Page 35 of The Dom with a Safeword

But today…today she just wasn’t in the mood to play fair. This was temporary anyway, wasn’t it? A summer fling to try out some wild, kinky sex. He wasn’t sticking around so she’d let him think he liked her for a few months – at least enough for him to want to have sex with her. Her confidence could use it. Finally she cleared her throat and answered, “Q will sum up the questionnaire.”

“I don’t mean I want to know you in bed, Sabrina. Well, I do. But I also want to know you. As a person. What are your favorite things? What’s your family like? What are your hopes and dreams?”

She chuckled nervously. “Well you get right down to it, don’t you?”

“You wanted honesty,” he answered.

Well now she’d screwed herself good. “I did. I mean, I do.” She inhaled a breath then released it slowly. Okay, she could give him this. “Um, well, I’m addicted to diet cola. I love watching dance shows though I couldn’t dance to save my life.”

His soft chuckle made her smile.

“The way into my heart is through humor and chocolate,” she said, shifting her body into a more comfortable position on the couch.

“Mental note,” Jude said. “Buy giant box of chocolate.”

She laughed then noticed Q standing just outside the living, watching her with a grin. Sabrina waved her over but she motioned she was going to bed. Sabrina blew her a kiss with a wink and Q walked away, smiling and shaking her head. She turned her attention to Jude.

For the next hour, they talked. About her big Italian family that made The Sopranos look sane, the best places in town to get seafood, their shared passion for cheesy B-movies on the sci-fi channel. She didn’t get to her hopes and dreams before Jude had to go, but she felt as if she knew him – on a deeper level than just a sexy potential Dom. And for the first time in a long time, she had an inkling of hope for her love life.

Chapter 7

Sabrina

Sabrina ran her hands over her long, flowy black dress, smoothing out a few crinkles. The top swooped low and the straps tied on her shoulders – which she’d double knotted – but she was hoping the length would save her.

Tonight was séance night. She’d been waiting for it for days with an equal sense of excitement and foreboding. She could, potentially, reach a spirit tonight – one who she’d know the name and history for.

It was also just as likely she’d be ravished tonight. No, wait. More likely. Hence the long dress. When she wore sundresses and short skirts, she could practically see the wheels turning in Q’s head. It would be so easy for her to reach a hand under the short fabric and…

She forced those thoughts away before she needed a date with her B.O.B. Again. Ever since that afternoon at Jude’s house, she’d needed her purple friend far more than usual. The memory of her forced against Jude’s body, wrists wrapped tight in the cuffs, Q’s soft lips against her skin… She shivered.

And that closet. It both terrified and titillated. Some of Q’s sexual habits must’ve rubbed off on her since living together. Q should have mentioned that before they signed the lease – not that it would have changed her mind.

Well, she’d get it all out of her system this summer. She only hoped Q could go back to being friends when it was over. Because it would end. There was no choice about it. She could picture her mother fainting then spending every evening in church, praying for her soul. Her entire extended family would find out within hours. She’d be ostracized at every family event, and even though nobody would say anything to her face, the whispers would be hard to ignore. It had happened to her cousin, Anthony, when he’d come out.

“Sabrina!” Q knocked on the bathroom door. “I’m sure you look gorgeous. It’s time to go.”

She tucked her hair behind her ears with a sigh then walked out of the bathroom.

Q ran her gaze over Sabrina’s outfit, looking like she was holding back a smile.

“What?” Sabrina peered down at herself. “You don’t like what I’m wearing?”

She bit her lip and her eyes gleamed with mischief. “No, the dress is fine.” She walked closer and brushed Sabrina’s hair off her shoulder then fingered the dress strap.

She shuddered. Q’s recent habit of touching her often – running her fingers across her lower back when she walked by or touching her cheek when she told her she was beautiful – was driving her to distraction. To her shame, she had run the batteries out in her purple friend yesterday.

“You look beautiful,” Q said as she tucked a lock of Sabrina’s hair behind her ear.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. There she goes again. “You ready?”

“Yes.”

She looked Q over and sighed. When was she going to get a new wardrobe? “Black shirt and jeans,” she mumbled. “What a surprise.”

Q arched a brow. “Jude doesn’t seem to mind.”

“He was probably picturing what was underneath.”