Services Rendered (23 page)

John took another step back and gestured to
the stairs. “Up you go.” He waited until she got to the bottom of the stairs
before adding, “On your knees.”

“Really?”

He only waited. With a small shake of her
head, she knelt on the first step and started up. By the time she reached the
fifth step, she apparently had decided to enjoy herself and she shook her ass
invitingly, turning each step gained into a sensuous, inviting dance.

John hid his grin. Yeah, Lauren not only
took what he dished out, she turned it around and gave it back to him tenfold.
He’d listened to Phillip and Will talk about their wives that way, but until
now, he hadn’t really understood what they meant when they said Sarah and Jill
really kept the playing field level.

She’d nearly reached the top and John took
the stairs slowly behind her, enjoying the sway of her ass. Her body bore
little trace of the marks he’d put on her before. That was good. Coloring that
heart-shaped ass could easily become a habit.

“Into the bedroom,” he instructed when she
paused in the small hallway. Three doors opened off this tiny area, one to the
bathroom, one to another bedroom he used as a study and of course, the one to his
bedroom. She flung an amused look over her shoulder and turned to the left,
heading straight for the foot of the bed. She paused there and John realized
she awaited his orders.

He came around in front of her, holding out
a hand to help her up. “Come here,” he told her and she took his hand and, in
one fluid movement, stood and slid into his arms. She felt so comfortable to
hold. He savored the moment, pulling her in so her head rested against his
chest, his arms encircling her, loving the fact that she stood here, still
naked, still willing, still his.

“I know we have a lot of details to work
out,” he said quietly, his gaze looking into the future. “If you’re willing,
though…” His voice trailed off. How did he ask the woman he was falling in love
with if she wanted to be his slave? And was that really what he wanted?

She stirred and he released his hold enough
for her to look up at him. Trust shone in her eyes. “I’d like that. To work out
the details, I mean.” She snuggled back into place. “I’m in no hurry to make
any decisions and am perfectly willing to see where this goes.”

“Even if it goes all the way to a
Master/slave relationship?” God, that sounded so cold, even to him.

She sighed and he realized it signified
contentment as she burrowed even closer. “Even if it goes all the way to a
Master/slave relationship.”

For a moment, he couldn’t speak. Still
somewhat stunned, he stepped back and tilted her chin up to look directly into
her eyes. He saw only truth and trust reflected there. Pulling her close again,
he shook his head. “Lauren, you are one hell of a woman. I am not going to let
you go.”

Her arms went around his waist. “The
feeling’s mutual. I know a good man when I see one.” Her head popped up as one
hand snaked around to toy with his cock, the thin pants shielding him not at
all. “And a good man is hard to find.”

John laughed as his cock stirred with her
gentle teases. “Into the bed then, slave.”

“Your command is my wish, Master!” With a
quick turn, she bounded over the footboard and onto the mattress. The summer
comforter bunched under her where they’d left it after their last session and
she pushed it down to the bottom of the bed as he stripped off his shirt and
slid down his pants to reveal what she’d done to him.

“You are a minx one minute and a sexpot the
next,” he told her as he climbed in beside her to pull her into his arms again.

“A woman of mystery always intrigues a
man,” she murmured before his kisses stopped her from speaking anything
further.

He loved the way she melted into him, her body
sliding into all the right places. She smelled of his cologne now, of his soap
and shampoo. He rather enjoyed the musky scent of sex that clung to her, or
perhaps he had newly aroused out of her. Her hands roamed over his back, urging
him onward, and he obliged.

The spot where her neck met her shoulders
provided him with a very interesting noise from the back of her throat. He
paused there to nibble and suck at it until she arched her back and cried out.
His blood ran hot and he slid his hand down her belly and between her legs,
pulling them apart.

He wanted her. Like an animal in heat, he
wanted to sink his cock into her and take possession of what she so freely
offered. She spread her legs wide for him.

For her, he wanted to be gentle, to be
loving and kind. To take her like the men did in the romance books, with care
more for her than for him.

But the time for that was past. He wanted
her around him. He needed her to complete him. When she raised her hips and
whispered, “Please, now. Take me, John,” he didn’t hesitate. With a single
plunge, he slid inside the warm wetness she had waiting for him.

He groaned as the tightness of her pussy
first resisted then gave way to his persistence. Out and in, out and in, his
thoughts faded into the oblivion of lust. Beneath him, she cried out, her legs
wrapping around his waist as he rode her hard, pushing deep into her pussy,
stretching her to hold his cock.

He felt his balls bunch and he savored the
sweet moment. The stop between life and death that was the closest humans could
come to touching heaven. One heartbeat. Two. A third and he was over, his body
pressing into hers of its own accord, their cries coming in tandem as her pussy
contracted around his cock.

And when it was done, he lay exhausted, her
breasts a pillow for his head. Sighing with contentment, he drifted off to
sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

When John awoke, his head lay on his
feather pillow, the comforter had been pulled over him and Lauren slept soundly
beside him. Rolling over, he glanced at the clock on his dresser, forgetting
that he’d turned its face to the wall so Lauren wouldn’t see it while they were
playing that afternoon. Losing the sense of time passing played a big role in
the scenes he’d crafted for her.

Night had fallen, although light from the
street lamp provided enough illumination for him to pad his way around the end
of the bed to fix the clock. Gently he slid out of bed, trying not to rock the
mattress and wake his lady love. Turning the clock, he blinked several times as
his brain registered the fact that it was four o’clock. In the morning? Had he
really fallen asleep at eight last night? No wonder he felt ready to get up and
get the day started.

A look at the bed convinced him he didn’t
really want to do that. Lauren lay on her side, her back to the side of the bed
he’d slept on. Both arms were tucked up tight against her body, her knees
pulled up as well. Nothing could bring home more clearly the fact that Lauren
had demons that haunted her even in her sleep.

At least he’d chased those demons away for
a while yesterday, he thought as he climbed back into bed beside her. Gently he
rolled her into his arms, gratified when she curled into him. She mumbled
something and John put his ear closer to her mouth. “What?”

“I need to get these boys to safety.”

A lump formed in his throat. “I’ll help
you,” he whispered and pulled her closer. He whispered it again, meaning it in
an entirely different way. “I’ll help you.”

Lauren awoke to an empty bed and the smell
of bacon. Taking a luxurious stretch, she tested her muscles for any signs of
residual soreness after yesterday’s decidedly exhausting activities.

Feeling no impediments, she rose, used the
bathroom and used his brush to untangle the mess her hair had gotten into.
Done, she turned to the next item in her morning ritual only to realize she had
no toothbrush. She did what she could with her finger and a small dab of
toothpaste, her innate sense of hygiene not allowing her to use his brush.
There were limits to what could be shared.

Not even bothering to look for her clothes
and feeling increasingly comfortable with her nudity, she bounded down the
stairs and into the kitchen.

John stood at the stove in a T-shirt and
jeans this morning. “Ah ha! Just in time. Grab the eggs out of the fridge?”

She did, bringing over the carton and
sliding one arm around his waist from behind as she set the eggs on the
counter. He lifted his arm and she bent under it to give him a morning hug.
John did her one better, leaning over to give her a quick kiss. “Morning.” He
smiled.

“Morning.” Was she really blushing? She’d
spent the night with a man before. Yes, it had been in a dusty, sandy tent and
they’d breakfasted in the mess hall, but still. She wasn’t a child and this
wasn’t her first time.

John nodded toward the toaster. “Go ahead
and put in some bread.”

Glad for something to keep her hands busy
lest she let them roam all over his most wonderful body again, she opened the
loaf of wheat bread and plopped two slices into the toaster. “This is far more
breakfast than I usually have,” she told him.

“Me too. Special occasion and all that.” He
grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows and she laughed.

“Okay, since it’s a special occasion, how
could I say no?” She looked around. “Orange juice too, I suppose?”

“In the fridge.”

Sure enough, right on the middle shelf. She
pulled out the pitcher, found two glasses and poured them each a healthy
glassful. The table hadn’t been set yet, so she did her part as he plated the
bacon and then poured off the grease into a container that once held cocktail
peanuts.

“How do you like your eggs?”

“Over easy,” she told him. That odd feeling
of contentment stole over her again and she paused, one hand on the back of a
kitchen chair as she looked around the room. Beth had this. A home, a husband,
a kid. Sarah had the husband and the home. They both lived lives they loved.

For the first time Lauren realized she
could have it as well. She thought of her apartment, sparsely furnished with
barely any sign she lived there. Well, she hadn’t really, had she? She existed
there. And if she was honest, she hid there.

She watched John expertly flip her eggs and
her throat caught. Could she really do this? Could such a dream really be
possible for her?

Inside herself she rooted around for that
feeling of listlessness that had settled over her ever since leaving the
service. That lassitude kept her chained to inactivity. Oh, she filled her days
with busywork, taking Ian out to places, wandering through the park, visiting
museums and the zoo. All the places she’d always wanted to go to but never had
the time. She’d told herself and her friends she was on an “extended vacation”
but everyone knew she was running away from life.

John, whether he knew it or not, offered
her a way back. Did she want him because of that? Or was this true love? As for
the sex, yeah, she could live with him as a Dom in the bedroom. Yesterday had
been incredible.

But what was today?

Too filled with questions, she only nodded
when he pointedly reminded her that the toast had popped. She buttered it with
automatic motions, coming to sit at the table when he gestured, her mind once
more retreating into a safe place until she figured everything out.

So filled with her own thoughts, she
started in surprise when John held her chair for her. “Aren’t you supposed to
make me eat off the floor or something?” she asked, her voice a bit sharper
than she intended.

“Do you want to?”

“No.”

“Then if you will…” He gestured to the
chair he still held for her. Pulling herself together, she sat with as much grace
and decorum as she could muster. Unfortunately, she couldn’t muster much and
she more or less plopped into the seat.

When he sat, she apologized. “I’m sorry. I
know we’re working out the details but I don’t think I’d like being treated
like a dog very much.”

John studied her and Lauren set the cloth
napkin on her lap to cover her own sudden self-consciousness. “We both have
limits. Lines we’re not going to cross.” He shrugged and picked up his fork.
“Part of the fun is finding those lines.”

Lauren picked up her own fork, studiously
keeping her gaze on her plate. “And you’re not going to be upset when I say,
‘no, that’s a limit and I’m not going there’?”

John put his fork down and took her hand.
Lauren looked up, wanting him to be her knight despite her words to him days
ago. He didn’t disappoint.

“Lauren. I’m not a monster. Will I push
you? Yes. Will I ask you to try new things? Yes. But you have a lot of power
here too, you know. If you don’t want to do something, I will never,
never…never force you.”

Lauren believed him. He sat there, so
earnest in his promise, how could she not? Suddenly feeling foolish, she
blushed. “Thank you. I know you’ve said it before and I’m sorry I got a
sudden…” She searched for the right word and came up empty.

“It’s okay. We all need reassurance from
time to time. And I will always be here and I will always make the same
promise.” He gave her hand a squeeze before picking up his fork and taking a
bite. “Eat your eggs before they get cold.”