Justin didn’t answer right away and she hadn’t missed that his left hand was still firmly on her ass. He didn’t seem inclined to remove it anytime soon. “Is Ali’s mom still living with her?”

  She hadn’t been expecting the drastic subject change. “As far as I know, but I haven’t spoken to her today.”

  He nodded, and to her dismay, he took a step back, separating them. Before she could ask what he was doing, Justin took her hand and led her off the dance floor.

  Kim followed. Not that he gave her much choice.

  Stopping a few feet away, he released her. “Katrina can print out a limits sheet for you to fill out. I believe Ali is in the lobby tonight. I’m sure she can help you if you have any questions.” The tone of his voice had become more serious, his demeanor more businesslike.

  “Okay.”

  “Are you free tomorrow morning?” he asked.

  Again, she was somewhat thrown by his question. “I think so.”

  He raised a single eyebrow.

  Why did such a simple gesture from him make her want to squirm? “Yes. I’ll be free.”

  Justin nodded. “Be at my house at ten. I’ll make us brunch and we can discuss our lists.”

  “Can’t we just play like we did before?” she asked.

  “No.” He ran his index finger along her jaw. His touch had the muscles in her stomach tightening again. “Before it was about you. Giving you a taste of submission.”

  “And now?” Her question came out in not much more than a whisper.

  “We will be testing your limits. Exploring. There will also be expectations. For both of us. It’s best to be on the same page before we begin.”

  She was happy to hear he wasn’t fighting this thing between them any longer.

  Justin brushed his hand down her arm as he stepped closer, invading her space once more. “I’ll give it one month.”

  She blinked, not understanding what he was talking about. One month?

  Her confusion must have been clear on her face. “If after a month we both decide we want to continue, then we’ll sit down with Mark and your parents.”

  Kim swallowed, her nerves returning, but she nodded. This was what she wanted. Them. Together. She met his gaze. “Yes, Sir.”

  He lowered his head, covering her mouth with his.

  The kiss was chaste. Especially after what they’d done on the dance floor. But still, her body reacted. She wanted more. She always wanted more with him.

  But before she could do more than release a quiet moan, he ended it. “Get the form from Mistress Katrina. Fill it out. Talk to Ali.” Justin lifted her hand to his lips, turned it over, and kissed her palm, sending a spark of heat up her arm. “I’ll see you tomorrow at ten and we’ll go over everything.”

  He didn’t give her a chance to comment before he strolled over to the bar, returning to the seat he’d occupied most of the night before their dance.

  Kim blew out a breath, trying to regain her bearings. Justin always made her feel off-kilter but centered at the same time. It was a strange feeling.

  “Everything all right?”

  The worried look on Daniel’s face pulled her attention from Justin. “Yes. I’m fine.”

  “You’re sure? You appear worried about something.” The older Dom’s concern touched her.

  She decided to be honest. “I am. A little. I need to get a limits list from Mistress Katrina.”

  “Ah.” The side of Daniel’s mouth quirked up into a half smile. “I was wondering when you two would stop tiptoeing around each other.”

  “You knew?” She and Justin had barely spoken since she’d joined Serpent’s Kiss.

  “For those who were paying attention, it was hard to miss.”

  Kim wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  “But if you’re looking for Katrina, she’s over there.” He pointed to the far side of the room.

  Sure enough, Mistress Katrina was talking to a couple she’d seen several times before at the club. “Thanks.”

  Daniel chuckled. “Don’t be nervous. We were all new at one point.”

  He was right. And it wasn’t like Justin didn’t know her.

  Kim shot him a grateful smile and made her way over to Mistress Katrina. She hung back, waiting for the conversation to wrap up.

  When the couple walked away, Katrina turned her attention to Kim. “How can I help you this evening?”

  For some reason, the woman was intimidating, but Kim stood her ground. She could do this. She dealt with intimidating people all the time at work. “I need a limits list.”

  Katrina nodded, not seeming to be bothered that Kim’s request hadn’t been filled with confidence. “Follow me to my office.”

  The club owner didn’t wait for Kim to agree. She turned on her heel and expected Kim to follow.

  They made their way down a hallway off the main room to Katrina’s office. Kim had been there once before, and it still felt as imposing as it had that first time.

  A large wooden desk that sat in the center of the room dominated the office. There were no windows, and on the one wall hung a variety of whips, floggers, and other implements. The first time she’d been in the room, she’d been so nervous she hadn’t paid much attention, but outside the items hanging on the wall, the room could have been any office in countless buildings across the city.

  “Here you are,” Katrina removed several papers from the printer and handed them to Kim.

  “Thank you.”

  Katrina grinned. “I know you have Ali, but if you need help, or have any questions, let me know.”

  “Thank you, again, Mistress Katrina.”

  With the papers in hand, Kim left Katrina’s office and headed back to the main floor of the club. Almost immediately, she spotted Justin at the bar talking to Brandon. She thought about going to him but changed her mind. He’d told her to fill out her list and come to his place tomorrow morning. If she was going to be his submissive, then that meant learning to follow instructions. That wasn’t going to be easy for her, but this she could do. Clutching the papers to her chest, she exited the club and found her friend sitting behind the coat check reading a book.

  Ali’s face lit up when she saw Kim, but then she must have seen how anxious Kim was and her excitement dimmed. “What’s wrong?”

  Kim shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I-I need your help with something.”

  “Did something happen?”

  Instead of answering her friend’s question, Kim handed over the paperwork.

  Ali’s happy expression returned the moment she realized what Kim had given her. She knew what it meant. Her friend had been a member of the club for a few years. A limit list wasn’t required if people wanted to do a scene together. That could be negotiated before the scene began. The limit list, however, was for those who wanted to enter a longer-term arrangement.

  Before Ali could start asking questions, Kim decided to get it all out in the open. “And I need to tell you something else.”

  Her friend’s delighted expression wavered. “You can tell me anything. You know that.”

  Kim knew that and keeping this secret from her best friend had been eating at her.

  She took a deep breath and went for it. “I slept with Justin.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Ali’s eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of her head, then she jumped off her chair and engulfed Kim in a tight embrace. Kim wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she’d get from her friend, but she’d been unprepared to be squeezed to within an inch of her life.

  Eventually, Ali released her. She pulled another chair from the closet and placed it a foot from the one she’d been occupying before Kim’s announcement. “Okay, tell me everything. Did you two go upstairs tonight?”

  Kim shook her head, and then lowered herself into the offered chair. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to spill her guts. “Do you remember the first time I came to Serpent’s Kiss with you?”

  “Of course. You were so nervous, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get you through the door.”

  “Well...” Kim hesitated, knowing what she would say next was going to hurt. Not because Ali would be upset she slept with Justin, obviously, but because Kim didn’t tell her right after it happened. “I saw Justin here that night and figured if I wanted to explore my submissive side, he’d be the perfect one to do it with.” Kim didn’t look at her friend, afraid that if she did, she wouldn’t get through this next part. “So, I showed up at his house the next day and...” She paused. “Offered myself to him.”

  Her confession was met with silence.

  Kim peeked at her friend. She had a look on her face Kim didn’t know how to interpret. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier, but it was supposed to be a one-time thing. An experiment.”

  Again, nothing.

  “Well?” Kim prompted. The silence was killing her.

  “It explains a lot,” Ali said. Then she sighed. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.” Kim paused. “And what do you mean it explains a lot?”

  Ali shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it. You’ve just seemed a little distant.” She frowned. “Now I know why.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Waving her off, Ali squared her shoulders. “It’s okay. It’s not like I’ve never kept anything from you. I mean, I was a member here for over two years before you found my toy bag in the closet.”

  “Still. It’s not the same. I understand why you didn’t tell me about this. To be honest, I’m not sure if I would have been ready to know sooner.” Kim took hold of Ali’s hands. “You’ve known about my crush for years, almost since the beginning of our friendship. This was a big deal, and I should have told you.”

  A tiny smile tugged at Ali’s lips and the vise around Kim’s chest eased. “But you’ve told me now, and you need my help.”

  Kim smiled back and nodded. “I do. He wants me to fill out this limit list. I’m supposed to bring it to his house tomorrow so we can go over it.”

  Grabbing a pen from the desk in front of her, Ali placed the papers on the flat surface and handed the pen to Kim. “We’d better get started then.”

  Justin lingered at the bar for the rest of the night, even though it meant giving Brandon the opportunity to razz him about finally getting his head out of his ass. He didn’t explain to Brandon this was only a trial run. A month to see if they worked as a couple.

  He still wasn’t crazy about the idea, but he understood where Kim was coming from. And to be honest, he wasn’t looking forward to Mark’s reaction. His best friend was as vanilla as they came. Mark didn’t understand Justin’s need to dominate. Once he’d commented how he felt sorry for the women Justin dated, that Justin insisted they perform like trained animals.

  Justin had let the comment slide. Mark had been drunk at the time and he had no filter when he was like that.

  But Justin knew Mark wasn’t comfortable with his lifestyle. The one and only time Justin had brought a sub around, someone he’d been dating for a few months and felt it was time to introduce them to his best friend, Mark had acted as if he were waiting for Justin to order her to her knees at any given moment.

  If Justin and Kim made their relationship public, he had no idea how Mark would react. He could almost deal with any disappointment from Belinda and Davis. Ultimately, they wanted their daughter to be happy and well cared for. Over time, he could prove to them that he could do that. Mark, on the other hand, would know or suspect what was going on behind closed doors.

  Mark’s possible reaction plagued Justin for the rest of the night.

  When Justin’s alarm went off the next morning, he knew he needed to get his head in the game. He had lots to do to prepare for Kim’s arrival.

  Working out helped to clear his head. He pushed himself harder than he usually did, needing to feel the burn and push the concern from his mind. Today was about him and Kim. No one else. They had to be the ones to figure this out. Time had already proven whatever pull they felt toward each other wasn’t going away. They needed to deal with this.

  After a shower, he put on some comfortable clothes and powered up his computer. He pulled up his limits list, gave it a quick run-through to make sure everything was up to date, and then hit print. Justin knew what he liked and what he didn’t. He’d been in the lifestyle for over ten years and had played with a multitude of submissives. But in all that time, he’d never been as anxious to see his partner’s list of desires as he was to see Kim’s. Given her inexperience, he didn’t know what it would look like.

  Bringing his list with him into the kitchen, he placed it on the counter and began prepping for brunch. He had one hour before Kim was set to arrive and lots to do.

  At nine-fifty-eight, his doorbell rang. Justin turned off the stove and went to answer the door.

  Kim stood on his front porch, clutching her purse to her chest. Unlike last time she showed up on his doorstep, she was wearing more than a trench coat.

  “Come in,” he said, motioning for her to come inside.

  “Thanks.”

  He helped her remove her coat and placed it on the coat rack by the door. She wore a lovely burnt orange sweater and a snug pair of jeans that showed off her curves. His hands were itching to touch her, but first things first. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  She gave him a shy smile. “Starving.”

  Justin knew she was nervous. He would normally keep things platonic between himself and a potential sub until limits were discussed, but he wanted to help put her at ease. Cupping the side of her face with his right hand, he brought their lips together for a chaste kiss. “We’ll eat first, then talk. All right?”

  Kim nodded and followed him into the kitchen.

  He had her take a seat at the table while he brought everything over.

  “Were you planning to feed an army?” she asked.

  Justin laughed. “Nope. Just us.”

  “I know you eat a lot, but this could feed us for the entire week.”

  Once everything was on the table, he sat down next to her. “It probably will. Or me, at least.”

  She scrunched up her nose in confusion.

  Handing her a plate and encouraging her to help herself, he explained, “I usually do the bulk of my weekly cooking, or at least prepping on Sundays. Since I don’t always know how late I’ll be at the shop during the week, it’s easier to have the food ready for me no matter what time I get home.”

  “Oh,” she said. “That makes sense.”

  They ate in silence for several minutes before Justin turned the conversation back to last night. “Was Ali able to help you?”

  Kim swallowed her bite of food and nodded. “Yes. It was a good thing, too, because I didn’t know what some of the stuff was.” She lowered her voice and asked, “Do people really like to pee on each other?”

  He chuckled. “Yes, there are people who like all sorts of things, including that.”

  “I guess I’ve been living under a rock, then, because I’ve never heard of that.”

  “You’ve never heard of golden showers?” he asked. While she might not have the variety of sexual experience he did, she wasn’t exactly a virgin.

  Her eyes widened for a moment before going back to normal. “That’s what that means? I never knew that.”

  Smiling, he reached for another piece of bacon. “What else did you and Ali talk about last night?”

  She glanced up at him through her lashes. “I told her we slept together.”

  “We did more than sleep,” Justin said with a pointed look.

  Kim blushed, averting her eyes. “Yes, well, I told her that, too. She tried to downplay it, but I know she was hurt that I didn’t tell her. She knows I’ve had a crush on you for years.”

  He placed a finger under her chin and guided her gaze to his. “I didn’t tell my best friend either.”

  Silence fell between them as the reason for that hung in the air.

  “How bad do you think it will be?” Kim asked.

  Justin frowned. “I don’t know. Your brother knows about my lifestyle. Even if he doesn’t know the details of our bedroom activities, he’s going to at least have a clue as to what’s going on.” Dropping his hand, Justin picked up his plate and carried it over to the sink. “While Mark’s never said anything directly to me, I’ve always gotten the impression that he doesn’t approve. Or at least he doesn’t understand my need to dominate my partner. Nor their desire to submit.”

  “And me being his sister...”

  Her words lingered in the air as she joined him at the sink, putting her plate down next to his.

  This was a strange situation they found themselves in. Normally, he wouldn’t give a rat’s ass what Mark thought of the women he dated, but this was different. She was Mark’s sister, and he didn’t want his friend thinking any less of her or their relationship.

  That is, if this month-long trial went well.

  Without overthinking it, Justin pulled her into his arms, resting his lips against her forehead. “If anything, he’ll take his frustration out on me, not you.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Kim said, leaning into his embrace.

  Her words pulled a smile from him. Taking a step back, Justin put a little distance between them. As much as he wanted to skip to the good stuff, they needed to take care of business first. “Are you ready to go over our lists?”

  “Not really.”

  Justin took another step back. Maybe she wasn’t ready for this. One night of kinky sex was different than entering into a D/s relationship. “Have you changed your mind?”

  Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, I haven’t changed my mind. I’m just...” She leaned back against the counter, putting more space between them. “I’m worried our lists won’t...mesh.”

  At his look of confusion, she continued. “You’ve been doing this for a long time.”

 

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