“How about a toast?” He pushed the refilled flute into her hand and cleared his throat. He joined her, putting an arm around the back of the sofa making her feel like she’d been caged in by his powerful presence. “To the newlyweds,” he said as they clinked glasses.
Tori drank deep and then laughed. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“No!” he sniggered, “although I think that ship has sailed, don’t you?”
“Pretty much,” she agreed cheerfully. Heaving a sigh, she relaxed and enjoyed his fingers sweeping along her back. “Champagne makes everything better!”
“Is that the alcohol buzz talking?” he murmured.
She smiled into his blue eyes. “That and the chocolate.”
Draegyn drained his glass and gave her a serious look. What in the world was on his mind?
“Mmmm. I just remembered something.”
“What,” she asked, frowning?
He settled back into the sofa, arm still slung across the back, and crossed a foot onto his knee. “I think we’re at two strikes to nothing on the payback scoreboard.”
The payback scoreboard?
Oh shit
, Tori thought. What was he up to?
“I think it’s time to collect.”
She snickered and threw him a grinning pout. “Oh really? And just how do you propose to do that?”
“Stand up.” He commanded, taking the champagne flute from her hands and putting it on the table. Tori’s thighs clutched at the authority in his voice. It was pretty clear he wanted to play with her. She hadn’t ever imagined responding to being told what to do, but dammit, it turned her on when he did it. Big time.
She stood up. Slowly. Smoothed her dress, and put her hands on her hips. “Now what?”
Drae sat there enjoying the sight she made with her hands slapped on her hips like a stern nanny facing an exasperating child. He wasn’t surprised she did as he asked. Victoria didn’t want hearts and flowers. Not really. She might not normally take anyone’s shit, but when it came to intimacy, she wanted a strong man. Sometime to take the reins and be in charge. She wanted to flirt with being dominated, if only just a little. Lowering his leg to the floor, he pointed at his lap and said, “Bottoms up.”
He had to give her credit. She got his intention in a heartbeat. “What?” she cried. “Are you kidding?”
He leered at her for good measure. “No Victoria,” he growled. “Not even a little bit. Over my knee on your own steam, or I’ll do it for you.”
“Draegyn! Come on!” she wailed. “Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way I’m going to let you spank me.”
His smirk told her he wasn’t going to let it go. Patting his thigh, he said, “I’m waiting.”
She tried glaring at him, but he could see her mind working overtime deciding what to do. Shock turned to interest on her face, and he warmed knowing she was going to capitulate. Huffing in exasperation she waved her hands in the air and snapped, “Okay. Let’s just get this over with. Jeez!” He patted his thigh again and waited.
Mumbling something under her breath about men, she lowered onto his thighs with all the grace and poise of a prima ballerina. Drae wasn’t positive, but he was mostly certain nothing had ever been more tempting or looked more fucking awesome than her pert backside lying in his lap. He spread his legs a bit and thoroughly enjoyed the way she shimmied into position. It wouldn’t have been a hardship to stare at her ass all night. It was that delectable.
Drae lifted the dress, revealing her sexy thigh high stockings and the flesh of her backside in a pair of satin panties that shimmered in the dim light of the room. He caught her startled gasp and smiled.
Good.
He wanted her to be shocked. Shocked at how much she wanted what he was doing. Peeling back a side of her panties he exposed one perfect, pale cheek making sure to palm the mouth-watering globe with slow, firm strokes.
“You have a beautiful backside,” he muttered in a hoarse rasp. She wiggled on his thighs and sighed. She liked that. Liked him touching her. He smacked her on the bottom with enough force to make her jump. “That’s for having a smart mouth.”
He palmed her cheek again, grabbing a handful of flesh and squeezing. Smack! She jumped a second time as his big hand connected. “That’s for making me hard every time I see or think about you.” She moaned. He slapped her ass again, even harder. Smack! “That’s for calling me a bully.” Now she was wriggling in earnest. He caressed the red flesh on her backside, letting his fingers dance under the elastic of her panties where it dipped between her legs. That got both a moan and a gasp. Before the sound had fully left her mouth, he roughly slapped her flesh one last time. “And that’s for hiding in that hideous brown wardrobe. Don’t ever do that again, Victoria. Don’t hide from me.”
She scrambled awkwardly off his lap, standing on wobbly legs, hurriedly trying to yank her dress into place. “Ow,” she muttered with a dark pout while she rubbed her backside. “That hurt.”
“Good,” he replied. “Little reminder of who’s in charge.”
“Don’t growl at me like that!”
He could watch her pout all night. Those lips should be illegal. For the thousandth time Drae fantasized what her mouth on his flesh would feel like.
“And for the record, that bit of performance art was a one-off. Don’t count on it happening again,” she snapped.
He considered not just what she was saying but how she was saying it. Her body language and the way her eyes glittered told him a hell of a lot. “I heard a moan, not a cry.”
Yep.
He liked getting her going. Watching her get ready to tear into him was exciting.
“Honestly! You’re such an ass. This is what’s wrong with men,” she bit out, waving her hands in exasperation.
Ah
. Such a wild temper this little lady had. Taming it had appeal but stoking the fire seemed so much more enjoyable. The idea that the passion she was running on at the moment would make it to the bedroom made his cock twitch.
“L-Look,” she stuttered, and then changed her mind about what she was going to say. Her pout returned. He smiled slowly and watched her eyes focus on his mouth. “Okay. You won this round,” she muttered.
Note to self – spanking wasn’t off the agenda.
“So,” Drae purred as he ran a hand up her thigh, under the hem of her dress to toy with the lace of her stockings. “What I’m hearing is a little spanking is okay, but you’d rather I kissed your ass?” She gasped at his statement and then laughed.
“You are a devil, sir,” she mocked. “But yes, I suppose that’s a better way of putting it!”
Relaxing into a casual sprawl, he fixed her with a knowing look, saying, “I would have guessed black.”
“Black? I don’t understand.”
“Your panties. They’re purple. I guessed either black or none at all.”
“Oh.” That shut her up although she continued to soothe the butt cheek he’d left red and smarting.
Nodding at her bottom he smirked apologetically and said, “Should I kiss that and make it better?”
Just like that, a naughty gleam turned her milk chocolate eyes a deep, dark brown flecked with gold. Down but not out, he mused. “Let me get back to you on that,” she murmured. This was what made her perfection.
She needed time to process what just happened so Tori padded in bare feet closer to the fireplace and watched while Draegyn stood and took their empty flutes to the champagne bucket. This time he poured half of what he had previously into their glasses and set them aside. With the push of a button on the remote control, small flames appeared in the gas fireplace at her back.
Removing his suit jacket, he flung it carelessly over a chair, loosened his tie, and flicked open the top two buttons on his crisp, white shirt. Watching him was a guilty pleasure, she thought. The way he moved, nothing was extra. No fidgeting, no extraneous motions. As he walked toward her she couldn’t help the way her eyes automatically drifted south. Biting her lip she measured the tremendous bulge tenting his slacks and remembered the moment at the supper club when he had placed her palm upon his hardness.
It didn’t take much to recall in vivid detail what it felt like to absorb his huge staff deep into her body. She was surprised they fit, he was so big and solid, and she so small and soft. When her eyes met his, she knew from his smug expression that he was reading her thoughts. In this instance his male arrogance was well-deserved.
“Like what you see?”
Accepting the champagne flute, she blushed and looked away. “You know I do.”
“That’s all you, honey. Every hard, throbbing inch.” All she could do was blush even more. He came at her quickly with a question. “Tell me what you like. Tell me what you want, Victoria.”
Tori clutched the delicate glass in her hand, sipping some more of the sweet bubbly liquid, peering at him over the rim of her glass. Hesitation punctuated her answer. “Honestly, I don’t know how to answer that. I’m not all that experienced, and you already know that this morning was kind of a first for me.”
His eyes shone at the mention of their earlier escapade. “Now, when you say,
not experienced
, what exactly does that mean? Don’t be shy,” he urged. “Honesty, remember? You can tell me anything.”
“I know.” She nodded, trying like hell not to start biting her lip. “First of all, I never slept with Wallace. It wasn’t the way the tabloids described it. And that’s all I have to say about him.”
“Glad to hear it. The man was an asshole. Moving on.” His words hung expectantly in the air.
“Don’t laugh, okay?” she murmured with a worried frown. When he nodded she blurted out what he wanted to know in a rush of jumbled words.
“Okay. Here it is - college boyfriend. We lived together on campus for two years. Actually, it was more like playing house. He was in my major and yes, before you ask, he was part of the geek squad.” Shrugging, after a moment she added, “We were more friends than lovers and too young and inexperienced all around. It was all sort of,
meh
. So there you have it. Until this morning anyway, a college boyfriend was the full extent of my sexual experience. When you ask what I want, honestly, I have no idea what the possibilities even are.”
“Hmmm.” He took a short swallow of the bubbly while he considered what she told him. “So, what you’re saying is my only competition is a college dweeb. And your hand, of course.” She wished his wicked grin didn’t get her lady parts all tingly and warm but it did. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Victoria.” He took the glass away and pulled her close. “You asked me to make love to you, and I intend to do just that.”
Before he could say another word she breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God. The suspense was killing me. Will you kiss me now,” she purred.
He ran his thumb over her lower lip, leaned in, and bit her softly before straightening. “No. No kissing for now. We seem to lose control rather quickly once the kissing starts and if you’d let me finish before jumping in all demanding, you’d learn that we’re going to do things my way. Do you trust me?” She nodded but sighed disappointed, staring at the curve of his lips knowing she’d have to wait longer to feel them on her own again.
“I want you naked,” he demanded in a voice thickened with unmistakable desire. “Don’t think. Just do it. I know you want to.”
She liked the way he growled his commands. The sound he made went straight to where heat and moisture was gathering in her core. Truth was, she more than liked giving up control to him. The arrogance she once despised in his character had been replaced with an appreciation of his alpha swagger that rocked her sensibilities. That didn’t mean though that she was going to blindly obey without interjecting a little of herself into the process. Playing the coquette card, she peered up at him through lowered eyelashes. “I can’t,” she answered. “Take off my dress, I mean.”
“Why the hell not?”
She almost smiled at his gruff tone. Poor him. He had no idea how badly she wanted to be naked for him and how determined she was to get him in the buff as well. That man’s body would tempt a saint, and if he was going to get an eyeful of her bare ass, she damn well intended to get the same from him. Pirouetting slowly until her back was to him, she looked over her shoulder and pointed to the neckline of her dress. “Because I can’t get at the button or the zipper.”
Drae was enjoying this. Her willingness to play along was wracking his body with greedy wants and needs that he’d never experienced before. It was exhilarating, nerve wracking, awesome.
Enjoying the slide of her silky hair through his fingers, he pushed the tumbling locks over her shoulders revealing a tiny jeweled button above the zipper. Holy God, even from behind she stopped his breath. He was definitely going to enjoy peeling the little black dress from her body.
Nimble fingers made quick work of the fastening, making sure to slide across the skin along her nape. He was standing so close and was so in tune to every breath she took that he saw her skin prickle. Pressing apart the sides of the sheer top, Drae gently ran his knuckle across her shoulder causing fine tremors to shimmer along her petite frame.
A taste. He needed a quick taste to satisfy the beast roaring to life inside him. Fastening his lips to the skin at the base of her neck, he pressed a wet kiss followed by a slow, sensuous lick from his tongue. Fuck, he was a dead man. Even that tiny stretch of flesh tasted like sin.
Moving on to the zipper, his trembling fingers were less dexterous than before but managed to get the job done while the tightening in his balls taunted him to just rip the dress from her. Restraint won as one of his hands palmed slow, smooth strokes over her hip while the other pulled the long zip down as his fingertips dragged against her skin. In the silence he heard the quiet rasp of the zipper and what could only be described as a hushed whimper. She was incredibly responsive to his touch.
Looking over her shoulder, the warmth of her breath hit him as she asked, “What’s taking so long? Do you need my help?” He heard the wicked inflection of flirtation in her voice and smiled while his inner caveman let him set the pace.
“Hush that sassy mouth. I was enjoying the scenery,” he teased, spreading wide both sides of the dress to completely expose her back to his view. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Seeing the long line of her back with her pale skin made luminescent by the flickering firelight made his cock throb.