Dark Perception: The Corde Noire Series (18 page)

“
My mother taught me how to
play when I was three. She loved music, but never got a chance to
pursue it.” After switching on the keyboard, Melinda had a seat on
the bench and waited for it to hum to life. “Do you have any
requests?”

He eased back in his chair. “Just play
whatever comes to mind.”

What came to mind was a slow melody
that started out as almost a dirge, but then the tempo built to the
rhythm of a steady heartbeat. Melinda let the music roll in and out
of her, but it was Nathan’s presence she felt more than the music.
When she played the final note, she raised her eyes from the
keyboard to see Nathan leaning forward in his chair, intently
observing her.

“
That was beautiful,” he
told her as he stood from the chair. “What’s it called?”

Melinda shrugged as she lightly ran
her fingertips along the white keys. “It doesn’t have a name. It’s
something I wrote a while back.”

He came around to the side of the
keyboard. “You’re very talented.” He let his finger sweep over a
few of the keys. “Show me how to play.”

Melinda shimmied to the side of the
bench and nodded to the empty spot beside her. Nathan took a seat
and followed her lead when she placed her hands on the
keys.

“
Put your hands like so.”
She showed him how to spread his fingers across the keys. “You
always find middle C before you begin.”

“
Like this?” He fumbled
over the keys.

Melinda slid closer to him. She
splayed her hands over his, spreading out his fingers in the proper
placement. As her face settled inches from his shoulder, she could
smell the musky aroma of his skin and hear her hair rustling
against his white tuxedo shirt.

Melinda lifted his hand and pressed it
down on the keys, creating a chord. “Like that,” she whispered.
When she turned to him, he was staring at her with the most
peculiar grin on his face. “What?”

“
Do you know the things I
would like to do to you, Melinda Harris?”

She tucked a wisp of hair behind her
ear. “I have an idea. You’ve been sending me images for
days.”

“
But I want so much more
from you than sex.”

More than sex?
She tilted her head, unsure of what he was
implying. “What else do you want?”

His lips lingered in front of her. “I
want you, your submission, your permission to do anything I desire
to you … for the pursuit of pleasure.”

“
And if I say yes, what
will you do to me, Nathan?”

He only smiled, offering no
reply.

The glimmer of desire in his eyes
emboldened her. Her stomach fluttering with butterflies, she gently
pressed her lips to his. Melinda could taste the earthiness of the
wine still on his mouth, but there was no reaction from him. He
seemed uninterested in her advances. She pulled away and searched
his brown orbs for the slightest bit of encouragement.

“
Say you want me to make
you mine,” he murmured.

“
I want you to make me
yours, Nathan.”

“
That’s what I needed to
hear,” he breathlessly returned.

His kiss was initially soft and
gentle, but then something changed. Nathan parted his lips,
demanding more of her.

Melinda could feel his need building
as he wrapped her in his arms, pulling her close. The intensity of
his kiss quickly escalated, and the longing Melinda detected from
him soon blotted out all thoughts from her mind. His lips tempted
her, encouraged her to let go, and eventually overwhelmed
her.

He lifted her from the bench and
carried her to the bed, plying her neck with kisses along the way.
When he placed her on the yellow bedspread, he hovered over
her.

“
Are you sure about this?
When I make someone mine, I never let go.”

She raised her mouth to him. “I’m
counting on it.”

“
I want to see you.” He
eased over to his side and motioned to the floor next to the bed.
“Take off your clothes.”

Unsure of what to do, she sat up. With
a montage of stripper movies running in her head, Melinda stood
from the bed and pulled at her T-shirt, all the while trying to be
sexy. Her hands were trembling when she touched the zipper on her
jeans, and then something made her raise her head.

Nathan was on the bed. His fervent
gaze should have sent her into a panic, but instead it calmed her.
Hell, it did more than calm her. It turned Melinda on.

Keeping her focus on him, she began to
enjoy taking off her clothes. Teasingly, she pushed her jeans and
underwear down over her hips. When she had kicked her clothes away,
she spun around and reached behind her back. After she unclasped
her bra, she held it out to the side. With a coquettish glance over
her shoulder, she dropped the lingerie to the floor. Slowly, she
faced him, and with her heart hammering like a frightened deer, she
let her hands fall to her sides.

Nathan’s eyes took in every inch of
her pale skin, round hips, and small, firm breasts. “Come here,” he
seductively purred.

Melinda happily sashayed toward the
bed, but before she could recline on the yellow bedspread, he
pulled her into his arms and hungrily covered her mouth with a
kiss.

The embers of passion that had been
smoldering in her belly flashed into an all-consuming flame. Her
skin tingled as his fingers fondled every inch of her. She tugged
at the buttons on his white shirt, desperate to touch
him.

Sensing her hunger, Nathan shrugged
the shirt from his shoulders. Melinda’s hands explored the carved
muscles in his chest, tickled his ripped abs, and then crept lower
to the zipper on his trousers.

“
You’re in very good shape,
Mr. Cole.”

Nathan guided her hands to his cock.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

He nipped her neck when she stroked
his erection, and before she could get his pants over his hips,
Nathan positioned her beneath him. After wiggling out of his pants
and briefs, he threw them to the floor.

Eager to get her hands on her favorite
part of the man, Melinda grasped his round, tight ass. As if
responding to her, he ran his fingertips over her folds and then
flicked her clit.

Melinda groaned when he dipped his
fingers into her.

“
I love how wet you feel,”
he murmured to her. “I can’t wait to be inside you.”

“
Then why aren’t you?” she
moaned.

He slowly began to move his fingers in
and out. “Because I have something else in mind.”

Melinda cried out as his fingers
picked up speed, hurtling her toward climax. She remembered how it
had been with Josh, the feelings of inadequacy as she tried to
excite him. There was none of that with Nathan. She was being
driven by pure lust, and the insecurities of her youth melted away
as her impending orgasm grew more insistent.

“
Oh, God, Nathan,” she
mumbled against him as waves of pleasure pulsed within
her.

“
Are you going to come,
Melinda?”

“
Yes,” she gasped, clawing
at his shoulders.

He yanked his fingers from her wet
flesh.

“
What are you doing?” She
sat up on her elbows, confused.
Did I do
something wrong?

His face was unusually serene,
something Melinda found disconcerting. “Ask my permission to
come.”

“
What?”

He ran one finger along her wet folds,
causing her insides to tighten with anticipation. “Beg me … beg me
to make you come.”

His voice was emotionless and cold.
Melinda was unsure of how to proceed. No one had done this to her
before.

He pinched her clit. “Beg
me.”

Flinching, Melinda warily stared into
his eyes. “Make me come, Nathan.”

His fingers slipped inside her. “Say
it like you mean it.”

Her body was responding to his
slightest touch. Her apprehension receded as he stirred her desire
once more. She was so close; she would fall apart if he didn’t take
her over the edge.

“
Please,” she whimpered.
“Make me come.”

“
From now on, Melinda, only
I can satisfy you.” He rubbed his thumb over her clit as his
fingers eased in and out.

Nathan was unlike any other man she
had known. Josh was nothing more than an eager schoolboy next to
his experienced hands. When she finally let go, Melinda rocked back
her head and screamed.

Nathan kissed her cheek. “That’s what
I like to hear.”

Still drunk with satisfaction, Melinda
was rolled on to her stomach while Nathan positioned her hands
above her head.

“
What are you
doing?”

“
You really have a lovely
ass.” He kissed her left butt cheek.

Sitting astride her thighs, he pinned
her to the bed. When she tried to raise her head, he shoved her
back down.

“
No. Don’t move. Stay
perfectly still.”

She trembled with anticipation as he
brushed his fingers over her folds. He spread her knees apart. The
ache to have him inside her made Melinda bite down on the
bedspread.

There was the tear of a package behind
her, and a few seconds later, he entered her. The force of his
penetration made Melinda gasp as he went as deep as he could. She
wanted to raise her hips, but his weight made it difficult for her
to move or even breathe. Slowly, he pulled out and then thrust even
harder than before.

Melinda groaned as Nathan repeated his
unhurried rhythm. His leisurely pace was driving her
mad.

“
Faster,” she cried
out.

Nathan slapped her ass.

Her eyes flew open.
What was that for?

“
You never tell me what to
do, Melinda. You’ll soon learn that I’m the Master
here.”

He purposefully slowed down. Melinda
wanted to cry out with frustration as she shuddered with
need.

He pounded into her once more and then
stilled. “I’m going to take my time with you.”

Melinda wanted to bring his exquisite
torture to an end, but she could not move beneath him. All she
could do was lie there and let him do as he pleased.

As he continued his snail-like pace,
the tingle in her loins climbed higher, and Melinda wanted
desperately to push against his hips to quickly bring on her
orgasm. As her desperation grew, she lost all sense of the world
around her. The only thing Melinda could feel was him driving into
her with deep, slow thrusts. Her body crept closer toward climax
and the increasing tension in her muscles began to burn.

“
Please,
Nathan.”

But he never said a word; he kept on
with his merciless assault.

When the tide of her release finally
took over, it was like nothing she had ever known. Her body bucked
and she screamed with such abandon, she didn’t recognize her own
voice. The pulsations went on and on, lasting for what seemed like
an eternity. When she finally opened her eyes, she could hear
Nathan breathing hard against her back as he lay motionless on top
of her.

“
I’ve never known it could
be like that.”

He moved a ringlet of red hair aside
and kissed her cheek. “I like hearing that.” He rolled off her and
settled on the bed. “I will like training you.”

She turned to him. “Training me? What
do you mean?”

He twirled a lock of her hair around
his finger. “I can show you many ways to attain pleasure, but you
have to give yourself to me … completely. Allow me to be your
Master and follow my direction in all things.”

“
I thought I already did
that.”

“
Not quite. What I’m asking
for is a little more involved.”

She sat up, intrigued. “Which means
what exactly?”

He rolled over on his back. “What have
your other relationships been like? Have any of the men you’ve been
with ever tried to tell you to be a certain way with them? Act a
certain way? Do things they wanted?”

She shook her head, blushing. “No. All
the men I dated were … more interested in my gift than
me.”

His smile was not what Melinda had
expected. He seemed like a child on Christmas morning, antsy to
play with a new toy. Nathan shifted over to his side and rested his
head on his hand.

“
I would like for you to
allow me to take over your life. I will protect you, feed you, take
care of you, and be everything you need. But you will have to
listen to me, Melinda. Do as I say, be what I want, and not argue.
Submit to my will and I promise … you will enjoy it.”

She drew up her legs, considering his
proposition.

He sat up next to her, carefully
observing her reaction. “What do you say? Do you want to give it a
try?”

For some reason, the idea of handing
herself over to Nathan excited her. She had never had such a
relationship with any man. Giving into a man had always been
exhilarating, but this was something different.