Chapter 17

Instantly as the image hit her the walls of her pussy contracted. Beneath the water she squeezed her thighs together to contain the tremors.

Dylan's eyes narrowed slightly as he realized what she was doing. "You like that," he guessed. "Good." He slid his hand between her thighs, probing for her clit. When he found it he pinched it as he'd done with her nipples. "Maybe later on we'll add a little gold ring right here. I can get thin gold chains that connect all the piercings. Reach beneath your top when no one is looking and tug on them. Only you and I would know what I was doing. Just another way for me to remind you that you're mine."

His words were driving her crazy. She pushed herself against his probing hand but when she did he eased it away from her.

"What - "

"You want to come too soon," he admonished her. "We need to set the boundaries right from the start. I will decide when you can have your orgasms. Your release will be completely in my control. Do you understand?"

She nodded, the knowledge of the situation eroding her self-control.

"Good. That's good." He slid his hand back beneath the surface of the churning water, nudged her thighs apart and adjusted one of the jets so it pulsed directly onto her sex. He locked his gaze with hers. "Don't try to close your thighs together," he warned.

"O-Okay." She could feel herself already falling under his spell, and willingly so.

"We have something special here, Jenna." He squeezed her clit between two of his fingers and tugged it so the water spray hit on it more directly. "Tell me you feel it, too."

"I-I do." Oh, god, he wanted her to talk? Between his clever fingers and the jet of water she was losing her ability to think. She wanted to beg him to take her out of the tub, dry her off and do whatever he wanted with her. If she submitted to him she could trust him, right? Wasn't that what he was talking about?

"I never thought I'd want a long-term relationship," he continued. "But, damn, Jenna. I've tried to wipe you out of my mind with other women, and it just doesn't work. You're all that I want." He smiled. "I think you've bewitched me."

He was the one doing the bewitching, she thought, as he toyed with her sex, teasing her opening with the tip of a finger but never sliding it inside.

"I-I think...I think you're the one doing the bewitching," she stammered, silently urging him with her body to do more, right now."

The pulse in her inner walls throbbed so hard it reverberated through her entire body. If he could bring her to this point with barely any foreplay, she could barely imagine how her body react to full-out play. But could she do this? Could she forget the past and fully submit to this man? Before things went any further she needed to be absolutely sure.

She braced her hands against the side of the tub and hitched herself backwards just enough to break the contact with his hand.

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

She studied his face, trying desperately to read what was hidden in his eyes. "Dylan, I don't know if I can do this, and the job has nothing to do with it."

"Okay." His voice was calm and steady. There wasn't even a hint of anger. "Tell me what bothers you."

She swallowed, hoping he would understand what she had to say.

"You're a very strong man, Dylan. A Dom who is one hundred percent in control. I had a relationship like that once, and it nearly destroyed me. He wanted everything from me, even the right to make choices or pursue my career. I don't think I can do it again. In a club, it's one thing, because the time is limited and there's no emotional connection. But a relationship on your terms?" She shook her head. "I can't lose myself again."

"Do you really think I'd do that?" His voice was uninflected. "I'm not looking for a sponge, Jenna. I want a sub with some spunk," he told her. "I respect your mind and your talents. Everything about you. Because I'd want everyone to know you are mine and only mine doesn't meant I want to swallow you up." He laughed. "I want other Doms to envy me a sub who has so much to give as a person. But I want you to belong to me one hundred percent. We'll argue, we'll fight, we'll play." He tweaked a nipple. "When you get too mouthy I'll have to administer the proper punishment. I don't know how to do it any other way, but I'd never, ever diminish you. "

"Are you sure? Are you positive?" She tried to read his face, see what he was thinking. She couldn't afford to make that mistake again.

His hand stilled, and she could almost feel the tension radiating from his body. "Do you really believe I would do what your other Master did? Have you learned nothing about me in the time you've been here?"

"I want to believe you. I do," she insisted. And her body wanted him to get back to business here.

He began stroking her with the cloth again, the rhythm sensual and hypnotic. "One of the things that attracted me to you right away was your strength as a woman. As a person. An intelligent person. I wouldn't ever want to diminish that."

"Could you promise me that? Can we really make it work?"

He was silent for so long, she wondered if he'd ever say anything again.

"Do you want to be with me?" he asked at last.

She nodded, watching his face carefully. "Yes. I want us to be together, too. Permanently. I want us to try."

She was telling him the truth. She felt something with Dylan that had never been there with any other Dom. And there was a strong thread of something else pulling her towards him - trust. She had an innate belief that she could trust him completely. If she made a mistake it would take her a long time to get over it. But she knew with a certainty that if she didn't try she'd regret it forever.

Her lips curved in a tiny smile. "Okay."

Okay?" He lifted an eyebrow. "You said okay?"

"I did."

Without another word, he shut off the jets, pulled the plug and lifted her from the tub. In seconds he had her dried off with a fluffy towel and lifted her naked body. With purposeful strides he carried her through his bedroom and across the hall, into a room she realized with a slight shock was fitted out as a private dungeon. A custom playroom.

"We're going to do something," he told her, standing her in the center of the room.

"We are?" The tension from the episode with Tim had dissipated, replaced with a heady buzz of sexual desire. She could feel liquid on the inside of her thighs, and she knew it wasn't residual water from her bath.

Dylan took a long length of blue rope from a table and walked back to her.

"This is what does it for me, girl." He looked at her when he said the word, waiting to see if she objected.