As he pulled away, he held her face in one hand, his grip firm as he stared into her eyes. He looked as though his control was barely leashed and that he might toss her down and take her roughly.

Her breath caught and held with anticipation. Her body tingled and came alive. Her clit pulsed and ached. Her breasts tightened, her nipples hardening.

“How well you know me,” he murmured.

He stroked his hand over her cheek and then over the lip he’d nipped, soothing away the slight ache. His features hardened, and she shivered at the sudden infusion of darkness into his eyes.

“Get up on the seat. On your hands and knees.”

She rose up on her knees, crawled over his left leg and onto the long seat he was slouched in. Her palms sank into the sumptuous leather and her knees pressed just at the seam between two sections of the seat.

She felt him move behind her. A cool rush skittered over her ass as he pushed her skirt to her waist and allowed it to bunch there.

“There are two things I want tonight,” he said, the rasp of arousal deep in his voice. “My mark on your ass and my cum inside your body when we arrive.”

She almost asked where they were going but held her tongue. He wouldn’t have liked that slip. She shifted restlessly, aching for his hand against her bottom.

The slap, when it came, startled her and sent her forward. She braced herself against the seat and pushed back, begging silently for more. He loved when she did that.

He rubbed his palm over the burning spot to soothe the hurt and then administered another stinging blow to her other cheek. She moaned softly. With another man, that might have gotten her into trouble. But Lucas loved to hear her sounds of passion. He liked to know he pleased her even though her purpose was to please him.

He encouraged her uninhibited responses as long as it fell within the boundaries of obedience. If she enjoyed what she experienced, he expected her to express it. If she didn’t enjoy it, she was also free to express that as well, but it may or may not cause it to end.

Lucas followed a simple rule. If it wasn’t harmful—and by harmful, he meant causing her permanent physical or psychological damage—then she had no choice but to endure it. Afterward, he might invite her to tell him why she didn’t like the experience and he would then consider whether he would ever make her suffer it again.

Cole hadn’t been her only dominant lover. There had been a total of four in the last ten years since Cole. Lucas was her favorite, though. He …He just got her. He understood her. He wasn’t out to prove his masculinity or his power. He wasn’t afraid to be wrong or to make mistakes, though she couldn’t ever remember a time when he’d done anything she considered a mistake.

It probably sounded dramatic but she couldn’t think of much she wouldn’t do for Lucas. And it was because she trusted him. A component that had been lacking in her last relationship, and consequently it had been her shortest.

The next blow caught her unaware for the sheer brutality of it. The pain shocked her and suddenly Lucas’s hand was wrapped in her hair and he yanked her back, forcing her head so that their gazes met.

“Am I boring you, Ren? Would you prefer to be somewhere else?”

Her mouth twisted in dismay because it was the last thing she wanted him to think. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I was thinking.”

His hold loosened only slightly. “What were you thinking that was more important than me?”

“I was thinking of you,” she said honestly. “I was comparing my relationship with you to the others I’ve had.”

His hand gentled and he ran his fingers through her hair in a gentle pet. “Do you know what I love most about you, Ren?”

The question startled her. She’d expected his anger. Not this sudden …affection.

“You tell me the truth, no matter how awkward or potentially uncomfortable. It would be so easy to lie and say you drifted away or that you were thinking about where we’re going. Why is that?” he finished softly.

Her brow wrinkled in confusion. His hand soothed over the subsiding burn where he’d marked her, stroking and caressing.

“Why do I not lie to you?”

“I suppose that’s what I’m asking. I know that you’re inherently an honest person, but even the most honest person will seek not to make herself vulnerable to another.”

Her expression eased and she locked gazes with him. “Because I trust you not to use my vulnerability against me.”

His eyes went warm with approval. He leaned down and softly pressed his lips to hers.

“Now tell me how our relationship compares to your previous ones.”

She twitched against his palm, eager to feel the burn again. His hand stilled and then he pressed another kiss to her forehead in apology.

“I’m neglecting your need. When I’m finished administering the appropriate marks to your sweet ass and when I’ve availed myself of your body, then we’ll finish this conversation.”

She sighed her relief and gifted him with a smile.

“How hard and rough do you want it, Ren? I find I’m in a mood tonight. I’m not usually so indecisive but I go back and forth between wanting to allow my darker urges free or showering you with tenderness. I’m in an affectionate mood and then you smile at me like that and it only reinforces my desire to show you gentleness instead of power.”

She raised her head and settled back on her heels, allowing her hair to spill down her back. He had one knee on the floorboard and she turned her head to the side so she could look at him.

“I am yours, Lucas. Do with me as you will. I will love whatever it is you choose to bestow on me and I’ll take it without complaint.”

He lifted his hand to cup her cheek. His eyes shimmered with dark promise. “I am very glad to hear those words. Especially tonight.”

She cocked her head to the side, rubbing her cheek along his palm. She didn’t ask him why. She simply waited for what he would tell her. Or not tell her.

“Tonight I’m going to give you to another.”

She went completely still, shock rendering her unable to move or react. She stared back at him, but he too was waiting and in no hurry to further explain.

“Does that excite you?”

“I don’t know. It’s …surprising.”

“Why would you find this surprising? I’ve discussed with you in the past that I find enjoyment in giving the woman I own to another man so that I can watch and enjoy.”

She nodded. “It’s just that you never have. In the beginning I expected it. But as more time went on, you seemed content not to share me with other men.”

“Does it bother you that I seek to do so now?”

She frowned, unsure of how she felt. She’d considered such a thing just a short time ago and found that the idea excited her. The idea. There was a huge difference between what sexually excited her in theory and what actually aroused her in reality.

More than once, a kink that she was excited to try turned out to be something she didn’t enjoy at all. Would this follow in the same vein?

Now she wondered if the night out at the club had been a mere taste of what was to come. Had he tested her to see how receptive she was to having another man’s hands and mouth on her body?

And what had prompted him to take this step now? Was he bored with her? That thought sent panic and dismay racing along her spine. Had their time together come to an end? She shook the idea away because there was no way she could hold it together thinking such things.

“Ren,” he prompted.

“It doesn’t bother me that you would do it,” she said slowly. “I’m unsure of whether I would enjoy it. The idea excites me, but it also frightens me. My trust in you is absolute but doesn’t extend to another man.”

He stroked her cheek again. “All very valid points. And if I told you the man in question was Cole Madison?”

Her eyes widened in shock. Her pulse bounded, firing so rapidly that for a moment she swayed, suddenly dizzy.