Perception (Club Destiny #6)(105)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Standing directly in front of her, he let his hands hang at his sides, forcing himself to remain relaxed. He’d already defied her once, and she was probably looking for more, something to shore up her nerve. She couldn’t hide from him, even if she wanted to. He could see it in her eyes. There was hesitation he had never seen from Mercedes the Domme before, and he knew it had everything to do with him.

It only made it that much easier to go along with this. Tonight.

From this point on, she wouldn’t get that from him. She had enough to worry about with Clarissa and her inexperience. It wasn’t necessary for him to do anything more than endure tonight.

“Rissa.”

Xander didn’t turn around to see where Clarissa was, but he felt her moving in the small room. When she came up beside him, her arm brushed his and he fought the urge to smile. She was nervous too. So much so that she was trembling.

Yes, he’d tried to help her out earlier by getting her riled up. She was a strong woman; he knew that much about her. But she seemed utterly unsure of herself when it came to this side of Mercedes. Why that was, he had no idea. He was sure he’d find out soon enough.

“Do you have a safe word, Rissa?” Mercedes asked and this time Xander did look down at her.

“Yes, Ma’am,” she said promptly.

Xander was impressed. She hadn’t followed up her answer with a bunch of rambling, which he knew Mercedes would appreciate. As a Dom, he expected it.

“Good girl,” Mercedes responded, taking a step closer and cupping Clarissa’s face gently with her long, slender fingers. “What is your safe word?”

“Magnolia,” Clarissa whispered.

Mercedes smiled. “I like it. Will you have trouble remembering it?”

“No, Mistress,” Clarissa said, her voice husky.

Most of the subs at Kink used the house safe word, which was red. Obviously Clarissa had some experience if she came readily prepared with her own safe word. And from the way she answered, Clarissa hadn’t just come up with it either.

“Very good.” Mercedes turned to look at Xander, and he suddenly ached for her to touch him. He didn’t care how she did it, he just wanted her hands on him. “And you?”

His safe word was much simpler. He went with the norm like Mercedes. Because Mercedes didn’t ask him what his safe word was directly, he just stared down at her, locking his eyes with hers as he waited for her next question.

“What is your safe word, Xander?” There was a hint of exasperation in her tone.

He knew she was asking more for Clarissa’s benefit than anything else. “Red,” he answered easily.

“Good boy,” Mercedes answered but she didn’t touch him which was somewhat of a disappointment.

Then again, he made a mental note to punish her later for calling him “boy”. Especially after Shane chuckled from the corner.

“Tonight, I’m going to introduce you to Xander,” Mercedes explained to Clarissa. “I’m not going to push your boundaries yet.”

Introduce her? Holy fuck. He doubted Clarissa understood just what the meant, but he damn sure did. And it surprised him on all counts.

Xander noticed the relief on Clarissa’s face.

Just wait, little girl.

“If, at any time, you’re uncomfortable, use your safe word. Everything will stop at that time, and you and Shane will be free to leave.”

Xander watched Clarissa’s face closely which is why he saw her immediate reaction. Concern?

“Talk to me, Rissa,” Mercedes encouraged.

“If I have to use my safe word, does that mean we will never engage with the two of you again?”

That was a good question. In his experience, when a sub used a safe word, he would end the scene and let it end there. Due to his expectations, which he admitted were quite high, he expected his subs to endure what he would give them. He fully respected them if they couldn’t, but he often found that given a repeat opportunity, that same sub would safe word out again. He was more than willing to teach a sub how to endure what they needed, but those were discussions he had up front.

He knew with Mercedes, she wasn’t quite as cut and dried as he was. She was strict, not leaving much room for error, but she would generally allow second chances if a sub opted to use their safe word. Sometimes a third. So, needless to say, he was quite interested in knowing as well.

Although she would always respect a subs reason for safe wording, Mercedes usually wasn’t a forgiving Domme. If something didn’t go the way she felt it should, she’d be the first to shut things down, and she’d move on. He’d seen her do it before.