Finally, she opened her mouth to him, and he grinned. He swept his tongue inside and yanked the towel from her body. He lifted her in his arms and backed her into a wall. She gasped and wrapped her arms and legs around him, grinding her pelvis against him. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He kept her pinned there, devouring her with his tongue and teeth until she was moaning.
Then he moved back from the wall and carried her down the hall to her room, laying her on the bed and lowering his body on top of hers. Keeping his knees on either side of her hips, he brushed his thumbs under her eyes. “When was the last time you slept?” he whispered.
“I don’t know. Yesterday. Maybe the day before.”
He raised his eyebrows and palmed her breasts. He’d wring the answer out of her eventually.
He released her breasts and lifted her, sliding her up closer to her slatted headboard. He took her hands in his and guided them to the wood. “Hold on,” he commanded. Her breasts rose and fell rapidly with her breath, but he kept his gaze locked on hers as he waited for her to decide: to obey or not to obey. He held his breath, waiting.
Her fingers closed over the wood. He flicked her nipple in reward. “Good girl. If you let go, I
will
punish you.”
She shivered, her eyes going molten. She was loving this. At least she was able to openly admit it now. Maybe their three-day cooldown period had done her some good.
“Punish how?” she asked.
“Oh, I think maybe a little spanking…or perhaps a little orgasm denial… I’m sure I’ll pick something appropriate for such disobedience,” he said.
She shivered and nodded. He waited for her verbal. After a moment, she sighed. “Yes, okay, fine.”
He grinned and caressed his way down her body until he was positioned over her core. He shoved her knees wide, wishing he had something to tie her legs into this pose, leaving her open and bare to him. But this would have to do. She gasped and tightened her thigh muscles.
“Ah, ah, ah. You stay right there.”
He ran his fingers along the insides of her thighs as he admired the view. She squirmed under his perusal but didn’t move to cover herself again. Her skin had already been slightly pink from her shower, and now it flamed brighter beneath him. He dipped his head to blow cool air over her mound.
She cried out, and her body spasmed, but a glance up told him she still held tightly to those bars.
Good girl.
He rewarded her with another soft breath of air. She moaned. He helped hold her legs open as he kissed his way along her thigh to her dark thatch of curls. God, she was beautiful.
He licked along her labia, and she squealed. Opening her folds, he exposed her clit to swipe his tongue against it over and over in slow laves. She cried out and writhed against him. But he was just getting started. He wedged his shoulders between her thighs and speared her with one finger, sending the other hand traveling up to clamp a nipple hard between thumb and middle finger.
She screamed, arching her back and almost coming off the mattress. But her arms stayed firmly above her head. He licked and sucked on her clit in turn, steadily increasing the pressure on her nipple so it would border on pain but not become too much. She cried out again and again, and he slammed another finger deep into her slick sheath.
She thrust against his face and hands. She was close to orgasm. He released her nipple, lifted his head, and slowly slipped his fingers from her body. She turned wide eyes on him, her hips still thrusting wildly at nothing but air. He licked his fingers, then caressed the nipple he’d been pinching. Her eyes rolled back and she spasmed.
He blew on her nipple, and she shivered. Still, she held on to the headboard. Then he sat beside her on the bed, not touching her, but letting his gaze rove over her body. She lifted her head to look at him. “Wh-why’d you stop?” she panted.
“I told you we would discuss your ignoring me later,” he said, his voice deep with lust and dominance. “Well. It’s later. Not to mention the fact that you’ve denied me the right of taking care of you.”
“So you’re going to”—she closed her mouth and swallowed—“leave me lying here, all hot and bothered?”
“That’s the plan,” he said, unable to stop a grin from spreading on his face. “Orgasm denial is an effective tool when training a new sub.”
Without waiting for a reply, he pulled a nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. She yelped, shuddering beneath him. He took his time teasing her nipples, palming her breasts, twisting, licking, biting them until he was sure they were so sensitive he was pushing her toward orgasm again already. He used one hand to slide into her curls and find her clit. He spread her folds wide and tapped it lightly with his finger. As he pinched her nipple harder and bit down on the other, he increased the speed and pressure until she was keening.
“Oh, God. Please. No more. Chase. No more!”
He pulled back from her, leaving her body in a writhing mass. She thrashed on the bed, her knuckles white from grasping the headboard so hard.
“Ah. Damn it. Don’t stop.”
“What do you want, Elizabeth? Do you want me to leave you here, alone, in the throes of passion and deny you my touch?”
“No. No. Please. I can’t take any more.”
“You want me to let you come?” His gaze bored into hers. She bit her lip and nodded. “Not until you admit you haven’t been taking care of yourself.”
“Ugh. Please,” she begged, her hips rising toward him in invitation.
“Not until you say it.”
“Fine! I haven’t been taking care of myself. Are you happy now?”
“Not quite.” He swatted her mound of curls, and she squealed, thighs tightening, body straining for release. “You have to agree to give this whole submission thing a try. A real one. Let me show you what it could be like if you were mine. Truly mine.”
She shook her head, her wet hair sliding against her pillow.
“Okay, then.” He stood up, taking one step back from the bed.
“Damn it. How long?”
He sat on the bed, stroking down her body in a soft caress. She bowed under the touch.
“Two months.”
“One week.”
He flicked her nipple, and she inhaled sharply. God, he loved keeping her on that precipice. Knowing he could send her over the edge any second he wanted. His methods were underhanded, but he’d become obsessed with having her. “Six,” he countered.
“Two.”
“Four. And that’s my final offer.” Four weeks would give him plenty of time to train her body to respond to his touch the way a sub’s would. But would it be enough to open her mind? To stop her from running out the door anytime he pushed her?
Glaring at him all the way, she mumbled, “Fine,” through clenched teeth.
He fought the urge to clap. But her body was begging for release, and he couldn’t deny her any longer. He returned to his torture. Mouth on one nipple, hand on the other, and fingers thrusting deep inside her. He pinched her nipple hard, rolling it between his fingers as he bit and licked the other. She was soon at the peak again. He pumped his fingers in and out of her sheath, leaving one nipple free so he could use his other hand to open her labia and free her swollen clit.
He tapped it, then rubbed it lightly and alternated between hard raps and a gentle caress. “Come for me, sweetheart. Let go,” he whispered.
She screamed, shattering in his arms. She rode his hand hard, and he worked in a third finger, stretching and milking her. He rubbed her clit in fast circles and latched on to her nipple with his mouth. She screamed until her voice went hoarse, and still thrust against him for more.
He crawled down her body and shoved her legs wide, pressing them into the mattress as he lowered his head to her clit and licked her mercilessly until she keened. “Enough, oh, God. Please, enough.”
He lifted his head and cupped her mound. She thrust twice more against him, drenching him with her honeyed heat, then slumped, spent, against the mattress, her fingers finally releasing the wooden bars.
LIZ FLOATED IN heaven. Her body sang with pleasure, and her eyes refused to open. Hot, calloused fingers caressed her skin, making her zing with electricity. She purred.
“Turn over, sweetheart,” a voice intruded into her warm, happy place. A hand tried to move her, and she found the strength to bat it away. Deep male chuckles surrounded her. “Elizabeth, come on, now. Let me help.”
She forced her eyes open and gazed up at the swirling dark chocolate. Chase’s eyes reminded her of a tour she’d taken of a chocolate factory once. Watching the chocolatier dip a wide whisk into the vat of chocolate and slowly let it drip back in. Delicious. Her mouth watered at the thought. And Chase’s eyes were that
exact
color. The smugness in them, however, was not nearly as sweet as chocolate.
She grumbled, and he smirked. “Let me work out the tension in your arms. If you don’t, you’ll be very sore.”
Right now she was boneless. What did she care about how she felt in an hour? For the moment, all that mattered was the wonderful bubble of ecstasy wrapped around her. When she still didn’t move, his face turned stern. “Fine,” she said, lifting her arm.
Chuckling, he bent down and helped her roll over. She turned her head to the side, her gaze sweeping up to him. Chase still wore all his clothes, which would be a real shame, except for the fact that if he were naked, she might be expected to let him have his way with her again, and she couldn’t possibly.
He grinned down at her. “Four weeks. You’re all mine for one whole month.”
She shivered at the predatory gleam in his eyes. And she didn’t entirely hate it. She’d never done the long-term-relationship thing, never really belonged at home, or at school—hell, anywhere. What would it feel like to
be
his?
He dipped his head and placed a soft kiss on her bare shoulder. “We’re going to have
so much fun
,” he whispered against her skin.
He spread her arms and bent her elbows so her hands rested on the pillow on either side of her head. She let him move her, still feeling like she had no bones. He started a slow massage at the base of her neck and moved down her right shoulder. His hands were firm, the pressure penetrating deep into her muscles. She was already so relaxed, so she sighed and allowed him to pamper her.
It was a strange mix of feelings that ran through her as he did this, and she figured she couldn’t stay immersed in her bubble any longer. The doubts were back, pushing in and stealing away the solace she’d had. She closed her eyes, needing to hide her emotions from him as she sorted through what had happened.
Okay, so the denial phase was officially over.
She liked being ordered about, spanked, denied orgasm… Well, that part hadn’t been so dandy at first, but God, what a finish. Never in her life had she felt so complete and sated. She didn’t want to think about whether she was okay with that. She liked it, and she’d try very, very hard not to hate herself for it.
But she would not give up control of her whole life. She had to set some ground rules, fast, before he thought she was going to go along willingly with everything. She rotated her shoulders, starting to feel a bit of ache coming back to her body. It wasn’t isolated to her shoulders. Her hamstrings and calves burned from the way she’d been straining for release. Sheesh, was she that out of freaking shape? She hadn’t thought so, but clearly she’d deluded herself.
“Not only the shoulders?” Chase asked.
She blinked her eyes open until his face came back into view. “How’d you know?”
“I told you. It’s in the job description of a Dom. I need to know your body, your limits, what you like and don’t like, how to tease you.” He tickled his way down her back, and she squirmed. “How to punish you when you’re naughty.” He popped her lightly on the ass, and she squealed. “And how to care for your every need.” He slipped his hand down the edges of her entrance, and she quivered.
Her muscles whined with the movement, but she didn’t care. He continued his massage down her body, his gaze never leaving her face. A woman could drown in a bath of chocolate like that.
“Close your eyes, sweetheart. I’ll be here when you wake up.” His soft voice wasn’t exactly commanding, but somehow she knew it was an order. And a promise.
She bristled. “I think we need some ground rules.”
He smiled. “Shoulda known I wouldn’t get off that easy.”
“Or at all,” she said with her own grin.
He leaned in and nibbled on her love handle.
“Hey,” she chided.
His response was another wolfish grin. “What ground rules?”
“You can’t control my life. Playtime is one thing. But I have work and responsibilities, a need for space and time on my own, away from everything. Including you. You can’t come breaking into my house anytime you darn well please. I am not a woman of convenience, or a kept woman. I am
not
your booty call to be summoned at a moment’s notice and discarded when you are finished with me. When we are in public, you dictate nothing. And I do mean nothing. Not what I’m wearing or eating or doing. That’s all off-limits.”
With every passing item she ticked off her list, another line creased Chase’s forehead. By the time she was finished, his brow was thoroughly furrowed, and his mouth was set in a grim frown. “First off, I would not treat anyone as a
booty call
. What about this kind of relationship is so difficult for you to understand? It’s about taking care of you. Right now, what I’m doing, it’s aftercare. It’s to help your body and mind adjust to the real world again in a slow, comfortable manner instead of jumping face-first into reality, though you seem to be doing just fine with that. Being your Dom is about supporting you, and yes, sometimes that means making decisions.”
“No.” This was a point on which she would not budge.
“So making decisions outside of play or the bedroom is a hard limit for you?”
“I don’t know what that means.” She could guess, but she didn’t want to be wrong. They had to be clear and up-front about what she was and wasn’t getting into, or she’d never survive the next four weeks. She’d made a deal, and she was going to keep it. Take it as a personal challenge to really see if she could be a submissive.