Don’t trust.
Her wolf’s inner warnings made her tense up.
“Look at me, Dawn.”
He spoke harshly. Her body awakened once again, and she looked at him. His black hair hung over his face brushing the tops of his eyes. Daniel didn’t have a lot of hair, but he had enough of it that she was left wanting to run her fingers through it. His brown gaze was focused entirely on her. She shivered at the power, the slight hint of amber as his wolf came to the surface.
Mate.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said. “Are they your wolves?”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I was just curious about the couple.” She offered a smile even though smiling was the last thing she wanted to do.
“You’re lying to me again.”
She bit her lip, glancing down at her hands.
Dawn released a gasp, and he picked her up off the stool she sat on and took her seat. In quick moves he had her sitting on his lap. The evidence of his erection pressed against her ass, mocking her.
This is what you could have but never will because you’re a coward.
His hand settled on her leg. Daniel didn’t push the boundaries she set. He was the perfect gentleman and Master.
“Tate and Dale have been coming to Kinkster’s for five years. They’re a truly happy mated couple.”
“She’s happy being a submissive?”
“They like to play, Dawn. Mated or not, they know what they like.”
Dawn licked her lips as her ni**les beaded at the sound of his voice. The heat of his body surrounded her, filling her with hope for something more. Her pu**y was on fire for his touch. It had been a year since she last experienced an orgasm, maybe a little longer. Her last partner left when he couldn’t give her what she wanted. He told her she needed to find someone willing to put up with her crap. She was always on the hunt to feel pain, a lot of it, and she liked being held down. Some men didn’t like being in charge completely. That’s all she wanted, a man to be in complete control and to give her pain. During her early years, she would have given anything to stop feeling pain. Now, she wanted the pain to know she was alive, that something wasn’t missing.
Look what happened all the times we’ve let them.
She closed her eyes as all of her failed attempts played through her like a broken record. At the ripe age of twenty-nine, she’d killed one man and been hurt by six more in a relationship. Being told you were a sick, disgusting, or plain weird, hurt just as much as punch. Dawn didn’t like being punched at least, or she didn’t used to. Now, she didn’t feel it. She liked being spanked, punished in the most delicious of ways as the touch was better than nothing.
“You can’t go anywhere,” Daniel said, capturing her chin and turning her to face him. The grip on her face was hard, and he didn’t let go. “What did I tell you when you came here?”
“That I’m with you and I can’t go anywhere else.”
“That’s right, pet. You came to me because you needed strong discipline and a harsh hand. You’re trying to fight me, and I’m tired of it.” He placed her on her feet and stood.
“What are you doing?”
Daniel shot her a glare.
“Sir? What are you doing, Sir?”
“We’re going to deal with your punishment. Inside Kinkster’s you’re my submissive unless you say your safe word.” He took hold of her hand leading her away from witnesses. Even as her heart raced in fear of what was to come, she couldn’t help the hit of arousal. Seeing him in the zone of a Dom turned her on.
Chapter Two
Daniel passed several members of his pack who gave him a quick nod. He greeted them but kept moving as he did. Dawn kept by his side with her head bowed. She wasn’t acting the part of the submissive; she was simply following him. He noticed through watching her that she kept her head down whenever she moved from place to place. Dawn rarely looked up to see the world around her. Her life hadn’t been easy. He’d seen the evidence in her eyes as well as in her actions. She’d been hurt in the past.
He wanted to know all of her secrets and what she was hiding from him. Mates didn’t hide the truth from each other. She responded to him the way a mate did, yet he felt her wolf tense around him. For a woman and her wolf to be unsure, he knew whatever happened had scarred both of them. It was up to him to draw her out.
Opening the final door at the end of the corridor, Daniel released her hand, turned the light on, and locked the door. He turned to face her to assess her reactions. This was his private room. The only time he used this room was for the woman he intended to keep. Only a couple of women had even come close to getting inside here until this woman requested permission to join the club.
“Where are we?” she asked.
She stayed away from the bed, keeping it to her back as she rounded to look at him.
“This is my personal, private room. From now on, you come to this club, we’ll be here.” He folded his arms, waiting for her.
“No, we need to be in view of others.”
“In front of others you hold yourself back. Outside you’re not yourself, and you’re always afraid of someone noticing you. I’ve seen the way you are. You want to watch what happens within the club to make sure the men and women are treating their submissives right, but when it comes to you, you want the freedom of being away from it all.”
“No, you’re wrong.”
“Then remove your clothes and we’ll go out and do a scene right now. I’ll punish you for your lack of acknowledgement of authority, and then I’ll bring you off for all to see the beauty of your orgasm.”
She withdrew from him. Her body tightened, and she started to look around the room. For a chance to escape? The wolf inside her started to bang against her inner cage.
The protective instinct inside him rose to full force. Her reactions were setting the Dom and the protector off all at once.
“On your knees and present to me.” He deepened his voice, and Dawn went to her knees, spreading her legs wide as she bowed her head, presenting her body in the submissive pose he loved so much. “Your wolf can rest. I wouldn’t let you out there for others to see this gorgeous body.” He reached out to finger a strand of her hair. She had beautiful hair, long and dark brown. He watched the strands as he stroked them through his fingers. “Things are going to change between us, Dawn.”
She looked up at him. Tears glistened in her eyes as she stared back at him, and her lips trembled.