“He is,” Kara said, moistening her lips at the thought. Her body already ached for him. She missed his presence in the room and while it was unexplainable, it was far more than just acceptable for the time being. Kara already understood what she and Zak would soon mean to one another. She couldn’t feel this way about someone without those feelings reciprocated.
“Kemper will sell your place.” Carly sighed. “You couldn’t blame him for that. Could you?”
“I have money saved,” Kara told her. “For God’s sake it’s not like I didn’t work and earn a good income.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do. It’s not as if Zak and I just met.”
“True,” Carly muttered. “But are you sure?”
Kara released a hard breath. “Carly, sometimes you have to look outside your comfort zone when you’re ready for a solid fresh start. Forming a new relationship is risky but—”
“Now I know you’re crazy.” Carly threw up her hands. “You can’t jump right into a new relationship with your neighbor when you haven’t even severed the ties with Kemper. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“For the last two years, Zak has been the only constant in my life. Sure, we might just pass on the sidewalk or wave to one another on the jogging trail, but he was always there.” She took a deep breath then added, “He’s the only thing that makes perfect sense to me right now. If my decision hurts Kemper or you—though I can’t understand why you would oppose—then I’m sorry. Zak makes me happy.”
“He. Turns. You. On. That’s not happiness, Kara. It’s damn good sex!” Carly rolled her eyes. “And trust me when I tell you, any Dominant can blister your ass and make you grovel for a hard fuck. His technique won you over. That’s all it was, Kara.”
“I guess time will tell.”
Carly scowled. “And time will give Kemper the opportunity to replace you, too.”
“I hope not,” Kara said sincerely. “In fact, I hope this experience will only show Kemper how much he deeply loves and cherishes only you.”
Twenty Two
Two Weeks Later
“Your boy is having a hell of a game.” Zak handed her a paper plate with a grilled hamburger on a toasted bun. “Sure you don’t want anything on that?”
“Just bread and meat for me,” she replied, keeping her eyes glued to Zak’s big screen. The Longhorns were up by three coming out of the half, but by the end of the third, they led by seventeen.
“The Boston Soldiers will have a hell of a complex after your boy defeats them.”
“When will you stop calling Kemper my boy?”
“When do you plan to move out of
his
condominium?”
“I haven’t decided,” she replied, tearing her gaze away from Zak and refocusing on the game. “And he told me to take all the time I need.”
“He was being polite.”
“I guess.” She took a bite of her burger and contemplated telling Zak the truth. She had meant to tell him right after the big breakup weekend, but hadn’t gotten around to sharing her news.
Kara blamed Zak there. The only thing she thought about when she was in his presence was sex. Oh, and more sex.
That wasn’t entirely true, she mused. She thought about loving him, too. And she was certain she’d fallen in love, something else she hadn’t shared with him.
“How are your other games going today?” She nodded at his open laptop on the coffee table. “Are you up or down?”
Zak took a swig from his beer bottle then removed her plate from her hands. Framing her face, he pushed her back against the sofa and devoured her lips. If she hadn’t been watching the game, his kiss might have forced her to close her eyes, but instead, she fixated on his gaze.
Pure male sexual heat flooded his eyes. The dominant force was quickly uncovered. He towered over her at first, gripping the back of the couch and forming an arch with his body, but the distance between them quickly diminished.
He dropped his lower half and moved against her, setting her on fire with every rub and grind. He nuzzled her cheek and kissed a path to her ear. “Didn’t I tell you we never count our money until the day is over?”
“I forgot.” She grinned, daring to reach for him. Locking her hand over the swell of his erection, she dug her fingernails into his denim. “You do that to me, you know. Make me so crazy I forget my name, forget the important things I need to tell you. All of it. You make me lose my mind.”
“And you’re a vixen.” He rotated his hips forward and let her catch a nice feel. Then he backed away, sat next to her again, and handed off her paper plate once more. “And when you finish your burger, I want you to strip here and go upstairs and wait for me on my bed.”
“But the game isn’t over.”
“You’ve been keeping secrets from me.”
“Because we haven’t had time to talk. We discuss the lifestyle and expected behaviors. We try out new toys and positions, but I never have time to tell you what is on my mind.”
“Now you will,” he promised, leaning over and kissing her cheek.
“But I want to watch the game.”
He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. He was thinking about it. She could tell he paused long enough to consider possibilities. “On second thought, I want you stripped now.” His inner debate ended with a sudden demand.
“Now?” She fluttered her eyelashes. “While we eat?”
“Yes.”
She thinned her lips and glared back at him, but her body had already come alive with awareness. Her nipples were as hard as diamonds. Her pussy clenched at the thought of exquisite erotic pleasures.
Around a mouthful of burger, Zak said, “You can leave your thong on. Off with everything else.”
Staring at him in disbelief, she opened her mouth, but words wouldn’t form. Part of the reason she couldn’t speak then was because she was so aroused. She was stumped into silence. All she could think about was how well he could feed her hunger and satisfy her longing.
He held up his finger. “Now, sub. Don’t make me spank you before I finish my burger.”
Her backside was on fire then at the thought of an erotic spanking. Her hole tightened. Spasms rolled through her midsection. Her arousal gently captivated and held her undivided attention
.
So much for watching the damn game
.
More often than not, Zak fucked her from behind when he spanked her. She craved the orgasms he brought her when his cock impaled her ass and the paddle thwacked against her bottom. Nothing else was quite as nice except an unexpected thrashing fuck in the middle of the night.
Kara stood and yanked her clothes over her head. “This is ridiculous.” She was already turned on, but playing it off would bring a level of pain and pleasure only Zak knew how to manage.
“If you’re inclined to put up a fight, we’ll start now.” He pointed the remote control at the television and clicked the record option before turning off the television.
“Come here, sub.” His dark eyes fell to her breasts and he unhooked the clasp. Fondling the weight of her breasts, he never met her gaze but smiled as if he knew she stood there waiting, practically begging him to tease her like only he could.
Her eyes willed him to taste one nipple and pinch the other. Instead of feeding that arousal, he gently squeezed her breasts, not necessarily massaging them, but holding them in his hands. Backing away then, he reclaimed his seat and pointed to the center of the floor, right in front of the entertainment center. “Kneel and present.”
Over the last week and a half, they’d practiced many techniques in Domination and submission. They’d purchased their own toys since Kemper had thrown out all the gifts he’d purchased her. They’d recently bought a spanking bench and Kara enjoyed the padded equipment more than any other piece of exotic furniture. In fact, she looked for ways to provoke its use.
Glancing at the corner where the bench was located, she rolled her eyes where Zak could see her. Hoping he’d view her gesture as an act of defiance, she willed him to drag her to the bench and have his way with her, first by punishment then by rewarding her.
He set his jaw and said, “I’m running out of patience.”
She removed her jeans and shoes then assumed a position on her knees. She didn’t place her hands behind her back. She didn’t bow her head and lower her eyes. “He’ll call. You know he will. After the game, he always talks to me.”
Everything about Zak changed then. His dark features grew darker, and more mysterious. His jaw flexed. His lips set. Rising to his feet, Zak walked over to where she knelt. Grabbing her by the wrist, he hoisted her into his arms.
Instead of kissing her or drawing her into a passionate embrace, he led her to the corner where he housed her favorite piece of furniture. Selecting a round paddle with a short grip, he pointed to the spanking bench. “Lean over and take your punishment.”
“What did I do wrong?” she asked, realizing she’d provoked him when she hadn’t presented herself in a respectful manner, but suspicious he might have been upset because she and Kemper still spoke on a regular basis.
“On the bench, sub.” He sounded traumatized. She’d pushed too far at the wrong moment.
“Zak, I’m—”
“You will address me as Sir.” His voice was dangerously calm.
A sudden quake sent her body into internal spasms. Her pussy ached. Her nipples tingled. She wanted to reach out and touch him but this wasn’t the right time or place.
She climbed up on the steel equipment and leaned over the stomach support bar in the middle of the bench. “I have a right to know, Sir.”
“Once I spank some sense into you, you’ll understand what you did to piss me off. And let’s hope it never happens again.”
Twenty Three
Zak might have been pissed when he first approached the bench but he was anything but angry when he took his position beside her. Why was it that every single time he needed to punish her, the only thing on his mind was how quickly he could fuck her?
He wasn’t picky either. He’d take her mouth, pussy, or ass. He could take her on her back, up against the wall, in a seated position, or on all fours.
She played with him, toyed with him, and yet she had no idea what she was doing. She was too green and too innocent and yet she still held the power to destroy him, with a look, a touch, or one of her mind-blowing kisses.
Dragging his palm across her smooth flesh, he couldn’t help but notice the royal blue thong she wore. The material was crammed up her crack, practically taunting him with the fact that the lace she wore was touching the very hole he wanted to claim.
Damn her. Was he really so hung up on her that he envied the material she wore? Apparently so. He’d gladly swap places with that thong right then.
Rubbing the flat surface of the paddle across the swell of her smooth globe, he swung the paddle behind him and let her have the first of many spankings. With her ass high in the air, she rotated forward. Her head was down. Her voluptuous breasts mashed against the leather platform. Her flat abdomen pressed against the center bar.
The force of each swat put her body in motion. Even though her entire form shifted when he spanked her, the advance wasn’t enough to throw her off the elevated platform. She held onto the steel frame and fought for control.
“More?” he asked, willing her to utter her safe word, use it before the welts began to form.
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, pushing up with her elbows, which only showcased those feminine shoulders, her bare and sexy back.
He stood behind her and eyed the damn material crammed up her ass. The v-patch in the front was saturated with her arousal, the dampness visible from where he stood.
Smoothing his palms over her hips, he watched her in awe as she braced for another spanking. He eased behind her and pulled out the hidden metal footstool, using the accessory to position him at a perfect angle above her.
“What have you been hiding from me, sub?” he asked, trailing the end of the paddle around the thong’s thin band.
“I wasn’t exactly hiding anything from you, Sir. We just hadn’t gotten around to discussing it.”
“And what was it that we needed to talk about?” He stared down at that glorious ass, eating up the incredible sight of her stretched out for her punishment, sprawled over his spanking bench, the furniture they’d chosen together.
Her hair fell down her back in soft waves. She turned her chin to her shoulder and quietly said, “I started paying Kemper rent.”
“You what?” He wasn’t sure if he should reward her now or punish her. It seemed pointless for her to pay anyone rent when he wanted her living with him. They’d spent every single night together since that first night and it seemed like such a waste for her to spend her money on housing. “Did he ask you to pay rent?”
She shook her head. “No, Sir. I offered.”
“Why would you offer?” He went to the head of the bench and knelt in front of her. “Answer me, sub.”
“It was the fair thing to do, Zak. He wasn’t my lover anymore.”
He jerked at the thought. He couldn’t help his response. Kemper Kapertone, the young gun who’d rapidly become one of the most notorious football players of their time had bedded his woman. He’d loved her, made love to her, and he’d given her everything she could ever want in terms of material wealth, and by all accounts he was certainly generous. Even though Zak was a confident and wealthy man, he wasn’t famous. More than anything else, he wasn’t young. Kapertone had him beat where youth was concerned.
“Sir?”
Zak cupped her face. He’d zoned out and let his one insecurity gain the best of him—his age.
“I love you, Sir.”
Zak’s cheeks twitched. He knew he must’ve looked like a lost man then, a man who didn’t know exactly how to respond. Only, he fully understood what she longed to hear.
She would soon listen to his confessions, too. Just not there, and not right at that moment. There was a better place and a more appropriate time to show her his fractured heart.
He could only hope she would still want him after he told her the truth.
~ * ~
He’d wounded her soul. She’d shown him her heart, given him the biggest piece of herself and he said nothing in return. Instead, he picked her up and carried her to bed. Then, he left her there with orders not to move.