Perception (2 page)

“I can
ask.”

“I prefer
to tell,” he told her as he approached. “I’ll list out the issues because I do
want to make an offer. I assure you, it’ll be fair.”

Mercedes
nodded her head as she watched him. Yes, she certainly could see his dominating
personality. It was prominent, yet somehow not terribly overbearing. If that
were even the right word to use to describe a man who stood at least six and a
half feet tall and was built like the defensive line of a football team. The
whole freaking line.

“So what
do you say? We’ll go back to your office and get things started?”

Although
he’d kindly phrased it as a question, Mercedes got the distinct impression that
he was informing her, not asking.

Mercedes
was speechless.

For the
first time in her entire life, she didn’t know what to say. And that was saying
something because not only was she a damn good real estate agent, she was also
a formidable Domme.

One who,
from this moment on, knew she could easily like this man.

As a
friend. And nothing more.

Soft
opening of Devotion…

Tuesday

Xander
Boone couldn’t take his eyes off of the dazzling blonde walking through the
door of the private room he had reserved at Devotion. The beauty he was
currently eyeing was none other than Samantha McCoy, the alluring wife of Logan
McCoy, a man Xander considered a friend and potentially a future business
partner.

Tonight
at the soft opening of Devotion, just like almost any night from what he’d
heard, Logan’s wife had certainly garnered some attention. Xander’s was no
exception. He might not know her all that well, aside from what her husband had
mentioned, but Samantha had a way about her that drew people. It was in her
eyes.

Considering
she’d set her sights on him specifically, according to Logan, Xander knew she
was making an honest effort to get his attention.

It had
worked.

Then
again, thanks to his conversation with Logan, Xander had been expecting it. The
fact that he was always interested in shaking things up a little, he had
committed to playing along, hence the reason they were there.

Making no
attempt to conceal his appreciation for Samantha’s physical appeal, Xander
continued to eye her as she made her way closer.

He
offered the hint of a smile when she tentatively walked into the room, allowing
the door to close behind her as she stared up at him. There was curiosity
gleaming in her celadon green eyes, along with what he sensed was something
akin to nervousness as she glanced down to the toy in his hand and then back up
to meet his gaze.

Mission
accomplished.

Sure,
Xander had purposely untucked and unbuttoned his shirt and carried the mini
flogger with him to answer the door, but that was for effect. Mostly. He wanted
to see her reaction, and he got exactly what he was expecting. Samantha was
walking into a situation that she was not all that familiar with, but he’d
already known that thanks to his conversation with Logan.

Sue him
for wanting to have a little fun with her.

As Sam
and Logan moved slowly into the room, Xander continued to study her, his eyes
perusing her lean, slight build. There was no denying the fact that the woman
was gorgeous with her long blonde hair, glowing green eyes and tons of curves.
However, the way she carried herself, – strong and confident – despite her
reluctance to the situation, was far more enticing than just her mere physical
beauty.

Xander
was immensely drawn to a woman’s inner strength. More so than any physical
characteristic. In fact, it was a prerequisite of his.

And he’d
met a number of submissives who didn’t quite understand the concept. He’d played
with many who were under the incorrect notion that a Dom was looking for a
woman who would just roll over and submit.

They were
wrong. Dead wrong.

At least
as far as Xander was concerned.

The
stronger a woman was, the more he admired her. Regardless if she would easily
submit or not.

Looking
at Samantha now, Xander noticed the way she was clinging to Logan, holding on
as though he were her lifeline. In his opinion, her response to his presence
was somewhat deceiving in the sense that it gave the distinct impression she
was unaware of what might happen tonight. But from what Xander knew of her, he
wasn’t fooled. Samantha McCoy was anything but oblivious.

Xander’d
had the pleasure of talking to Logan on more than one occasion about this
scenario specifically, and the little adventure they were about to embark upon
had been in the works for a couple of weeks, ever since they had a definite
date determined for the opening of Devotion.

His first
impression of Sam? Quite the opposite of what he’d seen of her tonight, he’d
have to say. During his first and only encounter with her outside of the club,
he’d pegged her for all business, all the time. But then he’d seen her with
Logan a few minutes ago in the hallway, and she’d definitely been getting down
to business, but not the way Xander figured her to.

Seeing
her standing there, her hands gripping the iron rails that surrounded the
second floor with Logan’s hand hidden beneath her skirt had been gratifying. If
he’d had any concerns about what she wanted, he was eased somewhat by seeing
her pleasured by her husband right there for anyone and everyone to see.

She had
certainly passed his initial test.

Nodding
his head toward the opposite side of the dimly lit room, Xander urged Logan and
Samantha farther inside. Since Logan was already up to speed on how this
session would go, Xander didn’t feel the need to give him guidance. Watching as
Logan took Sam’s hand and led her over to the lone chair that sat in a corner
on the opposite side, he waited.

Knowing
that he didn’t have time to waste, as soon as Sam had her back to him, Xander
tossed the small flogger away and  moved to the other side of the room to
retrieve the one he intended to use.

His hand
had barely wrapped around the braided handle before his slacks were getting a
tad uncomfortable. Just the thought of what was about to happen had his cock
rigid and anxious.

Knowing
that he wouldn’t be able to pay attention to Samantha and do what he needed to
do, Xander turned his full attention back to the woman who’d been his main
focus for the last few hours. Mercedes Bryant. The mouthwatering woman standing
on the opposite side of the room.

Xander
wouldn’t deny the fact that there were plenty of beautiful women in the world;
he’d had the pleasure of being with plenty himself. But truth be told, not a
single woman held a candle to Mercedes. As far as he was concerned, she easily
outshined every other woman in the world.

He’d
thought so ever since the first time he met her nearly a decade ago.

Mercedes
was breathtaking. Mile long legs that would wrap around a man perfectly,
luscious curves that he could easily fill his palms with, jet black hair that
fell to her waist, exotic steel gray eyes that saw everything, and alabaster
skin that just begged for a man’s touch.

She was
riveting.

And those
were just a few things Xander found so fucking desirable about the woman
standing there, waiting for him.

In all of
his thirty-five years, he had never met a woman who had captured his attention
the way she did.

But he
knew firsthand that there was more to Mercedes than just a pretty face and a
tantalizing body. Truthfully, through the years that they had been friends,
he’d been more captivated by her intelligence, her strength, and her wit than
anything else.

And she
had enamored him. He just had never let her know.

Without a
doubt, she was the most tempting woman he’d ever laid his eyes on. And he could
guarantee she had absolutely no idea he felt that way.

Because
if she did, he knew she wouldn’t have agreed to this.

Xander
was a pro at keeping his true feelings to himself. After all, he’d spent years
doing so. In his business, it didn’t benefit him to show his hand too soon. His
poker face was without flaw. He prided himself on his ability to hide any and
all reaction. And in his defense, he’d been attempting to lure Mercedes to him
for longer than he cared to admit. However, as it turned out, subtlety wasn’t
exactly his specialty. Not where Mercedes was concerned.

He was
tired of being subtle. He was also tired of waiting. So, just like everything
else, it was time he took control. In the one way that he was intimately
familiar with.

Mercedes
moved, drawing his attention to her outfit. When he picked her up that evening,
they’d both been dressed for the formal affair that they were attending. Over
dinner, she’d stolen his breath with the sexy black dress that had highlighted
her voluptuous figure incredibly well, giving a sexy glimpse at her more than
impressive cleavage.

However,
since they’d entered the play room, she had changed her clothing. At his
request. The black corset with its fiery red ribbons, the short black skirt and
knee high black boots with the four inch heels was one of the sexiest outfits
he’d ever seen her wear and yes, he’d seen her wear plenty, not to mention
less.

After
all, this wasn’t the first time he’d watched her closely.

Torn
between eyeing the woman whose gaze was boring into him and doing what needed
to be done, Xander glanced between her and the St. Andrew’s cross.

He met
her eyes again and nodded slightly.

“Over to
the wall.” His instruction was gentle yet firm, not offering any room for
confusion or argument, which, of course, was the intention.

Time to
begin.

~~*~~*~~

Mercedes
crossed paths with Xander as she moved to the far side of the room as
instructed. She met his gaze as she did and noticed the sexy smirk tipping the
corner of his lips.

Arrogant
bastard.

He seemed
to be getting a huge kick out of this. Then again, it wasn’t often –
translated
to never
– that anyone would get Mercedes to agree to something like this.

Then
again – her hesitancy notwithstanding – she had to admit, she was both nervous
and excited about what was going on here tonight.

Since the
day she’d been introduced to Xander Boone many years ago, they had spent a lot
of time together. In the simplest of terms, they were business associates, not
to mention, friends.

Close,
yet very platonic,
friends
.

When they
weren’t dealing with the ins and outs of the real estate market, they would
often spend time together outside of work, as well. A lot of that time was
spent at one of Dallas’ most exclusive BDSM clubs – appropriately named Kink –
where they were both now members.

Their
friendship had started almost instantly, and they had grown close through the
years. It didn’t hurt that they had several things in common which had
strengthened their friendship from the start: they both believed that business
was business, play was play, and when it came to the latter they were both
looking for something,
and nothing
, at the same time.

Namely,
fun with no strings attached.

Simple.

Uncomplicated.

Just the
way Mercedes preferred everything in her life to be.

Only
there was one problem… Xander had recently presented her with a proposition
that was neither simple nor easy.

Their
lives consisted of both work and play, and they went to the extreme on both
counts. It’s just who they were. Within the category of play, they were both
intimately familiar with domination and submission. However, if she didn’t know
better, she’d have thought Xander had recently received a blow to the head that
had clearly warped his good sense.

If
Mercedes weren’t mistaken, Xander Boone wanted
her
submission.

And that
was where the problem lay. Mercedes couldn’t give him that because she
was
not a submissive
. Key word being
not
.

She was a
Domme, and her reputation was well established and highly respected in their
circles and he knew it. So how the hell he’d talked her into this said a lot
about his powers of persuasion.

His
request had come one night, about two weeks ago, when they had met for dinner
after work. Prefaced with, “Because neither of us has a pet (as Xander liked to
refer to his submissives), I’d like to call in a favor.”

A
freaking
favor
.

First of
all, for the record, Xander never asked for favors. Hell, he didn’t usually ask
for anything. So, not only was he low maintenance as far as friends went, it
was hard to refuse to help a friend when they looked at her the way Xander had.

That was
when things started to go downhill.

Based on
his explanation at the time, and his rebuttal to every one of her suggestions –
What about finding a sub or a trainee from Kink? What about that one woman…
yeah, he hadn’t even let her finish that sentence – Mercedes was under the
distinct impression that Xander was playing a dangerous game with her, trying
to get her to submit when there was no way in hell it was going to happen.

Except
for tonight.

Somehow
he had convinced her to come here, and she had no choice but to deal with it –
because a promise was a promise and Mercedes didn’t go back on her word.

Now, as
she fought the urge to sneak out when he wasn’t looking, Mercedes divided her
attention between the power couple and the sexy as sin man who was waiting for
her to do as he instructed.

It was
apparent that Xander’s request had something to do with the beautiful couple
who had made their way into the room. From what Xander had told her, Logan had
been the one to approach him in the beginning. Logan and Samantha weren’t
vanilla by any means, but according to Logan, they had never experimented with
BDSM. Xander came up with the idea for giving them a little taste of his
lifestyle.

Strange
request, huh? Actually, it wasn’t all that uncommon.

Only,
somewhere along the way, Xander had turned the tables on her. Something she
would certainly pay him back for at a later date.

It was
just a shame that she considered Xander so damned attractive, and strangely
irresistible – in a very platonic sort of way – because she certainly wouldn’t
have hesitated to tell him to fuck off with his invitation. But, in her
defense, she wasn’t the only one who found Xander physically appealing. Most
women did, and just like them, she wasn’t immune to his charm. Unfortunately.

At the
moment, Mercedes could think of a more apt word to express what she thought
about him: Incorrigible. Yes, that certainly described him nicely.