Playing With Seduction (7 page)

She couldn’t move of her own accord, could only submit to the way he dominated her body, and she loved the illicit sensation, loved the erotic fantasy of being taken. She felt every inch of him as he moved, felt the heat and friction grow between her legs as he ground his hips against her ass and buried himself to the hilt, over and over.

He slid his free hand under her body and burrowed his middle finger into the folds of her sex. Her mind only had a quick second to register a startling vibration—
and the fact that, oh, God, he was using a finger vibe
—before he aligned that pulsating device right against her sensitive clit.

Every nerve ending in her pussy jolted, as if he’d just touched her with a live wire. The searing, sensory assault was torment and ecstasy all rolled into the unbearable desire to climax again. She clawed at the sheets with her hands, dying to widen her legs, but all she could do was buck and thrash her hips against his and pant and moan with the maddening need for release.

His thrusts grew heavier, longer, his cock seemingly getting thicker, harder with each rough, jackhammer stroke. The fingers around her neck tightened as his entire body tensed over hers, his chest heaving against her back, his lips parted against her throat as he tunneled farther inside her, claiming her in such a primitive, unrefined way.

“
Oh, fuck
,” he rasped, and with one last driving flex of his hips, he groaned and shuddered as he started to come.

The steady, insistent hum of the vibrator against her clit, combined with the throbbing hot pulse of Jase’s cock surging inside her, stole the last of Kendall’s sanity. Her heartbeat roared in her ears as she shattered, disintegrated, and came apart so completely she knew she’d never be the same again. Swept up in such devastating pleasure, she vaguely heard him shout out his own release.

He withdrew his hand from between her legs, removing the relentless buzz of the toy so she could breathe normally again. Languid and exhausted, she sagged against the mattress. Behind her, Jase’s body grew slack, as well, though he used his forearms to keep the heavy, muscled weight of his body from crushing her.

He placed soft, lazy kisses along her shoulder, and she couldn’t stop the shiver that stole through her when his lips traveled up the side of her neck, nipping gently, until he reached her ear.

“So, was that hard and deep and rough enough for you?” he asked, a sexy, arrogant note in his voice as he reminded her of the erotic fantasy she’d shared with him.

A fantasy he’d fulfilled beyond her wildest expectations or anything she’d ever imagined, when even the man she’d been married to for ten years hadn’t cared enough to discover what turned her on or be a little adventurous in the bedroom, which had left her feeling inadequate and lacking. And completely devastated when she’d discovered his affair with a barely legal nurse at the hospital where he’d been finishing his residency.

Yet in the span of an hour, Jase had somehow stripped her of her inhibitions and exposed those needs and desires she’d always kept hidden away. He’d made her body come alive again, had made her feel like a desirable, sexy woman for the first time in…forever. Possibly the first time
ever
.

The emotional impact of that realization overwhelmed Kendall and made her chest tighten with the need to protect her heart and with the undeniable feelings Jase was beginning to awaken in her.

She swallowed hard and gave him the credit he deserved for making tonight very, very memorable. “That was perfect.”

She could feel his content grin curve slowly against her neck. “
You’re
perfect,” he murmured huskily. “That was hotter and more intense than anything I’ve ever done or experienced before.”

She heard the sincerity in his voice but refused to let it sway her emotions, which were already way too tangled up in what had just happened between them. “You belong to The Players Club,” she said, striving for a wry tone to match the easygoing smile she tossed at him over her shoulder when she felt anything but playful. “I find it hard to believe that what we just did is the most erotic thing you’ve ever done with a woman.”

He finally pulled out of her, and, still straddling her thighs from behind, he turned her over so she was on her back again—her arms and legs still completely bound. Leaning over her, he braced his hands on either side of her head, his dark coffee-colored gaze locked directly on hers. “It’s not about the sex or the kink itself. It’s all about the person you’re with and how much they trust you with their body, and what you do with it. You, Kendall Shaw, gave yourself and your pleasure completely over to me, and
that
is what made what we just did so fucking satisfying.”

She was coming to realize that she trusted him
too much
, and opening herself to another man that way again made her feel emotionally, intimately exposed. With each moment that passed with him staring down at her, her anxiety increased, because she knew that her attraction to Jase was more than just a physical thing, and that was the very last thing she wanted with him.

Overwhelmed by her unexpected feelings,
for him
, she needed space to breathe and think without him surrounding her. “I need you to release me,” she said, more calmly than she felt inside.

He paused for a moment as if he was going to say something else but instead reached up and removed the restraints from her hands, then unbuckled the belt from her thighs before moving completely off of her to stand by the bed. She sat up and rubbed her wrists, her body already sore and tender from the deliciously aggressive way he’d used it.

“I’ll be right back,” he said reluctantly and headed toward the adjoining bathroom, picking up his briefs and pants on the way.

He closed the door behind him, giving Kendall the time alone she desperately needed without his intense gaze scrutinizing her face, which undoubtedly revealed way too much of the turmoil going on inside of her. She quickly pulled her panties back up, and, finding her dress on the floor, she slipped it on and zipped it as she debated leaving before he came back out of the bathroom.

She was so tempted to bolt. She had no experience with this kind of situation—a one-time hookup—and she dreaded the awkward post-sex conversation sure to come, which was so unnecessary. She’d gotten what she’d come to The Players Club for, and Jase had gotten exactly what he’d paid for. Their transaction was done.

Her stomach clenched at the painful rationale when she knew what had just happened between her and Jase was so much more. The problem was, there couldn’t be anything more between them, not when she was finally getting her life back on track after her divorce and needed to think about the future she wanted. A future that didn’t include a man eight years younger than her. A hot, virile, gorgeous man who would eventually move on, once the heat and passion ebbed between them, to someone younger, sexier, and much closer to his own age.

She didn’t think she could survive that kind of heartache all over again, and it was that excruciating thought that had her heading for the bedroom door to leave.

J
ase walked out
of the bathroom just as Kendall reached the door. She stiffened when she heard him behind her and froze, one hand on the doorknob—caught in the act of fleeing.

He wasn’t at all shocked to find her trying to sneak out of the room before he could stop her. Another few seconds and she would have accomplished her goal, but that wouldn’t have prevented
him
from going after her.

“Leaving so soon?” he asked, trying to be casual, even though he recognized her attempted escape for what it was. She was literally running from what had just happened between them. Not the sex but the connection. The way her body had come alive for him. The way she’d given herself over to him. And how much she’d liked it.

She turned around, her chin lifting obstinately. “Yes, I’m leaving. We both got what we came here for.”

So cut and dried. So impersonal it nearly gutted him. He managed, just barely, to tamp the frustration rising to the surface. “Is that what you think?” he asked, and strolled across the room toward her. “That I just wanted one night with you? That once I fucked you, it would be enough?”

She flinched at his words but held her ground. “It has to be enough. For both of us.”

He stopped a few feet away, not wanting to crowd her or give her yet another reason to retreat when he wanted—no,
needed
—concrete answers. “Tell me, why does tonight have to be enough?”

Her own frustration flashed in her eyes. “I already told you why.”

Yes, she had, that last day at her studio right before he’d kissed her. “You’re divorced and you’re eight years older than me,” he reiterated, his jaw clenching impatiently. “Do you really think I give a shit about either?”

“You will, eventually,” she shot back heatedly.

He couldn’t believe that she honestly thought he’d use her for sex, then move on without a backwards glance. “You have that low of an opinion of me?”

“No, not you.” She sighed and rubbed her fingers across her forehead. “I’m speaking from experience. My
personal
experience.”

Ahhh, they were finally getting to the heart of the matter. Now he knew for certain that something had happened for her to put that guard up, and he wasn’t about to let her leave until he understood those fears. Just like in the military, he couldn’t deal with a threat until he knew exactly what kind of situation he was up against. The same principal applied with Kendall.

He moved around her and leaned against the closed door, clearly blocking her way out of the room until he had what he wanted. “Tell me about that personal experience.”

“I’d rather not.”

Her pink, swollen lips pursed oh-so-primly, and he had to resist the urge to throw her over his shoulder like a caveman, take her back to the bed, and tie her back down and seduce her until she spilled all her deep, dark secrets.

Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and tried a more civil approach. “All I’m asking is that you make me understand what happened in the past to make you shut me out this way…before we ever get started. You owe me at least that much before you leave.”

She folded her arms across her chest, as well, mimicking his determined stance and putting them at a stalemate. She met his gaze willfully, her stubborn expression making his palm itch to take her over his knee and spank her ass to let her know that he wouldn’t tolerate her defiance.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a play session. Under the current circumstances, he was fairly certain Kendall wouldn’t appreciate his more stimulating way of dealing with her insubordination.

So, instead, he raised a brow, silently communicating the fact that he had all night long and had no intentions of budging until he had answers.

As if she finally realized they were at an impasse, her tense shoulders dropped a fraction, the fight in her gradually subsiding. “Fine,” she said softly.

Surprising him, she turned around and walked to the bed, then sat down on the edge of the mattress. She waved a hand toward a wooden-back chair normally used for discipline play. “Pull up a seat and make yourself comfortable,” she said, her tone wry. “It’s not a quick story.”

Finally, he thought, relieved. Trying to lighten the moment, he flashed her a smile. “Luckily I bought you for the entire night.” Positioning the chair right in front of her, he sat down.

The corner of her mouth twitched with amusement, then faded away before she spoke. “I met my ex-husband, Drew, my junior year in college, when I was twenty-one, and we got married two years later. We were living in Los Angeles, and I got a job with an ad agency, while Drew, who intended to become a trauma surgeon, continued full time at UCLA School of Medicine.”

Jase wasn’t sure what this part of her past had to do with her resistance to date him, but he wanted to know everything about her, so he remained quiet and let her talk.

She ran her hands down the front of her thighs absently, smoothing the black fabric of her dress over her legs. “We lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment, and I also did portrait photography on the side to make extra money to help pay off our school loans. And that’s what I did for ten years while Drew continued his residency and internship. I wanted to start a family, but he was adamant that we wait and get all our loans paid off so we’d have no debt once he became a surgeon, and then we’d have kids. So, I worked my ass off. Between our two hectic schedules, we hardly had quality time together, but I just kept thinking about the end goal and being able to have a baby. I put in sixty-hour weeks at the advertising firm and worked weekends with the photography. Between both of my jobs and tight budgeting, I managed to pay off nearly two hundred thousand dollars in school loans by the time Drew passed all his certification exams.”

“Jesus,” Jase breathed, thoroughly impressed with her persistence and determination, even though he knew this story didn’t have a happy ending.

“Drew was hired on as a full-time trauma surgeon at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, debt free.” She smiled bitterly. “I wanted to get pregnant right away, but he wanted to wait a year for us to build up a nest egg so we could buy a house, so I continued working my two jobs. Six months later, Drew asked for a divorce. He’d been having an affair with a young, twenty-something nurse with bleached-blond hair and huge fake boobs. And, oh, Barbie—I kid you not about her name—was pregnant with his baby.”