“We're not even close to done,” Cade said. “I need to know what you've done so I can get an idea of your boundaries.”

“What I've done?” I felt like an idiot even as I asked it.

“Was he strictly a lights-out, missionary style guy, or did the two of you at least try other positions?”

I glanced around, suddenly very much aware that I was in a public place. “We did it with the lights on and different positions, okay?”

Either Cade didn't sense how annoyed I was getting or he didn't care – I was betting the latter – because he got even more personal. “You've done oral? Anal? Toys? Any bondage? Spanking?”

“Shut up!” I hissed, my face flaming. “You have no right to ask me those things!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Aubree, you want me to teach you what I know but I can't ask questions?” He pulled his chair around the table so that he was sitting only a few inches from me. “You want me to wait until I'm balls deep inside your cunt, my finger in your ass before I ask if you've ever had anything in there before?”

My jaw dropped and I stared at him. He said it so plainly, I couldn't be offended. He wasn't trying to shock me or insult me. He was just proving a point. “Okay.” My voice cracked but he didn't laugh. I tried again. “Okay. I get it. And I'll make it easier for you. The closest thing to kinky Ronald ever did was some dirty talk, and there wasn't really even much of that. Mostly just 'oh, baby' and 'you feel good.'” I dropped my eyes on the last one and hated myself for it. “And I went down on him once at a drive-in back when we were in college. So oral and regular sex. No kinky stuff.”

“All right,” Cade said. “That takes care of sexual history.”

“I don't get yours?” The question shot out of my mouth before I could stop it. I looked up in time to see his look of surprise before he laughed.

“Hon, I've done it all.” He winked at me. “But if you want details...”

“No!” I quickly said. “Are we done?”

Cade shook his head and the feeling of dread inside me grew. “Now we need to discuss how this is going to work.”

I felt another snarky response wanting to escape and refrained.

“I'm your teacher, which means, entering into this, you are agreeing to do as I say.”

“Hold on.” I shook my head. “I don't think so.”

“Would you tell a piano teacher that you don't want to follow his or her instructions?”

“No,” I said. “But a piano teacher isn't going to tell me to spread my legs.”

“If they're a good one, they might.” Cade gave me his wicked grin again, the one that made me want to slap him and kiss him at the same time. “But seriously, you're asking for me to instruct you. That means you have to trust me to do my job.” His expression became serious. “I promise I will never tell you to do something that isn't for your benefit.”

“Really?” I let skepticism flow into my voice.

“I'm not saying I won't enjoy it, too,” he said. “But it'll all be part of your lessons.”

“So you want me to agree to do whatever you tell me, no matter what?”

“You'll have safe words. Red means stop. Yellow means you're uncomfortable and aren't sure if you want to go any further. Yellow's okay, but if you say red, I'll stop and we'll be done. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, but I'm not going to play either. It wouldn't be fair to either of us.”

That actually sounded reasonable, I thought. Still, the idea of having someone bossing me around sexually made me anxious. “What kinds of things would you be telling me to do?”

“Well, we'd ease into everything, of course,” he said. “But it might be something like me telling you to get down on your knees and put your hands behind your back.” His voice was so low I had to lean closer to hear everything. “I'd tell you to open your mouth and I'd control how fast and how deep you took my cock.”

I swallowed hard at the image his words painted.

“Or we might go to dinner and I'll have you leave your panties at home.”

My hands curled into fists. He reached out and pushed back a curl that had fallen across my face.

“I'll tell you when you can come. When you can touch yourself or me. Every aspect of your pleasure will be mine to control.” He paused, and stroked my cheek again, his finger brushing across my lower lip. And, Aubree… there will be pleasure. More than you've ever dreamed possible.”

My pulse sped up at his words. I had no doubt he could deliver on his promise. The question was, could I do it? Could I give myself over to this man, allow him to take control of every aspect of that part of my life?

My eyes met his and he held my gaze, steady and sure of himself. He hadn't done anything to break my trust, I reminded myself. If anything, coming to see me after what had happened was evidence that he did have a degree of honor.

“All right,” I said, my voice barely over a whisper. “I agree.”

He pushed back from the table and stood abruptly. “Very good. I'll speak to Adelle about the monetary arrangements. Our first date will be tomorrow afternoon.”

“Tomorrow?” I was thrown.

“I assumed you'd want to begin at my next available appointment. Would you prefer to wait?”

Part of me was saying I should wait, that I needed to carefully consider what I was doing. Up to this point, it had all been talk. But tomorrow? Tomorrow meant fantasy was speeding toward a reality I didn’t feel ready for. If I agreed to see him tomorrow, he'd contact Adelle and there wouldn't be anyway to pretend like this exchange had never happened. I knew if I waited, even a week, there was a good chance I'd change my mind. And then… then everything would go back to the way it was.

My insides sank at the thought and I felt tears burn the back of my eyes. The ‘way it was’ sucked. The ‘way it was’ was merely existing. That, more than anything, made me agree.

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Great.” Cade held out his hand for me to shake.

I tried to ignore the heat going through me as we touched.

“I'll contact you with the place and time by this evening.”

“Okay.”

“Until tomorrow then.” He released my hand.

Tomorrow, I thought as I watched him walk away. Tomorrow was when everything was going to change. A new chapter. A new life. I was going to be a whole new person. Brave. Adventurous. Alive.

I tried not to think about how much that idea terrified me.

Chapter 6

I didn’t know if it was Adelle's idea or Cade's to go to the Four Seasons Ritz-Carlton rather than the Park Hyatt Hotel where Cade and I had our first tryst, but I appreciated the gesture. I was nervous enough as it was. I didn't need memories of that previous night. The date itself hadn’t been bad. It was actually because it had been so good I didn't want to be reminded of it. I didn't want to think about how I'd felt that night, full of hope and possibilities. Better I stick with what I knew to be true. Cade was going to teach me what I needed to know to make sure I never felt like a fool again. And if I enjoyed myself, then he was just doing his job. Nothing more.

His text had been succinct. The hotel name and room number, with a time. It surprised me a bit that he hadn't included any other instructions, like what I was supposed to wear or how I was supposed to behave. I'd spent the entire night trying to figure out what I was going to wear and had ended up not choosing any of the three outfits I'd picked out. Instead, I opted for simple and professional, a reminder for myself that this was a business transaction. Plain black skirt that reached my knees. White cotton blouse. Fitted black jacket. Sensible pumps. It had been the outfit I'd worn to interview for my position at Legacy.

And the moment Cade opened the door, I knew I'd made a mistake.

He managed not to laugh, but I saw the humor flash across his eyes before he could hide it. He opened the door and motioned for me to come in. I tried not to stare at him as I walked by. He was dressed simply in a pair of gray slacks and a long-sleeved white dress shirt, with the top two buttons undone. His shoes were plain but expensive-looking.