Axel lifted his palm and struck her backside once more, watching her flesh give and bounce with his touch. More red bloomed across her cheeks, and he rubbed her skin to distribute the heat even more. “Two.”

As she moaned, he smacked her again, more to keep her attention and awaken the submissive inside her than to cause pain. “Three.”

She squirmed on his lap. “That feels . . .”

“I know,” he crooned. “Hold still, Mystery. No more manipulation. You will communicate openly and tell me even the painful truths.” He spanked her other cheek. “Four.” Then he waited for the impact to sink in.

She whimpered. “Axel . . .”

“Yes. I can give you more of that—and so many other sensations that will send your body soaring. I want to introduce you to a whole new realm of pleasure. You want that?” He stroked her from nape to ass, following the sleek line of her spine.

“More than anything,” she rasped out.

“I want to give it to you. God knows, I’ve wanted to for years. I even hate to admit how long and how often I’ve taken a temporary withdrawal of you from my spank bank.” He let his fingers drift between her thighs.

Despite the waistband, she managed to spread a bit wider, and he appreciated her effort to open herself for him by caressing her slick folds and skating his fingertips over her hard clit.

“That’s so good,” she gasped out.

“The way I’m touching you?”

“Yes.” She grabbed his shin and rubbed her face against his calf, despite his jeans, as if she needed to touch him. “But also knowing you stroked yourself while thinking about me turns me on so much. I—I touched myself thinking about you, too.”

He circled her clit again, bringing her closer to the edge of ecstasy. “That was beautifully honest. Let’s have more of that between us, not lies or topping from the bottom.”

Mystery didn’t answer him. Her body language told Axel that desire rumbled through her body, thundered in her head, and clouded her hearing. He removed his fingers.

“No,” she protested breathlessly.

“Yes. We’re not done talking.” He swatted her ass softly, delivering a blow that should sting sweetly. “That’s five.”

She jolted, but the whack did its job, bringing her back to attention.

Now he could say his piece. “You trying to force me to give you your way, removing my choices? That’s unacceptable. I’m the Dom, so I’m in control. I can’t be in any sort of relationship with someone who can’t respect my needs. I’ll always do my best to respect yours. I know right off the top of my head that you need affection, attention, and understanding. I’m sure you require more, and I’ll find out what as we get to know each other more. I will always do my damnedest to satisfy you. But if you try to manipulate me like that again, it’s a deal breaker. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Axel.” She sounded almost solemn, and he hoped he’d actually reached her.

“Good.” He helped her rise on unsteady legs between his feet and gripped her thighs to balance her. When he looked into her slightly dazed eyes, so yearning for approval, his heart clutched. “Kneel here.”

He helped her down, and she wasn’t graceful—not that he gave a shit now. She was willing and open and wanted more. Nothing else mattered.

Axel cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her, a gentle clasp of lips at first. But damn it, Mystery was so fucking sweet, and he’d been fantasizing of having her—as her—for way too long to hold back.

He parted her lips with a nudge of his own, and she acquiesced instantly, rolling out the welcome mat with an enthusiastic passion that made his desire skyrocket and tilted his world on end.

Jerking away, Axel looked down at her, his stare following the trail of her body, her rosy lips, the little bites on her neck, the T-shirt stretched just a bit too tight across her breasts, then the pants banding around her thighs with that sweet bare pussy almost hidden between.

He grabbed her chin and looked right into her eyes. “I’m going to fuck you.”

His words made her jerk as if they’d impacted her chest. “Yes, Axel.”

“It wasn’t a question. And I wasn’t asking for permission. I’m telling you what will happen, unless you’re giving me your safe word. That clear?”

“Very.”

“Good. Do you have a word in mind?”

“I—I don’t know. I’ve never . . .” She shrugged, looking a little lost. “What’s your recommendation?”

“Let’s use the traffic light system for now. It’s something you’ll remember.” He gave her a wry grin. “I want to try a million perverse acts on you and watch you respond. If I’m hurting you too much or doing something you absolutely don’t want, call ‘red.’ If I’m approaching the edge of your comfort zone, say ‘yellow.’ Make sense?”

She nodded, looking at him with eager eyes that glowed green and needy. Knowing he’d put that expression on her face revved him up even more.

As much as Axel wanted to tear through her clothes and shove his cock into her now, he forced himself to take a breath. Much like that first kiss she’d pressed onto his lips, their initial sexual encounter didn’t really count because he hadn’t known that he’d been touching Mystery. And she hadn’t felt the way he would make her body his.

He intended to change that.

“Do you know any of your limits, hard or soft?”

A relieved smile flitted across her face. “I told Heath you were responsible and would ask. He wouldn’t listen to me. Instead, he suggested you’d whip me until I bled or make me sleep with a stranger . . .” She shook her head, her aversion to either of those possibilities clear. “Just no.”

“I don’t know where the hell he heard that, but rest easy. Neither of those are in my wheelhouse. In fact, I’d go so far to say they’re a hard limit for me.”

The relief in her expression deepened. “He said he saw those things during an undercover mission in London.”

He raised a brow. “Not in a club with Dominion’s reputation. Thorpe has strict rules and an even more stringent membership screening. Everything that happens here is both consensual and well supervised. Whatever Heath saw must have been in a private hardcore club. I like rough play now and then, but nothing like that.”

She seemed to sigh with relief. “Good.”

“So, any boundaries I need to respect? A soft limit is something that both scares and intrigues you. You’re not sure you want to . . . but you’re not sure you don’t.”

“I like bondage. I mean, I like the idea of it.” She blushed profusely. “I’ve never done it, but the thought of it turns me on.”

“I like it, too. A lot. We’ll definitely go there. What else?”

“The spanking was nice. Not so much the first smack, but the rest . . .” She gave him a dreamy smile, and he held in a chuckle. “I’ve seen a video with a Dom wielding a soft flogger on his sub’s butt. That looked interesting. But I don’t know how I feel about anal sex or exhibitionism or so many other things.”

Because she’d never tried them out. If he had his way, they’d eliminate whoever threatened her, then he’d spend however long it took to become exactly the Dom and lover she needed.

“Floggers are fine,” he said, then gave her a slow smile. “Anal? I love the hell out of it, but it’s not for everyone. Exhibitionism doesn’t appeal to me much, but I’m not against it, either. At the end of the day, I’m the kind of Dom who prefers to do one thing above all: get in your head and own you.”

A visible tremor went through her body. Yeah, she wanted what he could give her. She sought the physical surrender, but she ached to yield her soul even more.

“You can do that, can’t you?” Her voice shook as if the possibility aroused her terribly.

“Oh, little girl . . . I can do it so fast, you won’t know what hit you or how to stop it, and you won’t care because you’ll have given every thought, along with your aching pussy, to me.”

As he watched her breath catch again, her nipples bead tighter, Axel repressed a smile. The girl liked a dirty mouth. He’d give her that, too.