If she wanted to know how this was going to work, he’d show her. In his opinion, talking was overrated when it came to certain things.

Mercedes wasn’t new to this scene; she wasn’t naïve enough to think he’d be gentle with her just because they were venturing into the unknown together. Five days were barely enough time to convince her that this was the right thing to do so he couldn’t afford to take his time seducing her slowly.

Just as he expected, Mercedes hesitated briefly, pulling against his hold on her hand, but then she gave in, following behind him.

Taking his time, he led her through his office, then through the main floor of his condo before approaching the stairs. He didn’t look back at her, unwilling to give her an out just yet. Once they reached his bedroom, he’d give her another chance to change her mind, but the most important thing was to get her there first.

A minute later, they were walking into his bedroom. Once inside, he shut the door with a gentle click and then turned to face her.

Her face registered nothing of what she was feeling. Then again, Mercedes was good at masking emotions. Almost as good as he was.

Xander figured he could credit her bastard of a father for the way she kept her emotions on lock down. According to the conversations they’d shared, Phillip Bryant was a fuckup of the worst order. Xander only prayed he never ran into the guy because he wasn’t sure he’d let the man walk away with his body intact. Hell, he wasn’t sure he’d let the man walk away period.

Shaking off the thought, Xander focused on Mercedes. “Take off your shoes,” he commanded, ensuring she didn’t take the statement as a request.

Her eyes widened only slightly, but then she did exactly what he asked, stepping out of her shoes and leaving them on the floor beside her.

“Now your blou –” Before he could get his instructions out, she stopped him by holding her hand up.

“Me first,” she said.

Xander took a small step back, raising his eyebrow in interest, and pushing his hands into his pockets. He was aiming for casual, although he was having a damned hard time keeping his hunger for this woman under control. “Go ahead.”

“We’re going to do this,” she began, glancing around his bedroom briefly before meeting his eyes once more. “I’ll agree to five days, no holds barred.”

No holds barred? Oh, hell. He was definitely intrigued.

Xander didn’t smile, but he wanted to. Victory was a sweet, sweet thing. He didn’t think Mercedes would appreciate his celebrating, so he forced a bored expression.

“But, you have to agree to something first,” she informed him.

To his surprise, she reached up and began to unhook one of the buttons on her blouse, this one just beneath her magnificent breasts.

“You’ve got my attention,” he told her, trying to keep his eyes on her face. It wasn’t as easy as he hoped it looked.

The single button came free from its mooring, the crisp white fabric separating slightly to reveal the generous swells of her breasts cupped in white lace beneath.

“I’ll agree to play this game with you. You can do your best to make me submit,” she told him as she freed another button. “I’m not at all convinced that it’ll work, but I’ll give you a shot.”

His first instinct was to tell her that this damn sure wasn’t a game he was playing, but he kept it to himself. “And?” he implored her, waiting to hear her stipulations.

“You have to let me top you.”

Xander laughed out loud. There was no fucking way.

“I’m serious,” she told him, her hand working to reconnect the button on her blouse.

Had he been any other man, he might’ve succumbed to her threat, but Xander didn’t take kindly to teasing. If she wanted to work out a deal, he was game, but he didn’t play that way.

“Unbutton it,” he barked, standing up straight as his hands fell to his sides.

Mercedes’s eyes flared with what he assumed was surprise, maybe mixed with an ounce of heat. The woman might believe she was dominant, but he could see the underlying submissive inside of her.

What made him crazy was the fact that she truly believed she was more in control by being a Domme, as opposed to a submissive. He knew she was well aware of Xander and Shane’s views on Doms and subs, but she’d never embraced their way of thinking. Which was another reason he felt as though her reasons for becoming a Domme weren’t the same as most.

She wanted control.

Of herself.

That’s where she’d failed along the way. That’s where so many people went astray.

The Dom didn’t wield the power… the submissive did.

Now, he was going to work on teaching her that very lesson.

~*~*~*~

Mercedes’s fingers stilled on the button she’d just managed to hook back. The look in Xander’s eyes was fierce, and it sent a trickle of heat fluttering beneath her skin. She loved that look. Loved to watch him when he turned all of that masculine dominance on one of his subs. He was a sight to see.

Had she been watching him do that to someone else, she would’ve applauded him for taking the reins. Being that he was taking what little control she had away, Mercedes wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it.

As though they had a mind of their own, her fingers worked the button loose once again before sliding to the next.

“Now continue to remove your blouse while you tell me your requirements.”

Mercedes complied, unable to stop herself. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to continue to think, much less talk, because she was distracted by the look in his eyes, the impassioned way he continued to watch her.

“Tell me,” he ordered.

“You have to agree to let me top you. Twice,” she said, her breaths betraying her as she began to gasp for air as she released the last button on her shirt.

Moving on to release the buttons on the cuffs at her wrists, she continued. “I’ll agree to submit to you, however you see fit, for the next five days. But at least once during that time, I want to dominate you. In public. And then, after all the silliness is over, I get to dominate you again. In public. At a venue of my choosing.”

She barely noticed the slight quirk of his eyebrow, but it was there.

Honestly, Mercedes was stunned that he hadn’t laughed in her face or told her to get dressed because there was no way in hell he’d agree to her terms.

“Drop the shirt,” he said, his words no longer holding a hint of the gentleness she’d sensed in him earlier. He’d gone into full Dom mode. Not that she believed he had another setting.

Mercedes allowed her shirt to slide down her arms and fall to the floor behind her. Now practically naked from the waist up, Mercedes felt the overwhelming heat that had been simmering in her veins since the moment he had left her standing in his conference room.

Twenty four hours ago, if someone had asked her if she would ever be in this position, she would’ve laughed her ass off.

Now? Well, she certainly wasn’t laughing.

“Now the skirt.”

Mercedes knew she needed to stand her ground. He was clearly stalling, probably hoping she’d give in and retract her stipulations once she was naked. No chance.

“Do we have a deal?” she asked him as she reached to her side and unhooked the clasp on her skirt before lowering the zipper.

“In public, huh?” he asked, this time sounding amused.

“Yes. Public. Once at Devotion,” she explained as she gripped her skirt, keeping it from falling to the floor. “And the other at a place and time of my choosing.”

She knew exactly when she was going to call him to the carpet, but she couldn’t very well tell him that she’d reserve her date for the grand opening of Alluring Indulgence Resort, which they’d just recently heard would be happening sometime at the beginning of next year. It was a good thing she was a patient woman because it was going to be a long wait. But definitely worth it.

“What’s required of me?” he asked, his eyes continuing to glance up and down her partially clad body.

“Whatever I want,” she told him.

He nodded, his eyes still scanning her from head to toe.

“Hard limits?” he asked.

Ok, so he had her there. If he had hard limits, she’d have to comply. It was the only way she worked. “Yes, you can tell me your hard limits,” she agreed.

He chuckled. “I wasn’t talking about me. I was talking about you. What are your hard limits?” he asked, turning the question back on her.

God, she’d given some thought to what her hard limits were while she’d been pacing her living room, trying to talk herself out of this. She knew she should have at least one, maybe two, but she hadn’t come up with any. Her rationale had been that if she was going to do this, then she wanted to go all in with this man. She wanted to give herself over to him completely, to let him take control. It was the only way to prove to them both that this was not what she wanted.

She’d been unable to come up with anything she refused to do because ultimately, she trusted him; there was no doubt about that. They’d been friends for so long, she knew everything there was to know about him. He would never hurt her. Never.

“I don’t have any,” she finally said, her breath coming out in a rush.

“None at all?” he asked skeptically.

“None,” she confirmed.

“So you’re good with sex in public? Being naked at the club? Me using toys on you? Floggers, canes, whips?”

Those were just a handful of things she knew he was really thinking about. “I have no hard limits,” she reiterated again.