Page 52 of Love Lessons: Expanded Edition

But she was worth so much more than a quick scene, and he didn’t think she realized that.

She was skittish, like a wild animal. He needed to tame her a little bit first. Maybe not too tame, but enough to take food from his hand. I was thinking we could watch the second movie.

She blinked for a second, and then nodded. Yeah, I’d like that.

She was lying, but this seemed to be a little lie, a social fib instead of a mask. You didn’t watch the first movie at all, did you?

She smiled back at him impishly. You made me fall asleep!

Fucking adorable. I did. And I had a wonderful time holding you.

This time when she blushed and looked away, her face held only bashful happiness. That, right there, was what he wanted. Do you want to watch the second one anyway?

She leaned forward, looking up at him. We could do something else…

Nope. Absolutely not. She wasn’t running the show, and he wasn’t going to let her believe that those moves would work on him. He might not know everything about this whole D/s thing, but he knew that she needed to know that he was in control. He made his face stern. It looks like you need another lesson.

She rolled her eyes. More cuddling?!? She signed it like it was an outrage.

He grinned. More cuddling.

She let out a huff and took a frustrated bite of salad. But her eyes were smiling. Perfect.

When they finally put away the dishes, cleaned up the kitchen, and made it over to the couch, Dustin expected her to fight him on it again.

She sank into his lap easily, though, resting her head back against his shoulder and facing the TV. He flicked on the movie and found the closed captioning settings, glad he’s seen it a dozen times and didn’t really care about seeing it now. He hadn’t paid much attention to the first one, either.

Lena was still a little tense in his lap, and he just wrapped both arms around her waist until she started to settle.

It took almost ten minutes, by his estimate, but he wasn’t in any hurry.

When she was relaxed and soft, he started running one hand down her arm. He kept his touch comforting and friendly, like something he would do with Zhong. It felt nice to just relax with Lena like this, and he watched the movie go by with half of his attention.

But that gave him an idea, something that he’d read about somewhere and half remembered. He wasn’t a stranger to making out on a couch with a movie. What he wanted, though, was to keep her cuddly and close while he stayed in control. He wanted her both relaxed and completely at his mercy.

He wanted to give her that feeling she’d had when he slipped the handcuffs on last time. She’d seemed both tranquil and completely aware. Completely attuned to him.

And then there was the idea of controlling her orgasms, which she’d seemed embarrassingly excited about last time. He’d been teasing and refusing her all day, and it hadn’t escaped his notice that she enjoyed being told no almost as much as she liked yes. He wanted to give her more of that.

He found his own pulse racing. It was an exhilarating notion, teasing her and snuggling her until she was beyond thought, but not letting her come. Edging, for now, but a taste of what it would be like if she gave him more control.

And she was so beautifully pliant in his arms. He wanted to just absorb her through his skin. She was all cuddly and soft, a state he never would have expected a few hours ago. Which meant it was time to move things up a level.

He started stroking across her belly. And fuck, was that amazing. There was something about lifting up that little scrap of filmy fabric to find the warm skin beneath that was driving him crazy.

And she had the sweetest little rolls of flesh on her belly now that she was sitting down. He wanted to nibble on them. Teasing along the edge of her panties was maddening. But he kept his hand relaxed and sure, almost mindless.

She sighed and pressed a little bit into his hand. That made Dustin grin, glad that she couldn’t see him.

He inhaled the scent of her shampoo and gave her a soft kiss on her shoulder. The dark scruff of her beard was just starting to fill in across her cheek, and he nuzzled against it, enjoying the soft scratch across his cheek. Just because he could. Because at least for today, she belonged to him.

Eventually he explored a little bit further. He traced down to her fingers and up to her elegant shoulders, letting the back of his hand brush along her chest on the way. On the third time, when he “accidentally” brushed over that spot below her armpit that always provoked a reaction, she let out a little sigh.

The next stroke he turned into a caress, just whispering over her skin with the tips of his fingers.

She turned her face to his, asking for a kiss.

Watch the movie, he scolded. He wanted to kiss her. But he wanted her to let go and give him her submission even more.