Perception (Club Destiny #6)(25)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“Do you?” he asked, sounding unconvinced and rightfully so since he still held her up against the window and somewhere along the way she’d forgotten that she had pressed her body up against his, her breasts against the hard planes of his chest.

But it didn’t matter that she was physically attracted to this man. This Dom. She did like being in control. And she was good at it. She was successful. She was independent. And she’d kept the attention of more subs than she cared to count through the years. They kept coming back. It didn’t seem to matter that she never promised them anything. That said something about her; she knew it did. But it didn’t explain these mixed up emotions churning in her belly.

She wasn’t giving up yet though.

“Are you saying you want to top me? That in five days I’ll just hand over the reins to you?” she asked. “That’s a little optimistic, X. Even for you.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he answered easily that time, his restraint palpable.

Having him dominate her was something she’d never even considered until last night at Devotion. Since then… well, since then she’d thought about little else.

Confusion overwhelmed her. No matter what she wanted, regardless of whether she gave in to it or not, it still didn’t explain what Xander’s ulterior motive was.

“Why me, X?” Knowing she was moving into dangerous territory, Mercedes stared into crystal green eyes, searching for the truth. He didn’t answer her question, so she continued. “And once you break me? Once I’m nothing but a puddle at your feet? Then what? Are you telling me you wouldn’t get bored with me like you do all the others?”

Mercedes knew him. Xander hadn’t had a serious relationship since the day she’d met him. He played at the clubs, took some of them home, but they never lasted more than a week at the most. He claimed that it was due to work. He didn’t have time for anything else.

Right.

Mercedes wasn’t willing to give up the friendship they’d developed for a few days of sex.

No matter how good she suspected it would be.

Chapter Seven

Although Xander heard every single word Mercedes said, he didn’t believe her for a second. Oh, she gave a convincing argument with her direct questions, trying to turn this around on him.

And maybe she had a point, Xander hadn’t had a real relationship in as long as he could remember. He’d been content with work and play, keeping the two completely separate, yet knowing that work would ultimately take priority over anything else.

That was before last night. Before his entire thought process had changed at the hands of this one woman. Or rather, when he’d finally gotten his hands on this woman.

After years of subtly trying to get her to see him the way he saw her, Xander had finally been handed an opportunity too good to pass up. Thanks to Logan’s request, Xander was given the chance to get her in a position where he could convince her that he was the man she needed. Because she was whom he needed. Who he wanted. The woman he longed to have beside him. And not just as his friend.

In all of the years he’d played at the clubs, all of the pets he’d commanded, never once had any one woman touched a place so deep inside of him the way Mercedes had.

Not that he could share that with her just yet because it would likely come back to bite him in the ass and right now, he just wanted a commitment from her. Five days. That’s all he needed to show her exactly how good the two of them could be together.

Hell, he could still feel the way her body had relented to his last night. The way she’d come apart in his arms. It had taken right at ten minutes to bring her down from the sexual high, which he believed is what really pissed her off.

Not him. He loved every fucking minute of it and yearned to do it again. So much so that Xander couldn’t even contemplate the idea of being with another woman ever again. He wasn’t even sure he could simply play with a sub because the only person he would be thinking about was Mercedes. And he couldn’t stand the thought of her with someone else either. He knew himself, knew that he’d lose his shit if he saw her with another man.

Nor was he willing to just let her go. If required, Xander was more than ready to fight to convince her.

He understood her reaction. Hell, he’d be thoroughly confused if somewhere along the way he showed any sort of submissive tendency as well. But Xander knew her, knew that she’d never submit to another man.

Only him.

And that fucking made his dick hard.

To know that she would never kneel at another man’s feet, would never give up the control she held close to the vest… it made him want to dominate her in every way.