A WILDer Kind of Love (11 page)

He still had to know more.

“Why?”

She breathed in then out, her chest shaking. “I was afraid of it, I guess. I always thought I was a deviant, having fantasies of men restraining me, ordering me to their sexual will…but when you’re the good little rule follower of the family, even a little experimentation feels like mortal sin.”

Dan felt a frown furrow his brow. The statement was given as straightforward fact. It occurred to him that though she always spoke lovingly about her family, she didn’t mention them often. “So you were brought up with lots of religion?”

“No. Lots of structure. My dad and mom worked hard to support the three of us. With my older sister unable to resist boys and my younger the ultimate anarchist, I learned fast to become the peacekeeper.”

“You mean, become invisible.”

“I’m not sure that’s—”

“The rock that caused no ripples?” he persisted. “The wheel without the squeak? The one who blended just to makes things easier?”

Pain marred her face, betraying his bulls-eye. Accurate or not, he hated being the one who wielded her grief.

“Sweet little rose.” He raised his hands to frame her face again. “No wonder all of this beckoned to you.”

She sighed in bliss but questioned in a whisper, “Sir?”

He lowered his head. Brushed his lips over her forehead, down her nose, across her mouth. Breathed in her beautiful scent, like fresh-plucked roses dusted with cinnamon, before murmuring, “I see you, woman. All of you.” Pulled his hands back into her hair again, kneading her with yearning possession. “I see you.”

“Oh…”

Her mouth opened as if to say more but all that came out was another sigh. She swallowed hard, clearly fighting back tears. Every Dominant bone in Dan’s body wanted to call her on that shit, to demand she not hold the reaction back, but the friend in him overrode the Dom, understanding the pride beneath her battle. No wonder she’d always been the “levelheaded” one at the office, earning her nickname through countless trials of staying the course when everyone else wigged out. Shouldering the burden, even when national security was at stake, came naturally to her—

And was the first thing she wanted to lose when getting naked for a man.

Too bad none of her other lovers had gotten the clue.

No, not really.

Those bozos might be crying about their loss—which didn’t stop him from rejoicing about it. And from taking a stronger lead now, combing his fingers deeper against her scalp. “Sssshh,” he soothed. “Take a minute and regroup.”

She was so gorgeous, expelling a long breath before he twisted his fingers a little at the end of a stroke, delivering enough pain to keep her alert and connected to him. “Th-thank you.”

He did it again. Then again. A few more times, simply for the pleasure of watching her sexy little gasps, before prompting, “So what finally led you here? Coaxed you across from good little peacemaker to sexy little subbie?”

The edges of her lips inched up. “Sexy? Errr…really?”

Dan groaned. “Little girl, you have
no
idea.”

After smiling wider, she confessed, “It was a friend. A colleague. At work.” To his curiosity, a blush suffused everything between her face and breasts. “Okay, he’s not really at work anymore, but he was. He got badly hurt, so he’s been on leave.”

“Hurt?” He echoed the word because only then did it crack his thick skull that she might be talking about—

Holy fuck
.

“Yeah. Burned. On his face. Not a lot of it, but the damage was deep enough to leave deep scars, and he’s been a tad aggro about it. He saved a woman’s life, though.”

“Holy shit.” Thank fuck he didn’t have to squelch it. Didn’t know if he could. She
was
talking about him.

“No kidding. He’s a hero but doesn’t recognize it, though the rest of us do.” Her head dipped to the side, as if she didn’t want to keep talking. But she inhaled and continued, anyway: “I’m going to go to hell for saying this, but I’m—well, I’m kind of grateful for what happened to him. Before the accident, I was smack-dab in the middle of his ‘work buddy’ space. Not a prayer for escaping the friend zone. Major problem, since
he
was pretty much just my ultimate fantasy fuck.”

“Your
what
?” He managed not to choke on it.

She giggled. “You heard me. And don’t play prissy,
Sir.
You have a few, too. I’d bet solid money on it. A subbie you’ve been eyeing around here? Girl at the day job you’ve stolen an extra peek or two at? Your favorite Vicky’s Secret angel?”

Dan grunted. “So what’s this guy to you now?” Shit. He had to go there, didn’t he? No matter how she answered, it was bound to mess with his brain. He didn’t care. The opportunity was too ripe not to be plucked—and yeah, her answer meant too much now. “You still want to ‘fantasy fuck’ him?” He pressed his hands to the dais on either side of her head and leaned low over her face. “Are you thinking of him right now, girl?”

She managed to look indignant, even with his position—and hers. “Of course I am—but only because you brought it up!”

He ignored her huffy finish. “Did you ask him to do this with you first?” he growled. “To bring you someplace like this and dominate you?”

He sensed she wouldn’t lie about it—but didn’t anticipate the speed of her honesty, either. “Yes,” she declared. “I did. I’m not an idiot. Dan’s a great guy, and fucking gorg—well, he’s nice-looking, we’ll leave it at that. So of course I tried. And for the record, he turned me down.”

“For the record then,
he’s
the idiot.” He meant it—now more than ever.

“Probably.” She stunned him again with her soft laugh. “But that doesn’t diminish my gratitude to him for all this. Without his openness about BDSM and his encouragement that I be open about it as well, I’d never have come this far. It’s a gift I’ll never thank him for enough.”

Well, shit.

You asked.

That didn’t ease the constriction in his chest. Or that the follow-up question to that was more obvious than the shine on her corset—as well as the last thing he wanted to speak. But avoiding it was even less an option. This would be his only chance to learn her complete truth.

“So that’s why you asked him to do this with you? Because of gratitude?”

“Uh-uh.” She jerked her chin up. “I asked him because I wanted him. And before you ask, I wanted him in any way I could get him, especially between my legs. If that makes things weird now, you just say the word.”

Dan barely suppressed his laugh—and his whoop. Both temptations grew the next moment, as the weight on his chest transformed from lead to feathers.

Weird
?

Okay, he saw how her logic went there, especially since she was so brand-new to all this—but his little ruby still had no concept of what a gift she’d given him, in more ways than one. The man inside him preened, floored by the idolatry she’d nourished even after half his face had turned into a burnt omelet. The Dom in him glowed, proud of her for embracing honesty that most
seasoned
submissives wouldn’t possess in her present position.

She amazed him.

Humbled him.

Hardened him.

To an intensity he hadn’t experienced in such a long damn time.

“My brilliant little rose.” He pressed a kiss into the curve of her neck. “You have no idea how
un
weird this make things.” He suckled and nipped his way to the other side of her neck. “How perfect it makes everything.”

As he expected—and hoped—his sensual abuse made her whimper. “Th-thank you, Sir.”

He flattened both hands, sliding palms down her sternum, over the swells of her breasts. As he slipped his fingers beneath her corset, Tess moaned. As he found her erect peaks, she gasped. As he squeezed both those gorgeous nipples, she yelped.

“Damn,” he grated. She was so responsive. So ready. So open. So submissive.

Ohhh, fuck.

Ohhh, yeah
.

Despite the torture of his zipper along his cock and his heartbeat against his ribs, this was going to be fun. A
hell
of a lot of fun.

‡

T
his is going
to be fun.

The man’s savoring growl all but said the words for him. The sound curled through Tess like incense, dark and exotic, aiding the fantasy that she was a sheikh’s plaything for the night, brought to his desert dungeon to be spread for him, awaiting her role in his ultimate pleasure.

The thoughts brought on a hard shiver. Dread, joy, and anticipation coursed through her veins…and moistened the crevices between her thighs. She breathed in¸ forcing herself to absorb that this
wasn’t
a dream, but truly happening. It still felt too huge to comprehend, almost too much to bear. How long had she dreamt of this, longed for it? And now that she really living it, would it fulfill all her expectations? What if this wasn’t as amazing as she’d hoped? What if she did something wrong, and let this incredible man down in some way?

So far, thank God, that didn’t seem to be the case. His next sound, a harder rumble than the growl, rolled out of him as he rolled her nipples again, pinching her tighter than before. Tess cried out, sharp and high, turning his growl into an illicit chuckle. Almost instantly, she felt her pussy grow wetter. Hell. She was all kinds of messed-up, with her arousal tied so closely to the man’s sadism, but hearing the pleasure she brought him was the most potent aphrodisiac she’d ever experienced.

She lifted her chest, desperately hoping he did it again.

And he did. Harder. Longer.

“Ohhhhh!” she screamed.

“Mmmm,” he murmured. “So good, little girl.”

“Yes,” she rasped. “Oh,
yes
.”

It almost came out as a question. How could it be that his hard pinches led to such consuming pleasure? In the wake of his abuse, her nipples tingled and warmed, developing into arrows of sensation with her sex as the target. When they struck, she moaned deeply again.

“Well, well, well,” he drawled. “My little rose has a penchant for thorns, too.”

She rocked her torso, craving more of the friction. “Yes, Sir.” The sensation of his fingers on her flesh, intensified by the pressure from her corset, was erotic, exquisite, incredible. “Ohhhh. It’s so good.”

“And going to get even better. I promise.”

He had a damn strange way of proving it. When he finished the vow by rising up and away from her, Tess whined in protest.

“Breathe, sweet one.” Though underlined by gentleness, the words were nails of command. “And trust me.”

He moved off toward her right with steps sure as a puma, making her head instinctually fall in that direction, too. Nevertheless, Tess nodded and replied, “I trust you, Sir. I do.”

His responding snarl pebbled her skin with fresh arousal. Then again as he uttered, “Perfect, little rose. So perfect.”

The enjoyment was short-lived. As he slid a hand down her torso and across her waist, Tess fought not to tense up. Mattie and Viv had inherited Mom’s cute, curvy build but she’d gotten her body type from Dad, meaning her figure had all the sex appeal of a tree. Never was she more aware of that fact than now. With every new inch Sexy glided over her nonexistent figure, she took another breath to combat the feeling that it wasn’t enough. That
she
wasn’t enough.

Dammit
. Even here, even now, she wasn’t free from it all, was she? At least, thank God, he’d let her keep the corset on. There was hope, if she could impart the illusion of a figure…

Until she couldn’t.

“Wait.” His mandate, sharp but flirty, alerted her instinct to his next motion—the tug he gave to the cords dangling between her breasts. The corset fell free from her torso, returning her breasts to their flimsy normality. “Okay,” he growled, “
now
everything’s perfect.”

She bit back the craving to scream. Was the mask fucking up his vision that bad? She wasn’t perfect.
This
wasn’t perfect. Not anymore. Not when he was so masterful and powerful and captivating, and she was so…

Her.

Just her.

Not Odette the exotic, full of sex appeal and sass. Not even his cute little rose, witty and flirty, keeping things fun. Now that he’d stripped her bare, in more ways than the obvious, she didn’t even have the potential of being a beautiful submissive. She was just pale and trembling and embarrassed, as useful for turning him on as a pool cue—fighting back the tears confirmed the fact.

“
Rose
.” His summons crashed into her mind, sounding like he’d issued it for the sixth time. He tweaked one of her nipples to emphasize it.

“
What
?” Pain yanked the word from her, full irritability and tears.
Great. Barely into your first scene with a real Dom, and you hit him with
that
crap? Nice going. Real smooth. No wonder the world will never see you as anything more than the redheaded intel geek, or the blank space of humanity between Mattie and Viv. You won’t stand out any more here than you do anywhere else. You can’t even get it right when there are clear-cut rules involved in the equation.

Bright side? She already knew the back way out of this place. And tonight when she left, it’d be for good.