She nodded, then licked her lips, the sight of that pretty pink tongue sending his mind spinning off into fantasies of her kneeling in front of him in nothing but a thong and that seriously hot bustier as he fisted her hair and fucked her mouth hard and fast, those perfect lips stroking his shaft as he thrust deeper and deeper until he finally exploded, and she sucked and swallowed every last drop.

He reached out for the doorjamb, steadying himself against the fast and furious intensity of that unexpected image.

Drawing in a deep breath, he forced himself to focus. He wouldn’t go so far as to call himself a Dom, though where sex was concerned, he couldn’t deny that he was all about control. Still, he’d been in more than his share of clubs and had been undercover as a Dom on more than one occasion. He knew how to give pleasure, and he knew how to use pain, and he got off on manipulating both. Most of all, he knew how to subjugate his own needs to that of his sub, and how to push her just to the edge of her comfort zone, but never over.

Right now, Natasha was very clearly at the edge of her comfort zone. And Riley needed to tell his own damn libido to chill the fuck out. This wasn’t about the two of them; this had nothing to do with the way he craved her. Hell, he didn’t even know if she would find pleasure in submitting. Damn, though, he wanted to find out. Just the thought made him weak with desire.

But he had to shut that down. This wasn’t about his need for control or her submission. On the contrary, this trip to The Firehouse was an act—hell, it was an elaborate scene—and he needed to make sure that she understood the rules and that they both understood the boundaries.

He stepped over the threshold, and she immediately moved back, giving him room to enter.

“You’re nervous.”

It wasn’t a question, and she didn’t respond.

He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up so she was forced to look at him. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

A tiny smile danced on her lips. “You’re what makes me the most nervous.”

Her words were barely a whisper, and he had to concentrate to hear them. But hear them he did, and though he wished those words gave him hope, all they did was fill him with regret.