Page 16 of Sutton's Seduction (The Sinful Suttons 4)
After making a full circuit of the grounds, he still didn’t have an answer. Once he’d returned to the main building, he stepped inside, and as he strode across the lobby, a familiar face appeared at the reception counter.
“Well, hello there,” the woman greeted him as he approached.
“Ms. Luna. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” she replied. with a slight dip of her head. “And you?”
“If I said great, I’d be lying, but I’m working on it.”
Luna cocked her head to glance behind him. “I see Ms. Aziz isn’t with you. Again.”
Kurt huffed out a sigh. “No, she isn’t. I was with her this morning, but…” He shrugged.
Luna leaned toward him, her arms resting on the counter. “Do we want to play beat-around-the-bush here or be open with each other?”
Kurt gave her a thin smile. “You first.”
“Okay. So, I know what she did yesterday, and I know how much it pissed Master Derek off. I wasn’t lying, though; for whatever reason, he sees something in her that stopped him from having her ass thrown in jail. And believe me, he could easily have done that.”
“Do you know why he didn’t?”
“Not entirely,” she answered with a shake of her head, “but I can tell you this: Master Derek may be a Dom, but he’s very much drawn to strong-willed women. He’s not someone who wants his sub docile or meek. He wants submission to be earned and given, not coerced or taken by force.”
“Well, if he’s pegged Dana as a strong personality, he’s one hundred percent on point. She just lacks?—”
“Discipline.”
Kurt narrowed his eyes, frowning.
“What, you don’t think Drake and I share pillow talk? He told me what you talked about last night.”
“Touché.” Kurt blew out a sigh of frustration. “Where I’m at right now is trying to figure out how to do what you suggested.”
“What, compromise?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “To get her to agree to some rules and restrictions, and to accept discipline when she chooses to be disobedient.”
Luna leaned up from the counter. “So, talk to Master Derek.” She pointed across the lobby.
“Why… why would I do that?”
“You don’t think he hasn’t disciplined his own sub in the past? I told you; he likes strongminded women. Sadie Marie Hawkins may be his submissive, but she’s also one of the most willful, feisty, stubbornest people you’ll ever meet. Erika, Jenna… myself; each of us has pushed his buttons at one time or another, and Sadie, definitely, most of all. In every instance I’m aware of, he’s used either a firm hand to apply discipline when it was necessary or come to a compromise when that’s what was appropriate.”
“Sorry, you’ll forgive me if my immediate reaction was to think in terms of…” He looked toward the stairs leading down to the Dungeon.
“And like I said last night, you wouldn’t be the first. But I can tell you in my case, it never ended up there. I don’t have a discipline kink, but even if I did, the end result would’ve been the same; we worked things out through communication and compromise. I may not have always liked the outcome, just like I’m sure he didn’t enjoy having to give in to me at times either. But we did make it work, and I know it’s succeeded for him and Sadie, too. You only have to see them together to realize that.”
Kurt glanced toward the office he’d sat in less than twenty-four hours ago.
“What have you got to lose?”
Luna’s question pulled him out of the memory of his last encounter with Derek Hawkins. “The man owes me nothing, Luna,” he said pensively, looking back to her.
“You’ve woefully misunderstood Master Derek if you think he’d only help you if he had something to gain. That’s not him. At. All.”
She and Kurt studied each other for a long moment.
“Go on,” she urged quietly.
