I’m going crazy.

Especially when I open the door and find Kathryn Alison, dressed as close as she could get to my specifications.

She’s damn close, considering I gave her almost no lead time.

On the surface, she looks like a woman heading home from an office job. A military green trench coat – I had asked for brown, but this works – covering her torso and down to her knees. No pants. Just a couple of black boots that clink on the floor when she walks. Those are a Domme’s boots, no doubt. No buckles or belts, but they’re menacing.

And hot.

Kathryn’s silky blond hair is coiled on top of her head in an elaborate knot. I had asked her to wear it up. Minimal makeup, aside from a hint of lipstick and some eye shadow. I want her to dress up, but to also show me a more natural side. I don’t see any blush, but there’s probably some concealer there.

Two diamond earrings dangle from her lobes and down her long neck. They glitter with every step, and I’m almost so entranced that I don’t notice the spark in her blue eyes and the smile tugging on her lips. I close the door behind her. I don’t offer to take her coat. Not yet.

I know what she’s wearing – or not wearing – beneath it.

“Good evening,” she says, demure but not quite submissive. “Lovely day, isn’t it?”

I step behind her, hands hovering over her hips as my nose takes in the scent of the heady perfume on her neck. “Lovelier now that you’re here, Katie.”

She shivers when I call her that. I don’t know her body language well enough yet to tell if she’s annoyed or excited.

“Do you want a drink?” I move away from her, before I’m enticed too much. It’s important that I draw this out. Her first time. It’s always exciting – even more exciting that it’s her. “I’ve got wine or something harder.”

“Wine is fine.”

She doesn’t help herself to anything. I end up gesturing to the couch, which she slowly approaches and sits upon. Her blond bun bobs above the edge as I pull out two glasses and pour us both some red.

I need it. I don’t doubt she needs it too.

The hardest part right now is trying to act cool. In control. Any sub will count on her Dom to be relaxed and, well, dominant at any moment, especially during a potential scene. It’s my natural state, but this is Katie. She’s seen me burp after dinner and fall asleep on a table after working for hours on end. I’ve talked so casually with her – had such casual sex with her – that it almost doesn’t matter anymore.

Except she’s not any sub. She needs me. To be strong. To be collected.

Do you know how hard it is to be collected around someone like her? Her beautiful thighs poking out from beneath her coat, giving me a hint of the garter she wears? Shit. I want to plant my lips on her and spread those thighs here on my couch. If this were that Wednesday dinner, I’d make my move doing that.

This isn’t Wednesday, Ian. This is Saturday. You’re a Dom right now. Dominate this woman.

“Is it good?” I wrap my arm behind her, pushing my body toward her, cornering her. She’s my prize tonight. My prize for wowing the council. I may have taken her right after that, but now I’m going to slowly devour her until she’s so wet and writhing that she doesn’t even know who she is anymore.

I know that’s what she wants.

Kathryn stiffens. This is going to happen a lot tonight, I know. I’m pushing boundaries on a woman who has never had her boundaries pushed like this before. If I’m gentle with a normal woman her first time submitting? I have to treat Kathryn like a delicate doll – without being obvious that it’s what I’m doing. I don’t want to frighten her or insult her.

“It’s sweet.” The rim of her wineglass hovers around her pink lips. I’m still fighting back my hard-on from earlier today, and all I can think about are those luscious lips on my cock, sucking like I almost got sucked off again by Stephanie May last night.

You kinda owe me, Katie.

“Right. You’re not usually a woman who likes sweet.”

She puts the glass down on the nearest table. “Sweet has its place.” Her eyes glance at mine. “You’re not really a sweet guy, though.”

“No.” My fingers curl around the back of her neck, marking her skin with pressure, testing her limits. “For you I might make an exception.”

She’s doing things to me. She’s always done things to me. That incident we had years ago? I’ve never had that happen with another girl. Not when I was a kid, and definitely not now. Yet from the moment I lightly kiss her throat, inhaling her intoxicating scent and feeling myself stiffen more and more, I feel like it’s about to happen again.

Kathryn Alison gives me tremendous thrills.

It’s only right I give those back to her.

“Katie,” I murmur against her heartbeat, feeling her relax against the couch beneath me. “Do you like it when I call you that?”

Her hand rests on my leg. Her touch is everything I want, everything I need. My body is heating up. My cock is going to make a great escape from my pants if I’m not stupid careful. Tonight will be such a test in self-control.

“Yes.”

“No one else calls you that, right?” I’ve never heard it. Granted, I’m not thinking much about it as I unbutton the top of her coat and reveal that she’s wearing nothing but lacy black underwear beneath. A pushup bra. Not that she needs it… but holy shit, looking into her shadowy cleavage has me… I can’t help it. My hand grabs her breast, gently, although trust me when I say I’m using every ounce of self-control to keep from mauling her.

“You’re the only one, Ian.”

“You will call me sir, tonight.”

This time I know she’s stiffening from discomfort. I reminded her of why she’s here. I’ve established our roles.

She must submit.

“You’re the only one, sir.”

Her voice is droll. Robotic. Fuck. She’s not into it.

And yet here I am with a major hard-on straining against my zipper. So, I don’t care about how she sounds at the moment. She’s lucky I’m not a raging alpha animal right now, splitting her cunt in two and making her scream into the couch.

Ah, fuck.

I don’t know what’s going through her head. I really don’t want to care. I want to hear her call me sir with all the need and passion I want from a sub. It’s not enough to hear the word. I need to hear her true intent.

“You can say no tonight,” I mutter, feeling the heat in her thigh. “You can always say no to anything.”

“I know that… sir.”

“Do you not like this?”

“I’m still getting used to it.”

“You’re beautiful.” These platitudes work for most women, but she’s different. I’ll need to step up my game. “So sexy and smart. I want to give you so much pleasure that you go blind.”

A smile twitches on her lips. “Worship me?”

Domme talk. I can work with it. “I’ll worship you, Katie. Worship you in a way no man has ever dared to worship you before. Trust me. Do you trust me?”

“I don’t know…”

“It’s okay. I know what you mean.”

“Do you know? I trust you to stop if I say so, but do you know me?”

“I’m learning. This is a first for both of us in a lot of ways. Give me a chance to show you a world you’ve never visited before.”

She sucks in her breath, her lips mere inches away from mine. “All right,” she whispers. “Please kiss me… sir.”

I do. I kiss those lips like I’ve been begging to all night, my tongue instantly diving down her throat, claiming everything it can. She has a tight, warm mouth. A little mouth. Yet her tongue is fire, blazing against mine, her hand on my cheek as she kisses me back with every ounce of passion inside of her.

Shit. Shit. I’m so hard.

Shit, shit, her hand is on my cock.

Normally, I would pull her hand away. Normally, I would admonish her for not following directions, but I like her sense of adventure. It’s Katie. I want to go easy on the orders tonight.