Page 34 of Friends with Benefits (Club Risqué)

It was a dream come true.

Serendipity.

Fate.

And Christian was determined to hold on to this second chance with both hands. He wanted to explore the future with Trinity, as well as the lifestyle.

She just didn't know it yet.

ChapterTwenty-Six

The tap on her door made her jump, even though she was expecting it.

Damn, she needed to pull herself together and get her head out of the clouds. She'd been so busy daydreaming, she hadn't even done any work. It was unlike her to be so tardy.

Christian walked into her office, the epitome of calm self-assurance and control, and lounged on the corner of her desk, looking utterly edible.

The plan, remember! Trinity scolded herself.

"So, are you ready to play properly this evening?" Christian asked, appearing nothing if not casual.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," Trinity asserted, before she lost her nerve…or rather her will.

Damn it, the man smelled delicious. She could detect his unique male scent drifting over to where she sat, and she wanted nothing more than to lick him all over. Lordy, this was all so out of character for her.

She shook herself mentally and cleared her throat. "I have a couple of conditions I want to set out, so everything is on the table before we start," she told him, hoping her voice sounded more resolved than she really felt.

Christian nodded and gestured toward the seating area in the corner. "Let's sit and discuss everything," he agreed, and Trinity was pleased that he was taking her wishes seriously and not just fobbing her off as others had done in the past. That kind of attitude was guaranteed to have her heading in the other direction at a fast clip.

She couldn't bear Doms who believed that they knew best, simply because they were a Dom. And those arrogant suckers existed, despite her best efforts to avoid them at all costs. A good Dom always listened to his submissive.

She gave a satisfied sigh that Christian had jumped that first hurdle with ease and followed him over to the couch.

"So, what do you want to discuss?" he asked.

The voice of reason and impeccable intentions had her heart melting all the more.

Jeez! Between her out of control libido and her reaction over his obvious attentiveness to her wishes, she'd be melting into a puddle of goo at his feet soon, throwing caution to the wind and giving him carte blanche to do as he liked with her.

She steeled herself against it and launched into her speech before she lost the will.

"I’d like to ask that the first few times we scene, we do not participate in intercourse," she told him, putting her cards on the table and cringing inwardly at just how prim she sounded.

Christian, on the other hand, was all serious acknowledgement. "I am well aware that penetrative sex is on your soft limits, Trinity, and I will always respect that. Did you think I wouldn't?" he asked with a concerned frown.

"No!" She hurried to reassure him. The last impression she wanted to give him was that she doubted his integrity. "No, not at all."

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out audibly. Choosing the right words was much more difficult than she had imagined it would be. "And I certainly never meant to imply any such thing. I just think it's important, given our history, to establish trust and confidence in one another, and also in these roles that are new to us and not part of what we are used to fulfilling with each other… Oh God! This isn't coming out the way I wanted it to!" she bemoaned, dropping her head into her hands.

"Let me start again. Perhaps bluntness is the best option after all." No matter how embarrassing she might find the admittance.

"I want to have sex with you, Christian. There is no doubt about that in my mind whatsoever," she said, hoping that her face wasn't the colour of her poppy red hair.

"But I want us to establish the beginning of this D/s relationship without sex muddying the water."

"I think that is a very sound and sensible idea." Christian nodded agreeably. "But forgive me, I'm still a little confused as to why you think there might be some kind of problem with any of this?"

Trinity scrunched her eyes tightly closed. There was no getting around it. She was just going to have to come right out and say it and simply bear the subsequent mortification of her admittance.

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