Dare to Surrender (33 page)

God, the man was gorgeous. How could she have ever found him boring? His brown hair was just a bit too long; his jaw was sharp.
And those eyes, so big and brown and luscious.

Erica wanted him with a fierceness that brought every nerve in her body alive.

“Hi,” she said, stepping in front of Blaine.

Shock registered across his face before he masked his expression.

“Hi, Erica.”

“Um.” Erica adjusted her dress. “I wanted to talk with you.”

“About?”

God, was he going to make her do this here? Now?

He was. Crossing his arms over his chest, he waited for her to speak.

“I wanted to apologize.” Jeez, this was even harder than Erica had thought it would be. She felt sweat pricking at her brow
as her stomach did a flip. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea….

Blaine looked expectant, and was that a gleam of humor in his eyes? “What did you want to apologize for, Erica?”

Screw it. She stepped closer to Blaine and met his gaze. “For being a stupid, scared, prejudiced bitch.”

Something fluttered across Blaine’s face, and after a minute, his mouth twitched into the tiniest of smiles. “Well, admitting
you have a problem is the first step toward recovery.”

“What’s the second step?” Erica asked, her heart going crazy in her chest.

“I’d say the second step is kissing me.”

Erica didn’t need any more of an invitation. She yanked Blaine against her body and kissed him. He tasted like cinnamon, and
it was sweet, so sweet, to feel his body pressing against hers, to feel his solid chest rubbing against her sensitive nipples.

Smiling, she pulled back. “So. Are we good?”

He kissed her again, until her body swirled with desire. Then he looked down at her, his eyes glimmering in the soft light.
“Sweetheart, let’s go back to my place and I’ll show you how good we can be.”

P
lease answer, please answer…

Standing on his doorstep shivering, not from the cold but from nerves, Joy prayed Ash would answer the door. She just needed
to see him, to try to convince him to forgive her, to show him she would do anything to make up to him what she’d done.

Please answer, please—

The door opened and he was there, staring at her. His face was totally blank; she had no idea what he was thinking.

She pushed inside.

Turning, she said, “Ash. Please sit on the sofa and let me show you something.”

He didn’t say anything, but at least he didn’t tell her to get the hell out of his house. But her hands were shaking as she
carried her bag—she’d switched back to the big old one—and went into the kitchen. The first thing she did was take a big shot
of his whiskey. Then she removed her coat and began pulling the things she needed out of her purse.

Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m doing this.

She kicked off her shoes. She was already wearing the silk skirt low on her waist, and she tied a scarf edged with coins around
her hips. Then she took out the gold arm ornaments and slid them on so gold thread covered her skin from elbow to wrist in
a gold web.

Then she bent over and gave her hair a good upside-down toss, trying to get it nice and wild-looking. Before she picked up
the small boom box, she downed one more shot of whiskey, just for luck, and then she was ready.

When she saw Ash, a shiver raced down her spine. She experienced a moment of discomfort when his gaze fell on her skin, exposed
from just under her jingly bra to where her scarf and skirt rested low on her hips, several inches below her belly button.
She never even wore a two-piece bathing suit at the beach, and now she was about to perform for Ash at her most vulnerable?

But that’s exactly why she was doing it. She wanted Ash to know how much she trusted him, and she needed him to know she’d
do anything to prove her love for him, even if it meant she did the one thing she swore she’d never do.

But she loved him. That was the only reason she was here, the only reason she was taking this chance of possible humiliation
and rejection. If that happened, it would be devastating, but at least she had to try.

She wanted him so badly—she wanted to own him as much as she wanted to be owned
by
him. And that want fueled her. She turned on the music and positioned herself directly in front of his gaze.

Hell, if she was going to do this, she was going to do it right. She met Ash’s gaze and smiled. She placed her arms out elegantly,
one raised above her head with her fingers pointed toward the ceiling, the other arm at her side, her fingers positioned gracefully.

Slowly, the exotic beat of Middle Eastern music drifted into the room. The slow, sensual sound of a flute signaled her, and
she began to move her hips.

She danced. With her attention focused solely on Ash, she moved her hips and arms along with the music. The steady beat of
a drum joined the flute, and it seemed to pull her hips from side to side. The music entered her body, and it was impossible
not to feel sexy as she spun in a circle, letting her hair arc behind her. She paused a few feet from Ash to undulate her
stomach to the beat.

She put everything she had into her dance. Her heart seemed to be in her throat as she used every muscle, every curve of her
body, to dance. Her skirt spun around her ankles; her hair fell in front of her face. She continued to focus on him, but he
faded as she moved toward the crescendo. The drum beat faster, stronger, and she jerked her hips up and down and side to side.
She felt the strength in her core moving seductively, and she used that part of herself to entrance her audience even more.

And then she realized she liked this, liked performing for him. A quick glance at his crotch, and she saw he seemed to be
enjoying it, too.

The fact that he was becoming aroused made her own sex dampen. As she shimmied her arms, she lowered her chest, allowing him
to see right down her bra top to her breasts.

She stepped back and raised her arms above her head. As if her wrists were bound, she pressed the heels of her palms together,
and then as slowly, as delicately as she could, she lowered herself until she was kneeling on the ground.

She stayed in that pose as the flute piped its last few notes. And then it was silent, but she remained in the position, eyes
downcast. The dance had left her breathless, and her chest rose and fell as she panted before him.

And yet…

Nothing. He neither spoke nor moved. What seemed like an eternity went by, and her heart began to crack.

It hadn’t worked.

Her eyes stung as she began to lower her arms from the pose. He didn’t want her. Mortified, she just wanted to get out.

“Don’t you dare move.”

She glanced up at him. “W-what?”

“Stay there.” He pushed himself off the sofa and disappeared for a few moments. Joy’s heart rate skyrocketed as she waited
for him. What was he going to do? What did he want? The uncertainty was killing her as she remained in the position he’d ordered
her to stay in.

Her arms started to shake from the effort of holding them over her head, and just when she thought they would collapse, he
was there before her.

And he had a length of red rope in his hand.

Her skin pebbled as an erotic awareness went over her. Was he…?

“You’ve been a bad girl, haven’t you, Joy?”

She nodded.

“Stealing is wrong, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“You know what happens to thieves, woman?”

“They get punished?” She couldn’t help the little hopeful note in her voice.

“That’s right.” He started wrapping the rope around her wrists. She felt the soft nylon binding, and, just like that, she
began to lose herself. To him.

But so many things were unresolved. “Ash, we need to talk.”

“We will. After I punish you.”

His words sent a jolt of lust shooting through her, and she nearly let it drop.

But she shook her head. “No. That’s partly why we got into this mess in the first place. I let myself be persuaded too easily.”

When he looked down at her, she saw his eyes weren’t shuttered any longer. He looked…

Happy.

He sank to his knees so they were face-to-face. Like she was some kind of prisoner, he lowered her hands so her bound wrists
were in front of her.

She took a deep breath. “Ash. I know you think I was getting it on with Cartwright, but I promise it wasn’t how it looked.”

“I know.”

“I mean, I’m sure you think you can’t trust me but… Wait. What do you mean, you know?”

“I saw everything. I heard everything. And it was obvious you could take care of yourself.” He placed a soft kiss on her nose.
“I was so proud of you.”

She searched his eyes. He was dead serious. “But what about the sculpture? Aren’t you mad about that?”

“Oh, yes.” But he was grinning. “And I’m looking forward to making you pay for that.”

Leaning down, he lifted her skirt. “Good girl, you’re not wearing panties.” He kissed her clit, then started to flick at her
in that way that could shoot her to climax in exactly one minute.

He pulled back. “You have the most beautiful pussy,” he murmured. “I bought you something on my way home.”

He stood, and she saw him pull something out of his back pocket. It looked like a plastic butterfly. Awareness dawned on her
as he untangled the straps around the purple butterfly and smiled.

“This is a remote-control vibrator.”

She felt the muscles of her belly quiver as he strapped it around her thighs. The butterfly hugged her pussy, with a pointed
tip pressing right against her clit, already swollen and sensitive from Ash’s mouth.

“After seeing you tonight, all I wanted was to punish you.” He tightened the straps around her ass and gave it a buzz from
the wireless remote in his hand. “Hear you scream for me.”

She jerked as a shock went through her belly with the sudden pulsing at her pussy.

“You like that, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” she said above her beating heart.

He turned it off, and she gasped. Even though the butterfly had stopped buzzing, her clit still pulsed. “Ash…”

“I’m punishing you, remember?” he said with a deliciously wicked grin.

“Asshole.”

“So I’ve been told. Be right back.”

He left her there, helpless with her arms tied. Her arousal should have abated, but with each passing second, her body became
more alive with anticipation. Her breasts were hard points under her bra, heavy from the coins and decoration, and her sex
was throbbing with want.

Then he was back, and she felt him cutting her bra off her shoulders.

“Hey!” she said. “That was expensive.”

“I’ll buy you an entire closetful of them. I plan on having you dance for me on a regular basis.”

Her heart swelled. “You mean you liked it? You really liked watching me?”

“Oh, hell yeah. I think it was the fucking sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Joy didn’t believe him; he’d taken some of the most erotic images she’d ever seen. Still, it was a nice compliment.

“Just don’t think you’re going to go out dancing for anyone else. That’s for my eyes only.”

His possessive words made her smile.

He kissed her again, and just when his tongue entered her mouth, he turned on the butterfly, and she cried out. Bucking her
hips against the humming vibrator, she kissed him hungrily, her wrists straining as she leaned forward, pulling the rope taut.

Just when her entire body was shaking with need, he left her, circling her like an animal circles fallen prey.

She’d noticed what looked like a bamboo stick in the corner, and now he went and picked it up. He tapped it lightly on his
palm.

“Ash?” she said, suddenly a bit scared. Yeah, she liked a bit of pain, but did she really want to be caned?

“I told you,” he said. “You need to be punished for your misdeed.” And then he gave the butterfly a pulse, and she gasped
as pleasure shocked her to the core.

He circled her again, changing the vibrator’s speed from low to high, until she went from low moans of pleasure to loud cries
like she’d heard only out of porn stars.

What had he done to her? She had absolutely no inhibitions any longer.

And it felt amazing.

When he flicked the cane in the air, only about a foot away from her body, she gasped as the sound whipped through her ears.
It was going to hurt.

And she wanted to feel it.

“Do it,” she said, her voice gravelly.

He kept the vibrator going, and just when she thought she would climax, the buzzing ceased. The first sting of the cane made
her scream. From pain or pleasure she wasn’t sure, but then the vibrator started again, and it was only pleasure.

He continued the sweet torture. Whipping the fleshy part of her ass and then pausing to buzz her clit with the vibrator only
he controlled.

In between, he’d place soft kisses on her neck, her shoulders. The combination of sensation overwhelmed her, and she felt
as if everything in her body had evaporated, leaving only a euphoric numbness that blanketed her. She felt the vacant smile
on her face.

He caned her ass again, this time not stopping in between strikes. He was literally whipping her into a frenzy; each time
he hit her flesh, she screamed, and she heard herself asking for it harder and harder….

But then he stopped. When he released her, she was in a fog, endorphins rushing through her body in a wonderful charge. When
he picked her up, she smiled at him. “I love you so much.”

Kissing her forehead, he said, “I love you, too, baby. You’re mine now. You know that, right?”

“Yes, Ash. And you’re mine, too.”

“Yeah, that’s the fucking truth.”

He carried her upstairs and placed her gently on the bed. Then he removed the vibrator and stripped down in front of her.

She watched his beautiful body as he moved, loving the way she could see his toned muscles under his skin. Loving the way
his jaw-length hair fell in front of his eye. Loving the fact that it all belonged to her.