“Did you mean what you said… few people mean anything to you?” Jacey asks hesitantly, her hand wrapped tightly around her glass. “Because that’s really sad, Dominic.”

I stare at her harshly. “Don’t judge me, Jacey. You have no idea what it’s like to be me. You don’t know what’s happened in my life, you don’t know how people try to use me. Trust me, it’s just easier to not give people the chance.”

She sniffs. “Whatever. I get that you’re on a different plane from the rest of us mortals, but still. People are people. And everyone needs other people. And everyone gets hurt in life and everyone gets used. We have to get it over it and move on. If you let people who have hurt you or used you or pissed you off influence your actions, you’re letting them win, Dominic.”

I stare at her, at the way her jaw is set and her face is determined. “Says a person with experience,” I answer with interest. “What happened to you, Jacey?”

She blushes now, something that only makes me want to know more. With a quick flip of her hand, she downs the rest of her wine, then pours herself another glass. I notice that her hand is shaking and I raise my eyebrow.

“What happened to you?” I ask again, softly this time.

She shakes her head. “Nothing. I’m just a dumbass who always picks the wrong guy. Over and over. It’s a pattern.”

Yet her hand is still shaking as she takes a large gulp of her drink. I shake my head.

“Uh-uh, that’s not bad enough to put that look on your face. Something else happened.”

I’m not sure that I care so much as I’m curious. But either way, I want to know. Jacey sighs and stares out the window, not looking at me.

“It’s bad enough because it’s a pattern, Dominic. I’ve got some issues. I’ll just tell you that right now. And because of those issues, I usually fall for the wrong guys.”

I’m intrigued as I stare at her. “But that time it was worse somehow. What happened to make it worse?”

Jacey sighs, looking away from me.

“I fell for the devil himself. My friends, my brother… they all tried to help me keep away from him, but eventually, like the dumbass I am, I went back to him because I fell for his line of shit. And one day, he did something terrible. Really, really terrible, and it fucked up everyone around me. Is that bad enough for you?”

I’m not sure what he did, but clearly it wasn’t pretty. Jacey’s face is pale and grave and sad and I don’t push her anymore. Instead, I simply nod.

“That’s bad enough.”

A tear runs down Jacey’s cheek and she wipes it away quickly, burying her face into her wineglass, refusing to look at me.

“And that’s why I made a pact with myself. No more choosing the wrong guy. I’m working on myself and I’m not going to settle for anyone less than the perfect person for me. Someone who values me and won’t push me around. That includes you.”

I reach out and turn her chin toward me, forcing her to look at me.

“I don’t remember offering to be with you,” I remind her gently. “Jacey, I’m not a good person for you. Not in the long run, not for real. What I’m interested in is someone to hang out with while I’m here, someone to have fun with and someone to keep me company. What I’m really interested in is seeing if you’re as decent of a person as you seem… because I’m at the point where I doubt that anyone actually is. That’s it. I’m very, very capable of hurting you… but not if you don’t let me.”

She looks at me with watery eyes. “I’m not decent, Dominic. I can tell you that right now. A decent person wouldn’t have let Jared get anywhere near me or my family, much less dated him. But you can bet your ass that I won’t let you hurt me. I won’t get attached to you. I’ve already promised myself that.”

I nod. “So let’s see if you can keep that promise. You want to see if you can hang out with me and not get attached to the wrong kind of guy yet again, and I want to see if there is one decent person in the world. It’s a win-win situation. I can make you feel good and you can do the same for me. It sounds like we both need it.” I pause, staring at her.

She stares back.

“So it’s a no strings attached, you like me, I like you, win-win situation. I won’t fall for you, Dominic.” Her voice is calm and even.

“I don’t want you to,” I tell her just as evenly. “That’s the whole point. Come on. Take the challenge. Let’s see if you can do this.”

“And let’s show you that there really are decent people in the world,” she answers stubbornly. “Because there are.”

“Whatever.” I shake my head. “I’ll believe it when I see it. You’ll just have to show me.”

“Deal.” She nods. “I will.”

I lean forward a little, staring into Jacey’s dark eyes.

“So… now that that’s settled, do you want me to make you feel good?”

My words are loaded, my meaning quite clear. I emphasize it by gripping her thigh, hard, with my fingers. When I take away my hand, there is a white mark on her leg.

She’s fascinated by that. She looks at the mark, then looks at me.

“Yes,” she murmurs.

“That’s all I need to hear,” I tell her quietly. “It’s my favorite word.”

Her back arches as I pull her into me and she molds into my body. Hers is soft and small, her arms thin bands that close around my back. I flip her around so that she’s back on the couch, her spine pushed into the cushions. With my eyes locked on hers, I part her legs with my knee.

She opens them hesitantly.

“Are you wet for me, Jacey? Could you possibly be wet for me already?” I ask, raising an eyebrow as I trail one finger down her chest, opening her robe with it.

She’s displayed now, in the sunlight, her tits pointing to the ceiling, her hips bucked upward. I trail my finger downward and around her nipple and she moans. But I don’t stop there. I continue down, over her hip, across her flat belly, and down to her pussy.

I trail that one finger over the tiny nub of her clit.

She twitches into me, but I still just keep that one finger there, rubbing that little swollen bump.

“You are wet,” I point out. “For me. What would you like to do about that?”

“Surprise me,” she breathes.

I chuckle lightly, slipping that one finger into the folds of her pussy, into her body where I move it… in, out, slow. She throws her head back and I add a finger.

“Wrong answer,” I tell her softly, leaning over to kiss and suck her neck. I’m being gentle with her now, easy. The hard stuff will come later. “You’ve got to tell me what you want.”

Her eyes glaze over as I rub her, as I stroke her, as she grows even wetter. She swallows hard, I can hear it.

“Fuck me,” she says simply. “Make me feel good.”

I chuckle again, even though my groin tightens at her words.

“You have to wait for that, Princess.”

She opens her eyes. “Why?”

She pauses her movement, her hips suspended against me.

“Because that’s the way I work. I don’t jump into the sack with just anyone.”

I don’t jump into the sack with anyone. At all. But of course I don’t say that. She’ll soon learn that ‘fucking’ me has a very different definition than what she probably assumes.

“But I’ll still make you feel good,” I add.

I get to my feet and pick her up, scooping her easily into my arms. She wraps her arms around my neck, but we don’t go far. I carry her into her bedroom and drop her onto the bed, where she bounces, then rolls over.

“How do you want me?” she purrs. “Spread-eagled?”

I smile, remembering when I’d told her that earlier, a couple weeks ago. “Yes. On your back. Do you have any scarves?

She looks puzzled but gestures to her top dresser drawer, where I find a heap of silk scarves. She looks hesitant when I climb over her on the bed and straddle her, lifting her arms above her head.

“Do you trust me?”

She looks unsure. “I barely know you.”