Free Unbind My Heart by Maddie Taylor Page B

practically since we opened.  Although we’re exclusive, word gets out.  People are so hung up about sex.  They can unflinchingly watch violent movies where buildings get blown to smithereens and hundreds of people die horrible, excruciating deaths, but a little sex and nudity gets their panties in a wad.”
    “I guess sex hits close to home since everybody does it.  Just like with anything else, some folks have to point fingers at and criticize things that are different and label them as strange.”
    “True, and when you add whips, chains and bondage, it makes it even more titillating and deviant.  It's not exactly a subject easily discussed in the break room over coffee or at the ice cream social following Sunday services.”
    That image made Lexie giggle.  The thought of some of the conservative ladies in her condo complex discussing bondage and discipline in their Sunday best was just too funny.
    “What?”
    “I was picturing a couple of my blue-haired neighbors, chatting over the hedges and discussing the benefits of…”  She stopped short as another couple found a place nearby and were spreading their blanket alongside them.
    “The benefits of what, Lex?  Finish your thought.”
      Pressing her lips near his ear, she added, “The benefits of a flogger over a single-tail whip, is what I was going to say.” 
    “Lexie Berry, I do declare.”  His voice got ridiculously high, and he fanned himself with one hand.  “The things you say are enough to give me the vapors.”
    Laughing, she said, “You sound… just like…  Miz’ Scarlett.”  Grinning up into his smiling face, she sighed.  He was great company and his sense of humor was akin to hers.  A thought occurred to her.  “ ‘Gone with the Wind’ is one of my favorite books; have you read it?”
    “No, but I saw the movie.”
    “Not a reader, huh.”
    “I read,” he protested.
    “Sports Illustrated doesn’t count, Jonas.  Besides, you’re missing out.  The book was even better than the movie; they often are.  Since you’ve seen it, you must know you do a terrible Scarlett O’Hara impression, almost as bad as your Jackie Chan.”
    “How about Rhett Butler?”  He grinned and waggled his eyebrows, stroking a non-existent mustache.
    Smiling wider, she shook her head.  “Not even close.”
    “Wasn’t Rhett a bit of a Dom?  Didn’t he spank Scarlett in one scene?”
    “No, more’s the pity,” she said, her heavy sigh dramatic, like Scarlett’s.  “He was all talk and no action.  He threatened to take a buggy whip to her for a good thrashing, yet never followed through.  It would have saved him worlds of trouble.  He should have manned up and spanked her, just like John Wayne in ‘Donovan’s Reef’ or Rod Cameron in ‘Frontier Gal.’  They both paddled their gals’ troublesome butts, good and hard.”
    She laughed when his jaw dropped.  Ha, he wasn’t expecting that.  “What?  I’m an old movie buff.  What about you?  Are you like Rhett, or more the John Wayne type?” 
    Pulling her onto his lap, he arranged her so they could speak intimately.  “This is hardly the place for this discussion, naughty girl.  However, if you must know, I’m the John Wayne type.  I don’t issue idle threats and will man up to give a good, hard paddling when it’s called for.  I’m also a right smart cuss with a rope, little lady.”
    His extremely bad John Wayne impression barely registered.  She was too stuck on his words.  A good, hard paddling—what would that be like?  Lexie stared at this charismatic and very enigmatic man.  She’d seen several sides of him.  Today, he seemed fun and very sweet.  On their last date, he’d been witty, charming, and at times extremely intense.  At The Club, he’d been confident and direct.  His candor had been reassuring and his heart-stopping smile had easily won her over.  That had been in the public area though.  What would he be like when in full Dom