Page 121 of Big Daddy Christmas
To his utter delight, she didn’t wither at his words. Eyes narrowing, she met his gaze head-on without so much as flinching. “See, that’s the kind of thing that scares the shit out of me. What kind of man enjoys hurting women? Like, Beckett seems perfectly lovely until you get him up on stage with Ruby and then he’s leaving welts all over her ass and laughing about it.”
Not only a newbie, but confused about her own desires. Empathy welled, a pressure in his chest that made him ache for her. “Trust me when I tell you it’s not an easy thing to reconcile, even for a man like me.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he was cursing himself for a fool. He was treading dangerously close to telling her far too much about himself, all because she was under his skin.
Curiosity spread across her face as she watched him. “What does that mean? A man like you?”
“I have a reputation for being rather ruthless in business.” It wasn’t a lie, though it was far from the whole truth. “For a long time, I worried that ruthlessness was why I enjoyed kink so much. That it was merely an extension of the monster I am.”
Fucking hell. What was it about her that had him saying things he’d never said to anyone else, not even his sister and cousins?
Annoyed with himself, he forged ahead without giving her time to voice the reassurances he could see in her eyes. Reassurances he didn’t remotely deserve. “But I realized at some point that what I truly enjoy is giving my partners what they want. What they crave. And if their needs happen to align with my desire to hurt them, all the better. If not, however, I get no enjoyment out of hurting them. I’ve played with a few submissives who weren’t masochists, who got nothing from the pain, and it all fell rather flat for me.”
He watched her eyes, watched the wheels turn and realization clear the lingering worry from the blue. “You’re going to hurt me, and you’re going to like it. But only if I like it, too?”
“That’s the nutshell version, yes.”
“Okay.” Blowing out a deep breath, she gave a decisive nod. “I got a little freaked out when I realized how much you were going to enjoy hurting me, and I guess I got in my head about it. About what kind of man I’d locked myself in this room with, if you actually enjoy hurting people. It just made you seem, I don’t know, more dangerous than you actually are, I guess.”
Oh, princess. I’m far more dangerous than you could possibly realize.
Giving voice to that thought, no matter how truthful, was likely to just scare her again, and not in the fun way he had planned. So instead, he leaned further in, brushing his lips over hers. “Good girl for telling Daddy what scared you. I know that wasn’t easy, and I’m very proud of you.”
Hunger, a kind that had nothing to do with the desire stamped all over her stunning face, filled her eyes. Oh yeah, his naughty little princess enjoyed his praise, far more than she was willing to admit.
“Proud enough to let me off the hook for calling you a bastard?” she asked, a dimple in her cheek flashing as she grinned up at him.
He couldn’t help it. The sheer brazenness pulled a laugh from him as he straightened.
“All right, princess. You win. I’ll let you off the hook, just this once.” Sliding the lid off the box, he held up a single silver clamp, let the pretty pink jewels dangle in the dim light as he smiled. “But I’m still going to hurt you. And I’m still going to enjoy it, very, very much.”
Chapter 6
Aria
Fear thundered through her veins, sending her heart to racing again. But it was different than before. Instead of the bone-deep terror that she’d made a huge mistake, that she’d put herself in an impossibly dangerous situation, this felt… good. More like the fear from a scary movie or a rollercoaster ride.
Master O was kneeling between her thighs now, leaning over her, crowding her in a way that kept her from feeling as if she could draw a deep enough breath. Was that part of it? Keep her off-center, unable to truly get her bearings?
If it was, it was working like a charm.
Hooded eyes met hers as he reached down with one hand to cup her breast. Pleasure mingled with fear in her veins, making her head swim as she resisted the urge to look down. Breaking that eye contact now felt like losing, for reasons she couldn’t have explained even to herself, and this was a game she was determined to win.
“Color, princess,” he murmured as he rolled her nipple between his fingers, sending more of that delightful pleasure racing through her body.
“Green, Sir. Very green. I promise.”
“I believe you.” Those clever fingers clamped down around her nipple, just enough pressure to create a dull ache in her breast. “And now?”
“Still green.” It hurt, but not nearly as much as she’d expected it to. And the hurt was… well, it was quite lovely if she was being entirely honest with herself. Even with all her curiosity surrounding the club, she’d never considered herself a masochist.
She almost hoped he proved her wrong.
“Good. I’m going to put the first clamp on now. These are adjustable, so we’ll start with the lightest setting first and keep going until it hurts but isn’t unbearable. Ready?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Releasing his hold on her nipple, he plucked one of the clamps from his other hand and held it up for her to see. Pink jewels dangled from the silver device, and black rubber covered the tips.
