Page 31 of Mine To Break
Chapter Thirteen
Mal couldn’t answer for a moment, for fear of revealing exactly how much his offer touched her. It was no small thing for a man of his pride and strength to be willing to humble, and even potentially embarrass, himself, just to please her. He might not consider himself a submissive, but it was a very thoughtful way he could serve her needs that had nothing to do with his own sexual gratification.
“Not the tail,” he clarified, his tone stern though his eyes flashed with amusement. “I’ll blackberry right out of that.”
“No tail,” she agreed, grateful he’d kept to a light tone. If he’d gone all serious or apologetic about the minor incorrect assumption he’d made before, she might have actually teared up. “I just want to see how the bridle actually goes on, and how a dominant would use it to give the submissive a sense of ownership.”
He loosened the buckles on either side to stretch out the part that went over his head. When he actually did slip the contraption on, her breath caught in her throat.
“What? That bad?”
She shook her head and reached out to cup his face, sliding over the cushion closer to him. “Not at all.”
“You’re not turned on by this, are you?”
He didn’t say it as an accusation, or with alarm, just more curious. “Not in the way you think.” The metal bit hung down below his chin, but now he couldn’t see to do the buckles. She worked the left side tighter, drawing the bit up to lie against his chin but not in his mouth.
“You are. I can see it,” he whispered, his voice dropping to a rumble that made her eyelashes flutter. “You’re holding your breath. You like this.”
“It’s not the pony gear. It’s you. That you were willing to even try this. For me.”
His eyes widened. “I’d do just about anything for you, Mal.”
“Don’t say that, not yet. You don’t know what I’ll ask of you.”
“I mean it, and I don’t say it lightly. I even had a man-to-man talk today with Elias.”
She laughed, reaching toward the other side of his head. He turned in toward her to make it easier. “How’d that go?”
“About as good as you’d expect.”
“What man problems is he having? Or would it break some cop code of silence to tell me?”
“He didn’t go into details, but mentioned that Vicki had given him an ultimatum. One that his brain knew was a good idea, but—”
“Because she told him, he didn’t want to do it. Typical.” Mal thought the straps were pretty even. Sitting back, she looked him over. “How does that feel?”
“Fine.” He shrugged. “Not a problem, but not a turn on.”
“Would it bother you if I tug a bit on these straps, to see what kind of limitations you have?”
“They’re called reins, and no, I wouldn’t mind. You won’t have much leverage other than pulling my head around, because the bit isn’t in my mouth.”
She picked up the reins and stood before him. Giving an experimental tug, she watched his body carefully. She could lift his head a bit, but the bridle almost slipped off his head. “Not tight enough.”
He cupped the metal bit in his palm and lifted it closer to his mouth. “Go ahead and tighten it. You won’t be able to try much until you do.”
She frowned. “I don’t think I like the idea of that thing in your mouth. Won’t it taste bad? And you won’t be able to talk.”
“Pretend I’m gagged. I’ve probably had worse things in my mouth.”
She arched a brow at him. “Don’t go giving me ideas, detective.” Ah, there was that cocky grin she loved so much. Since he wasn’t bothered in the slightest, she stepped back and tightened each buckle, so the bit fit comfortably into his mouth. He clanged his teeth on the metal, which made her cringe. “It just seems so… barbaric.”
He laughed, that much she could understand, but when he tried to talk, it was so garbled she couldn’t understand anything. He shook his head and made a sound like a whinny instead, and she ended up laughing so hard that she held on to her stomach.
“Blackberry,” she groaned, making him set off another round of horse-like laughs. He stood, and with his eyes gleaming and shining with mischief, he was probably going to prance around like a horse. Before he could set off another round of laughter, she gave a tug on the reins. Maybe a bit too hard, because his eyes widened and his head came down toward her, an arch in his back.
Ah. She liked that stunned look on a man’s face. The look he got when he realized she had the upper hand. “Not so funny now, is it, sugar.”
