Free Second Base by Raven ShadowHawk Page A

sweetheart.’
    ‘Denise!’
    ‘Well, they won’t. She may find someone else, but it is unlikely. She loves you. Any idiot can see that.’
    Some of the irritation began to ease. ‘What if she likes topping more than being a sub?’
    ‘Then you’ve got a Switch on your hands. Best of both worlds, if you ask me.’
    ‘But . . .’
    ‘What, Dan? What are you trying to say?’
    ‘What if she doesn’t want to be a sub any more?’
    Denise snorted into his diet coke. ‘You think she’ll grow out of her need to submit?’
    With it put like that, Dan felt silly. A flush of heat crept up the inside of his collar. ‘You don’t need to laugh at me.’
    ‘I do. Because you’re blind. Sweetheart, you’re as blind as the sun is warm and it gives me great joy to lift the blindfold.’
    ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
    ‘Karen submits because she wants to. She needs it to balance the control she has everywhere else. I’ve not known her as long as you have, but surely you can see that. It rounds her off. Unless other parts of her personality change, I don’t see how the submission is going to change.’
    ‘But what about me?’ He glanced passed Denise’s shoulder to where Karen sat chatting to Henrietta. Her eyes were lively and bright, her features animated as she pointed to the stack of DVDs piled on the table between them. She tapped one and followed the blurb on the back with the tip of her finger. Her free hand unconsciously stroked the bell dangling from her collar. He could hear the faint tinkle over the general bustle of chatter and clanking glasses.
    ‘What if she doesn’t want to submit to me any more? What if she finds a Dom that does a better job?’
    ‘How? Is she asking for another Dom?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Then you’re getting stressed and panicked over nothing. She doesn’t want another dominant, she wants to be dominant. And she wants to dominate someone else which means your dynamic is safe.’
    Dan tightened his grip on his glass. He still wasn’t explaining very well. ‘Not if she brings in another man. It’s competition.’
    ‘There is no competition.’ Denise laid a hand on his knee. ‘She loves you. If you turned to her now and said you didn’t want to be her Dom any more, she would still love you. She wants you. The fact that you top her just makes it better. You’re the complete package and unless she gives you some sign that she’s interested in someone else, you’d better calm down and relax.’
    It should have made him feel better. The facts—for facts they were—should have brought calm and peace to Dan’s mind. But as he looked again at the stranger across the room and found him staring at Karen, he just felt worse.
    ‘Thanks.’ He stood and pointed to the table of empty glasses. ‘Want another?’
    ‘No, ta. This will last me.’
    Before Dan could move towards the bar he felt his phone hum in his pocket. Denise gave him a brief nod and turned to join Henrietta’s conversation with Karen, so Dan returned to his seat to answer it. ‘Hello?’
    ‘Hey, mate, only me. How’s your face?’
    The sound of Pete’s voice lit a spark in Dan’s mind. He tightened his grip on the phone, thinking hard while staring at the far wall. The idea came quickly. Almost fully formed in the back of his mind. He grinned.
    Why didn’t I think of this before? It’s perfect.
    ‘Fine. How’s your arm?’
    ‘Not bad. He may be tall, but he doesn’t weigh all that much. It didn’t take much to chuck him out. Is Karen okay?’
    ‘Just shaken. And pissed off.’ He thought again of her dark expression as she recounted her father’s actions. So cold. So angry.
    Pete laughed. ‘I wouldn’t want to be that guy right now. Is he really her dad?’
    The memory still stung, but Dan hid it as best he could. ‘Yes. Crazy but true.’
    Pete took a deep breath. ‘Listen, about last night, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was drunk too. I didn’t mean to cause trouble—and