Perception (Club Destiny #6)(128)
Author: Nicole Edwards

As each day passed, Xander became more and more anxious while Mercedes became less and less defiant. Sure, there were times when her submission awed him, other times when he knew she needed a little encouragement – otherwise known as punishment. But no matter what, she always kept him on his toes.

Of course, there were those times when she called him Master, and the sound still did something to him. It made him feel things he never imagined possible.

He loved her. That was all there was to it.

They were making frequent visits to Devotion, and both of them had cancelled their memberships at Kink. It was no longer necessary since neither of them was interested in playing with others, and their reputations still held rather firm in that circle. So, it was just easier to engage at Devotion.

As for Clarissa and Shane, they’d sat down and talked to them both separately. As it turned out, their good friends had stopped seeing each other shortly after that debacle. Xander knew it had nothing to do with that particular scene and everything to do with Trent Ramsey. He wasn’t quite sure whether Shane realized that or not though. But, regardless of the reason, if the playboy actor had put the moves on Clarissa, no one was admitting to it. At least not yet.

Needless to say, Xander wasn’t sure he was up to speed on anyone else’s relationship at the moment because he was too busy trying to move his to the next level.

Mercedes still made his head spin, each and every day. He found that he woke up in the morning to thoughts of her and he fell asleep at night with her in his arms. He wasn’t sure he could ever go back to living any other way. Falling in love with her had been the single most profound moment of his entire life. Which was why he’d been working to get to this point.

The timing hadn’t been exactly what he wanted, but he had felt the need to fulfill his end of their deal before he popped the question.

As the plane took off, Xander thumbed the ring in his pocket, remembering what had happened in recent days during their trip to AI. Specifically the night Xander had fulfilled his end of the deal they had made all those months ago.

He thought the day would never come.

Xander loved Mercedes. With everything in him. If it meant he had to pretend to submit to her on occasion, so fucking be it. There was no question in his mind that he would move heaven and earth to make her happy.

He loved her that much.

She made his fucking blood boil and as he’d proven he was willing to go to damn near any length just to get close to her. It was the reason she’d given him a chance in the beginning. Giving himself up to her as her submissive for two nights over the course of six months had been proof. It was something he’d never done before, didn’t have any desire to do again, but all in all it had been worth it.

Totally fucking worth it.

“You said you had a meeting this afternoon?” Mercedes asked, reaching for a bottle of water.

“I do.” It wasn’t the type of meeting she was probably thinking, but it was a meeting all the same.

A naked meeting.

Right here on his private jet.

“Where?”

Ok, so clearly this conversation was moving in a direction he wasn’t quite prepared for. Why he thought he’d have more time to fidget and let his mind stumble over what he wanted to say, he didn’t know.

“Wait, before we get into what the rest of the day entails,” Mercedes said as she stood from her chair, moving toward him. Xander had to quickly pull his hand out of his pocket as she straddled his lap. “I just want to say that I had fun last night.”

“I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say that was fun,” he said with a smirk, “but I enjoyed the hell out of it.” He enjoyed what had happened once they were back in their room for sure. Just like he’d envisioned all those months ago, he had put that damn collar to good use. And the leash.

“I don’t think anyone noticed.”

“I’m sure someone did.” No one had said anything, but Xander hadn’t tried to encourage discussion either.

“I happen to like when you dominate me,” she whispered, leaning her head down. “It’s fucking hot.”

Yeah. Understatement of the century. “Not gonna argue there.”

“So what are you waiting for now?”

What the hell was he waiting for?

“Do you want me naked? Right here?”

“I want you naked all the time.” Xander’s body hardened as he realized she was pushing him to dominate her. Not that she had to push hard.

Sliding his hands up her arms, her shoulders, her neck, Xander gathered her hair in his hand and pulled it over her shoulder. He reached for the top button on her shirt and unhooked it easily.