Free Making the Grade by Marie Harte

wouldn’t be just physical. He hoped it might help to breach that wall she’d built around herself.
    He knew all about distance. He’d built something similar to protect him from demanding, fake women. But those walls had begun to crumble after he’d first laid eyes on Faith. His first warning the woman would be important in his life.
    She chewed her lip and glanced at his mouth before returning her gaze to his eyes. “You won’t laugh?”
    “Faith.” He kissed her. Then he rubbed her cheek with a finger, feeling how much slighter she was than him, how his hand looked so much bigger against her delicate features. “I promise not to laugh if you won’t.”
    She nodded. “I swear I won’t. But, well, would you tell me your fantasy first? Just how kinky are you?”
    He chuckled. “Not as out there as you might think. I don’t want another woman. I don’t want another man. Just you. All of you.” He caressed her hips and circled his hands on her ass. “I want to be in every part of you. Your pussy, your ass, your mouth.” He gripped her ass before letting her go. “But I want more than to just fuck you. I want to own you.”
    She blinked. “How’s that?”
    “My turn on, my great big ‘not normal’ kink, is that I like control.”
    “A lot of guys do.”
    “Yeah, well, I mean total control. I tell you what to do and you do it. No questions. No sass. I own you in bed. And I really, really like to be called Sir.”
    Her eyes grew wide. If he wasn’t mistaken, he’d aroused her. “Oh wow. That is sexy.”
    “Yeah?” He smiled. “You think you could make that happen for me? My little slave in bed?”
    “Not so little in these heels,” she teased, then sobered. “You don’t want to hurt me or anything, though, do you?”
    He shook his head. “I’m not a pain junkie. No blood or beatings. I’m not into the whole BDSM thing. With the popularity of it now, it seems like everyone wants to try it. I just know what I like, and I’ve always had a thing for being in charge.”
    “That I can believe.” She seemed relieved.
    “I do like playing with toys. And there are so many things I want to do to you. With you.” He stared at her mouth. “In you.”
    She quivered. “Oh boy. You’re really turning me on.”
    “Good.” He kissed her again, this time not as softly. “What about you?”
    She glanced away from him, and he could almost hear her arguing with herself.
    “Faith, you lost the bet. Come on, ’fess up.”
    She sighed and met his gaze. “I like sex. A lot. But it’s not that easy for me, because… Well, let’s just say I have hang-ups. I’m not sure how I got this way, but…”
    “Faith, you have to trust me or tonight won’t work.”
    She trembled in his arms. “I want to trust you, Brian.”
    “Then do.”
    She stared at him, and whatever she saw relaxed her. “I do. You’re not out to use me or lie to me for sex. Hell, I’m already here. And you confessed your fantasy first.”
    “Right. So you have leverage. Now tell me what you want. There’s no judgment here. We can be who we want to, and no one has to know.” There was something liberating in that, and Brian knew it was more than just living out a fantasy. It was showing Faith who he really was.
    “I’m pretty much the same as you, except I want to be dominated. I want to trust you to take care of me like that. And it makes me feel weird, because I’m a pretty independent woman.”
    “Try very independent woman.” He brushed her hair behind her ear, and her fingers tightened over his chest, then slid down to grip the waistband of his trousers.
    “I—one more thing. I just, there’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but it kind of freaks me out a little.” She grew silent, and he waited. “I guess it’s not that strange, really. Once, when I was a teenager, I was with this guy. I didn’t know his friend was there, watching, until we were hot and heavy. Then I realized we were being spied on, and it