For a second, she thought about telling him to go straight to hell, but instead sighed deeply, lifted her face, and whispered, “Maybe a little of both.”

Chapter 15

TERRENCE

The entire exchange reminded him of his thoughts the first and only time they’d played. He’d had an inkling she’d be a fun submissive. Even though he’d later been shocked by her age, he often wished they’d had more time to explore the dynamic between them.

But that was then. He could see the Ronnie of five years ago teasing and tempting him the way she currently was. What he couldn’t do was reconcile the behavior with the Ronnie of today. What sort of game was she playing? Or did she simply want to keep him from making a phone call?

“Why?” Terrence asked.

“Why what?”

“Why were you interested in my reaction?”

“It was your use of the word now.” She shivered as if remembering, and he swallowed his grin, not wanting her to see how her reaction affected him. “It was similar to a trigger, I guess. Back when I was in the lifestyle, whenever I played with a new Dom, I’d always test him to see what I could get away with. It’s something I wanted to find out up front.”

“Why is that?”

“Because a Dom who lets me take control isn’t worth my time.”

He was silent at her reply for a long moment, letting her words sink in and thinking back to the time they played. “I don’t remember you testing me.”

She tilted her head and gave a knowing grin. “Don’t you?”

Had he missed something in his remembrance of their time together? He shook his head.

“We clearly defined the scene before we started, remember?” she asked.

“Princess,” he said, allowing himself to flash her a smirk. “Since finding you on the island, I remember that scene damn near every day.”

She surprised him by not reacting to him. “And in the negotiation of that scene, there was one item I took off the table.” She lifted an eyebrow.

Was she testing him? Seeing if he actually did remember?

Like he could ever forget.

“Yes,” he said. “You said no sex.”

“Right.” She nodded. “And during the middle of the scene, I changed my mind.”

“That was you topping from the bottom as a test? I’m crushed.” He pressed his hand to his chest in mock outrage. “And all these years I’ve been thinking it was as a result of my superior domination skills and dashingly good looks. Now you tell me it was only a test?”

That actually got a chuckle out of her. “Yes, and you passed. You proved you didn’t let your dick make decisions for you. You realized the middle of a scene wasn’t the time to redraw the already-agreed-upon lines. That doing so would not be in the best interest of either of us.”

Because in his mind that night was the first of many, and that meant they had plenty of time for sex. “Had I known nexttime would have never happened, it’s possible I’d have acted differently.”

“Really?” She asked in disbelief.

“Nah, you’re right,” he admitted. “I probably would have done the same thing.” He hesitated for a second before adding. “Which I have to say, looking back, was probably the best for everyone involved.”

She moved to get up. “I know. Heaven forbid you have sex with a nineteen-year-old, perfectly able to give consent.”

He blocked her departure with his arm. “You have to admit there’s something questionable about a man in his midthirties sleeping with a nineteen-year-old. No matter how much consent she gave.”

“The age difference is still here between us,” she said, as if he needed her to remind him of such things. “It doesn’t change just because we grow older.”

“True,” he said. “The difference between our ages will always be constant. However, there’s a difference between the maturity level of a nineteen-year-old and that of a twenty-four-year-old woman.”