Page 32 of Praising Haru

“Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

I blink. “You’re going to let it go.”

“Yes.” He kisses the underside of my jaw. “If you want to talk about it, I’ll be here, but if you never want to tell me, that’s okay too.”

“Thank you.”

He’s a real caretaker. I’ve known it for a while. How many people text an Internet friend every day to ask how they are? Last night, he could have backed off when Grabby Hands showed up. We weren’t at the club as a couple. He could have walked away, but he didn’t. He protected me. When I asked him to praise me, he did. He would make a great, caring Dom.

“Back up a bit. The Dom, they’re in charge?” Kyle asks.

“Yes and no.”

“I’m confused.”

“Yes, the Dom is the one calling the shots, but the sub has the real power.”

“How?”

“Via safewords. Using those, we can ask our Dom to slow down or stop what they’re doing altogether. If someone ignores a safeword, they’ve got no business being a Dom. It’s a Dom’s job to help their sub explore their wants, needs, and desires within their limits. Yes, sometimes a Dom will encourage a sub to push and test their limits, but they’d never expect their sub to break them.”

“I think I get it.”

“It’s okay if you don’t. You’re not into this stuff, and that’s fine. I don’t need you to be into it to be friends with benefits. I thought you should know, that’s all.” I tilt my head to the side to give him better access to kiss my neck. He has such attentive lips.

“But you would like me to keep praising you?”

“Only if you want to. I don’t need it.”

“Hm, I’m not sure that’s true, gorgeous.”

I suck my lower lip into my mouth and whimper.

“That’s what I thought.”

He strokes my cheek as he kisses my neck. “You like being called pretty.”

“If you want to get into my pants again, you’re going about it the right way.”

He chuckles. “You’re not wearing any pants.”

“True.”

“I’ll stop.”

“Don’t.” I pinch my brows together. “Sorry. This is my thing, not yours.” But he’s so good at it.

“I’ll admit I felt self-conscious about it. I wasn’t sure what to say or if I sounded stupid.”

“You didn’t. Everything you said was perfect.”

He nuzzles the crook of my neck. “It’s easy to praise someone as beautiful as you.”