Nina's Dom (4 page)

"
Athol,
shut it." Nina interrupted him. "This is to
say Dominic is taking me into the small staff lounge so we can talk."

"Ah,
the tell
a friend where you are? So I can rescue him
if you get bolshie? No problem. Oh and is he there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Tell
him Kitty's room is free if you need it." The line went dead.

Nina
handed the walky-talky back to Nic, who slid it in his pocket. The way his hand
tightened the black denim that covered it stretched the material until his cock
was outlined in loving detail.
Long, thick, erect, loving
detail.
Enough to make Nina swallow hard.
She
might not want the Dom stuff, but she could always appreciate a well-honed
physique whoever it belonged to.

"Did
you hear that?" she asked. "What's Kitty's room?" It wasn't a
name familiar to her.

"Yeah."
He didn't answer her other
questions.

Nina
bit back an angry retort. She had the impression it would do no good
whatsoever. Clams and tight had nothing on him.

"You
ready now?" He keyed in a set of numbers on a pad by the door, and the
door slid silently to one side.

"I
guess." If he could be brief, then so could she.

Nic
stood back to let Nina precede him. She clenched her fists by her side. Why did
his placid—if you ignored the implacable determination that oozed out of every
pore—attitude, annoy her so?

"And?"
Nina demanded as she stalked
passed him and waited in the long grey painted corridor until the door closed
behind them. "Is that all you have to say?"

"Not at all."
His tone should have warned her
even if the set of his shoulders didn't. "But I'm not arguing the toss in the
corridor, where in effect any member of staff can come upon us.
If we're going to disagree or not, we'll do it in private.
I
can reserve this room. Here." He put one hand in the small of Nina's back,
used the other to flick a latch that covered the word available on the middle
of a nondescript wooden door. Then, with
a none
too
gentle shove, Dominic propelled her forward. It was only the fact that he held
on to her arm that stopped her tripping over the rich maroon carpet.

Blast the man. Do not say it. Do.
Not. Say it. Bite your lip and behave. Show you're an adult. Ditch the temper
and be gracious.
She wondered if the lecture to
herself
would work.

Nina
looked around with interest and tried not to flinch as the door shut with a
decided bang. So maybe Dominic wasn't as insouciant as he seemed after all. Now
her contrary self wanted to know what was wrong with him. Wasn't she worth
being set up with? The bleak look in his eyes halted the question before she
voiced it. It seemed she wasn't the only one who had no interest in what went
on at Dommissimma.

But he's a Dom? Something doesn't
add up
. For once
in her life, and Nina was mightily impressed with her restraint, she didn't query
that horrible dark expression.

"So
they call you Nic?"

"They
do, you don't. Sir will do just fine."

Arrogant
prick.
"May I sit down?" she asked quietly. Then she could have bitten her
tongue out. He went pale under his dark skin and blinked rapidly. What on earth
was that all about?

"Of course.
Sorry." He waved toward a
big comfortable looking sofa, before he went to a fridge, took out two bottles
of water and joined her.

"She
used to say that." Dominic opened his bottle of water and drank deeply.
Nina twisted hers in her hand and waited for him to continue.

"My wife."

She
dropped the bottle. It fell onto the carpet and toppled sideways to roll a
little before settling. Luckily the seal stayed secure.

His
wife?
So where is she then?

 
"Oh don't
worry,
I'm not playing without her." Obviously Nic—she'd think of him like that
from now on, Dominic the Dom was a bit of a mouthful—had noticed her jump. Well
he'd be hard pressed not to. Her water had missed his foot by an inch. He
retrieved the bottle and set it on its base.

If he's a Dom he would notice
things like that, wouldn't he?
Nina wondered what she'd got herself into.

"Lue.
My wife.
She died three years ago.
Cancer.
I lost my interest
in BDSM then."

He
sighed, and Nina leaned toward him to squeeze his arm in silent sympathy. A
hint of fresh citrus and pomegranate cologne teased her senses. Mixed in with
the scent of man it was a powerful aphrodisiac, and Nina reacted to it like one
of Pavlov's dogs. Her clit tingled, and her nipples hardened. She daren't look
down to see if they stood out against her top. It would be mortifying,
especially when he was talking about his late wife.

"Look,
this isn't a sob story," Nic said. "I'm trying to give you a little
background info. I honestly haven’t had the slightest inclination to do more
than demo since. Even then it's only when necessary. And never ever at wax or
Shibari, which Lue—Luella—and I did most often. They were our scenes. Now all I
can think of is what you and I will do together.
Perhaps not
those, not yet, but something."

"Um."
Nina swallowed hard, and found
her voice. "I'm sorry for your loss. And don't worry about scenes, of any
sort. In fact let's just chat about the weather, and then I'll get ready for
the dreaded karaoke. I'm not interested at all.
Truly.
I only came because I couldn't see a way out of it. And now I'm here with you,
and I'm not with them anyway so it's all immaterial. I could have met them in
town later. Seriously none of it is my thing, believe me."

 
"Why not?"

His
tone was once more the listen and obey
one that sent
her senses on high alert. She might not be interested in him on one level, but
on another one—the most basic one—his absolute authority hit her like a sledgehammer,
and every fiber of her being wanted to do anything he asked.

"Don't
tell me you're too tight minded to explore things that might be right for
you?" He looked at her like an insect under a microscope.

Nina
bit her lip. Her maybe, just maybe, attitude dissolved as fast as snow on a
south facing slope. The look he gave her, as her body tightened, was enough to
make her search her mind for the best way to respond politely and not show her
annoyance. She didn't have red hair and a temper to match for nothing.

 
"Why," she said in as even a tone as
she could manage, "do people always think that once you've tried something,
you know, been there, done that and got the t-shirt, and decided it’s not for
you, you're either too wussy, too prissy, or too narrow minded to carry
on?"

"Because it's usually
true?"
Nic said. "Isn't it?"

"Not at all."
Nina stood up and glared down at
him. "That's a pathetic argument for when someone isn't getting their own
way."

He
chuckled, and the strain lines on his face disappeared to become crinkle lines
of laughter. The transformation made her heart speed up. If she wasn't careful
she'd fall for him hook, line, and sinker, and Nina could only guess at the
complications that could bring.

Chapter Four

"It
is, isn't it? Ah well, it was worth a try. Shall we start again, or do you want
me to take you to your friends?" As he spoke the words, Nic hoped like
hell she'd stay. Even if all they did was talk. Somehow he had to explain why
to all intents and purposes he'd left the lifestyle, as well as discover the
reason she was adamant she wasn't interested. She sent out so many conflicting
signals.
Certainly no Domme, but neither only a sub.
Was she a switch? He hadn't seen any sign of that either. She actually seemed
what she said.
Uninterested.
The solid lump of
disappointment in his gut hit him hard. He waited, until finally she spoke.

"Let's
talk."

The
relief kicked the lead lump away in a flash. Nic wouldn't have been surprised
if his hands trembled. He resisted the urge to sit on them.

"Then, hi there."
Nic held his hand out, and he
was more than happy to see it didn't shake. "My name is Dominic
Christopher. Nic to my friends, among whom I hope
you
will soon be counted. Born in Barbados, moved to Scotland to go to university
and stayed. I'm forty-two, clean, healthy, and financially stable."
Why did I add that? I sound right up myself.
"Until my wife passed away I was her Dom and her Master. She was my slave.
We lived the lifestyle 24/7. Since then I've had no interest. I've continued to
help out here, usually on the door, or as dungeon master. I do tutorials to
keep my hand in, but never in wax play and Shibari."
Until now.
"Those were for Lue and me and I'm not playing anywhere else
in that way. I only want to demonstrate, not shall we say, participate."

"But not wax or
Shibari."
It wasn't a question, and to Nic's relief Nina didn't question his decision.

 
"Exactly.
I've
had no interest in rejoining the lifestyle to any degree until tonight. Don't
ask me why. I just took one look at you and thought, 'mine', preferably Shibari
tied and covered in decorations of wax.
Total, three hundred
and sixty degree turnaround.
Presumptuous, scary,
exciting, and as likely as not I'm going to crash and burn.
But I'm
alive again."

"Probably
nothing to do with me, it's just the right time," Nina said. Then she reddened
again.

He
loved the way her emotions showed in the color of her skin.

 
She gasped and shook her head. "Oh blimey,
that's so rude. Sorry, it wasn't meant to be. I'm a bit out of this introducing
myself lark."

Does she think I'm not?
Yet again, Nic found himself in
the position of wanting to show her the errors of her
ways. To have her at his feet, head bowed, and submitting. He was
uneasily aware that he thought there was about as much chance as a snowball in
hell of that happening.

 
 
"As
I am," he said. "Nevertheless I managed."

"Yes,
er well, there's no need to be arsy. I'm doing my best. Hello, I'm Nina Mack.
I'm twenty-eight.
Single, a teacher, and not interested in anything
to do with BDSM.
I came tonight because a friend who's a relative of
Linsey set it up. That's it really."

Somehow,
Nic thought there was more to it than that. He waited, until she fidgeted under
his gaze and continued.

"Oh
yes, I'm clean and solvent. I love walking, skiing, and snowboarding and riding
my bike. But I also need my dose of smoke as my mum puts it. That means I love living
in the city, not drawing on a dog end, but I get out into the countryside at least
once a week."

"Dog end?"

"Fag
end, ciggy, smoke, whatever you'd call it."

"Thank
you." How he'd like to discipline that attitude out of her. She thought
he
was arsy? She took arsy-ness to a
whole new level.

"Can
I ask why?" Nic asked. He was proud of his level-toned response.

"Why what?"

The
level tone vanished like snow in a volcano. "Hell, Nina, you're
more prickly
than a porcupine. I wondered why you live in
town when you seem so much a country girl. Yes, I want to know how you know
you’ve no interest in kink. Of course I do. And not only that, if you give me
the opportunity, I'll do my damnedest to show you that you think wrongly. But
give me a break here. Either
meet
me halfway, and mean
it, or there's no point in carrying on." He stood up and opened the door.
"You seem to have awakened my Dom, and if you don't want him, perhaps I
should find one of your friends who
does
?" It was
a gamble, but Nic hoped he hadn't mistaken the interested look in her eyes on
more than one brief—albeit very brief—occasion.

Nina
bit her lip. Twiddled the end of her hair, tucked it behind her ear, and pulled
it over her cheek again. She turned her watch around on her wrist and checked
the time, and gave a half shrug.

"I'll
try."

"That's
all I ask." Nic closed the door again and returned to the seat beside her.
"How about I tell you what I'd like and why? And then you tell me why
you're not prepared to entertain the idea.
Or maybe that you are
prepared to try?"

"That
sounds good. Sort of you show me yours and I'll show you mine?" Nina
opened her eyes wide and then crossed them, before she giggled. "Over to
you."