RAFE'S LAIR (18 page)

Rafe nodded his head saying "Oh" Then he pulled Ava against him again wrapping his arm around her back
and bringing one of her hands to his mouth so he could kiss her fingers one by one. He turned them and started dancing her backward toward the kitchen while he talked to her.

    "See beautiful the only way you do get to know someone is by spending time w
ith them, and you can't do that if you’re constantly running away from said someone. So in that you’re thinking is flawed. As far as inconveniencing me? The only thing that's inconveniencing me is the fact that you are constantly running away from me. So again you’re thinking is flawed. Now as far as you being a grown woman."

He leaned over slightly to look at her ass and then leaned back to look down the front of her. He kept her hips pressed to his by keeping his hand flat on her lower back. He had been v
ery tempted to lift his shirt up in the back so he could get a really good look at her perky, rounded little ass. Wagging his eyebrows, he said.

    "I can most certainly tell you are all grown woman baby. Although in my shirt, you do kinda look like a lit
tle kid playing dress up in grown up clothes. It's actually very cute and a very good look for you. I might add."

The entire time he was dancing and talking to Ava, she was giggling at him. At one point she even dropped her head to his chest and rested her
forehead against him a moment. When he started kissing each of her fingers again from her pinkie to her thumb, she looked back up at him. She stayed pressed against him though following his dance steps on her toes. He'd let his hand drop even lower so most of it was on the rounded ass he'd been commenting on. He stroked his thumb back and forth right on her dimples where her lower back connected to her butt.

He reached the bar way too soon though. He leaned around his playful little mate and pulled out a s
tool. Ava jumped a little and brought her hands flat to his chest again. Rafe straightened back up, picked Ava up, and settled her on the stool. She gave a startled squeak and grabbed onto his shoulders. Her feet immediately found the rungs and he stepped into the v of her legs. He ran his hands down her sides to the outside of her thighs.

Ava slid her hands down to Rafe's biceps. He was so close to her standing right between her spread legs. She looked up into his grinning devilish face. She felt his hands
slide lower on her legs to push the hem of his shirt up higher. She really thought he was going to try to push it up over her hips, but he moved it out of the way just enough that he could touch her bare thighs.

    "So now that your pretty little ass tha
t I was admiring is parked on the stool you have no excuse to not talk to me while I make breakfast for
myself
. That way you can get to know me and there won't be any more stranger danger." Rafe said.

That made his mate really laugh and it was music to his
ears. She even threw her head back a little so he couldn't resist bending down to her and giving her little kisses to her throat before he spoke against her neck again.

    "Now if you change your mind about not wanting to eat my delicious breakfast with
me, you'll have to be nice to me while you’re doing your interrogation of me. You will also have to share tidbits about yourself as well, that way there won't be any stranger danger for me either. Then I
might
share my yummy food with you, seeing as how you will be my new friend."

Ava felt Rafe's hand slip around to her lower back to support her and he stepped even closer and leaned her back a little. Once he had her reclined a little he had better access to her throat still kissing her and talking to her.
His other hand stayed on her thigh, but he had moved it underneath and slid it higher so he was practically fondling her butt.

Laughing Ava said. "I can guarantee I am no danger to you, it is souly the other way around. Hell I don't think there's anything
that could hurt you."

Rafe lifted his head so he could look Ava in the eye.

    "That is where you are so very wrong beautiful. You are more dangerous to me than you can even imagine." Rafe said.

Ava didn't know what to say. His eyes were so serious and sh
e could tell he wasn't playing anymore. He truly believed she was a danger to him, but she couldn't fathom as to how. Luckily, Marie came out to join them so she didn't have to respond. Rafe stepped back and went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

    "Al
l I have to say is it's a damn good thing I took today off." Marie said coming to stand by Ava. "How'd you sleep sweetie?" She asked Ava.

    "Surprisingly all night actually."

Rafe turned around. "You don't sleep good normally?" He asked.

Ava shook her he
ad as she got down off the stool to join him in the kitchen.

    "No I'm usually up and down a few times a night. Please tell me you have coffee." She said coming up next to him.

    "Ha that's the understatement of the day!" Marie said.

Ava and Rafe both looked at her at the same time. Rafe arched a brow as he reached out and pulled Ava closer to him. He needed her to be next to him sharing their combined warmth.

    "And what exactly do you mean by that?" He asked.

Marie smiled at the wa
y Rafe was protecting her friend from her of all people.

    "Nothing. She gets up like every hour, that's all. Kinda hard not to notice when someone is up and down that much." Marie said.

Ava put her hand on her hip. "I do not!" She shot back, then more quieter. "It's like every couple of hours." She added more softly. "I'm sorry I wake you up that much. Where the hell is your coffee? And if you tell me you don't have any I'm outta here. I cannot function without caffeine." She said turning to Rafe hoping to lighten the mood.

Rafe looked at his mate and hated the embarrassment in her eyes. He knew if he tried to intervene now, she would be even more embarrassed and push him away. So he took her lead to try to get the attention away from something so person
al about her and teased her.

    "Maybe if you slept you wouldn't need caffeine so much." Rafe said looking down at her. He laughed at her scowl. He was sure it was meant to scare him into moving. "Has anyone ever told you you look so damn cute when you
’re mad?" He asked heading over to the freezer to pull out the coffee.

    "No and I suggest you don't either mister." She said snatching the coffee out of his hand and stomping to the coffee maker.

Rafe looked over at Marie after Ava turned her back to him. She just shrugged and threw up her hands. Rafe started really laughing then. He knew his life would never be boring again with his little firecracker in it. He had to make sure he stocked up on coffee from now on too.

    "Don't look at me dude she told
you she was the wicked witch of the west till she had her coffee. It would be a lot easier if you just shot it straight into her vein. It takes affect faster that way and she won't fully change into the evil witch. Kinda like with the hulk. If you piss him off, you gotta calm him down real quick before he goes all green on ya."

Ava turned around to glare at her friend. "I did not say I was a witch thank you very much. I said I couldn't function without it."

    "Same difference. That would be why I'm long gone before she even starts to get outta bed, I know better than to risk my life by sticking around." Marie said.

Ava didn't even bother looking at her this time, she just flipped her off with her back still towards Marie as she finished making her liquid s
anity, making Marie bust out laughing harder

                                         CHAPTER 27

      The rest of the morning went about the same. Everyone laughing and joking. After they were done eating. Ava and Marie insisted they do the cleaning up. So Rafe just hung out at the bar and watched the girls interact. They really did act more like sisters than friends. Once they were done, they both said they really had to go and as much as he hated doing it, he didn't argue.

He did however insist on Ava
wearing his shirt home considering it covered way more of her than her dress had. Not to mention that gave him a great excuse to make sure he saw her again. Not that he needed an excuse. To get her to not argue with him about exchanging numbers, she needed him to give her an excuse. As a double precaution, he let Marie wear a shirt home too. He was able to find boxers for both girls as well. Now he had four excuses to make sure he saw her again.

Rafe walked the girls down to the main floor of Lair. He'd had
their car moved to the private parking garage the League had built under the building when they'd bought it. Marie hadn't minded but Ava of course gave him shit for it. Big freakin surprise there. He started walking them through the back of the club. He could tell they were both really curious about what all was back here. Rafe looked over at Ava walking next to him and her head was doing a sprinkler imitation. He leaned down close to her and said.

    "Just ask me already."

Ava practically jumped out of her skin when Rafe spoke to her. She gave a loud squeak and put her hand over her heart. She looked over at Rafe. He of course thought it was absolutely hilarious that she was so skittish and he'd just scared the shit out of her. So she smacked him on the arm, which only made him laugh harder.

    "That was so not funny asshole." She yelled at him. As he bent over grabbing his side laughing.

    "What? What'd I miss?" Marie asked looking between Rafe bent over laughing hysterically and Ava with her arms crossed tapping her foot and glaring at him.

    "Oh beautiful that was absolutely priceless. I swear I thought you were gonna claw the damn ceiling you jumped so high." He managed in between bouts of laughter. "Had I not have been watching you, I could have s
worn I either stepped on a damn mouse or a squeaky toy." He said laughing again.

    "Kay now I'm really curious." Marie said. "What the hell did he do?"

Ava pointed at Rafe. "Mister Giggles over there thought it would be fun to scare me by coming up behind me and whispering in my ear."

    "No that's not what I did." Rafe countered. "I simply leaned over and spoke to you
normally
while I was walking
beside
you. It's not my fault you’re a little scaredy cat that jumps when she sees her own shadow and squeaks like a mouse." Rafe said straightening back up, but continuing to laugh.

    "Oh whatever.
You’re still a jerk wad." She said turning around to stomp off. Too bad she didn't make it very far before he grabbed her arm and spun her around so fast she had to brace herself on his chest.

    "Hey now no name calling you. I think squeaky little mice are cute. And where in the hell did you come up with jerk wad? What are you like ten?" Rafe said wrapping his arms around Ava.

    "If you’re acting like one then I'm not calling you names, I'm stating the obvious. There's nothing wrong with saying jerk wad. I unlike some people don't have to make every other word I say a cuss word, and I do not squeak like a mouse."

Rafe laughed at her again. "Well la ti da little squea
ky mouse." He said back to Ava in the same haughty tone. She then proceeded to stick her tongue out at him as her incredibly mature response.

Marie rolled her eyes and sighed. "How bout both of you grow the hell up."

Rafe looked at Ava and knew she was thinking the exact same thing as he was. She had a devilish little grin on her mouth and mischief sparkled in her baby blues. They both turned back to Marie and stuck their tongues out at her, then cracked up laughing.

   "Riiight. My point exactly. So what was so important to say that you had to scare Ava half to death?"

    "Well judging by the sprinkler impression her head was doing, I figured she was curious about everything she was seeing in this part of the club. S
o I told her to just ask me already." Rafe said never taking his eyes off Ava.

Ava scowled at him. "Sprinkler impression?"

Instead of telling her, he showed her and even added the sound effects of a rotating sprinkler. That made Marie laugh. Ava just glared at him again, acted like she was mad, and tried not to laugh as well.

    "I was not doing that." She said pouting.

    "Whatever helps you sleep at night there sugar britches." Rafe said patting her behind. "You both obviously want to know about the club, so I'll tell you. This hall has private rooms that members rent." Rafe said pointing to the doors on either side of them. "They have keys to the rooms and can pretty much put whatever they want in them. Within reason of course."

    "Oh of course. Cause whips and floggers and spanking benches are totally reasonable. I mean adding a rack to that assortment would be totally
unreasonable
." Ava said sarcastically.

    "No actually a rack can be very entertaining when used ri
ght. If you'd like I'd be more than happy to demonstrate with you." Rafe replied very seriously.

    "No thanks. I don't think I'd be very interested in seeing someone stretched out on one thank you very much." Ava replied.

Rafe stepped right up behind her so he could whisper in her ear. He put his hand on her hip and slid it around so it pressed against her lower belly. He held her in place as he stepped flush against her.

    "I didn't say demonstrate
for
you beautiful, I said
with
you, as in you stretched out beautifully on mine. I could show you personally all the wonderful things that can be done to you while you’re on it."

Having Rafe whisper right in her ear and feeling him press against her back made a shiver work through her body. He nipped her ear
and quickly stepped back, taking his body heat with him. She swayed slightly and he had to grab her arm again to steady her.   

Rafe reached out and grabbed onto Ava's arm just long enough to make sure she was steady enough not to fall. He was teasing bot
h of them and he damn well knew it. He was going to be hating life for the rest of the damn day after she left, but he knew she would be going home needing as well. So that made his impending misery easier to bare. Hopefully he would get her wound up enough that she couldn't wait too long to call him. He gestured for them to start walking again and he continued explaining the club to them.

    "We have guards that monitor the rooms to make sure no one gets hurt or is forced to do anything they don't want to
do. But the fact that their members means we don't have to worry too much about them going overboard. We do extensive background checks to make sure all our members haven't been charged with any crimes involving abuse or rape of any kind. Those sort of things will ensure we won't ever allow them membership. In fact that will get them banned period from our club and many others."

Rafe had started them walking again while he was explaining until he saw that Ava was still skeptical. He could tell that Marie k
new most of this by the way she was acting. He stopped her and had her look at him.

    "Everything that takes place within these walls is consensual, Ava. I can tell you haven't been exposed to the lifestyle very much, so you don't know much about what ex
actly goes on. Yes, there are those that take things too far, but that's abuse and not what our lifestyle is about. Those people are not true Doms; they use the lifestyle as an excuse to get off on hurting someone. For most of the people in the lifestyle it isn't about that and they look out for the people that do abuse so they can make sure they're stopped." He started them walking again.

    "I don't get off on hurting women just to hurt them, or by degrading them for that matter. I do however know there
is a very fine line between pleasure and pain. There comes a point where both merge and the pain you think you should feel becomes pure pleasure unlike anything you've ever felt. When you have a power exchange between two consenting adults, which is all this lifestyle really is, there is a heightened experience of pleasure between both parties. It's not something you can totally explain, it's something you have to experience to fully understand."

Ava was hanging on Rafe's every word. She knew some of this f
rom talking with Sass, but just because they'd talked about it didn't mean she actually knew what it was really like. She'd always thought she'd like to just hand over the reins and let a guy take control of her body. Problem was she hadn't been able to find a guy she could trust enough to be able to do that.

    "Ava, I know that look baby." Rafe said stopping them again. He came closer to her reaching up to stroke her cheek. "You want to know what it's like to surrender to your Dom don't you beautiful. Yo
u want to give up all control and have a man take you so completely that the only thing you can do is feel. Tell me baby. Have you ever been spanked?"

Ava just shook her head instead of answering him. That was unacceptable, verbally expressing how you feel
and that you understand completely what your Dom is trying to convey was one of the most important things. Not only did the sub have to trust the Dom not to go too far, but the Dom had to trust that the sub would always be completely honest and open with him about everything as well. So Rafe gave Ava a little tap on her ass to get her attention. She jumped, startled by it and fell into him again.

    "Answer me beautiful; don't just shake your head at me."

    "No I haven't." Ava said in a small voice not looking him in the eye.

    "Very good. You've never had a man bend you over his lap and spank your ass till it's the prettiest shade of pink?" Rafe said dropping his hand to pull his shirt up so he could caress the spot he'd tapped on her ass.

    "No I haven't" Ava replied breathlessly trying to move closer to him.

    "But you've thought about it haven't you beautiful." Rafe wasn't asking he already knew the answer. He could tell by the look in her eyes and the way her body was responding to him that she
'd thought about it a lot.

Ava nodded her head and then remembered he wanted her to actually speak to him after he gave her behind another tap, this one a little harder than the last. She squeaked with that one. She looked at Rafe to see him smiling mischievously at her. He arched
a brow and pet her ass where he had delivered the last tap. She couldn't really call what he'd done spanks they were just very firm taps. Yet he didn't deliver them both in the same spot. She didn't know if that as intentional or not.

    "Yes I've thought
about it," She told him quickly.

Rafe leaned down close to her and whispered "That's my good girl." He pet her rear a little more to ease the sting of his hand. Playfully tapping her other ass cheek with the tips of his fingers this time, he told her. "Com
e on let's get you ladies to your car."

Ava shook herself out of the daze Rafe had put her in, turned, and started heading down the hall again. This time she kept her head down not daring to look at anything. Her emotions and thoughts were all over the pla
ce now. She couldn't seem to process them all and she didn't like that one bit. Actually paying attention and learning more about this place, about him would only make everything worse. Rafe kept his hand resting possessively on her lower back. And as they walked, he continued to tell them about the club.

    "You've seen the main room. Obviously, there's a lot that goes on out there, but it's all fairly tame. The main room is mostly for the general public to come and pretend their apart of the scene. Or fo
r those like you two who are interested, but don't exactly know how to get involved safely. We have many members who like to spend some time out there interacting with everyone though. The second floor is where the themed rooms are. You can basically find every scene you can imagine. Pretty much all the props most people would associate with BDSM."

Rafe pointed to another hall and started them down it. "The second floor is for our experienced members. There are rooms for them to rent up there as well. Their
rooms are bigger and more elaborate. Most of them have more furniture such as racks." Rafe said teasing Ava.

Rafe had been watching Ava very closely ever since their little spanking incident. She'd practically closed herself off. She wasn't looking around
anymore and her movements were very stiff. Rafe knew he had taken her a little farther out of her comfort zone, but he knew he hadn't pushed her too hard. He knew he couldn't yet. She was still so skittish about him becoming real and not just her dream lover. He couldn't let her retreat so soon though. The more she kept herself closed off, the harder it would be to reach her.

They reached the door that led into the parking garage. He entered in the code and opened the door. He motioned for both girls to go
before him. Marie went through first, thankfully. It gave him the opportunity to pull Ava close to him as she started to pass.