’s no turning back once I have it—you always have that option. But tell me now what you want, Summer Grace.”

She shook her head. “It’s not what I want, Jamie. It’s what I need. I need to know what it is to turn myself over to you.” She gave one small, slow shake of her head, her silky blonde hair rippling like pale golden silk. “Only you. So yes, you have my consent. You’re gonna have me begging in a few minutes if you don’t take me out of here and . . . Goddamn it, don’t make me beg.”