The Men With the Golden Cuffs (19 page)

He would be like a tour guide, polite, efficient, and uninvolved. His cock would just have to calm the fuck down. He turned to go, but she caught his hand. When he turned back, she was struggling to get to her feet. He helped her up. He would at least prove he could be polite. He wasn’t some animal. Jennifer’s words came back to haunt him.

You’re just a dumb piece of beefcake, Jake. I was never going to marry you. I’m not going to spend my life with a grunt no matter how well trained he is. Adam is a man I could see marrying, but you ruined him. Now he doesn’t even have a career.

He helped Serena up because she was Adam’s girl. Not his. He wasn’t going to fuck it up for Adam again.

Serena stood there looking at him, her big eyes threatening to pull him in. “I’m sorry, Sir.”

He shook his head. “No, I apologize. I didn’t get what you wanted. No problem, Serena. And just call me Jake.”

It would be too hard to listen to her call him “Sir” in that breathy Texas twang of hers, not when it wasn’t real. He didn’t want to play with Serena. He wanted it to be real. He’d been an idiot, doing exactly what he’d promised Ian he wouldn’t do. He’d been thinking with his heart and not his head.

“Tell me you’re not playing with me.”

Serena’s soft words made him turn around. She looked small and fragile standing there in her miniskirt and corset, her bare feet on the carpet.

He sighed. “I’m not going to hurt you, Serena. I promise. No swats. Nothing at all. You need to stay by my side because you don’t know your way around, but no one is going to touch you.”

Her fists clenched at her sides. “Damn it, Jake, that wasn’t what I meant.”

He hated being cursed at, especially by subs, but she was the client and his best friend’s crush. “Then please explain what you want, Serena. I’m here to meet your needs.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want this. I want it the way it was just a few minutes ago, but I’m scared. Not of you. God, Jacob, we need to work on your self-esteem. You’re so gorgeous I have a hard time looking at you, but the first place your brain goes to when I talk is that I’m rejecting you. I’m not. I’m scared that this is going to be the best experience of my life and you’ll just walk away afterward and never think of me again. That’s what I’m scared of. And I think you’ll spank really hard. I probably will cry and maybe scream and I’ll make a fool of myself. But if you’ll just tell me that this means something, anything, to you, then I’ll be okay. Jake, I’m not asking for an engagement ring or a permanent collar, I just want to know that you like me, that this isn’t something you’re doing because Adam pushed you to it.”

God, he was crazy about her. No other woman in the world would have accused him of having self-esteem issues, but Serena just put it all out there. She laid it on the line and stood there waiting for his judgment. For his honesty. It was a beautiful thing.

“Serena, I don’t know if this is going to go anywhere,” he admitted. “You get that Adam and I share, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I don’t seem to have a problem with that.”

“It can be rough on a woman. And we haven’t known each other for long.”

“I know. But this whole lifestyle is about being brave enough to try, isn’t it? I got the shit kicked out of me, Jake. My husband did a number on me. There’s this piece deep inside that wants to hide and pretend I don’t need anyone, but I need to be braver than that. I want to explore this with you. And all I really ask is that if you decide you don’t want me, treat me with a little kindness, okay? I’m a big girl. I can handle it, but I want some kindness.”

His heart hurt for her. He couldn’t fucking help it anymore. He reached out and pulled her close, her hands on his skin for the first time. He wrapped himself around her as though he could protect her from all the shit coming her way. Kindness was the least she should expect from the men she shared her body with. Kindness, tenderness, affection. She was starving for them.

“I can handle the kindness, Serena,” he whispered in her ear. Fuck, he wasn’t going to be able to keep his hands off her now. No way. He just had to hold off until Adam could be around. But Adam had already had a taste. It was only fair he got a kiss, too. He nuzzled her ear, reveling in the little sigh she made. It felt right to be so close to her. He kissed her, his lips finding her cheek first and then the soft edge of her mouth.

The minute her mouth flowered open beneath his, he nearly lost control. She was so fucking perfect for him. He loved her curves and the way she practically melted into him. Her hands were tentative as they found his waist, but she gripped him, using him for balance. That was what he wanted, to balance her and make her the center of his desire.

He kissed her, licking a demanding path across her lips, telling her with a little growl what he wanted.

She sighed, and her tongue came out to dance with his. He took over, dominating her mouth, his hands tangling in her hair so he could move her the way he wanted. He hauled her close, wanting not a fucking centimeter of distance between them. His cock ground against her belly. He needed to get her higher. She was petite, small against him. He would have to shove her against a wall in order to get her to the right height so he could thrust his cock deep.

He started to maneuver her toward the wall when he heard heels clicking along the floor that led to the locker room.

“Should I get you a privacy room?” Eve’s voice was a shock to his system.
Fuck
. He’d forgotten where they were. It wasn’t like he hadn’t fucked a couple of subs in full view of the dungeon, but he didn’t just go at it in front of the locker room. What was he thinking? And he couldn’t fuck Serena. Not without Adam.

Jake pulled away. His head was cloudy, but he managed to focus on Eve. She was dressed to kill in a perfectly tailored miniskirt and corset. It was rather like Serena’s, but Eve was slender and her hair was perfectly done. There wasn’t a thing messy about Eve. Hair, nails, and makeup all perfect. He was certain the five-inch stilettos on her feet were some designer who charged so much for a pair of shoes that Jake’s eyeballs would bulge. So why was messy, plump Serena the one who called to him? Why did the sight of her bare feet turn him on? He held her hand in his. Her nails were short, and there were calluses all over her hands. She used them all day. She typed, and when she was plotting, she would get out a pen or a marker and write all over a notebook or her white board. He fucking loved her hands. He pulled one to his mouth and placed a kiss on her palm.

“Sorry,” he said to Eve, holding Serena close. “I got carried away. And I forgot all about the discipline my sub requires.”

Serena’s face tilted up. She’d put her contacts in, and they made her eyes wide and open. He was just sadist enough to enjoy the little tremor of trepidation he saw there. “It was only twenty, right?”

“Who’s getting twenty?” Alex asked, walking out of the men’s locker room. His eyes fastened on Eve briefly before looking to the ground. “Certainly not Evie. She’s requested fifty.”

God, was that still going on? Jake felt for Alex. He was divorced from Eve, but she still came to him for discipline. Never sex. Never intimacy beyond the flick of his whip or the slap of his paddle. Alex had told him once over way too many beers that it was the only way she would relate to him anymore. And he would take it because he still loved his ex-wife.

Jake slid an arm around Serena’s waist. They were starting out, and with any luck at all, they would never get to the place Alex and Eve were in, longing and unfulfilled. “Just twenty, pet. But it will be more if you don’t give me those panties.”

Eve smiled, a little chuckle escaping her mouth. It was good to hear her laugh. “I warned her you wouldn’t like the panties.”

Serena nodded. “Okay. I’ll go put on the thong thingee.”

Jake gave that gorgeous ass a sharp slap. “Not on your life, baby. You gave up the thong thingee the minute you tried to circumvent Adam’s wishes by covering your pussy with a piece of cotton. Now, you are either in or you’re out. If you’re not ready, march back in the locker room and change. We’ll go home and we’ll talk. If you are, take those fucking panties off, and remember that if I see you in them again, it will be fifty smacks, and they won’t be erotic.”

Her cheeks flared, and just for a moment he thought she would run into the locker room like a scared little rabbit. She took a deep breath and visibly steeled herself.

“Okay.”

* * * *

Her hands shook a little as she reached for her skirt. It was absolutely the shortest piece of material she’d ever worn, but it was also a test. She realized that now. If she wanted the joys of the power exchange, she’d better be ready for the scary shit, too. Jake wanted her underwear. She wanted Jake.
A
plus
B
equaled potential orgasm, and she wasn’t going to let a little thing like complete and utter humiliation keep her from making that math work.

She hooked her thumbs under the waist of her plain-Jane cotton undies and wished she’d given the butt floss a try. It was all her fault. Two seconds into the lifestyle and Serena Brooks was topping from the bottom. And getting her ass spanked. Jacob Dean was going to spank her ass, and she suddenly realized he wouldn’t leave the skirt between them. He would more than likely push that spandex aside and lay his hand on her bare ass. It would sting at first, the heat flaring along her skin.

“Serena, this is not rocket science.”

She looked up into his seriously impatient brown eyes. Jacob Dean was her wet dream Dom fantasy and here she was daydreaming. “Sorry, Sir.”

He held out a hand, waiting for her to give up the offensive garment. She tried to pull the panties off while she held on to some semblance of dignity. She wasn’t sure if she would have had the courage to simply haul up her skirt and pull down her undies if they had been alone, but she felt brutally conscious of the fact that gorgeous Eve St. James was standing beside her. And Ian’s partner, who seemed to be Eve’s Dom.

“That is not going to work,” Eve whispered.

But Serena tried. She wiggled and squirmed until she had the panties to her knees, and she felt triumphant as she passed them to Jake and smoothed her skirt down. She’d done it. She’d gotten those panties off and she hadn’t flashed her cootchie. Yeah. Topping from the bottom could be fun.

Jake took her underwear and proved he didn’t have any problems with self-consciousness. He put them right up to his nose and took a long whiff. Serena watched, a little horrified and a little turned on.

“God, you smell so fucking good, Serena.” Jake tucked the underwear in his pocket and frowned. “Now find your position.”

“I told you it wouldn’t work,” Eve said with a sympathetic smile.

Damn it
. He was forcing her into a corner. If she got on her knees and spread her legs, she would be open to the viewing public. And if she refused, she would hate herself. It was just a pussy. She’d written the scene a thousand times. A pussy was just a pussy, and it wasn’t like hers was horrible looking. She’d shaved. Sure, it had been awhile, but she no longer looked like Sasquatch. She could do this.

“Serena, I’m waiting.”

“What if I’m not pretty?”

He laughed, a surprised sound. “If you’re not pretty, I’ll give up my left nut. Seriously, Serena, if that’s what you’re worried about, then find your position and let me and Alex put your mind at ease.”

“I can give you a girl’s perspective,” Eve offered with a smile. “I’m totally not into the girl-on-girl thing, but I know an attractive pussy when I see one.”

It was ridiculous. It was silly. It was precisely why she’d written that first book, because it was also real. She suddenly felt freer than she had before, and she dropped to the ground, spreading her knees wide. She placed her hands palms up and felt the cool air of the room on her feminine flesh. She was open and bare and strangely powerful.

“Serena, you aren’t pretty, baby. You’re beautiful. Isn’t my sub gorgeous, Alex?” Jake’s words were like warm honey, heating her up and making her feel sweet.

“She is, indeed. It makes me want to see mine right there beside her.”

“Alex,” Eve began.

“Are you mine for the night or not?” Alex’s tone turned icy and stubborn. “We have a contract, Eve. Just because I choose to not demand my rights doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I won’t touch you. I just want to look. I want to feel like I actually have a sub for a minute. I’m feeling brutally jealous of Jacob right now.”

Eve sank to her knees beside Serena.

“Is he going to catch you wearing underwear, too?” Serena asked.

Eve giggled, her previous irritation seeming to melt a bit. “I’ve been doing this a long time, Serena. I know no Dom wants his pussy covered.” She stopped as though her words had made her flustered again.

“We have two lovely subs. And I think both their asses will be red tonight,” Jake promised. “Now, I seem to remember that Alex and Eve have a scene to play, and Serena and I would love to watch.”

Her first real live scene. She looked up, still a little nervous around Eve, but the cool, professional woman gave her a wink.

“I think you’re going to love it here, Serena. Just do what Jake tells you. He won’t steer you wrong.” She patted Serena’s hand.