She sat up and stared at him, illuminated by the fire. He had a bland, somewhat expectant look on his face, but she was starting to really know him. His anxiety revealed itself in the hard line of his shoulders, in the stiff way he held himself. “What if I’m not submissive?”
And just like that, his body relaxed, and the teasing Dom was back. “Oh, you are.”
“Maybe I want to be in control. Maybe I need it after what happened to me.” How would he handle that?
A smile softened his face. “You’ll always be in control. That’s the great misunderstanding about the lifestyle. The submissive can stop the scene at any time. Any play is meant for your pleasure. Any rule is meant to protect you, build trust between us, and lift you up. It’s why I won’t listen to you talk badly about yourself. I’m willing to spank you over that so you’ll remember. Even if you hate me, I need you to believe how amazing you are.”
She didn’t necessarily understand, but she was pretty sure she couldn’t hate him. Ever. “We have to go slow with the whole play thing, Dane. I might never be able to handle it, especially the bondage. Being unable to move…it scares me.”
Which meant she might never be able to please him.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll go as slow as you need,” Dane assured her. “Trust isn’t an overnight process. We’ll take it one baby step at a time, if that’s how it’s got to be. For now, I want you to kiss Lan slow and deep. He’s going to sit back and let you have your way with him.”
Lan smiled at her, placing his hands behind him and using them for leverage as he tilted back. The move left his big chest on display. “I’ll keep my hands to myself, darlin’.”
She rose to her knees. Her having control while she had her way with Lan confused her. “That doesn’t sound terribly submissive, Dane.”
“There are as many ways to play as there are players,” Dane shot back. “We don’t have to follow any rules except our own. Now kiss him. I want to watch.”
The idea of Dane watching her as she kissed Landon made her heart pound in a sultry rhythm. She’d been kissed before by men, yes. But she’d never been the aggressor.
Men? Hah. She’d dated boys. Not a single one of her few boyfriends had been as masculine as Landon or Cooper or, oh god, Dane. They were big and broad and hard. They oozed testosterone. They had protected her today. They had made sure she was comfortable and safe and warm. They always would.
No, she’d never dated even one man before. Those rich boys had been cultured, some even really intelligent and interesting. And she would bet they would have panicked and screamed like girls the second they realized the plane was going down. They wouldn’t have put that much time, energy, or thought into making sure she lived. Hell, Coop had all but volunteered to commit suicide by palm tree just to put the plane down in a visible location that might give the rest of them a better chance at being rescued.
And Landon… She stared up at his stony face, his gorgeous, sculpted mouth. His lips were thick and perfectly curved. His cheeks already had a sexy growth of beard. And his blue eyes were so hopeful.
Kiss him. She wanted to. She could even feel blood rushing to her nipples as she thought about it.
With a little smile, she leaned in and brushed her lips against his, getting just a hint of his warmth and the firmness of his lips before she pulled away.
She’d done it! She’d kissed him. And she wasn’t stressed or traumatized. He hadn’t pounced on her or…
“You can do better than that, Princess,” Lan challenged.
“Yeah, you aren’t going to make him crazy with that little kiss.” Cooper was watching, too, over her shoulder. He’d gotten to his knees behind her. She could feel him almost touching her. What would it be like to have his hands on her hips? Or her breasts, teasing her nipples as she kissed Lan?
Her whole body flushed with heat at the thought.
Alea leaned toward Lan again, determined to make him—and the others—a little crazy. She could do it. She’d survived a damn plane crash. She could survive being touched and touching in return.
Lan’s eyes drifted down to her breasts. He liked them. There was no mistaking the way his cock got hard because he was only wearing his boxer briefs and the fire illuminated his thick length. Yeah, she was already getting to him.
Alea brushed her lips against his again. But this time, instead of backing away, she pressed in, allowing her hands to cup his face. She loved the rough feel of his whiskers against her palm as she inhaled his scent, tested the firm softness of his mouth, acquainted herself with her body being so close to his.
This was nice. So nice. She was getting warm and relaxed.
“Use your tongue, Lea.” Dane’s command guided her from somewhere near the fire.
Her tongue. Heat surged through her belly…and arrowed lower. No denying that she wanted to know how he tasted.
Alea ran her tongue across his bottom lip and felt his whole body shiver as his lips parted. Then she curled her tongue around his shyly and drank in his flavor for a heady second. Oh, she felt lightheaded, but as she eased away, she realized that she had power over him. Dane was right. She wasn’t out of control. Quite the opposite.
“Hey, it’s my turn,” Cooper said. “I want a good-night kiss, too.”
“Go on or he’ll whine all night long,” Lan whispered against her lips.
Good-night kisses. If she started allowing them, would they want them every night? Would they want more? The thought made her shiver.
She turned to Cooper. He held himself just a bit apart, giving her space, the same way Lan had. She moved closer to him and cupped his face, too. His hair was so short, but when she ran her hand across it, she was surprised at how soft it felt. She bumped her nose against his before finding his lips.
As they touched, a little spark sizzled over her lips. As she opened her mouth and his followed suit, their breaths meshed, their tongues tangled. Coop wasn’t quite as good at being passive and patient as Lan. He surged in, wrapping a hand around her shoulder, as he tilted his head and went deeper. Alea stiffened for a moment, then relaxed. A big zing followed. He was potent. And she couldn’t deny that it was nice to be close to them.
She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and loved the groan that came from deep in his chest. Then she nipped at him again before pulling away with a teasing grin.
Alea stood up, perfectly satisfied with this little experiment so far. But she had one more man to go. Dane.
Gulping down nerves, she walked to the fire, her feet sinking deliciously into the sand. It was funny how much more aware she was of everything now. The night suddenly wasn’t cold, but rasped a nice cool breeze over her skin.
Dane watched her, his gaze warm as she halted beside him. “Is it my turn, baby?”