Elemental Desire

A single dip of the chin was her answer.

Letting her go, Seth stepped back and spun on his heel, intent on meeting her at the end of the bar. He plowed into Dominic first.

The giant fallen angel grinned down at him and arched a brow. “First time I’ve seen you take on a noob, Flash.”

Only a couple of inches separated them in height, but Dom had a solid fifty pounds of muscle making him the one guy in the club Seth wouldn’t screw with. Still, he couldn’t help but give the guy’s shoulder a hard shot. “Move before I rearrange your junk and turn it into the start of a Copacabana headdress. I’m sure Rhyan would be willing to finish off the look with the lemons, limes and cherries from the bar setup.”

Dominic’s hands covered his groin. “Never threaten a man’s kiwis or his banana, motherfucker. Never.” Looking back at the now-laughing Rhyan, he grinned. “Think that’s funny, woman?”

She tried to stifle her laughter but failed. “I was imagining you in a slutty white dress and platform stilettos with fruit in your hair. You’d make the ugliest drag queen ever.”

Dominic lunged for her and she whooped, sprinting away from him.

That left Griff and Bailey. With a single touch from her man, Bailey moved down the bar, casually taking orders and shooting the breeze with customers.

Griff watched her go, his eyes never leaving her when he addressed Seth. “You really think it’s wise to just up and disappear with a woman you don’t know after your element went weird? Because I think it’s pretty damned irresponsible to hightail it out of here with a stranger. What if she’s the witch?”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Seth fought the urge to lash out. He counted in on five and out on seven before looking at Griff. “It’s not her.”

“You’re sure.”

“I asked. She denied.”

“And magic practitioners, the mercenary lot of them, are all about the honesty,” Griff drawled.

“The witch had a distinct smell that Red’s lacking, both that and the power behind the punch. No one can subdue that much power.”

The subjectively smaller man crossed his arms over his chest and looked Seth over through narrowed eyes. “Are you staying here or leaving?”

“Don’t know for sure.”

“Keep your cell handy.”

“Fuck off.” Seth took a couple of steps before pausing and, without looking back, added, “And Griff?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With a sharp nod, Seth moved down the bar to meet Red where she waited—at the pass-thru, just as directed. He slid his hand under her long auburn hair and steered her toward the dark door marked Private without a word.

She went, her steps admirably steady, her gait fluid and self-assured.

Didn’t change the fact he knew she was a novice at this. She hadn’t been through a scene, though. As a Dom, it was his job to know. As a sub, it was her job to help set the boundaries of safe, sane and consensual play. He doubted she’d know enough to help set those parameters. It was one of the reasons—the many, many reasons—he never played with an untried sub. They had the highest expectations. They were typically the most emotional. They also tended to safe-word out more often than not, thus preventing him from achieving his own end. What had prompted him to take her on? He wasn’t sure. But it was done. He’d do his best to take her proverbial virginity gently.

Probably.

At the moment? All he could think of was how beautifully that ass would pink up when corrected.

And correct it he would.

* * *

Eden risked a glance at the lithe, predatory man directing her through the crowd. A dark smile played at the corners of his full mouth. Goddess preserve her. The things she wanted to do to him were painted through her mind in vibrant colors.

His assertion she was a submissive, would be his submissive, still had her rattled. Oh, she hadn’t let on. Not really. She’d expected something like this when she’d swallowed her fear and sought him out. But she hadn’t ever been a sub before. Hell, she didn’t even know how to serve as a sub. The whole alternative-lifestyle thing fascinated her, but short of reading a handful of erotic novels and a little internet research, she had no idea what to do with herself. More than anything, she wanted to know what it felt like to have someone drive her to new heights, make her experience the fascinating convergence of pleasure and pain.

They pushed through an unobtrusive door. Beyond that lay a long hallway. Industrial beige tiles made up the floor. Walls were the color of bland oatmeal. At the end of the hall stood an elevator. She’d barely taken in everything when he keyed in a code to a heavy wooden door and steered her inside.

The room was dark, lit only by the muted red glow of the exit sign. When the door shut with a muffled whump, Eden’s heart lodged at the top of her throat. Her tongue turned to dust. Air moved behind her seconds before firm hands traced down her arms. Mouth settling next to her ear, his breathing was steady. Hers? Hers was so not.

“Nervous?”

She opened her mouth, intent on denying the allegation thinly veiled as a question. The hand that wound through her hair and hauled her head back shocked her into absolute silence.

“I’ll tolerate a bit of stubbornness because you don’t know better, but you won’t lie to me, Red. Not without consequence.”

“That’s not my name,” she whispered, sliding her gaze his way.

A Cheshire-cat grin split the darkness. “Tonight it is.”

Air became a precious commodity she couldn’t buy enough of, no matter what mental card she swiped. Looking up into eyes as tempting as original sin, Eden heard herself whisper, “Yes, sir.”

Total silence ruled the moment. He molded his body to her curves and lowered his face. “Good place to start. I want to establish the parameters of play before we take it any further.”

“Parameters?” The question sounded slow, even to herself.

“Yes, Red. Parameters.” Pulling her even tighter, he kicked her feet apart. “Uncomfortable?”

“Uncomfortable?” she repeated.

He turned her toward him. Cupping her face, in one hand, he reached over her shoulder.

She flinched before blinking into blinding light.

“I don’t hit women, Red.” He stroked her chin. “If that’s why you sought me out, you picked the wrong guy.”

Wrapping one hand around his wrist, she fisted his shirt with the other. “I got who I came for, but not what. Not yet.”

He stilled, distrust coiling through him and prickling against her skin. “Care to explain?”

Squeezing the words out was nearly impossible. “I needed to find out what it was like.”

“What what’s like?”

Lips numb, she wanted to rub life and feeling into them, was afraid to accidentally touch him. “The experience.” Somehow she knew he heard what she didn’t say, that she was wildly curious about herself and what really flipped her switch.