“I don’t have any,” she finally said, her breath coming out in a rush.
“None at all?” he asked skeptically.
“None,” she confirmed.
“So you’re good with sex in public? Being naked at the club? Me using toys on you? Floggers, canes, whips?”
Those were just a handful of things she knew he was really thinking about. “I have no hard limits,” she reiterated again.
“Drop the skirt,” he commanded, his tone gruffer than before.
Releasing the material from her fist, she allowed her skirt to slide down her legs. Once it pooled at her feet, she stepped out of it, moving closer to Xander.
“Have I told you how fucking beautiful you are?” he asked.
Mercedes wasn’t sure whether he’d meant to say the words out loud, but she answered him anyway. “No.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “You steal my breath, Mercedes.”
Holy shit. The honesty in his tone nearly had her knees going weak beneath her. She’d never heard him talk like that. Not to anyone. Ever.
Fearing that he was trying to distract her, Mercedes reminded herself that she was still waiting for an answer.
“Do we have a deal?” she repeated as she waited for his next instruction.
“Take off the bra,” he told her, his eyes locked with hers.
Without hesitation, Mercedes reached up and unhooked the front clasp of her bra, promptly dropping it to the floor. Xander hadn’t answered her yet, not verbally anyway, but she could see his response in his eyes.
They were going to do this. They were going to submit to one another.
It was only a matter of time.
Chapter Ten
Xander was doing his best to focus on the conversation and less on the dazzling, nearly naked woman in front of him. It wasn’t easy. Even if he prided himself on his ability to keep his composure, there were still some temptations that weren’t easy to ignore. Mercedes was just such temptation.
While he contemplated his answer to her question, he was busy grazing her incredible curves with his eyes, wanting to put his hands on her, to feel once again how soft her skin was. To cup her breasts in his hands. He wanted to put his mouth on her, to suck her nipples until she was writhing beneath him, begging for more.
He would’ve assumed that just the idea of submitting to anyone, let alone in public, would’ve sent his dick into hiding, but truthfully that wasn’t the case. Or maybe it was the fact that Mercedes had told him she didn’t have any hard limits. That, in itself, was enough to make him damn near lose his mind.
To know that she trusted him enough to know he’d only push her as far as he felt she could go, well, it was humbling.
“Just to confirm,” he said as he took one step closer. “You’ll give yourself over to me for five full days. Starting now. No hard limits. And in return, I have to agree to submit to you on two occasions. Once at Devotion, the other at a time and place of your choosing?”
He knew what she had up her sleeve. She was going to play her card in a public place that would put him fully on display. Somewhere that might intimidate him. If she believed he wasn’t on to her plan, she was sadly mistaken. He’d just recently asked her to join him at the opening of Alluring Indulgence Resort, and though it wasn’t planned for roughly six more months, it was clear she was thinking that would be her venue of choice.
Not that he really gave a shit. He knew the Walkers would likely find it amusing, but that was the least of his worries.
“That’s correct,” she said on a breath, her eyes still locked with his.
“Remove your panties,” he instructed, not looking away.
Without reservation, Mercedes reached down and slid the silky white panties down her legs, stepping out of them as well which put her a mere foot or so away from him.
His eyes locked on the patch of dark hair between her legs, then he trailed up over her generous hips, admiring the small tattoo he’d only been privy to when he had seen her playing at the club. He continued upward, over gently rounded belly, past her bountiful breasts. He was distracted briefly by the ornate tattoo that encircled her entire arm from her shoulder down to her elbow. He’d always loved that tattoo. She’d gotten it before he met her, and according to her, it was a reminder of all that she’d been through. The flower represented her, and the intricate detail around it was the chaos she’d lived in since she was younger. As with a lot of her personal details, whenever he would ask, she would shrug him off, telling him it wasn’t important. Little did she know, but everything about her was important to him. And she should know that by now because he’d never let her retreat from him before because he was her friend. He was in her corner, no matter what.