Free Sweet Persuasion by Maya Banks Page B

“I mean in all aspects.”
    Her eyebrows shot up.
    “Not sure how you feel about that?”
    How did she feel about it? The independent decision maker in her balked at anyone expecting obedience from her. It was a ridiculous notion, or was that her feminist sensibilities screaming? And if so, why weren’t they screaming louder?
    It was more like an obligatory murmur of protest before they scuttled back for cover.
    “It’s important to you?” she asked softly. Because she could sense it was. He was testing her. Throwing down the gauntlet, so to speak.
    “You don’t have to choose me,” he reminded. “You could always find a more . . . accommodating man.”
    “And how would he accommodate me?” she asked quietly. “By pretending?”
    “Is that not what this is? A grand pretense? A scripted performance?”
    He had her there. She had listed her conditions, but now he was listing his. No, she didn’t have to agree, but damn she wanted him. She wanted him badly.
    “It’s important to you,” she said again.
    “It is,” he acknowledged. “Even if this is a temporary situation, I want it to be real for as long as you choose to live it.”
    “And by real you want me to submit. To you. Completely.”
    His voice was like velvet, soft, fluttering across her skin as he uttered just one word.
    “Yes.”
    She was bathed in want. Need burned in her heart, in her soul. She hadn’t realized just how much she wanted this until now, until Damon had inspired such a desire in her.
    “And if what you ask of me is unreasonable, what then?” she asked.
    He propped one ankle on his knee and relaxed further into the chair. “In a lot of circles, indeed for most in this, shall we say ‘lifestyle,’ the use of safe words abounds.”
    She nodded because she knew what a safe word was.
    “I won’t use them,” he said firmly.
    Her eyes widened. “You’re asking me to trust you that implicitly?”
    He shook his head. “I won’t use a word that encourages a man to disregard the word no coming from a woman’s lips. If you say no, if you’re even thinking no, then it ends for me. I won’t indulge in silly little no-means-yes games. When that word crosses your lips? It’s over. If I ever ask of you something that you won’t give unreservedly, then all you need to say is no.”
    She wasn’t even sure how to respond to that because he was absolutely, one hundred percent right. How moronic to ever discount the notion of a woman saying no.
    He shifted his position again, setting his feet back on the floor as he leaned forward.
    “Come here, Serena.”
    She glanced up in surprise.
    “You’ve become tense, and I want you to relax. I want you to be comfortable with me or this will never work.”
    He held out his hand, and she found herself rising from the couch, her bare feet touching the wood floor. As she walked toward him, his gaze fell to her feet and he smiled.
    “You like being barefoot.”
    She was mildly embarrassed that she’d made herself so much at home in the short time she’d been here, but she nodded as she slid her hand into his.
    “Then you’ll never wear shoes in my house,” he said softly. “Your comfort is very important to me.”
    He tugged her downward. “Sit here at my feet and lay your head on my lap.”
    Awkwardly she lowered herself until she settled on the floor. His hands guided her head until it was nestled on his lap.
    “I’ve dreamed of running my fingers through your hair from the moment we first met,” he murmured.
    As his fingers trailed through the strands of her hair, she closed her eyes and let out a blissful sigh. His movements were tender as he stroked and caressed.
    “Now relax,” he urged. “And we’ll talk while I touch you.”
    He wanted her to relax when every single nerve ending in her body was on fire?
    He played with the strands and alternated guiding his hands through the heavy tresses with light touches and caresses to the curve of her neck. Slowly she began to