False Pretenses (15 page)

"You like
being
spanked. He likes
to
spank. What could be better? This is what you wanted all along. You belong to the Auxiliary, and he's a member of the Society. Perfect match."

"You're right, of course,” Emma agreed but furrowed her brow at the new wrinkle.

As a Rod and Cane member, Dan could learn of her involvement in the organization. No
could
about it. He
would
. It was only a matter of time, and then her story wouldn't mesh with her situation. How could she have denied all familiarity with spanking but have joined the Rod and Cane Society's Wives Auxiliary? Once subterfuge was put into play, it assumed a life of its own. Emma didn't want to lie to Dan, but she couldn't tell him now how she'd planned to expose the organization.

"Does Jared know Dan very well?” Emma nibbled on a fingernail.

"They're not best buds, but they both hold leadership positions. Speaking of which, the governing board had some hush-hush meeting last week. Jared didn't give me all the details, but he mentioned Dan's name in passing. I put two and two together and came up with four. How many Dan Tanners could there be who spank their girlfriends?” Melania sounded proud of her powers of deduction.

"Did you tell Jared that Dan and I were dating?"

"I didn't spell out the details, but your name has come up. Most people who join the Society are married. We don't have many members who join as singles and then hook up. You and Dan will be the Rod and Cane poster couple."

Emma stifled a groan. “Melania, I didn't tell Dan I was in the Auxiliary. Now he'll wonder why."

"So? He didn't tell you he was a Rod and Cane board member. It's no big deal. I'm sure you both have a lot to learn about each other."

Except Dan had been honest about his fetish. Had she fessed up after he'd spanked her the first time, she could have explained her membership by telling him she had worried about his reaction to her interest in spanking. But that would have been a lie, and a blatant falsehood seemed worse than her lie of omission. Emma took a breath to calm her jangling nerves. Maybe she was reading too much into this. Perhaps her guilty conscience created pitfalls where none existed. Melania could be right; their dual membership in the organization could complement their relationship.

Now that she'd discovered the bliss of a stinging caress, she craved more. While Rod and Cane advocated spanking as discipline, experienced members sometimes presented how-to lectures and seminars on its erotic aspects. Melania received regular spankings from her husband to maintain the balance of dominance and submission in the marriage. Was there such a thing as erotic maintenance? Emma tightened her glutes. She had relished the redness and slight numbness in her butt for the few days it lasted. It provided a pleasurable reminder of what she and Dan had shared. Could a person be spanked too much?

She had many questions, and where else could she get the answers but at the Rod and Cane Society? People who weren't into spanking would never understand.
She
hadn't until she'd experienced it.

Yes, membership in the Auxiliary would benefit her. But would telling Dan fling open Pandora's box and release the bad with the good?

Something else bothered her. Something Melania had said. Emma scrunched her forehead and tried to remember. Her friend had been talking about her husband knowing Dan— Emma's stomach lurched.

"Did you say there was a special meeting at the Society?” she asked casually.

"Yeah. The men have their boxers in a knot over something,” Melania said. “It's top secret, and Jared wouldn't or couldn't tell me what it was about, but I have some sort of an interview next week with a membership rep. They're reviewing the new applications, which include me, since I joined only this year after Jared and I married."

"I'm a new member,” Emma said in a low voice. Why did she have a bad feeling? The membership review was purely coincidental; it couldn't possibly have anything to do with her now nonexistent column.

"They'll contact you too, probably,” Melania said.

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Chapter Fourteen

Emma blinked in the darkness.

Wrapped around her, Dan's muscular body emitted warmth, offered protection, staked possession. He'd thrown one leg over her thighs, while a forearm pressed tightly between her breasts. His quiet breathing caressed her hair with each exhalation, his chest rising and falling with the gentle rhythm of someone with no worries.

Or someone exhausted. Emma smiled with amusement. They had made love three times yesterday—once during the day and twice last night. With each encounter, they'd learned more about each other's bodies, what each of them liked, what drove the other wild. She loved the way Dan jerked and groaned as she sucked his cock while milking his steely shaft with her fingers. She reveled in his hoarse groans, the sound of her name crudely entwined with curses, the profane made sacred by his desire, his tenderness, and concern. His love.

Each stroke, each kiss, each thrust had marked her, bonded her to him, and when he finally allowed her to lie spent, no part of her body or heart remained untouched. She belonged to him and he to her. The only thing dividing them now was the simple matter of the truth, and she vowed to rectify that at the earliest opportunity and reveal her Rod and Cane membership and her plans to expose the organization. Her heart would not allow secrets and subterfuge to come between them.

She loved him—his dimples, his smile, his tenderness, his playfulness, his take-charge expression of dominance that had begun to manifest itself in a myriad of little ways, from his sexual orders to the way he ensured her physical comfort—and discomfort.

Happiness welled inside her.

He had teased her, made her ache with yearning by displaying a brand-new leather-covered paddle atop her dresser, then diabolically informing her she wouldn't be spanked until sometime on Sunday.

She felt like a little girl on Christmas Eve, awaiting a visit from Santa Claus. She squinted through the morning darkness to seek out the paddle. Propped against her jewelry box, its shape resembled the cutting board in her kitchen, only longer and slimmer. Visceral pleasure hummed through her. Today was Sunday. She eyed the paddle longingly.

In the morning stillness, she imagined she could hear the vibration of her desire.

Emma frowned, listening. No, something
was
vibrating. Next to the paddle on the dresser, Dan's cell phone jitterbugged like a jumping bean. She peered at the clock. Six a.m. On a Sunday. What could be so important that someone would call before it was even light?

She glanced at Dan. Should she wake him?

The vibration stopped.

Dan's large palm covered a breast and squeezed lightly. “Good morning.” His sleepy, sexy voice warmed her ear.

"Good morning.” She stretched, and he caressed the length of her body. “Your cell phone was ringing...er...vibrating,” she informed him.

He shrugged. “They'll call back or leave a message. I have more important things to attend to than phone calls.” Slowly he stroked her. “There's no place else I'd rather be than with you. I think we have something special, Emma. Something deep and lasting."

His words lit a fire in her heart. Dawn tinted the room with a pink glow, and she twisted in his arms to scrutinize his face. “I feel connected to you in a way I haven't with anyone else,” she said. “Spanking didn't create the feeling, but it made me recognize it sooner. Is that strange?"

Dan smiled and shook his head. “Not to me. I understand completely. Trust opens your heart, and it takes trust to put yourself over my lap."

Emma held her breath. She didn't doubt his feelings or hers, but was it too soon to express how she really felt? He'd said he was falling for her, but what if he wasn't there yet? She exhaled. “I love you, Dan."

He cupped the side of her face, his touch warming her clear down to his toes. His eyes darkened. “I love you. It means so much to me to know I was the first man to spank you, that you enjoy it as much as I do."

She wished she could bask in the glow of the moment, but Emma recognized an opening to confess her Wives Auxiliary membership, and now it was more important than ever to tell him the truth. Delaying wouldn't make it any easier. She plunged. “Dan...I need to tell—"

Dan's phone again. The caller was certainly persistent. “Maybe you'd better get that,” she suggested. Perhaps if he answered it, they wouldn't have any more interruptions.

"I'd rather play with you.” He waggled his eyebrows.

A bad feeling niggled at her. “What if it's important?” She rolled over and turned on the bedside light.

"If it will make you happy.” He slid out of bed, revealing such an impressive morning erection, she regretted her insistence that he answer the phone.

DAN GRABBED HIS cell and knew as soon as he recognized Jared Traynor's number his morning plans were shot to hell.

"Jared? What's going on?” He glanced at Emma to find her forehead creased warily.
It's okay
, he mouthed to reassure her. He had a strong feeling the situation was far from all right, but this didn't affect her.

"Otis has called an emergency meeting."

"Shit! When?” he asked.

"Now."

"Does this involve what I think it does?"

"Yes. It's about the infiltrator."

Dan glanced at Emma, plucking at the bedcovers with her fingers. Due to the Rod and Cane confidentiality requirement, her presence prevented him from questioning Jared the way he wanted—and from asking Emma if she'd heard anything.

"Is there anything I need to do?” Dan asked Jared.

"That's what we'll decide at the meeting. How soon can you get there?"

"I'm on my way.” Dan ended the call.

Nothing could have separated him from Emma this weekend—nothing except a summons from the Society. Rod and Cane demanded a commitment and loyalty that extended beyond that of any civic organization or a social club. A man who dutifully served the Society would be a better disciplinarian and master of his household.

Though Dan spanked for eroticism rather than behavior correction, his penchant didn't relieve him of his obligation to the organization. But damnit!

"Is something wrong?” she asked and furrowed her brows.

He wished he could share this with her. If she was his wife and a member of Rod and Cane, he wouldn't hesitate to discuss it with her, ask her opinion.

"Is Jared somebody from your work?"

"No. It's complicated,” Dan answered and made a decision. When he returned, he would tell her of his membership with Rod and Cane. See how she felt about joining the organization. He might even begin to introduce some disciplinary spankings. He'd noticed she wasn't as focused about certain things as she could be. He hadn't heard anything more about the hot story she'd been so excited about. Had she dropped the ball?

He looked at her. “I'm leaving in a rush, and you deserve an explanation. I promise I'll tell you everything when I get back. We need to talk. I need to fill you in on a few things."

"Like what?"

"Later.” He smiled reassuringly. “I promise. Nothing to worry about.” He hugged her and pressed a kiss to her hair. “I'll come back as soon as I can."

Dan scooped up his clothes from the floor where he'd tossed them the previous night. In the middle of pulling up his pants, he paused, arrested by the sight of Emma's naked curves when she slipped out of bed. She stretched deliberately, languorously like a cat.

Creamy breasts swelled on her chest as she arched, causing her nipples, still reddened and swollen from his attention the evening before, to jut out even more. Her waist dipped inward; her hips curved outward. Golden curls formed a neat V leading to what he knew was a very sweet, tight pussy. Slowly she reached for a pink silk robe draped across the foot of the bed, presenting him with a delectable view of her backside, its paleness begging to be colored. The perfect heart to capture his heart.

Disappointment at the delay made his palms itch. He'd had big plans for her ass—and the rest of her.

Emma shot a seductive glance over her shoulder before slowly donning her robe. Amusement and tenderness stole into his chest.

He glanced at the paddle. He was sorely tempted to give her a few swats for good measure, but like eating potato chips, if he started, he wouldn't be able to stop with a few, nor would he be finished with her once the paddling ceased. He couldn't walk away from this woman.

He planned to spend the rest of his life with her, loving, fucking, and spanking her. He needed her, and she needed him to guide her. Maybe discipline her on occasion.

Dan zipped his pants before his swelling cock impeded the operation, then jammed his feet into his shoes. Emma had donned her glasses. He'd never known a woman who looked as cute in spectacles as she did. He hugged her and then sought her gaze. “I wish I didn't have to leave.” After clipping his cell to his belt, he planted a hard kiss on her mouth. “I'll show myself out.” He smacked her bottom sharply. “I owe you a spanking."

She poked him in the chest. “Don't you forget it, buster."

Rod and Cane was nearer to Emma's place than his, and with the streets deserted on a Sunday morning, he arrived within a few minutes. He parked at the curb and met up with Jordan as the disciplinary proctor punched an admission code into the keypad beside the sturdy double doors. They swiped their cards through the reader, badging in as required during off-hours.

They passed through the massive foyer and into the museum promenade. As they proceeded to the governance chamber, Dan asked, “Do you know what the meeting is about?"

"You didn't see the paper?” Jordan raised his eyebrows.

"No.” He shook his head.

Jordan paused outside the chamber. “The
Sentinel Review
outed Rod and Cane.” He pushed open the door.

"Christ!” A sick feeling settled in Dan's stomach, and he followed the proctor into the room. Emma wrote for the
Sentinel
. She might have had information about the infiltrator.