Page 42 of Little Bird

Bane stared at me for a beat before pulling my arms free and walking me to the table. I blinked at him, confused.

“Little Bird, if you keep talking about fantasies, I won’t make it through dinner with you, and I want to feed you because I’ve got the rest of the night planned out in my filthy head, and you’ll need your strength.”

Fuck. I nodded and placed my napkin on my lap. As soon as Bane had done the same, a waiter breezed into the room from a hidden door with a bottle of champagne and a bucket of ice. Bane poured us each a glass, then we toasted.

“To champagne,” he murmured.

I could feel the flush creeping up my cheeks. “To champagne.” I took a shallow sip while Bane had a whole mouthful and placed his glass back down.

“So tell me about your other fantasies, Little Bird.”

Placing my glass down, I stared at him. “I will if you answer some questions about yourself.”

He sat back in his chair and folded his hands in front of him. “Is this a negotiation?”

I mirrored his body language. “Of sorts. I have a lot of fantasies, Bane, only I don’t like to tell people what they are without getting something in return.” I bit my bottom lip playfully.

He shifted his hips, and I had no doubt he was already hard for me. Kicking off one of my shoes, I dragged my foot up his leg to his thigh and slid it over his erection.

Bane’s eyes darkened. He grabbed my ankle. “You like playing with fire, don’t you? Pushing my buttons, denying me what I want.”

I shivered at his intent but nodded. I did enjoy all those things. I didn’t back down from things when shit got real—I ran into them headlong.

He smirked. “All right. I’ll tell you something about myself, then you can tell me about one of your fantasies. Do we have a deal?”

“How about I ask you about the things I want to know, then I tell you one of my fantasies?”

“Clever girl. Always ask for specifics.” I nodded my thanks. “Deal. But I start first. What’s one of your fantasies, Wren?”

Biting my bottom lip, I stared him straight in the face when I said, “Voyeurism. I like to watch other people fuck.”

He chuckled darkly, his cock jerking against my foot, where he still held it in his lap. “You’d love my club then. I can already see you dressed in lingerie, watching as another woman is pleasured by a man.”

Fuck, this was a dangerous game we were playing. My pussy was already beginning to throb. “Okay, my turn. What was childhood like for Bane Rivera?”

He opened his mouth to answer but closed it when the waiter returned. “The usual, Mr. Rivera.”

“Please,” he replied, not taking his eyes off me. When the waiter was gone, he said, “My father was an abusive alcoholic who battered and assaulted my mother on an almost daily basis. He gambled, and he lost. And when he lost, he would take that shit out on my mother… sometimes on me when I tried to interfere.”

I put a hand to my mouth, thinking about the younger Bane and having to witness all that. “I’m so—”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t want your pity, Little Bird. He may have been a monster, but I learned some things from him.”

I braced for his next words.

“I learned that women weren’t ever to be treated like he treated my mother. Men who beat their women are the fucking scum of the earth. That’s why I respect and help any of my Dolls who need it.”

I took a sip of my champagne. “And would they need it?”

“A lot of them are in abusive relationships. I can’t stand that shit. If they can’t get out because they have nowhere else to go, I help them. I have a block of luxury apartments where I always keep half a dozen empty in case they need it.”

“Is that where you would’ve put me?” I asked.

He swallowed the rest of his drink and poured himself another, topping my glass off too. “No. I want you in my penthouse, but I understand your reluctance to move in with me.”

His words warmed me. I wasn’t the kind of girl to believe in fairy tales. I always had to be the breadwinner, the provider for Hawk and me, but there was something so appealing about letting Bane take care of me if that’s what he wanted to do. His protective instincts were ingrained, but he was such a juxtaposition. Here he was, the owner of the largest gentlemen’s club in California—probably the entire West Coast—who acted and believed in such a way that was counter-intuitive to his work. He may have women surrounding him in a sexual environment, but in his own way, he was protecting them.

“Have you ever had sex with any of your Dolls?” I ask softly.

---