Perception (9 page)

Logan
held Sam’s hand as he led her around to the passenger side of his truck. They’d
worked from home for most of the morning and were just now heading into XTX for
an impromptu, not to mention highly inconvenient, Wednesday afternoon meeting
with Xavier Thomas, President and CEO of XTX Industries. Not by choice, mind
you. If he had his way, Logan would push the meeting to tomorrow and crawl back
in bed with his beautiful wife.

Preferably
with Sam naked and riding him. Reverse cowgirl style.

Logan
shifted as his cock stirred at the mental image.

Holy
shit, if he didn’t get his mind out of the gutter, he was going to go caveman
and haul her back in the house without thinking twice.

If it
weren’t for that damn meeting… 

“You ok?”
he asked her as they neared his truck, hoping she didn’t hear the need in his
voice. For whatever reason, he wasn’t all that interested in tackling any major
obstacles today, unless of course, one of them was Sam naked.

Shit.

“Fine,
why?” Based on her startled response, she was clearly off somewhere else in her
head. At least he wasn’t the only one.

“You seem
distracted.”

Sam
turned and smiled up at him, and Logan stopped before reaching for the door
handle. He waited for her to talk because obviously she had something on her
mind.

“Can we
go to Devotion tonight?”

How had
he known she was going to ask that?

Logan
fought the urge to smile. It was true, Sam had come into her own. Sexually
speaking, of course.

The woman
was a force to be reckoned with when it came to business, but it wasn’t until a
few months into their relationship when she really opened up to her sexual
desires. And yes, with Devotion now open, he suspected she would want to
experiment at his twin brother’s new club, especially after last night.

“Tonight?”
he asked, pretending he wasn’t all that interested. He wasn’t particular about
where they went tonight just as long as he could relax a little.

“Yes,”
she said, clearly catching on to the game he was playing. “You know you want
to,” she whispered, leaning into him and up on her toes, her mouth brushing
his.

“What’s
in it for me?” he asked, knowing full well what was in it for him.

“Anything
you want.”

“That
right?”

“Mmm
hmm,” she murmured, her lips pressing to his when he leaned down closer for her
kiss.

“Anything?”

Sam’s
eyes opened wide as she stared up at him. “What’d you have in mind?”

He could
see the anticipation in her gaze, knew she’d be begging him to take her back to
Devotion so she could relive last night over again. Purposely not answering her
question, Logan redirected, wanting to understand what she was hoping to get
out of tonight. “What if Xander isn’t there tonight?”

“What if
he is?” she countered, feigning innocence.

Leaning
over, he swatted her on the butt and then gently urged her toward the truck.
They could easily resume this conversation on the way to work. After all, if
she continued teasing him like this, he had no qualms about throwing her over
his shoulder and carrying her right back into the house. Xavier would just have
to get over it.

After she
had settled inside, Logan made his way around to the driver’s side, his mind
now going in an entirely different direction. What if Xander
were
at the
club? He hadn’t had the chance to talk to him after the scene last night. There
hadn’t been time that morning, though he had sent Mercedes an email after
scrounging up her contact info, but she had yet to answer him.

Once he
pulled out of the driveway, Logan glanced over at his wife then turned his eyes
back on the road. “Are you interested in what you saw last night, baby?”

He had
asked the same question on their way home from the club, but as far as he was
concerned, Sam hadn’t answered him as honestly as he would’ve liked. He figured
she was holding back for whatever reason and he wanted to understand before
they moved in that direction. He had firsthand experience in what the aftermath
did to her when these extracurricular activities didn’t go the way she hoped.

“Are you
referring to the watching? Or are you asking if I’d like to try something like
that?” she asked.

“Participating,”
he clarified. He already knew his wife was a voyeur. He happened to like that
particular trait of hers.

“I think
it would be interesting to try.”

“Interesting?”
Her use of the word confused him.

Sam was quiet
for a while, and Logan didn’t press her to talk. He knew her. When she was
ready, she would answer him.

They were
halfway to the office before she finally spoke.

“Is this
BDSM stuff something you’re interested in?”

Logan
glanced sideways at her. “Depends. I could be persuaded into trying.” Hell,
tying her to the bed was one of his favorite pastimes. He damn sure didn’t have
any desire to be tied up himself, but she’d already managed that once. He had
never let her do it again.

He felt
her eyes on him when she turned to face him. He could sense her mind working,
she was going to overthink this again. Not that he didn’t want her to. There
were times when Sam needed to think things through, and this was one of them.

Logan
wasn’t much into the BDSM scene, never had been interested, but he knew from
her reaction last night that Sam had enjoyed herself immensely. She’d told him
so – in explicit, cock-hardening detail after they’d fallen into bed last
night.

But no
matter which way you looked at it, BDSM was a far cry from a threesome, at
least based on what he saw last night.

 “I
don’t know what I want anymore.”

“Talk to
me, Sam.” This was the first time he’d ever heard her frustrated when she
talked about their sex life. He knew things had been a little vanilla for the
last year and a half because, after Tag, they’d both been hesitant to find
someone who might be able to fulfill a role that they both were trying to
define individually.

She
didn’t want casual. Logan feared permanent.

They were
at an impasse.

“I don’t
even know how to explain it.”

“Baby,
you’re gonna have to try. This is your show. If you want to try something new,
I need to know what it is.”

“You’re
not interested in asking Xander to be…?” she trailed off.

“No,” he
told her now, keeping his eyes on the road. “I don’t think Xander is the right
person.” Logan glanced over at her when he said, “But I won’t deny that I had
thought about it.”

“I had
too,” she told him, sounding surprised by her own admission.

Logan
knew that she had. He knew his wife better than anyone in the world. He knew
what she liked, what she didn’t like, and what she feared. When it came to
their sex life, they were on the same page.

“Do you
think Xander would be willing to help us with this BDSM stuff?”

He knew
she was redirecting the conversation much as he had earlier. She was good at
that. Instead of trying to turn the conversation back to the bigger question, –
was a threesome what she really wanted? – he went ahead and told her what he
thought. “I think Xander’s open to giving us a few pointers. As to how far
I’ll
be willing to go, I don’t know.”

That was
nothing but the truth. Logan enjoyed trying new things. As far as what he
wasn’t willing to do, he had a very short list. He would be the first to openly
admit that he enjoyed watching Sam with another man. And he knew she enjoyed it
too.

Apparently
his wife needed that
something more
too because ever since Luke had been
involved in their sexual encounters back in the very beginning, Sam had craved
having another man. But then Tag had been a part of their lives for such a
short time, and she’d never been the same after that.

Logan
understood Xander’s belief that Sam was drawn to Logan’s domination. He got
that. But that didn’t mean she wanted to venture down the road that neither of
them was familiar with.

Logan
knew there were people who didn’t understand various sexual kinks – and yes, he
had many – but he also knew it wasn’t necessary for him to explain them. People
were entitled to their desires, and he and Sam embraced theirs. Openly.
Honestly. Together. And as far as Logan was concerned, that was all that
mattered.

But BDSM?
That was an area that Logan knew nothing about aside from the glorified aspects
that could be found on practically any website.

Sure, the
scene from last night had been hot as hell. He’d enjoyed watching, but that
didn’t mean he would enjoy taking a flogger to Sam. Shit, he was more worried
that he would hurt her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

The pain,
yeah, well, it wasn’t really his thing.

And just
because Xander believed Sam was more interested in Logan’s dominating side than
an actual threesome didn’t mean it was the truth.

“You
can’t tell me that you didn’t like what you saw last night.”

Logan
glanced at Sam and chuckled. “Baby, I buried my cock in your pussy, I don’t
think there was any disguising the fact that I liked it. I won’t deny that.
That doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it if you were in Mercedes’s shoes.”

“Are they
together?” Sam asked, damn near giving him whiplash with her abrupt change of
the subject. Again.

“I don’t
know.” If she would’ve asked him that question before last night, he would’ve
said no, but seeing Xander and Mercedes together… now he had to wonder.

“If they
aren’t, do you think you would reconsider Xander for a threesome?” Although she
asked the question directly, Sam sounded incredibly nervous.

“No,” he
stated firmly. He hadn’t yet explained exactly what he and Xander had talked
about, but he figured now was as good a time as any. “Sam, Xander’s not the
right man for what you’re thinking. He’s a Dom. He’s not going to willingly
walk into a situation where he isn’t in control.” Logan knew that from what
Xander had told him. “And you know I’m not willing to give up control.”

Logan
heard her shuddered breath, saw her force a smile.

“I need
you to do something for me, Sam,” Logan said, waiting for her to acknowledge
him before he continued. “You need to think long and hard about what you want.
If you want to pursue this BDSM stuff, I’m game. If you’d prefer to find a
third for the future, I’m open to that too. I just need to know which you want
more.

“Unfortunately,
I think you’re going to have to make a choice here. I don’t see you getting
both. And definitely not with Xander.”

Logan
knew his wife, knew she was going to do some serious thinking. And he’d wait.
Patiently. Because, when Sam finally decided what it was she wanted, he knew
she’d do what she felt would make them both happy. That’s just the way she
worked. And that’s one of the main reasons he continued to fall in love with
her a little more each day. 

Xander hung up the phone and looked
up from his desk. He had heard his front door open for the second time about
three minutes ago, and there were only a handful of people who had a key to his
house. The housekeeper, the cook, his assistant Leah, Shane, and yes, Mercedes.

Needless to say, he’d been only half
paying attention to Hirsh’s incessant rambling on the other end of the phone
because he’d been more interested about who was there, praying that Mercedes
had come back.

His heart had pounded frantically in
his chest when he heard her leave. If he hadn’t already been on the phone, he
would’ve gone after her, but he wanted to get Hirsh off his back once and for
all. Not that that’s what happened.

A quick glance at the clock on his
computer and he noticed it was right at noon. It had to be Mercedes.

Fighting the urge to go in search of
her, Xander remained where he was. The whole point was to make her come to him.
If she didn’t, then that was his answer. It wasn’t the one he wanted, and he
wasn’t certain he would stop pursuing her, but at least it would give him some
idea of what he was up against.

Opening his email, he skimmed
through the items in his inbox. There wasn’t anything pressing, and he knew his
calendar was clear for the rest of the day, but he had to do something to keep
him from jumping out of his seat and going to search for her.

If he had to guess, Mercedes was
pacing the floor in his living room, trying to convince herself to turn around
and go back home.

Looking up from his computer screen,
Xander watched as Mercedes stepped into his office.

For a moment, he thought his heart
would pound right out of his chest.

Leaning back in his chair, he
studied her. She didn’t look much different than she had earlier, although
somewhere along the way she’d lost the blazer, which he considered a good
thing.

Her silky, onyx hair was flowing
loosely down her back and over her shoulder, her crisp white shirt had two
buttons opened, revealing just a hint of her gorgeous cleavage, and her black
skirt was back to its original form before he had gruffly thrust his hands
beneath it.

She looked prim and proper and so
fucking sexy it made his teeth hurt.

“I’m here,” she told him.

“I see that.” He made a point not to
look pleased, but he definitely was. So much so that his cock was now straining
against his slacks, begging for attention. On the flip side though, Xander was
leaving what happened next up to her, so his dick was likely going to have to
be patient.

He’d asked her to come to him, and
she had, which meant she was accepting his proposal. If she weren’t, Mercedes
would’ve emailed him with the bad news. She wasn’t big on conflict, and she
tended to avoid it whenever possible. So it was good news that she was standing
there. Except he knew Mercedes, which meant she would have a few stipulations
to go along with her acquiescence. Now he just had to wait to see what those
were.

She moved closer, her arms loose at
her sides. Not only was she still mostly buttoned up like the business
professional he knew her to be, she had also put on even taller heels. He
happened to prefer the ones she’d had on earlier, but these were nice too.
They’d come right out of her Domme wardrobe; he recognized that immediately.

If Xander had to guess, the shoes
were a power play. Being that she was roughly a foot shorter before the five
inches added to her height, she probably felt less intimidated by his size now.
Without her shoes on, he could easily rest his chin on the top of her head.
With her shoes, her forehead would be level with his chin, but the woman would
come eye to eye with most men she encountered.

“So, how does this work?” she asked,
looking around at anything but him.

“How does what work?” he questioned,
playing her game right along with her.

Mercedes met his gaze head on, and
he saw the frustration in her eyes. She was doing this, but she wasn’t exactly
happy with her own decision.

It was a start. That’s all he
needed.

He waited to see if she would
clarify.

She didn’t, which left him in
charge.

Pushing up from his chair, Xander
didn’t waste time as he made his way over to her. Taking her hand, he pulled
gently, encouraging her to come with him.

If she wanted to know how this was
going to work, he’d show her. In his opinion, talking was overrated when it
came to certain things.

Mercedes wasn’t new to this scene;
she wasn’t naïve enough to think he’d be gentle with her just because they were
venturing into the unknown together. Five days were barely enough time to
convince her that this was the right thing to do so he couldn’t afford to take
his time seducing her slowly.

Just as he expected, Mercedes
hesitated briefly, pulling against his hold on her hand, but then she gave in,
following behind him.

Taking his time, he led her through
his office, then through the main floor of his condo before approaching the
stairs. He didn’t look back at her, unwilling to give her an out just yet. Once
they reached his bedroom, he’d give her another chance to change her mind, but
the most important thing was to get her there first.

A minute later, they were walking
into his bedroom. Once inside, he shut the door with a gentle click and then
turned to face her.

Her face registered nothing of what
she was feeling. Then again, Mercedes was good at masking emotions. Almost as
good as he was.

Xander figured he could credit her
bastard of a father for the way she kept her emotions on lock down. According
to the conversations they’d shared, Phillip Bryant was a fuckup of the worst
order. Xander only prayed he never ran into the guy because he wasn’t sure he’d
let the man walk away with his body intact. Hell, he wasn’t sure he’d let the
man walk away period.

Shaking off the thought, Xander
focused on Mercedes. “Take off your shoes,” he commanded, ensuring she didn’t
take the statement as a request. 

Her eyes widened only slightly, but
then she did exactly what he asked, stepping out of her shoes and leaving them
on the floor beside her.

“Now your blou –” Before he could
get his instructions out, she stopped him by holding her hand up.

“Me first,” she said.

Xander took a small step back,
raising his eyebrow in interest, and pushing his hands into his pockets. He was
aiming for casual, although he was having a damned hard time keeping his hunger
for this woman under control. “Go ahead.”

“We’re going to do this,” she began,
glancing around his bedroom briefly before meeting his eyes once more. “I’ll
agree to five days, no holds barred.”

No holds barred?
Oh, hell. He was definitely
intrigued.

Xander didn’t smile, but he wanted
to. Victory was a sweet, sweet thing. He didn’t think Mercedes would appreciate
his celebrating, so he forced a bored expression.

“But, you have to agree to something
first,” she informed him.

To his surprise, she reached up and
began to unhook one of the buttons on her blouse, this one just beneath her
magnificent breasts.

“You’ve got my attention,” he told
her, trying to keep his eyes on her face. It wasn’t as easy as he hoped it
looked.

The single button came free from its
mooring, the crisp white fabric separating slightly to reveal the generous
swells of her breasts cupped in white lace beneath.

“I’ll agree to play this game with
you. You can do your best to make me submit,” she told him as she freed another
button. “I’m not at all convinced that it’ll work, but I’ll give you a shot.”

His first instinct was to tell her
that this damn sure wasn’t a game he was playing, but he kept it to himself.
“And?” he implored her, waiting to hear her stipulations.

“You have to let me top you.”

Xander laughed out loud. There was
no fucking way.

“I’m serious,” she told him, her
hand working to reconnect the button on her blouse.

Had he been any other man, he
might’ve succumbed to her threat, but Xander didn’t take kindly to teasing. If
she wanted to work out a deal, he was game, but he didn’t play that way.

“Unbutton it,” he barked, standing
up straight as his hands fell to his sides.

Mercedes’s eyes flared with what he
assumed was surprise, maybe mixed with an ounce of heat. The woman might
believe she was dominant, but he could see the underlying submissive inside of
her.

What made him crazy was the fact
that she truly believed she was more in control by being a Domme, as opposed to
a submissive. He knew she was well aware of Xander and Shane’s views on Doms
and subs, but she’d never embraced their way of thinking. Which was another
reason he felt as though her reasons for becoming a Domme weren’t the same as
most.

She wanted control.

Of herself.

That’s where she’d failed along the
way. That’s where so many people went astray.

The Dom didn’t wield the power… the
submissive did.

Now, he was going to work on
teaching her that very lesson.

~*~*~*~

Mercedes’s fingers stilled on the
button she’d just managed to hook back. The look in Xander’s eyes was fierce,
and it sent a trickle of heat fluttering beneath her skin. She loved that look.
Loved to watch him when he turned all of that masculine dominance on one of his
subs. He was a sight to see.

Had she been watching him do that to
someone else, she would’ve applauded him for taking the reins. Being that he
was taking what little control she had away, Mercedes wasn’t quite sure how she
felt about it.

As though they had a mind of their
own, her fingers worked the button loose once again before sliding to the next.

“Now continue to remove your blouse
while you tell me your requirements.”

Mercedes complied, unable to stop
herself. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to continue to think, much
less talk, because she was distracted by the look in his eyes, the impassioned
way he continued to watch her.

“Tell me,” he ordered.

“You have to agree to let me top
you. Twice,” she said, her breaths betraying her as she began to gasp for air
as she released the last button on her shirt.

Moving on to release the buttons on
the cuffs at her wrists, she continued. “I’ll agree to submit to you, however
you see fit, for the next five days. But at least once during that time, I want
to dominate you. In public. And then, after all the silliness is over, I get to
dominate you again. In public. At a venue of my choosing.”

She barely noticed the slight quirk
of his eyebrow, but it was there.

Honestly, Mercedes was stunned that
he hadn’t laughed in her face or told her to get dressed because there was no
way in hell he’d agree to her terms.

“Drop the shirt,” he said, his words
no longer holding a hint of the gentleness she’d sensed in him earlier. He’d
gone into full Dom mode. Not that she believed he had another setting.

Mercedes allowed her shirt to slide
down her arms and fall to the floor behind her. Now practically naked from the
waist up, Mercedes felt the overwhelming heat that had been simmering in her
veins since the moment he had left her standing in his conference room.

Twenty four hours ago, if someone
had asked her if she would ever be in this position, she would’ve laughed her
ass off.

Now? Well, she certainly wasn’t
laughing.

“Now the skirt.”

Mercedes knew she needed to stand
her ground. He was clearly stalling, probably hoping she’d give in and retract
her stipulations once she was naked. No chance.

“Do we have a deal?” she asked him
as she reached to her side and unhooked the clasp on her skirt before lowering
the zipper.

“In public, huh?” he asked, this
time sounding amused.

“Yes. Public. Once at Devotion,” she
explained as she gripped her skirt, keeping it from falling to the floor. “And
the other at a place and time of my choosing.”

She knew exactly when she was going
to call him to the carpet, but she couldn’t very well tell him that she’d
reserve her date for the grand opening of Alluring Indulgence Resort, which
they’d just recently heard would be happening sometime at the beginning of next
year. It was a good thing she was a patient woman because it was going to be a
long wait. But definitely worth it.

“What’s required of me?” he asked,
his eyes continuing to glance up and down her partially clad body.

“Whatever I want,” she told him.

He nodded, his eyes still scanning
her from head to toe.

“Hard limits?” he asked.

Ok, so he had her there. If he had
hard limits, she’d have to comply. It was the only way she worked. “Yes, you
can tell me your hard limits,” she agreed.