4. Bexley

4

BEXLEY

His touch was mesmerizing. The heat of the bath mixed with the heat of his hands in my hair shivered me to my core. My muscles relaxed in the concoction of things Merida tossed into the water for me earlier. I leaned my head up as he worked his hands down my neck and across my shoulders, massaging me with those dexterous hands of his. I felt the pads of his thumbs rush across my muscles. A groan escaped my lips as I let my question hang in the air between us.

I almost forgot about the question entirely.

That is, until Dom finally spoke up. “The lifestyle isn’t just about tying people up and having kinky sex, you know.”

I snickered softly. “The lifestyle?”

“Yes,” he said plainly. “For me, it’s not just a temporary role that takes place in the bedroom. It’s the kind of man I want to be.”

That furrowed my brow. “The kind of man? I’m not sure I’m following.”

I moaned softly as he worked his massaging touch down between my shoulder blades. “I struggled to find my place in the pack for a while when I was growing up. Even after I hit shifterhood and went on my first hunt, I still felt like an outcast. It was hard for me to figure out where I fit in and what I could contribute to the pack as a whole, but I found a lot of peace within the lifestyle.”

I found myself wholly intrigued. “What do you mean?”

He slid his hands back up my neck and into my hair, bending me forward in the bath softly. “For me, being part of the lifestyle defines who I am. It allows me to take care of those around me while giving myself the confidence and strength I need to get through the tougher times our pack goes through.”

“Times like now?” I asked softly.

“Yes,” he said as his touch continued to massage me, “times like now. It gives me a foundation for my mental health. It provides an atmosphere that I need to be the man, shifter, and wolf my community needs, and it gives me a moral code to abide by.”

I shake my head softly. “I… had no idea.”

“Most people don’t because they usually think of what you originally thought of. And that’s understandable. Sex is a powerful motivator for a lot of things, especially in the shifter world. But, that doesn’t mean it has to guide everything I do and every decision that I make.”

I couldn’t help but be curious. “So…”

Jesus, I didn’t even know where to start with my questions. But, Dom seemed to pick up on that because almost immediately, he removed his hands from my body and eased me back against the tub.

“Just lay back,” he urged softly.

Then, I felt him pour warm water over my chest while he spoke. “The great thing about the lifestyle is that it can be used for all sorts of things, and none of those things have to be sex.”

“They don’t?”

I chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love that part. But, there are other things as well that it gives me. Like structure, and guidance, and the ability to rely on myself when necessary.”

I wanted to listen to him talk about it all night. “Please, tell me more.”

He poured another cup full of water over my shoulders. “What would you like to know?”

I shook my head softly. “How did you come across the lifestyle in the first place?”

“A particularly interesting trip I took into town.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he said as he poured another cup full of water over my skin, “sometimes me, Voss, or Ronyn will take trips into Mt. Rainier, or even Seattle, to get things we may need from time to time. You know, new mattresses or a part to fix a fridge. Things like that. And during one of my weekend trips where I was picking up rarer supplies for Merida and her healers that they can’t forage from the forest, I came across a party being thrown in one of the bars.”

“A lifestyle party?”

He snickered. “More like a sex party. But, yes. Something like that.”

I giggled coyly. “Did you participate in said party?”

“No, but I most certainly watched. And after that party, I spent a whole entire week after that in town researching and devouring and reading everything I could get my hands on about it.”

“What about that party drew you to it so much?”

It took him a second to respond. “They just looked so… at peace with themselves.”

His answer broke my heart. “I’m glad you found it, then.”

He drew in a short breath. “So, yeah. It started me down this rabbit hole and, before I knew it, I was applying things like hard limits and safe words into just about every aspect of my life. The lifestyle helped me to draw boundaries where I used to have none. It helped me to navigate tough times without getting so fucking angry.”

Hearing him talk about something so important and dear to him made me smile. But, it also came with more questions.

“Wait, what’s a safe word?” I asked.

His hands went back to massaging me, working their way up and down my exposed shoulders and arms. “It’s a word that can be thrown between lifestyle partners that simply states, ‘Hey, I’ve said this word and whatever is happening, I need you to cut it the fuck out.’”

“Ah, so it’s a bedroom thing.”

“Not all the time, no. Most people use it just in the bedroom, but I use it in other areas of my life as well.”

I nodded slowly. “Do you have a safe word?”

“I have safe colors, yes.”

“Safe colors?”

“Mhm,” he said as he slid his hands back up my arms. “It’s a common code used in the lifestyle. Some people get creative, but because of some of the things that I like, I use the red, yellow, green system.”

I paused and waited for him to explain as soft sighs fell from my lips.

“So, red means stop whatever you’re doing immediately. Yellow means we need to pause, but I think I’m still good. And green, of course, means?—”

“Keep at it, bucko?” I asked.

He snickered. “Yeah, something to that extent. So, for instance, right now. I’m about to slide my hands down your back and massage your lower back. What color do you have for me when I tell you something like that?”

I didn’t even hesitate. “Green.”

He chuckled as he slid his hands down either side of my spine. “Good girl.”

I shivered at his words. “So, uh… what… what else do you do?”

“I have hard limits and soft limits.”

“What are those?” I asked breathlessly.

He worked the pads of his thumbs into my muscles, and I groaned. “Jesus, Dom.”

I heard him draw in a deep, steady breath. “Hard limits and soft limits refer to kinks and fetishes one might want to bring into the bedroom with their partner. A hard limit essentially means that you’re not willing to indulge whatever kink or fetish you’re talking about. A soft limit means you’re not sure of where you stand, so just take things slow.”

“Example?” I asked.

“Well, take me for example,” he said as he dipped his hands into the water and massaged my lower back. I leaned over for him, giving him access to the whole of my back, scars and all. “Never will I ever allow a woman to use a dildo on me.”

I damn near choked on my spit. “Sorry, what?”

“A dildo. A strap-on? It’s called pegging, and it’s a hard limit for me. I’ll never do it. It’s not something that interests me. But, a soft limit that I have is choking.”

I slowly turned my gaze over my shoulder to look at him. “You like being choked.”

His grin was positively devious. “I like it when my partner puts up a fight. And if that happens to come with trying to choke me out before I pin her down and spank that little ass of hers for being such a bad girl, then so be it.”

My cheeks quickly reddened at his words before I turned myself to face forward again. “Got it.”

He worked his massaging touch up my spine. “I’m an open book, so ask whatever you’d like.”

I scoffed. “Honestly? As long as we don’t talk about what just happened outside, I’m fine with whatever we talk about.”

“Perfect,” he said as he grabbed my hair and wrung out the excess water. “You got a hair tie?”

I lifted my wrist out of the water and yanked it from around my hand. I slipped it over my shoulder and felt Dom take it from me. Then, as he separated my hair and ran his fingers through it again, my body relaxed forward. As if my body wanted him to have as much access as humanly possible.

“I’m sorry if I asked too many questions earlier,” I said softly. “I’ve just never come into contact with this before, personally.”

“Hey, I’m just glad you’re enjoying yourself. I don’t like it when you cry.”

I peered over my shoulder once more before a sly grin spread across my cheeks. “Not a kink of yours, huh?”

His stare darkened. “Just makes me a little murdery, is all.”

I studied his face before a breathless giggle fell from my lips. And when I watched the corners of his mouth curl up into a smirk, my laughter grew.

“Jesus, Dom. Why do I get the feeling you’re more ruthless than Ronyn?”

The sound of his chuckling wrapped around me as he went back to playing with my hair. “Because he’s only brutal on the outside. He’s a fucking softie on the inside.”

My giggles continued to fall. “Oh, and you’re some sort of sadist?”

He tugged my hair, causing me to gasp as my head fell back. I watched his upside-down gaze slip into my view. He studied my face, wrapping his hand in my hair like he held me hostage.

“Dom,” I said breathlessly.

He tilted his head. “I am what they call a pleasure Dom.”

I swallowed hard, still staring up at him. “What—what’s that?”

He tilted his head. “It means I’ll be anything you need me to be to bring you pleasure. A sadist. A romantic. Controlling. Weak. You want me on my knees? That’s where I’ll stay until you beg me to stop eating that delicious pussy of yours. You want me ruling every aspect of your life? You’ll wake up to a chore chart and a color-coded outline of your entire day. You want to be tied up and used as my little cum dumpster for a whole night? Then, get ready to wake up sprawled out on my fucking bed.”

He tugged my hair harder and I gasped. “Oh, Dom.”

His nose nuzzled my forehead before he placed a soft kiss upon it. “And if you need a sadist, sweet girl, then I can spank that pert little ass of yours until it’s marked with nothing but my handprint.”

Jesus Christ, his words sizzled me to my core. Electricity shot its way through my veins as he kissed my forehead one last time. Then, I felt his hands cup the back of my head before he leaned me back up. His hands settled in between my shoulder blades, pushing me softly forward. I bowed to his every move. I leaned myself up, hunching my back before he took my hair in his hands and wrung out my tendrils once more.

Then, as he went back to playing with my hair, his soothing voice filled the space around us.

“Now, are you brave enough to let me finish washing you?” he asked.

“God, yes,” I said breathlessly.

It wasn’t until about halfway down my back that I realized he was braiding my hair. I sat there in the perpetually warm bath water, relishing the way his hands massaged my scalp after he piled the massive braid on top of my head into a bun. His hands caressed me. Soap lathered against my skin and bubbles popped with the water that rushed along my skin. I felt his hands everywhere on me as he turned me and tweaked me how he wanted.

“Turn around and give me those legs.”

“Here, let’s massage these feet really quickly.”

“There we go, clean armpits.”

“Yes, we even have to wash your ears.”

He was the first man to touch every part of me. He left no crevice unwashed, including the space beneath my heavy-hanging breasts. He lifted them gingerly, and I watched his hands palm my tits as he scrubbed beneath them. My puckered peak slipped through the slats of his fingers, blaring like a fucking stoplight as he scrubbed my skin.

He slipped his hands down my stomach.

“Hook those legs over the tub for me, sweet girl,” he whispered against the shell of my ear.

My eyes fluttered closed as heat broke out between my thighs. I lifted my right leg out of the tub and crooked it over the edge, slowly raising my left one as well. Dom’s hand slipped beneath my knees, helping me to settle my legs over the edge of the copper tub. His hands returned to my body as my head fell back. I moaned softly up to the ceiling as the hand that gripped the washcloth disappeared beneath the water.

As he scrubbed the spaces between my thighs and groin, my hips bucked softly.

“Dom,” I whispered.

“Mhm?” he hummed against my ear.

“Please.”

He kissed the shell of my ear as the washcloth slipped between my pussy lips. “Please, what?”

I whimpered when the cloth brushed my aching clit. But before I could even part my lips to speak again, his voice found my ear once more.

“A good Dom gives his sub what she wants,” he said as his hands migrated out of the water. “But, a great Dom knows when what she wants isn’t right.”

I swallowed hard. “If… if you need my permission?—.”

He fisted my hair and yanked my head back, causing me to yelp softly.

“Oh!” I squealed.

He glared down at me. “I gave you my word that nothing was happening in this bath house tonight. You’ll quickly come to find that I’m a man of my word, no matter what my touch does to you. You tell me no; I take that seriously. End of story. Got it?”

My eyes danced in between his before I quickly nodded my head. “Got it.”

He raised my head back up and fixed the braided bun on my head. “Good girl.”

I sighed softly at his praise. “I love it when you call me that.”

He chuckled. “I can see that.”

I giggled softly. “So, I have more questions, but my brain is mush. Can we talk more about this later?”

“We can talk about it whenever you want.”

The question flies out of my mouth before I can catch it. “And if I don’t want to talk?”

I felt his breath pulse against my skin as he whispered in my ear. “Be careful what you wish for, sweet girl.”

A warm chill cascaded through my veins, causing my entire body to physically shiver. His chuckle was salacious against my skin, and it caused my head to fall off to the side. I felt his nose trace my pulse point. I felt his lips press softly into the skin of the crook of my neck. But, when his hands fell away from my body, I snapped my gaze back over my shoulder and watched him stand.

“You’re leaving?” I asked.

He walked over to a towel and dried his hands off. “Voss is back.”

That got my attention and my tone of voice immediately shifted. “Does he need all of us?”

Dom shook his head as he made his way to the door. “No, he’s just letting the pack know that the woods are clear.”

“So, why do you have to go meet up with him?”

He cracked open the bath house door. “Why? Miss me already?”

I scoffed. “No. It’s just?—”

His eyebrows hiked up before he folded his arms over his chest. “I’m waiting.”

I shook my head and snickered. “Tell Voss not to do anything stupid before I can get out of this bath, yeah?”

He chuckled with delight as he slipped outside. “My pleasure.”

I called after him. “And while you’re at it, tell Ronyn to do the same! That man is always getting into something!”

Dom stuck his head back through the door. “Trust me, it’ll be an honor to bitch them out for you. Now, do what Merida said and relax. Morning time comes early around here.”

Then, he slipped back out into the night, and I watched the bath house door ease closed. Leaving me with nothing but racing thoughts and a burning ache between my legs.