It was grudgingly given, but she did nod. “Sure, I trust you.”
But only so far
. Though left unsaid, the qualifier was clear in Lyssa’s tone.
Mike ignored it; he knew where her mistrust stemmed from. She’d granted her trust, albeit limited. Obstinate and obsessive as she was, Mike knew her word meant more to her than any contract or legally binding piece of paper. Any wall would fall if the right stones were removed, and that was just the first to go. He hoped she remained oblivious to the chink it revealed until the opportunity to breach the weakened area presented itself.
“As my submissive, will you trust me to choose the most effective methods to train you?” Mike asked, moving on to another subject to keep Lyssa from dwelling too long on her decision.
Again the spark kindled in her eyes before being quickly subdued. “Sure.” Her response and accompanying shrug were intentionally dismissive.
“Not appropriate, Lyssa. You either believe the lessons and methods I employ are done with your benefit in mind or you don’t. Which is it?” He resumed the soft strokes over her breasts, circling her firm nipples and applying the mildest pressure to them by pinching first the left, then the right between his forefinger and thumb.
Distracted by his touch, Lyssa took a few moments to reply. Again her answer was terse but truthful. “I trust that you believe how you train me is done in my best interest.”
Mike pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Thank you, pet.” He moved lower and took a few minutes to trace her puffy areola with the tip of his tongue. A shiver rippled through her at the light scrape of his teeth along the soft curves. He eased his fingers lower, circling her navel before resting his hand over her belly.
Lyssa arched closer to him; her moan vibrated against his lips. The muscles of her belly quivered beneath his fingertips as he suckled on first one nipple, then the other. Her thighs cradled his hips, arching close.
“Do you agree to be my submissive for the next thirty days?” Mike asked, lifting his head to meet her gaze.
“Mmmm, I like the way you negotiate, Mike,” she purred.
“Master,” he prompted, halting the movements of his fingers. “If we’re in agreement that you’ll submit to me for the next month, say, ‘Yes, Master.’” Mike watched the resistance flash in her gaze. Mattie’s observation about her sister topping from the bottom wasn’t off the mark. It seemed his Lyssa did need to be taught who was master. Holding her gaze, he waited.
Lyssa groaned. A heartbeat later, she acquiesced, “Yes, Master.”
“Very good, pet.” He replaced his hand with his mouth. The warmth of his breath followed by the stroke of his tongue on her nipple had Lyssa pressing closer, shifting to align her body with his cock.
Mike chuckled at her movements. “No, not yet.” He lapped at her firm peak, suckled it softly, then moved his lips to the other breast and repeated the same attentions to it.
Despite her grumbled protests, Mike eased farther down, nipping at the sensitive skin on her belly with his lips and teeth. He shifted her thighs farther apart making space for his shoulders, exposing the pink opening of her body to his gaze, he felt Lyssa’s anticipation rise as she waited for his touch. It thrummed through her veins, but his attention was arrested by the inked design decorating the flesh between her hips. He paused, then lowered his mouth to tease her clit out of hiding. The questions about her tattoo would come—later. Right now, his reluctant sub needed to be taught a lesson.
Lyssa wriggled under his touch. The smell of her arousal surrounded him as he nipped at the bundle of nerves. He stroked the glistening folds, spreading the moist evidence of her desire along her pink flesh before easing two fingers inside. The clasp of her intimate muscles excited him. The flex and release of them as he slid deep, then pulled free reaffirmed his belief that if nothing else, her body craved his touch.
Rising over her, Mike watched Lyssa’s eyes blink open as he continued to softly caress the plump folds of her sex. Confusion and wariness darkened the irises to azure. “First lesson for you, pet. I’m in charge.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Only for thirty days.”
“Long enough,” he assured her. The light of battle kindled in her eyes, sparking the warrior within him to life. She wasn’t going to give in. It was written in her eyes and the way she shifted against his hands; she’d play at being passive to his commands, but it wouldn’t be real. As quick and sharp as her mind was, besting her would take skills he’d rarely used with other lovers.
He leaned forward, brushing his lips over hers before pulling away. His gaze never breaking from hers, Mike explained, “Right now, all you need to do is feel, but you don’t have permission to come.” In order to break down the walls surrounding her, Mike would have to remove the control she maintained over her body. And that would take time.
The expression on her face was a blend of frustration and need. The way she moved, the shift of muscles beneath his fingers all signaled how primed for release she was. Waiting would be torture.
“You must learn to control your body to please me,” Mike informed her.
“And what about my pleasure?” Lyssa groaned, her legs moving restlessly beside his.
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk. “My pleasure is your pleasure, pet. Watching your skin go pink with the flush of orgasm, the stiff buttons of your nipples poking against my chest, the hungry grip of your pussy around my cock—it all pleases me.” He lowered his head, kissing her with soft pressure. He moved the hand between her thighs up to her breast and smeared the moist cream coating his fingers over the hardened nipple before pinching the bud between his thumb and forefinger. “And the longer it lasts, the better it feels.” Mike whispered his words against her lips, never breaking the connection between them before coaxing her into another kiss.
The moment she began to kiss him back, he pulled away. She lifted her hips to press closer to his latex-sheathed cock. Rubbing her belly against the heated length, a throaty purr spilling from her lips as she tangled her legs with his, Lyssa moved her hands to clutch at his shoulder.
“No.” Mike held still over her. “Hands down,” he commanded.
Lyssa hesitated and squeezed her eyes shut, clearly more intent on the sensations bombarding her body than on him.
Lowering his head, he nipped her bottom lip and blew a soft puff of breath against her face, startling her into opening her eyes.
“Hands down. Legs down,” he directed. Once her hands settled beside her head, palms facing up, Mike moved them back above the pillow, stretching her out. Her legs trembled against his as he leaned closer, his mouth hovering just above hers, gaze locked with her soft blue eyes. He ordered, “Don’t move. Don’t come. Not without permission.”
Rebellion turned the azure to cobalt for the briefest moment as Lyssa tensed beneath him. Between gritted teeth, she whispered, “Yes, Master.”
Mike fought the temptation to smile. “Very good. You’re learning.” He gave no opportunity for her to respond before he lowered his mouth to hers. Their tongues touched, sliding over and around each other; the essence of her flavor made him drunk. He’d dreamed of having her under him, her body his to command, for years, but the reality was far more intense than he’d imagined. Each of their past encounters all hinted at the passion she was capable of. Now it was his turn to use that intensity to his advantage.
He moved his hands down to grip her hips. Holding her tight against him, Mike rocked over her, the length of his swollen shaft pressing against her belly. In careful increments, he eased his hands onto the insides of her thighs, pushing them open. Disentangling himself from the kiss, Mike lifted his head and watched her open slumberous eyes. Arousal had expanded the centers until the blue was a dark ring around them. Her hands gripped one another as she tangled her fingers together in an effort to follow his orders and not reach for him.
Her breathing hitched as he spread her intimate folds, guided his aching sex to hers, and thrust inside. The wet heat surrounding him stole his breath as he pushed past clenching muscles.
Lyssa cried out. Every sinew strained as she fought the impending climax, her body struggling for release. The sheath cradling him flexed and relaxed, tempting him toward orgasm, but Mike held it off.
He braced himself over her, using his forearms to lever his body up, bracing them on the bed beneath her shoulders, as he started to move, each stroke hard and fast. “Do you remember what I said about how long you would be fucked?” he asked.
Lyssa chewed on her lower lip, pleasure suffusing her face even as she fought desperately to hold off climax. “Y-yes.”
Mike stopped.
Lyssa sobbed, glared up at him, and then corrected her response. “Yes, Master.”
“How long did I say it would be?” Mike pulled away, pausing just shy of exiting her body before pushing back in, filling her completely.
She moaned, battling to maintain control, to stave off completion as she stammered out an answer. “You…you said you decide how long.” She hesitated, then added, “Master.”
“I love how wet you are, Lys. The way your body grips mine when I pull out and the soft slurping sound it makes when I push back in,” he whispered in her ear. One hand smoothed the flyaway curls of silky blonde hair clinging to her sweat-dampened cheek before he shifted his weight so he could lower his grip to her thigh. He lifted her leg so it rode along his hip before he continued, “I just can’t decide if I like going slow.” He demonstrated for her, rocking his hips against hers so the glide of his cock in and out of her pussy was accomplished in leisurely, small measures.
The sound that broke from her lips could have been a protest or a prayer. Her breath heaved, causing her breasts to rise and fall in ragged, choppy motions.
“That feels so good, pet. But I also like to go fast. And hard.” He pressed forward, setting a pounding rhythm that buried Lyssa deep into the soft mattress, her head thrashing as pleasure overwhelmed her.
He felt her orgasm begin as the muscles surrounding him locked up, squeezing his cock in tighter and tighter pulses. Her eyes opened wide as she bowed upward, the climax a physical force gripping her body, starting in her most intimate flesh and moving outward in ever-growing waves.
Watching her was ecstasy itself. Mike remained still over her, sweat peppering his skin as he fought the burn at the base of his spine and in his balls. Her surrender was temporary, but it was a beginning. Once he gained control of her body, he’d have the leverage to begin breaking down the barriers she’d walled her heart with.
Long moments passed as he marveled at the sublime look that spread over Lyssa’s face and the way her body went liquidy soft as her pleasure peaked and slowly receded. He waited, stroking his free hand along her thigh and up to her breasts, where her beautiful, plump nipples smoothed out, signaling the end of her release.
“Tsk, tsk, pet.” Mike caressed her lips with his as he watched her unfocused gaze regain a semblance of awareness. “You didn’t have permission.” He shifted against her, reacquainting her with the heavy erection still cuddled inside her body.
Lyssa’s gaze, sleepy and satisfied, grew wary. Her uneasy look was subsumed by one that seemed to be a blend of panic and anticipation.
“I haven’t made up my mind how I want to fuck you,” he reminded her. “Now we’ll have to start all over again.” Mike began moving, setting a steady pace that drew a moan from Lyssa. On the nightstand beside the bed was a small digital alarm clock. After a quick glance at it, he smiled down at her. “It should only take two hours to make up my mind.”
He watched her eyes go wide. Her teeth drew her bottom lip inside as he picked up speed. With one hand still tangled in her hair and the other easing up to fondle her breast and the nipple going tight and hard atop it, he added, “And next time I come first.”
Lyssa’s only response was a soft whimper as she arched beneath him.
* * *
Sheer exhaustion was the only reason Lyssa could come up with to account for having drifted off while Mike held her. Groggy, body aching, and only half-awake, she rolled onto her side to find Mike watching her from the chair near her bedroom window. Chest and feet bare, he’d tugged on the jeans he’d worn earlier. If the shadows cloaking the room were any guide, Lyssa assumed the sun had set. Despite the darkness shrouding him, she could feel Mike’s gaze and knew he was aware she’d awakened.
“Come here, love.”
His voice caressed her skin, drawing the tiny hairs covering her body to attention. She moved without thinking, pushed aside the bedding and swung her legs off the mattress. In the quiet of the room, her footsteps were silent on the carpet as she crossed the few feet between them to stand in front of Mike. The smooth lines of his chest drew her gaze, where it lingered on the muscled contours of his abdomen before dropping to the distinctive bulge behind the fly of his jeans. The instant she spotted the red leather paddle resting across his thighs, though, her feet shifted, intent on retreat.
“Stay.” Again he commanded, and she complied.
Lyssa waited, her common sense waking and trying to convince her to move away. But she’d made a deal. One she wouldn’t go back on, no matter how much her instincts told her she should. As Mike’s gaze traced her sleep-mussed hair before surveying the rest of her, she had to admit his slow perusal was arousing.
“Never leave your master unless given permission.” His tone was level, calm. He could have been offering advice about stock prices or the weather. “I had decided last night to forego the two punishments you earned, until I awoke this morning.”
Lysaa dropped her gaze to the paddle in his lap. “But how could I have earned punishment for breaking rules I never knew?” she blurted out.
“You broke rule number one when you approached Kringle last night.”
“But I didn’t belong—”
Mike rose from the chair, crowding close to her. Lyssa remained in place, making no attempt to put space between them.
“You’ve been mine for the last four years, love. You just refused to acknowledge it.”