Perception (Club Destiny #6)(84)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“Are you making me get out?” she asked, smiling.

“It’s time. I was hoping to show you something before bed.”

That seemed to catch her interest.

“What are you going to show me?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he teased.

God, he loved the way she seemed so comfortable in his bathroom, relaxing in his tub, sharing the space with him. It just felt… natural.

Reaching down, he waited for her to take his hand. Once she’d hit the button to release the water from the tub, she took his proffered hand, and he assisted her to her feet. Taking the handheld shower sprayer that was attached to the tub, he turned on the warm water and rinsed her thoroughly.

The water sluiced over her generous curves and he watched as every glorious inch of her was uncovered. As usual, he found himself intrigued by the intricate magnolia flower tattoo on her shoulder that wrapped around her upper arm all the way to her elbow. It was feminine and so damn sensual. As was the other one on her hip that contained a pair of cuffs, a collar, and a flogger hidden in the brilliantly colored flowers.

Once he was sure he’d washed all of the soap from her creamy skin, Xander turned off the water, took her hand and helped her out of the bath onto the plush rug sitting in front of the tub. From there, he retrieved a towel and proceeded to dry her completely. When he was satisfied, he took his terry cloth robe from the back of the door and wrapped it around her.

Mercedes smiled up at him, and Xander’s heart skipped a beat. He was beginning to crave those smiles.

Taking her hand in his, Xander led her down the hall to another room on the second floor. There were two additional bedrooms, but this one he’d had converted.

Into his own personal dungeon.

Keeping his eye on Mercedes, he watched for her reaction.

She already knew about the dungeon, but he’d never actually shown it to her. Mainly because she had never asked, and he’d never had a reason to.

Until tonight.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Mercedes had been essentially boneless after her bath. But as she allowed Xander to lead her to his dungeon, she knew her stress was about to come back tenfold.

It wasn’t that she’d thought she wouldn’t visit his dungeon at least once during the five days she’d be there, but honestly, she’d been hoping for longer – preferably a month – to acclimate to her new temporary life before he ventured this direction. Although that wasn’t part of the deal.

Apparently Xander had other ideas.

Xander flipped on the lights in a rather impressive room and allowed her to step inside before he put his hands on her shoulders and eased the robe down and off of her, leaving her very, very naked. As naked as he was.

An involuntary shiver wracked her body, and it had nothing to do with being cold. In fact, the air was comfortable, and her body was warming nicely just from the idea of what was to come, yet there was a little bit of hesitancy that was lingering in the forefront of her mind.

Her fight or flight instinct was kicking in as well, warning her that she might soon regret what she’d signed on for.

Then again, he’d openly punished her in front of a large group of people at Devotion, and she’d found out just how much she could enjoy that type of submission.

Even if she was still confused by it.

All of that aside, if she really thought about it, this place had some positive things going for it. One, it was nice. Not seedy or dirty, just immaculately clean and well designed. And two, they did not have an audience which meant she’d be able to maintain a little of her dignity while he did whatever he had planned for her.

Mercedes would openly admit that she was impressed with Xander’s setup. He’d gone all out by incorporating the necessary equipment for all of his kinks, including a rather intricate suspension rig that would rival any she’d seen in any club – it was equipped with a narrow padded platform that appeared to act as a bed with a number of straps to secure his submissives. He also had a medical setup in one corner – for those extremely kinky play scenes. Another corner had a St. Andrew’s cross. And the final section had a rather plain looking bench – probably used for regular whipping – if there was such a thing.

All in all, Mercedes liked it. The floors and walls were an inky black, the lights were blue which offered a seductive, eerie glow to the room.

“I’m going to go easy on you tonight,” he told her.

She would’ve believed him too if it weren’t for the wicked glint in his eyes and the smirk on his sexy lips.

“Let’s play, shall we?” he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the suspension rig.