Eden's Pleasure (Pulse Book 1) (13 page)

"What are you thinking Eden?" he asked, catching her off guard.

"I don't know what to think. I’m afraid, you have no clue how being controlled terrifies me. You’ve thrown quite a bit at me. I need time to think, to take it all in," she admitted. "Who wouldn't want to be taken care of and treated to sexual pleasure? You can’t imagine how desperately I just want to give in. But I just couldn't be what you want."

Chase came over to sit with her again, taking her hand in his. "Why do you say that?"

"My turn to be honest." She felt uneasy. "I don’t know that I could be totally compliant, as submissive as you ask. I have only had one real sexual relationship, and that was a disaster I don't want to think of. I have control issues myself, major control issues. I don’t know if I can give you what you want, what you’re used to getting from a woman."

“Forget other women; there are no other women, just you.” He moved in, mere inches from her face. "Eden, I hunger for you. Let me train you to submit baby…" he whispered across her lips. “…give in to sensuality and indulge, I promise you only pleasure.”

***

Teach me?

The suggestion of Chase teaching her to give up control, to submit to him and give him pleasure in return for her own, was causing a commotion in her gut. She was near to throwing up. She felt giddy like she was a virgin all over again and he was going to pop her cherry, as Mikala would say, a disgusting but delicious thought. It also frightened her out of her mind.

This was crazy and all she could think of. Her mind was a mess already, and now, a new equation had been added. She needed to talk to Mikala. She could trust her to be honest enough to tell her she was nuts.

Chase was so genuine in regards to what he required from her. He could have his pick of hundreds of ultra-sexy women but he’d chosen her. Why?

How his eyes had melted into hers when she agreed to consider his proposal, he had held her so tight she could still feel his exhilaration. No verbal demands to give an answer in a certain time period put her at ease, saying he would wait as long as it took.

Eden hit the speed dial, the phone connected after just one ring. "
Pulse
." Mikala greeted.

"Hi Mik, it's me. What are you doing for lunch?" Eden asked.

"Honey, I'm having lunch with you!" She laughed. "We can eat here if that’s okay. It's quiet. I’ll have the chef make us a nice light salad plate."

"Sounds great," Eden said. "I really need to talk with you."

"Are you okay, honey?" Mik sounded concerned.

"Nothing to worry about Mik, we'll talk when I get there, okay? See you at one?"

"One it is."

***

"Penny for your thoughts?" Rheanna asked. "You’re miles away."

Chase took a deep, cleansing breath. "Just thinking." He sat in the large chair of his father's office, engulfed in his paperwork.

"So how did your meeting with Paul go? Did you finalize everything?" Rheanna inquired.

Fanning through papers and signing at the designated sticky notes, he spoke without looking up. "Yes, all signed on the dotted line, the papers are on my desk," his answer monotone.

She watched him inquisitively. "I'm meeting with Mr. Hawthorn and Paul this afternoon, you going to be there?"

"Nope," he spoke bluntly. "I have my own meeting."

"With who?" she asked, examining his face.

Chase raised his eyes in her direction, expressionless. "None of your business." He set his eyes back to his paperwork, ignoring her.

"Are you meeting her? You better keep to business, Chase. I know you went to her office the other night. Paul told me. He said you two looked intense. Something was going on,” she disclosed. “Keep it in your pants. You fucking her isn’t the smartest thing to be doing."

"Back the fuck off, Rheanna!" he spit out, glaring up at her. "What is your problem anyway? Why are you so fucking concerned with her? Are you afraid of her? If I were you, I’d worry more with what’s sliding between your legs on any given day, some nasty old man’s filthy money perhaps."

Rheanna’s shot him a glare, complete with daggers. “Prick!”

Not the least bit concerned with her assault, he tapped the pile of paperwork on the desk and laid it in a neat pile to the side. “Yep.”

"I don't like her. She's only interested in your money you know, like all the others. She’ll get you off a few times and be gone," she said, embittered. "You never learn. You always get fucked over. She'll fuck you over too!"

“Because you honestly give a fuck.”

He glowered past her at the windowknowing she was right, his past always came back to bite him in the ass. He had been used by nearly every woman he met, but Eden was different. Besides, he was pursuing her, she asked for nothing, and fought him tooth and nail. His heart sunk at the thought, and he quickly moved his thoughts to texting.

"Keep your nose out of my personal life. Who I choose to be with will be up to me, got it?" he said with a stern warning.

"Fine, but don't come to me when the gold digger takes the money and runs!" She turned away in a huff.

Watching the dark demon as she stormed to the door, he tried to remember a good time that they had shared, but sadly came up blank. Rheanna wasn’t the sweet little thing that he protected on the playground when the bullies picked on her for being overly skinny and so much smaller than all her peers. The timid little mouse that he snuck candies to when she was sent to her room as punishment. And certainly not the annoying teenager with a huge crush on his best friend that he let hang out with them because she thought the stars and the moon rose and set from his ass. Nope, she was long gone, had been for years. He admittedly missed that Rheanna, this one he loathed.

"She's not a fucking gold digger!" Pushing himself farther back into the chair, he set his concentration on his Blackberry. “And don't worry, you'd be the last person I would turn to."

"Pffft," she blew out and stormed from the room, the door slamming behind her.

***

Eden stood for a moment, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the dance club. Kings of Leon played quietly in the background, and only a few couples sat at the tables surrounding the dance floor. It was rarely busy at lunchtime. Couples seeking an intimate setting would come in, and the surrounding businesses had meetings here.

The club was dark, even with the main lights on. The walls were painted electric purple. The bar sparkled with glass and chrome. A large neon hot pink sign reading '
Pulse
' glowed on the opposite side of the room where the DJ booth sat on a mirrored stage. The dance floor was huge to accommodate the considerable clientele that frequented the club. It was one of the busiest dance clubs in the city.

The ceiling over the dance floor was a massive sheet of light bulbs that danced along to the beat of the music. A huge mirrored ball hung above the dance floor and four laser light units hung in each corner. When dusk hit, they all came to life in a creation of neon pinks, purples, and blues. It was like an electric storm, pure energy inviting you to join in.

"Honey, over here!" Mikala yelled, waving her arm high in the air to call her attention to where she sat.

Eden crossed the dance floor and met Mikala with a hug and air kiss. "You’re looking wonderful as usual, Mik. I've missed you."

"Well you know where to find me, I'm always here." She furrowed her brow. "This must be some talk you need, coming in the middle of the day."

"Carl, two San Pellegrino on ice, please?" she called out. "Or would you prefer something a bit stronger?”

"No thanks, I have to go back to work later, sparkling water will do," she assured her.

"So talk to me," Mikala said.

Taking a deep breath, she began. "It has to do with Chase. He wants to be more than friends. You know how I feel about mixing business and pleasure, right?"

"Yep, I know oh too well how you feel. Chase must be special for you to even consider breaking the rules." She tilted her head to the side. "Are you considering?"

Eden nodded. "Yes, but Mik, it’s complicated," she said.

"Complicated how?" she questioned. "If it's just the fact that you’re working together, so what? Get over it, you deserve to be happy with someone."

Eden looked up at the lights, thinking how to tell her friend what she needed to say, that this man wanted to basically own her and teach her submission. Not an easy task. Mik would either get a kick out of this or she’d think Eden had lost her mind and needed to be institutionalized immediately. Men in white jackets were probably waiting in the wings, ready to drag her away at Mik’s direction.

"That's a very small part of it," Eden admitted just as a waitress stepped in, interrupting the conversation with their plates and drinks, whisking away again when Mik waived her hand, dismissing the girl like Cinderella being rushed off by the wicked stepmother. Eden had to laugh at the dramatic gesture.

"This is going to take a while. Maybe we should have ordered stronger drinks," Mikala said with a laugh. "Let’s start at the beginning."

Pouring dressing into a small puddle at the side of her plate, she swirled it around and then rested her fork on the plate’s edge. "How well do you
really
know him, Mik?" Eden asked.

Mikala shrugged. "He's a member at the club. I don't really know that much about him personally, except that he pays on time and he's gorgeous! Why?" Mikala asked.

"Interesting," she smirked. "So you know he's gorgeous, black curly hair, very tall, built like a god, eyes green like emeralds, and a smile that makes your heart race!"

Mikala’s eyes widened with a smirk on her face. "I don't think I've ever gotten quite that close, but I think you have, honey." Mikala leaned forward. "So just how close, and don't leave out any details."

Eden closed her eyes, reflecting for a moment. "A few kisses." She raised her glass and took a sip.

"That's it?” Mikala asked, knowing full well that they shared a night of hot sex in room #7, arranged with help from her, which she had no desire to share with her friend.

Propping her elbows onto the table and leaning in to keep the conversation their own, she said quietly, "He's so hot Mik! When he touches me, I go to pieces. I can't breathe when he speaks to me in whispers or when I catch him watching me, oh my God!"

"So it has been more than a few kisses. I’d say you've got it bad for this guy, so what else aren't you telling me? Cause that can’t be everything," Mikala asked.

Eden drew in a breath and looked Mikala straight in the eyes. "His lifestyle is different. He wants me to share it with him."

Mikala frowned at Eden. "Are you telling me he's into kinky shit? He wants a sex slave or something? I can’t picture him dressed in leather chaps with the ass cut out. Actually I can. What an awe-inspiring image."

"No. Nothing so extreme." She was quick to answer. "I assure you he's not the whips and chains type. He's not into pain for pleasure. And as wonderful as it sounds to see him in a pair of assless chaps, I’m sure he’s not into that either."

Mikala stared. “Go on then, I can’t wait all day, I have a business to run.” She was a little more than intrigued, but her patience balanced on a thin line and it was diminishing with each passing moment.

"He wants something unconventional. He told me that he wants to take care of me in every way, including sex." She watched to see Mikala's reaction, but she just listened intently.

"Chase told me he's into heightened pleasure, as he describes it. Giving and getting. He wants to be in control. He was me to be his sub. I told him that I have control issues and couldn't give him what he wanted. But get this Mik…he said he
hungers
for me, and wants to train me to surrender to him."
She bit her lip, waiting for Mik to slap the silly grin off her face.

"I think I just creamed in my panties." Mikala squirmed in her seat. "Now that's a hot proposition...problem?"

She swallowed hard with a frown on her face. "I’m scared to death! Did you not hear me? He wants me when he wants me, with my pants at my ankles...seriously it’s just the control thing Mik…I haven’t let a man do what he wants since…well, let’s not go there right now, but you know."

Mik looked confused. "You’ve had sex, right? It's like riding a bike, just let him jump on and pedal."

"I haven’t had missionary style sex since
him…
well, not until a few weeks ago anyway. I've only been with one man that way, Mik." She almost looked embarrassed. "And it wasn't what I’d call real sex...I mean it was all one sided, I just laid there, and he got off. Pleasure had nothing to do with it."

"Oh god, Honey, I had no idea it was that bad." Mikala reached over to pat her arm.

She pulled her arm back and scowled. "You make it sound like I had a disease! Look, Mik, I just need your advice. Tell me what to do. How do I give him what he wants?"

“Well, it sounds like you’re willing. Don’t think of it as control. Take that word right out of the equation.” She picked at her salad and, using her fork to make her point, said boldly. “Sex is what you make it, girl. You need to leave all the baggage at the door and be free to feel and enjoy it. Maybe you can teach him a thing or two about control. It sounds like Mr. Chase Dean knows all about a woman’s submission, but has he a clue what it’s like to be dominated?”

Eden smiled. “It did cross my mind a few times.”

Mikala licked the tines of her fork. “I’d go for it. Just the idea of seeing him naked, between my thighs, sure would motivate me to an orgasm.” She winked and they laughed.

“Mik, you can really be raunchy!” Eden smirked. “Be serious. What if he wants me to go down on him? I’ve never done that. I wouldn’t know where to start. Sure, I’ve seen it, but to do it, oh my god!” She covered her face in her hands.

“You’ve never given a guy a blow job?” Mikala asked.

Eden shook her head. “Never. Not that I wouldn’t be up for it, except that it puts a man in charge.”