Power Play: Katie and the Dom (4 page)

She had
never wanted anything more in her life than what he was talking about. And the
way he said it! His words were fluid, sure. He knew exactly what he was talking
about, had experienced it, lived it.

“And the Dom
has to be willing to accept the gifts a sub is offering.” Liam went on, his
voice soft, and she focused on him, entranced. “It’s a precious thing, when
someone is willing to give themselves to you that way. It takes trust beyond
measure. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

She nodded,
feeling tears prick her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away, turning to her
margarita and hiding behind it as she sipped. She wanted to give herself,
wholly, completely, had wanted it for so long—and now… now she knew she’d found
the man she wanted to give herself to. It seemed so simple, but her heart ached
as she looked at him, fearing his rejection still, feeling as if she was at
some sort of “submissive tryout,” trying to say and do the right thing, walking
on eggshells.

“But a Dom has
to
be
worthy of such a gift,” he reminded her. “And he has to
feel
worthy of it.”

Katie’s eyes
widened. “That’s really Patrick’s problem.”

“Yes,” Liam
agreed. “That, and his damned pride.”

He looked up
as the waitress approached. She was the bright, shiny sort of pretty Katie
always wished she could be—bubbly and blonde, she smiled easily and flirted
with her customers, moving with a natural grace.

“Tiramisu,”
Liam ordered.

“Two?” she
asked, putting pen to pad.

“Just one.”

Katie opened
her mouth to protest—dessert sounded delightful!—but she argued with herself
that she’d had more than enough as the waitress continued to flirt with Liam,
exchanging some pleasantries about where she was going to school, what she was
studying. Katie hadn’t been paying close attention—she’d been too focused on
how the girl flipped her hair and flashed her smile, the way her hips swayed
under her black skirt when she walked away.

“But you can
read all this in the book.” Liam sat back in his chair as the waitress departed,
taking his napkin from his lap and putting it over his plate. “Didn’t you say
you learn best from books?”

“I like
hearing it from you.” Katie watched the waitress stop and take plates from
another table, balancing them easily, even in heels.

“You’re
jealous.”

“What?”
Katie coughed, reaching for her water.

He chuckled.
“I can almost hear the voices in your head.”

“I hope
not,” she muttered, gulping water. Of course, he was right.

“You don’t
need to be.”

She put her
glass on the table, not looking at him. Instead she looked out the window where
the sun was setting over the city. The view was stunning from this high up,
snow falling steadily, melting into the lake far below.

“Do you
always flirt with waitresses?” she finally asked.

“You can
label it as you like.” He shrugged. “It’s really just an energy exchange.”

“Is that
what you call it?”

“All relationship
is about energy exchange. I’m sure you’ve read about
Total Power Exchange?
”

She nodded.
Of course she had—the 24/7 Dom/sub relationship. “Have you ever done that?”

“Once.” He
didn’t offer any more information and Katie didn’t ask. “Ah, here we are.”

He sounded pleased
and Katie looked longingly at the layered dessert while he thanked the
waitress, picking up the spoon as she left. Liam glanced over at her as he slid
the spoon through the creamy layers, smiling at her expression.

“You’re
distracted.”

She licked
her lips. “That looks yummy.”

“You want
it.”

“Yes.”
Looking between him and the dessert, she wasn’t sure which she wanted more.

Liam
smirked. “That’s why I ordered it.”

“For me?”
She brightened.

“Close your
eyes.”

“Here?”
Katie glanced around the restaurant. It was a Friday night—they were packed.
When she looked back at Liam, she understood her mistake immediately. He’d
given her an order and she had refused to follow.
Stupid.
She chastised
herself, closing her eyes instantly, both to comply and to hide from his dark
gaze.

“Open your
mouth.”

This time
she did as she was told and was rewarded with a delicious bite of tiramisu,
incredibly rich and creamy, with that dark hint of mocha and a lovely finish of
chocolate.

“Keep your
eyes closed.”

He’d
anticipated her opening them and Katie only got a brief glimpse of him before
she squeezed her eyes shut again, chewing and swallowing the delightful
confection.

“How does
that taste?”

“Like… mmm…”
She licked her lips, already craving more. “Coffee… and chocolate… oh heaven…
light and fluffy…”

“No words.”
Liam brought the spoon to her lips, urging her to open, and she took another
blissful bite. “How does that taste?”

“Mmmmmm.”
The ladyfingers in the dessert were moist and sweet against her tongue. They
made fantastic dessert here! She’d have to remember this restaurant—although
she probably couldn’t afford to come here on her salary, even alone.

“I think you
can do better.”

Liam fed her
another bite, smaller this time. Katie was far too aware of the sounds of the
restaurant around her, the clinking of glasses, the scrape of utensils on
plates, the sounds of laughter and conversation reverberating in her head. She
didn’t want to make so much noise she called attention to herself, but that was
clearly what Liam was encouraging!

“Ohhhhhh.”
She took his next offered bite with more enthusiasm and he gave her an even
larger one. “Nnnnnnngggg!”

“More?”

She leaned
forward, mouth open like a baby bird, eyes still firmly closed. “Mmm mmm mmm!”

Liam
continued to feed her, encouraging her noises, and Katie soon forgot where she
was. The chocolate and coffee and cream melted in her mouth, the taste so
delicious she couldn’t get enough. And it was sexy, she had to admit, Liam
feeding her dessert, watching her pleasure—and she knew that was exactly what
he was doing. Her belly protested, but her tongue wanted more, more, until she
was making noises she knew would rival Meg Ryan’s orgasm in
When Harry Met
Sally,
with Liam rewarding her, bite after bite.

“That was
the last one.”

Katie made a
little disappointed noise, her throat constricting. That was it? No warning?
Nothing? She almost opened her eyes in protest but then remembered he hadn’t
told her to.

“Did you
enjoy it, Kitten?” Liam dabbed her mouth with the corner of his napkin. “Did
you really experience the perfection of that last bite?”

She sighed. “Well
if I’d known it was going to be the last one…”

“But we
never know, do we?” His words were profound and opened her heart immediately,
moving her nearly to tears. Over dessert, for pete’s sake! She chided herself
for her overreaction, but she couldn’t help the emotion welling up.

“Open your
eyes.”

Katie did,
meeting his, trying to discern what he was thinking, feeling. Then she became
aware of the noise around her, far diminished. Had everyone gone? Glancing
around, she found herself sinking lower in her chair. It was as if the entire
restaurant had stopped eating and drinking and talking just so they could turn
and watch them. She’d never felt so on display in her life.

Liam stood,
tossing his napkin on the table, and leaned in to whisper one word into her
ear.

“Worthy.”

Katie looked
at the remains of the tiramisu—he hadn’t fed her all of it, there was about a
quarter of the dessert left on the plate. She realized, looking up at him, that
he’d actually stopped when he felt she was full. How?

“Come with
me,” Liam said.

“But…where
are we going?”

He cocked
his head at her. “If you come with me, you’ll probably find out.”

“Don’t we
have to pay the bill?” she inquired, looking around for the waitress.

“I have an
account here.” He sighed. “Come with me, Katie. I won’t say it again.”

She
practically jumped out of her chair to follow him.

*
* * *

“Do you ever
wear appropriate footwear for the weather?”

Katie
shivered, hugging her coat around her, eyes closed as directed. They’d been
closed the whole way in the car, and now that they were out of it, she found it
even harder to keep Liam’s surprise a real surprise. She wanted to peek!

“I didn’t
know I was going to be walking in the snow.”

He sighed. “Never
mind.”

She squealed
when he picked her up, just like he had in the basement, carrying her easily.

“Keep your
eyes closed.”

How did he
know she wanted to peek? She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her nose
against the soft wool of his coat, smelling cologne and soap and something
else, something utterly male. She could hear Liam’s footfalls on the pavement
and tried to discern where they were going by the sounds. The evening air was
bitter, the sun now below the horizon, her cheeks pinking from the wind. She
turned her head toward their destination, eyes still closed, hearing a strange
gurgling sound as Liam opened some kind of door or gate and stepped through.

“Are you
going to throw me into a witch’s cauldron?” she inquired, frowning.

He laughed.
“Okay, you can open your eyes”

“Where are
we?” Katie blinked, not quite understanding. They were still outside, the stars
coming out over their heads, and in front of them, surrounded by piles of snow,
was a bubbling hot tub.

“The local
health club where I work.” Liam set her down on her feet. They were standing in
an alcove with tables and chairs all around.

“You work
here?” She blinked at the hot tub. It was huge—it could probably fit thirty
people—the lights below the surface giving the frothy water a soft glow, with a
very tall privacy fence surrounding it.“But I thought you were a Dom.”

“I am.” He
smiled, taking off his coat and tossing it over a chair. “But I also do this.”

She frowned,
watching him loosen his tie. “Are you a personal trainer?”

“Something
like that.” Liam’s tie and suit coat joined his other one on the chair. “Take
off your clothes, Katie.”

She blinked
at him in disbelief, but she found herself unbuttoning her coat, putting it
over the chair beside his. The wind whipped under her skirt, making her squeal.
She was already shivering.

“I’m not
sure this is such a good idea.” She looked doubtfully from Liam, who was now
taking off his shirt, to the hot tub.

“The trick
is to undress as fast as possible.” He tossed his shirt on the chair, working
on his belt, and now Katie was transfixed by the sight of his thickly muscled
chest and abdomen.
No wonder,
she thought.
A personal trainer. I
should have guessed.
When he looked at her and smiled knowingly, she cleared
her throat and looked back at the hot tub, trying to make it seem as if she
wasn’t staring, but she was very well aware that he was stripping down to
nothing beside her.

Then she
felt his hands on her shoulders, moving under the collar of her shirt,
massaging over her collarbone, making her shiver again, this time not with
cold.

“Get
undressed, Katie,” he whispered against her ear, his fingers tracing the top
lace edge of her bra under her blouse. “Or I’m going to spank you for
disobeying me.”

She closed
her eyes at his words, savoring them. They were far more delicious to her than
tiramisu. Unbuttoning her blouse with shaky hands, she watched Liam walk toward
the water, completely nude. And she’d thought he was good-looking with his
clothes
on
? She’d never seen a finer specimen of a man in her life.

Turning her
back, she shrugged off her blouse, wincing at the cold, her nipples so hard
they hurt. Teeth chattering, she unzipped her skirt, pulling it and her
pantyhose off, stepping out of her heels, whimpering as her toes touched the
hard, frozen concrete. Now it was just her bra and panties, and she could go
into the hot tub. She unclasped her front-hook bra, wondering if Liam was
watching, but too afraid to turn around and look.
He’s already seen you
naked,
she reminded herself, but still… she couldn’t do it.

Katie hooked
her bra again, turning around to see Liam in the corner of the hot tub, arms
stretched out along the sides, relaxing. He was watching her. She left her bra
and panties—just plain white cotton—decidedly on. She was undressed enough for
hot-tubbing, she reasoned, hurrying around the pool through the snow toward the
steps, squealing the whole way, her feet numb with cold. She sighed in relief
as her toes hit the water, but the sudden temperature change made it feel so
hot her skin burned.

She glanced
at Liam as she waded into the effervescent froth. He was still just watching,
not saying anything, as she sank deeper, still shivering, the water searing her
flesh, steam rising all around them in a fog. There were seats along the edge
and she made her way around, closer to him, wondering what he was thinking—what
he was planning. That thought made her feel far hotter than any Jacuzzi.

“I don’t
like playing games.”

She bit her
lip, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“I told you
to get undressed.”

“Oh.” Katie
shrugged and then smiled, a little slyly. “Well, you didn’t say
fully
undressed.”

“That’s what
I mean by playing games.” Liam didn’t return her smile. His face was deadly
serious. “What you are is a brat. Do you know what a brat is?”

“Yes.” She
blushed. By definition, it was a submissive who caused trouble or acted up to
get her Dom’s attention.