Page 6 of Tick Tock, Boom!

She looked...nervous. Wide-eyed. Still collared, but free.

Then, just like before, she lowered herself to the ground. Chest lifted, chin down. And crawled towardmeon her hands and knees.

I slid into a chair and watched as she came closer, her curvy ass swaying in the air alluringly as she approached. That bell jingled with every shift. She didn’t meet my eyes. Not until she was kneeling right in front of me, her hands on her thighs, waiting for something she didn’t even know if I could give.

The air between us was electric.

“You always crawl over to strangers,” I asked, my voice low and edged with something darker than curiosity. “Or didhetell you to come to me?” I hated the thought that she may have been ordered to come satisfy a stranger, even if that stranger was me.

She peeked up at me from beneath long lashes, eyes wide and unsure, and that soft little nod she gave almost undid me.

“Yes,” she said. Her voice was honey-laced and shy. “He said I could…ifI wanted to.”

“And did you want to?”

She hesitated before giving me another nod.“Yes.”

Something about the way she said it, so quietly, like a confession, made me sit up straighter. She wasn’t like the other women in the room. She didn’t have that seasoned hunger or the performance behind her eyes. This one was new. Still learning the ropes. Still unsure if she was prey or predator. And God help me, I wanted to find out.

“You don’t look like you belong in a place like this,” I murmured, letting my hand fall to the table beside me. Her gaze followed it like a kitten chasing movement. “You seem too soft for all this?”

Her lips parted, a nervous little smile tugging at her mouth. “I… I’m still figuring it out.”

My brow lifted. “First time?”

She shrugged one bare shoulder. “Not the first. But almost.”

She was sweet. Sweet in the way that made me want to ruin her slowly. Her eyes kept darting up to mine, then dropping again like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to look at me.

“And you like being watched?” I asked, my voice dipping lower, rougher, scraping across her skin like sandpaper wrapped in heat. She blushed for me.

“Being up there on that stage… you didn’t look scared.”

She bit her lip. Fuck, it was soft. Plush and pink and begging to be marked. I wanted to tug it between my teeth and make her whimper.

“I didn’t think I would,” she whispered, her voice barely a breath. “But I… I liked it. More than I expected.”

I leaned in closer, close enough to feel the warmth coming off her skin, the scent of something sweet and soft that clung to her like a memory I hadn’t made yet.

“You like it rough?” I asked, my thumb brushing along the underside of her chin, tilting her face toward mine.

Her breath hitched. “I… I don’t know,” she said quietly, like she was embarrassed to admit it.

“Maybe.” Her fingers curled against her thighs, the bell at her throat giving the softest chime as she nodded slightly.

I brushed my lips against hers, just barely. Not a kiss. A sweet warning.

She let out a shaky sigh that fluttered against my mouth, her lashes trembling as her eyes closed for half a second, looking like she was trying to hold onto the moment.

“What are you?” I asked, letting my voice drop low enough to vibrate in my chest. “You’re not just some dancer in a collar.” I lightly flicked the bell on her collar, hearing it chime as I continued to graze my lips against hers.

Her cheeks flushed, and she opened her eyes, looking up at me like she was giving something away she shouldn’t.

“I’m a kitten,” she said softly. “It’s a… type of submissive. I like affection. Attention. Gentle touches. I purr. I crawl. I obey.”

Jesus. Christ.

She kept talking, unaware of how every word was digging deeper under my skin.

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