Page 24 of Strength in Submission
Chapter Ten
WHIP
My apartment is on the fifteenth floor of one of the newer buildings downtown, with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the city. It's not the kind of place most of my brothers would expect me to live—too clean, too modern, not enough beer cans and motorcycle parts scattered around. But I've always liked the separation between my worlds.
The club is raw, unfiltered, a place where I can be Whip without apology.
This place is something else entirely.
I unlock the door, letting Violet enter first. Her eyes widen as she takes in the open floor plan, the leather furniture, the expensive art on the walls. The decorating was all done by some designer Ash recommended when I bought the place. Said I had too much money to live like a college freshman.
She wasn't wrong.
"This is..." Violet trails off, walking to the windows to look at the city sprawled below us. "Not what I expected."
"You expected a cave?" I joke, tossing my keys into the bowl on the entry table. "With motorcycles parts and empty whiskey bottles?"
She turns, giving me a shy smile. "Maybe. I don't know. It's just so..."
"Boring?" I offer.
"Sophisticated," she corrects. "Like you have a whole life outside the club that no one sees."
I cross to her, drawn by the golden city lights reflecting in her dark eyes. "Not no one," I say, touching her face gently. "You see it now."
Her breath catches, and I can see the pulse jumping in her throat. When I lean in to kiss her, she rises on her toes to meet me, her mouth soft and warm against mine. I keep the kiss gentle at first, mindful of her bruised cheek, but when her tongue touches mine, something inside me snaps.
I back her against the window, pinning her with my body as I deepen the kiss. My hands find her wrists, drawing them above her head and holding them there against the glass. She moans into my mouth, arching against me.
"Is this what you want?" I murmur against her lips. "Me taking control?"
"Yes," she breathes, eyes heavy-lidded. "I've never... it's never been like this before."
I release her wrists, stepping back slightly. "Like what, exactly?"
She bites her lip, suddenly shy. "Like I want to give up control. Like I trust someone enough to just... let go."
The admission sends excitement coursing through me. I've been with submissive women before—the club has its share of willing participants who understand the lifestyle—but none of them have affected me the way Violet does. With her, it's not about the power. It's about the connection.
"I need you to tell me exactly what you're comfortable with," I say, my voice low but firm. "What are your limits? What do you want to try? What's off the table completely?"
She seems surprised by the directness of my questions. "I don't... I don't really know. I've never done anything like this before."
"Like what, Violet?" I press. "Say it."
Her cheeks flush, but she holds my gaze. "BDSM. Dominance and submission. I've read about it, thought about it, but I've never... experienced it."
I nod, filing that information away. "Then we go slow. Establish safe words. Red for stop, everything ends immediately. Yellow for slow down, check in. Green for keep going. Can you remember that?"
She nods.
"Say it," I command gently.
"Red for stop. Yellow for slow down. Green for keep going."
"Good girl." I watch her reaction to the praise, noting how her pupils dilate, how her breathing quickens. "Now, is there anything you know for sure you don't want to try?"
She thinks for a moment. "No hitting. Not after... you know."
