Free Dom for Sale by Christine d'Abo

Stephen was going to give him a heads-up about my impending arrival, but clearly that hadn’t happened. He let out a short huff and finished turning off the computer. But once the power had finished cycling off, he didn’t move away from the podium.
    Shit, this wasn’t supposed to be how things went.
    I moved a bit further into the hall, casting a quick glance around to ensure we were in fact on our own. “I only ever took Introduction to Literature back in my first year. Is Silas Marner a good book?”
    “It’s about a man falsely accused of theft. He finds a child and raises her as his own. In the end his life is better for having taken her in.”
    “A little light reading then.” I chuckled. The story actually sounded interesting. “I should pick it up.”
    “Why are you here, Liz?”
    There was no malice in his words. Maybe a bit of frustration and a lot of confusion, but not anger. I took that as a good sign and crept a few steps closer.
    “You wear glasses.” They were the wire-frame ones that I always found sexy on men. “You didn’t have those on the other night.”
    “I wear contacts to the club.” Gareth tightened his grip on the podium. “Liz?”
    “I’ve been moping.”
    He cocked an eyebrow. “Moping?”
    “According to Connie, yes. It’s not something that I tend to do very often.”
    With a gentle tap against the side of the wood, Gareth stepped out from behind his barrier. “And why have you been moping?”
    “I missed you.”
    See, my plan of attack was to try to be as honest with what I wanted from him as I could. In the past my attempts to be subtle with the men in my life rarely panned out in my favor. And really, Gareth didn’t seem the type to appreciate anything less than the total truth.
    But when he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, I had the fleeting thought that my plan might be lacking. “We’ve only known each other one night.”
    Ah, but I’d been ready for that rebuttal. Sliding my ass onto the nearest desk, I crossed my legs. My choice of keeping on the skirt I’d worn to work was completely calculated. So was the lack of panties.
    “Yes, but you have to admit the circumstances were far from normal.” My nipples were still tender, especially when I tugged on them while I got myself off. I’d been doing that a lot since that night.
    Gareth took a step closer, but the distance between us was still vast. “You don’t know anything about me.”
    “I know. I’m not asking to go steady, just an opportunity to get to know you.” And here was where things were going to get challenging. “I really think we might…you know…get along.” I shrugged.
    “You do.” He took another step. “Or do you think no one else will be able to give you what you had the night at the auction? Because I can tell you right now that’s not true. There are many men, some far better than myself, who can take you to the places you need to be.”
    Shit, maybe he really didn’t want anything to do with me. I slipped to my feet but didn’t move far from the desk. “I know that.”
    “Then there’s no reason why you should feel obligated to chase after me.”
    “You think that’s what this is? Obligation?”
    “Liz, up until a week ago, you weren’t even certain you were a submissive. I opened your eyes to a new world. It’s not so unbelievable.”
    Was he right?
    Stepping closer, I tried to force myself to really look at the man in front of me. There wasn’t an inch of leather anywhere on his body. A pair of beige dress pants hugged his waist and I could only imagine what his ass looked like encased in cotton. The button-down dress shirt was open at the neck, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of the toned body beneath. In many ways, he looked nothing like the Dom who’d worked me into a frenzy.
    And then I looked into his eyes and there was no mistaking whom I was talking to. The vulnerability he’d tried to cover up, the few slips I’d only realized later I’d