Leaning back on the palms of his hands, he slowly shook his head. “Is that why you stopped flirting with me? You thought that I didn’t want you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve wanted you since that first time that I clicked on your photo and began to read your file. I have been stopping myself because I need you at the club. You are amazing, and I see how much you enjoy the interaction. It is impossible to be a lead unless you really find a sense of physical and mental joy in the job. I am not and never will be a submissive. I’m a dominant, just as you are, and I’m not sure if we can make anything work between us, but I would like to try. I can’t resist you anymore. I can’t deny how much I want you anymore. Love is not meant to be a horrible, remorseful thing. If you want to put blame on your mother’s death, put it where it belongs.”
“Where exactly is that?”
“Blame the cancer that killed your father. You said that they were happy and madly in love. Do you honestly think either of them would want to deny their only daughter those same emotions?”
“No,” she whispered softly. “It is just easier to keep my distance.”
He dropped down beside her, wiping his hands playfully on her stomach. “You are a stubborn, very frustrating woman. Leave it to me to pick the toughest one in the bunch.”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh at his chagrined expression. “What exactly does that mean?”
“I could walk into the club and pick any woman I choose. I could have chosen any of the women in the files, and instead, I chose you. I wanted you.”
His voice was so dusky and dark that an involuntary shiver ran through her body. “You know this can’t work. We are too much alike.”
“I know.” A sly smile played on his sultry lips as he caressed them with his tongue. He bit into his bottom lip and then visibly licked the bottom of his front teeth with his tongue. It was a gesture that Sam had seen him make before, but the sight of it suddenly inflamed her. She swallowed hard against it, surprised by the sound of her own rapid breathing.
“Your call.”
Hesitating, she looked into his eyes, wanting him and longing to feel his touch. Sam went against the fear rising in her mind and reached up, stroking his cheek. He leaned down, trapping her with a kiss, his mouth feeling like liquid fire against her own. His tongue rolled over hers, caressing her, his teeth scraping against her bottom lip. Condor drove his fingers into her hair, nipping at her throat and then sliding down to roll his tongue and fingers over her breasts. A glorious ache rose within her, a sensation she had been denying herself, ignoring. It seemed like an eternity since she had been so fully aroused. The sensations flowed within her aching cunt like the rush of an angry sea. The waves crashed and rolled, her muscles tightening and then slacking off. Images flashed in her mind, the crack of her whip against flesh already blazing and red, the sight of Nyo crawling to kiss her feet. Condor leaned upward, holding her head tightly between his palms. “What are you thinking?”
“What a strange question.”
“Not really. Are you thinking about me or the club?”
“Both.”
Condor pushed off her, rolling and dropping onto his back. “I’m trying to arouse you, and you are thinking of someone else. Who?”
“Nyo came to mind. It wasn’t him exactly, but the things I did to him.”
“So what I’m doing isn’t affecting you at all?”
Sam sat up, whirling to sit cross-legged beside him. She let her fingers trail over the pronounced muscles in his arm. “Actually it was the opposite of what you think. You were arousing me, more than anyone has in forever. It was that sensation that brought the sound of the whip to my ears, the sight of Nyo cowering to my mind. It wasn’t a distraction, but rather an addition to what you were making me feel. It is what I am accustomed to. I used to let the images flow when I was with Seal or Gargon because I needed the extra enticement. I don’t need it with you, but it still happened. Sorry.”
Sitting up, he slammed her back to the bed, rolling onto her to look deeply into her eyes. “I don’t want to share you with illusions. Do you think that you can at least try to keep your full attention on me?”
A cheeky grin spread across her lips, his forceful actions causing a long-forgotten, almost excruciating ache to rise in her cunt. “Old habits die hard, but I can try.”
“Thank you.” Condor twitched his eyebrows, lowering his chin slightly to stare at her through malicious, downcast eyes.
It was a side of him that she had never seen before, the strength in his gaze intriguing. “Do you always threaten your submissive with your eyes?”
“I have been known to. Does it turn you on?”
“Actually, I find it quite intriguing. I have always had a problem imagining you as a dominant because you are always so lovable and lighthearted. I now wonder how wrong I was.”
“You have no idea. Maybe I should allow you to watch some night. It might be enlightening.”
The depth of threat in his voice thrilled her, and Sam drove her hands into his hair, dragging him down to her lips. She wanted him in a way that only her deepest dreams had alluded to, and as he slid down her body, biting at her skin, Sam pushed back the feeling that she was going to regret what they were about to partake of.
Condor’s lips were on her thigh, nipping and sucking on her skin as he slowly, torturously moved inward. He took great pleasure in the act of torment, his hand rubbing her skin as he slid upward and then flowed back down to her knee without ever touching where she wanted his touch. He tickled the uppermost line of her thigh, trailing over her flesh until she could feel his breath upon the hair of her mound. She wanted to grab his head and force the action, but if he were anything like her, it would only prolong things further. Her dominant nature fought to take control, but Sam used the knowledge she had to control herself. The things that irritated her about a submissive were things she would not do to Condor.
He sat back, kneeling and grinning at her as he rested his chin on her mound. “So tell me, Ms. Bell. What is your preference?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Kylie. I would really love to feel your tongue where the attention is needed most, but forbid I should beg. I presume that you don’t want to be told what to do, so give me a clue how to proceed.”
“You have me in an interesting position,” he replied with a ridiculous wiggle of his eyebrows. “I’m not used to asking for input, but I figured that I would try. I didn’t expect you to beg. As a matter of fact, I knew that you wouldn’t. I could torture you for the rest of the night in ways…well, I guess that you can imagine.”
The comment made her chuckle, and she nodded her head solemnly. “I’m sure I can. If you want to know what I like, then please feel free to use your tongue. Counterclockwise circles alternated with up and down licks are nice. I like things hard enough to be noticeable, but not so much that it causes pain. Some men have a problem finding my G-spot, but it’s worth the trouble.”
Nuzzling her with his face, he leaned back slightly and grinned. “Oh, do tell.” He flicked her clit with his finger, watching as she jumped. Seductively licking his fingertip, he began as she instructed, drawing slow lazy circles on her flesh.
“Take your tongue and thrust it into me about three quarters of the way. Wiggle it firmly, and you might hit the spot. If not, you will still be close enough to trigger a reaction.”
“Ah. I would have to then ask, in relation to the appropriate pressure, which is preferred, G as in gently or G as in gregarious?”
She considered his use of the word. “Oh. Feel free to express yourself.”
“Nice catch. I will do that.”
He increased the friction of his finger, alternating between circles and strokes as he pushed her cunt’s lips open with his tongue. Sam was stunned when he hit the spot exactly, flickering the wet muscle with a precise, almost jabbing flex of his tongue. It was glorious, the action making her moan as the surf rose, pulsing and crashing to grow again over and over, higher, more powerful until she was raising her hips to meet him.
Condor leaned back on his elbows. “I gather that I found it?”
Blowing out a long, exaggerated breath, she shivered. “I do believe that you could say that. Very nice, Mr. Kylie.” She wanted to continue by demanding that he do something about the throbbing ache that he had left behind, but didn’t. Sam simply gestured to him with a flick of her first finger. “Do you need some attention, sir?”
“Not particularly. Do you?”
“It would be nice.”
Condor slithered upward, pinching her slightly with his teeth. She imagined that she was going to have a trail of tiny red bite marks from her mound to her breast where he stopped to suck solidly on both her nipples. The added activity was not necessary, and she was panting through gritted teeth when he glanced up at her. “Am I torturing you?”
“A little.”
“I have always found it interesting what can be accomplished without the use of anything but my mouth. Do you agree?”
Sam knew that he had the potential to be cocky, but the attitude still caught her off guard on occasion. “I suppose. If you are trying to kill my buzz with only your mouth, you are succeeding.”
“Then I had better shut up, huh?” He lowered himself to her lips, kissing her with a tongue that tasted like her cunt but clearly relayed his lust. He nudged her legs with his own and then filled her with his dick. His thrusts were hard and quick, filling her, driving her toward climax. Sam suddenly understood just how aroused he was. He had done more than turn her on, he had done the same to himself. She met him, pivoting her hips against him, her nails grinding into his shoulders.
Condor was staring at her, his eyes piercing as he curled his top lip and gritted his teeth. Sam released the hold she had been keeping on her climax, the inner muscles grasping him tightly as she felt the pulse of his dick within her. The final convulsions hit, solid and fast, her hips thrashing as she silently screamed.
Condor dropped onto her, stroking her face with his palms before taking her into a less vigorous kiss. His tongue lazily twirled around hers, Sam’s entire body going limp beneath him as she ran her fingers over the curves of his back.
She closed her eyes, anxiety tightening her chest as she realized that she had just given him everything. The sex had been incredible, but also filled with far more emotion than she was willing to share.
Condor stopped her as she put her hand to the limousine door. “I want an answer before you get on the plane. Are you coming back?”
“No.”
“Why not?” he asked, sounding desperate and angry. “The last week has been fabulous, and the last two days have been unbelievable. We are great together. How can you say that you’re not coming back?”
“Condor, this isn’t real. I realized last night that I’d have to give up everything to be with you. I could feel your eyes on me last night at the club, and it was distracting. I almost hit Shane in the face with the tip of the crop because I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. I wasn’t even really enjoying it, because all I could think of was you. You rarely engage in the physical part of the club anymore. You are the owner, and the manager, but you gave up acting as a guide. You don’t walk in the bar with the intention of taking someone for the evening. I do. I want that. I need the power and release it gives me. I need to be in charge. I need to be in control of that part of my life. It makes me feel alive and special. I have already explained this to you. I can’t separate what I feel for you and what happens at the club. They are intertwined, and it is throwing off my equilibrium. I’m afraid of us, of what we are becoming. I’m equally afraid that I’m going to seriously hurt someone. I can’t choose between the two, and if I stay, I will be forced to do so. I’m sorry, but I know that if I remain here, things between us will crash and burn. Let us stay as a pleasant, memorable illusion. Please, let me go home.”
She was right. It had been agony watching her and knowing that he couldn’t touch her until they returned to the condo. He had seen her distraction, and for her to make a mistake could cause one of his patrons serious harm. A mistake could ruin her, destroy her reputation, and leave her as an undesirable mistress. She had made no promises to him, telling him the truth about her emotional status and her fear of commitment. That hadn’t mattered to him, and Condor had enjoyed every moment they had spent together. He touched her cheek, pleading with his eyes. “What do you want me to do? Get a job somewhere else? I will promise not to watch you at the club when you come. I give you open access even if you don’t want to be a guide. We can live apart so there is no pressure on your part. We can make it work, Sam. I can’t stand the idea that I will never see you again.”
Slowly, she shook her head, removing his hand and kissing his palm. “It won’t work, and you know it. There are too many complications, and we would both eventually find the situation unbearable. It is easier to end it now, before our emotions grow any stronger. You will find someone else. I’m not the one, Condor.”
“Aino,” he whispered.
“What does that mean?”
“It is a name from Finnish mythology that means the only one. I can’t even imagine myself with another woman right now.”
“Don’t do this to me. I told you that I would not get into a relationship that has the potential to destroy me. I am already on the brink of that precipice. I have to go while I still can. I am sorry, Condor.” Sam pushed the door open, racing from the car and into the waiting plane.