Double Down (10 page)

“I think you haven’t displayed the proper attitude.” He ran a hand over the curve of her ass. “Do you know what I do with…women… who are disobedient or too arrogant?”

“What would that be?” God, she still had a hint of laughter in her voice. He loved the way she challenged him.

“I spank them. Like this.” He smacked one cheek of her buttocks hard enough to leave a handprint. “And like this.” He slapped the other one.

She rocked forward but never lost her balance. “Do you find it necessary to do that often?”

“You are an insolent one. Do you find that works for you?”

She actually laughed. “More than you might imagine.”

He slapped both cheeks again and then again. When she tipped slightly forward this time, he reached between her arms and her body and closed a hand over one breast. He squeezed it, hard, and was rewarded with a sharp intake of her breath. Sliding the hand upward, he closed it around her neck and urged her to stand upright. He cupped her chin and turned her so she faced him.

“Shall we add a little spice to the mix, stubborn minx?”

“I thought that’s what we were doing.” She considered his face, the look in her eyes as bold as ever. “Are we playing a different kind of game here, Branch? If so, maybe you should tell me the rules.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, holding her head in place, preventing her from looking away from him.

“How about this? If I said I wanted you blindfolded, on your knees, hands cuffed behind your back while you suck my cock, what would you say to that?”

“What would you want me to say?”

Jesus! If ever there was a woman who could get him to submit it would be her, but that wasn’t on the program tonight.

“I’d want you to say yes. And thank me.”

“Do you do this a lot?” she asked.

“That’s not what we’re discussing. We’re discussing the here and now.
Right
now. So tell me. What’s your answer?”

He could almost see the wheels turning in her head while she decided how to respond. Would she decide that, for one night, it would be fun to have a role reversal? And right at that moment, he wondered which of them was actually in control.

She licked her lips, stared hard at him for a moment, then nodded her head. “My answer is yes.”

For a brief second he thought his heart would leap from his chest with excitement. Thank god he had great self-control.

“Excellent. Stay right where you are. Do not move even one inch. And place your hands behind your back.”

He had no idea why she was being so agreeable about this, but she did exactly what he ordered her to do, even to the placement of her hands. He pulled a silk square and a set of handcuffs from the dresser drawer where he kept some of his toys. He hesitated a moment before lifting a small flogger and adding it to the items. When he looked back at Lee, she hadn’t moved, but her eyes took in everything he was doing.

“Are you thinking of using that little thing also?” she asked.

“And if I said yes?”

“I’d ask you why and also how you happened to have it so handy.”

He walked over to stand in front of her. “Maybe this is really how I like my sex. What would you say to that?”

Another hint of a grin. “Maybe I’d say bring it on.”

Jesus! He had never met a woman like this. He might get her to submit, but she’d never be a submissive. She would challenge him constantly, not just in the bedroom, and make him enjoy every minute of it. No wonder she was so good at her job.

Okay, no more word games, except for one.

“Give me a word, any word, that you’ll use any time you want to stop. Whatever it is, whenever you use it, I will respect it.”

She ran her tongue over her lips, slowly, and was that mischief sparkling in her eyes?

“Sandstorm.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Really?”

She shrugged one shoulder gracefully. “It just popped into my head.”

“Okay, sandstorm it is.”

He put the items on his bed then undressed, watching her reaction as each piece of clothing came off. Other than a widening of her eyes and a twitch of her hands when he took off his boxer briefs and his cock sprang free, she didn’t move so much as a tony muscle.

“You know,” he said in a conversational tone, “when you remove one sense, the rest of them become much more sensitive and intense.” He folded the square into a blindfold, placed it over her eyes, and tied it behind her head. “What do you smell now?”

She inhaled. “Spicy aftershave, male musk. She drew in another breath. “Mint, probably from soap.”

“Excellent. Open your mouth.” He touched the head of his cock, scooped the tiny bead of fluid sitting on the slit, and held his finger to her mouth. “What do you taste?” He placed his fingertip on her tongue.

She closed her lips over his finger. “Your cum. Salty and just a little sweet.”

He walked around behind her and slipped the manacles around her wrists. Locked them. “What do you hear? Feel?”

“The sound of metal on metal, touching my hands.”

“On your knees,” he snapped. “Now.”

He couldn’t believe how gracefully she did it, barely losing her balance. He wondered what kind of calisthenics she performed with her subs.

“Mouth open,” he ordered.

She opened her mouth wide, and when he placed the head of his cock on her lower lip, she moved forward just enough to take him into her mouth. Gripping her head to steady it and hold it in place, he rode her lips, sucking in a breath when she closed them around his shaft and sucked until her cheeks hollowed. He didn’t want to think who else had been treated to this extraordinary skill of hers. All he wanted was to enjoy it at the moment, and enjoyment was too simple a word for what he felt. Her talented mouth sent waves of pleasure through him until his entire focus was on his cock and what was happening.

When he felt the familiar tightening of the muscles at the small of his back and in his balls, he tried to hold off his climax, wanting to prolong this as long as possible. But there was no holding back from what she was doing to him. He tightened his fingers on her jaw and stiffened his body as the orgasm roared through him. Spurt after spurt of his cum landed on her tongue, her throat muscles flexing as she swallowed every drop of it. When she drained him dry, he loosened his hold and stepped back, easing his penis from her mouth. When she ran her tongue over her lips and made a humming sound, unbelievably his cock tried to spring to life again.

Branch took a moment to settle himself, to reach into the part of him that was the Dom, so he could maintain control in this situation. Or at least think he could. Then he helped Lee rise to her feet.

“Very well done.” He nearly let the word “sub” slip from his mouth. “And here is your reward.”

He bent her over the edge of the bed and arranged her so she was face down, head turned. The imprint of his hand on her ass hadn’t yet faded, and the temptation was too great to resist. She jolted when the first slap landed then curled her hands into fists, digging her fingers into her palm. With her hands manacled behind her back, she was helpless and open to him, a situation that sent a surge of lust through him.

He landed another spanking and another until, this time, her buttocks became a bright shade of red and her nails had dug crescents into her palms. She was so turned on he could smell her scent. If the two of them stayed together, their lives would never be dull, and the sex would top the charts.

Wait a minute. Stay together? Not on the agenda.

He slid his fingers down the crevice between her buttocks, pausing to press the tip of a finger at the opening of her rear channel. God, how he’d love to fuck her there, although he was pretty sure it wasn’t happening tonight.

Spreading her legs, he knelt between them, pushed her thighs wide apart, and put his mouth to her cunt. A slight jerk of her body was her only response to the touch of his mouth until he began to work her in earnest. He licked all around her opening, flattened his tongue to press it beneath her labia and find her clit, rubbing the tip over it again and again. God, she was a wet one, so responsive as her cream flooded her channel. He teased her clit again and again until her control began to fray and her hips thrust back at him. He gripped her thighs to hold her still and plunged his tongue inside her.

She got juicier and juicier, her taste an aphrodisiac on his tongue. He lapped and sucked, wondering who was enjoying this the most. Again and again he drove her to the edge until he had her squirming on the bed, panting, and finally even begging. Then he slid the handle of the flogger into her very ready pussy and pinched her clit hard, sending her over the edge. Her involuntary scream of pleasure was the sweetest music he’d ever heard.

He rose and rested his hands on her sweet, upturned ass. She was incredible, beyond his wildest expectations. And the night was far from over. Only…for a fleeting moment, he wondered who was really in charge here.

Lee set her mug of coffee down on the vanity and stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Nope, no change. She looked the same as she had when she left home Saturday night to go to Branch’s. Just because she felt like a different person didn’t mean she looked like one. Not that there had been many changes, but holy crap! Branch Colby had taken her on a sexual journey she’d never expected to travel.

There was no doubt the man was a Dom, no matter what he did or didn’t say. Obviously not at Infinity or she would have seen him before. There were two other high-end clubs in the area, though, so he could be a member at either of them. Maybe she would casually ask John Francona about him. John was a walking encyclopedia of who and what in the BDSM lifestyle for the entire area.

She bet his subs lined up for sessions with him, although that wasn’t a role she could ever play. It just wasn’t part of her genetic makeup. She had learned that very emphatically when she had gone through her training. Could she pretend for one evening, though? God! What an erotic trip that had been. Even now, on Monday morning, even after a long bath yesterday, she still had pleasant aches in secret places. Aches that brought a smile to her face. Would she do it again? Not on a regular basis, but for an exciting change? Sure. Only not with
just
anyone. It had to be someone with whom she shared a special connection.

So where exactly did that leave her with Branch Colby? Did they have that connection? Was it too soon to tell, or had it happened without her realizing it?

Even as she thought about him, her cell rang, and she saw his name displayed on the screen.

“Morning.” His deep voice resonated even through the telephone.

“Same to you.” She took a sip of coffee.

“Feeling okay today?” The heat of his voice seeped trough the telephone and into her body.

“Fine.” Definitely fine. “And you?”

He laughed, a warm, relaxed sound. “Never better. And that very nice ass of yours?”

Lee actually felt herself blush. “My ass is doing great, too.”

“Glad to hear it.” He paused. “Listen, I wondered if you were free for lunch today.”

“Lunch?” So he wanted to move forward with this—whatever it was? “Possibly. I actually have a meeting in your building around eleven-thirty. The chairman of the mayor’s fundraising committee has offices there.”

“How about coming up here when you’re finished? I can have lunch ordered in, or we can go out somewhere. Your choice.”

She nibbled her lip. She really didn’t have all that much time, but lunch with him was really tempting.

“I’ll be kind of pressed for time,” she told him. “I’ll probably be an hour with my meeting, and I have to be back at my office by two. Ordering in sounds good.”

“How about texting me when your meeting is about to wrap up so I can order the food? Any preferences?”

She shook her head before remembering he couldn’t see her. “Anything light would be fine.”

“I’ll do it. See you then.”

She put the cell back down on the vanity and stared at herself again in the mirror. Somehow she expected to see a change in her face, some sign of the incredible sex or the indefinable connection she felt with Branch. That one Saturday night had made both more intense and more complicated. No, she still looked like the same Lee Sullivan. Oh, maybe there was a new heat simmering in her eyes or a new awareness of herself. And maybe her dreams last night had been filled with a very sexy man and the outrageous things he’d done with and to her.

And the emotions he stirred in her.

But her outward appearance seemed the same. Good. What had she expected, that a sign would be emblazoned across her forehead that said “Lee likes punishment?”

And that was another thing. Saturday night had reawakened in her something she first realized during her training—she enjoyed pain. It stimulated her pheromones and ramped up the responses of her body. The big difference, for her, is that she never fell into subspace. She could embrace the pain but still, at all times, be in control of her mind.

What if Branch wanted to do this more? If he wanted something exclusive? Was she ready for that with him? She thought she had her life organized, her future planned, and it didn’t include a permanent relationship with a man who was a Dom, whether overtly or not.

Damn, Lee. Indecisive much?

First, she needed to sort out what her real feelings for him where.

After taking a final sip of coffee, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and turned on the shower. Maybe the hot water would wash away the jumble of thoughts in her brain so she could function today.

*****

Branch signed off the Skype conference he’d just participated in and turned his chair to stare out the glass wall at his favorite view. No, wrong. His favorite view was Lee Sullivan, naked in his bedroom, her ass bright red, writhing in the throes of orgasm. Or sitting cross-legged next to him on the couch, crunching potato chips and screaming at the football game on television. It seemed she fit whatever area of his life he introduced her to like a well-designed glove.

Yesterday morning when he’d woken up with her in his bed, curled into him, the scent of her hair tickling his nose, her perfume imprinted on his pillows, he’d had a sense of peace he couldn’t ever remember feeling. And this morning, when he’d woken up alone? Her absence was even more acute. How had this whole thing sneaked up on him this way? How had he reached this point so quickly where he wanted her in his life all the time?