Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 Read Online Free

man, one she wouldn’t mind handling herself. If he was a sub.
    Ford’s concern made a lot of sense. A brute of a baby Dom in training, who wouldn’t safeword if his life depended on it, was scary in the hands of a man who enjoyed dishing out pain as much as Sloan did. But Sloan had been working with Cort for a month. Wouldn’t have started this lesson unless he could read the big man well.
    Chicklet had mentioned Akira because she wanted Ford’s focus where it belonged. Akira was being tested, forced to kneel just outside the roped area and watch her fiancé take each welt-raising lash without a sound. Adorable in her studded, black leather halter top and belt of a leather skirt, her sleek black-brown hair spilling down her back. Usually so serene on her knees. Now though, she had her hands clasped on her thighs, and her eyes were spitting fire. More than once she moved to stand. Stopped herself.
    Akira had more experience than either of her men, so Sloan trusted her to stay put. Breaking that trust would be very bad if the trio wanted Sloan to keep training Cort.
    “She shouldn’t be watching them.” Ford slammed a rag down on the bar top, but stopped and inhaled slowly before moving out from behind the bar. “She doesn’t understand why he needs to do this.”
    “Oh, I think she does.” Chicklet put her hand on Ford’s arm before he could walk by, probably to “save” Akira. He glared at her. She arched a brow and waited for him to calm down. Once he did, she continued. “This is hard for her, but she insisted on being involved in both your training. She’s a big girl, but she needs you to remind her why Cort is doing this.” Chicklet withdrew her hand and smiled at Ford when she felt him shiver. “For you. And I think seeing this is harder on you than her.”
    “He doesn’t get off on pain.” Ford rubbed a hand over his face, then held it up and laughed. “Don’t bother. I know that makes me sound like his sub, but I’m used to us looking out for each other. Trying to prevent anyone hurting either of us. But this isn’t the same. Cort needs to be in control. Hi m submitting, even to learn how to do this right, seems wrong.”
    “How is that a submissive statement, Ford? Doms are protective , and they know what the people who belong to them need. Your kinks have you all over the fucking place. You went through the exact same thing.”
    “I enjoyed it.”
    “And you would have done it even if you hadn’t to be a good master.” Chicklet patted the young man’s smooth cheek. He was a bit more her type, all wiry strength with a mouth she’d love to smack just for fun. “The offer’s still out there. I’m not a sadist, but I can hurt you.”
    “Thanks, but …” Ford frowned, shaking his head as he rubbed his hands on his black jeans. “Wouldn’t be the same. I don’t…feel anyone else now that I’m with Cort and Akira. Don’t need anyone else.”
    “ You, mister, confuse the hell out of me. By the end of the night, Cort will have you in chains while he practices everything Sloan’s taught him and his mentor stands watch.” She ran her tongue over her teeth, honestly baffled. And having no problem explaining why. “I’d call you a switch, but you’re not. You’ll give up a bit of control to enjoy the pain, but the submission itself does nothing for you.”
    “Trying to read me, Mistress?” The lazy smile on Ford’s lips only proved her point. A sub would try to show her how wrong she was. A switch might argue, try to pull on a dominant front. Unless they were comfortable with straddling the fence. Ford played close to the fence, but the need for control was obvious. Obvious in the way he owned that the right kind of pain got him off.
    “Why bother? If I can’t play with you, it’s a waste of time.” She heard the soft ding that sounded behind the bar when the front door opened. The most beautiful woman in the world, one who made even the sexiest model on the runway a pale