First Kiss (Emma's Arabian Nights, #1) (3 page)

For a moment a hint of vulnerability flashed through his expressive dark eyes and he nodded. “I’m all too aware of that. But I can’t prove my devotion to you if you won’t see me.”

“You’re going to be a handful.”

“So you agree to see me?”

“I’ll agree to do a session with you - here. When would you like to meet?”

“As soon as possible.”

The deep, bass growl to his voice caught her off guard and she squeezed her thighs together to ease the ache. Yep, she would definitely have to use her vibrator a couple times before she took on this bull of a man. His posture was aggressive now, his gaze intent, as if he could somehow touch her through the screen with his look. She could practically feel him trying to impose his will, but this was one battle he wouldn’t win. If she could keep a room full of seventh graders in line with nothing more than a look when she’d been a substitute teacher, she could handle anyone and anything.

Firming her voice, she forced herself to meet his gaze head on. “You will be here at seven o’clock. Once you enter, you will strip naked and hand the receptionist your clothes. She will give you something to wear and lead you to a room to wait for me. While you wait, I want you to masturbate, but don’t orgasm.”

“Okay,” he said in that growling tone again.

“Okay? Is that how you address me?”

His nostrils flared, but he dropped his gaze. “My apologies. Yes, Mistress.”

Oh, her body liked it when he said that. “I’ll see you at seven. You will trim back your pubic hair, but only shave your balls. Oh, and Ryan?”

He gave her a slow, heavy blink that promised that if he was in the room with her right now his hand would be down her panties in a heartbeat if he had his way. “Yes?”

“I’ll be watching you on our closed circuit camera system from the moment you enter the building. Don’t disappoint me.”

He looked up at her again and she bit her lower lip. “I would never do that.”

She couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot, so she nodded and closed the window, ending their conversation.

With a low sigh she pushed Moira’s chair back and looked at her friend seated across from her. Moira grinned and kicked her feet up on the edge of the desk. “My, my, my. Never thought I’d see the Ice Princess get all hot and bothered from a conversation.”

Glaring at Moira, Emma tossed her hair back from her face. “You’re delusional.”

“And I bet your panties are soaked right now. Not that I can blame you. That man wants you, bad.”

“Well he isn’t going to get me. This is strictly business.”

“Mmmm hmmm.”

“I don’t do relationships.”

“Yep.”

Gritting her teeth, Emma resisted the urge to smack the smug smile off of Moira’s face. “I’m a professional.”

“The best there is. I can’t wait to watch you ride his cock.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, my voyeuristic friend, but there will be no cock riding.”

“Whatever you say, my exhibitionist friend. Just let me know when you do because I’d love to see you take on that beast. Just imagine being worshiped by all that power. The energy between the two of you will be incredible, I can just feel it. Damn, now I want to go find one of my boys and take a ride of my own.”

“Pervert.”

“Takes one to know one.”

Defeated, Emma slumped back into the chair and laughed. “I’m serious, Moira. What he wants from me…it’s too intimate.”

“Honey, you need to live a little. I’m tired of you dating one bland vanilla boy after another. So your ex-boyfriend turned out to be a total douche bag. That doesn’t mean you have to fake your orgasms for the rest of your life.”

“I’m not avoiding men because of that asshole.” Anger clenched her gut at the thought of her ex-boyfriend’s betrayal, but she shoved those memories away. “Okay, so maybe it has a bit to do with that asshole, but not entirely. I know it’s hard for you to understand because you only have open relationships, but the thought of having to come to work when I’m in love with someone makes me sick. I’m so monogamous it hurts and I couldn’t live with myself. No matter what, I would think of it as cheating.”

“Darling, you are overthinking this. As picky as you are about men now - we won’t talk about the idiots you dated in college - this guy would have to be one in a million to make you break your vow of celibacy. ”

What Moira said made sense and Emma scrambled to regain her footing. “I can’t date a client.”

“Why not? I’ve dated several. Hell, you’re the only woman here who hasn’t dated a client. If you like this guy then let him give you the gift of his submission. God knows you deserve a good man in your life.”

“That’s just it. If he is a good man he won’t want anything to do with me, and if he does I’ll just break his heart.”

“Then what are you so worried about? Book him as a client. I know you have some space in your schedule since Gary moved to Colorado, and with Ryan as a client you could earn enough to get the fuck on with your life. This holding pattern you’ve been in isn’t good for you.”

“Thank you, Dr. Moira, for your professional assessment of my life.”

“Don’t be such a bitch. I know you and I know you want to see this man. Cut yourself a break, stop being such a control freak and just go with the flow for once.”

“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” Cracking her neck to try and relieve her tension, she let out a long breath. “We’re probably blowing this all out of proportion. I mean he could be the worst client ever with, like, a farting fetish or something.”

“Dramatic much?” Moira asked with a grin. “He could also be the one you’ve been waiting for.”

“I sure hope not.”

“You’re such a freak.”

That comment struck all too close to how Emma was feeling about herself at the moment. She abruptly stood and grabbed her purse from the coffee table. “I need to go home and get some shut-eye before work.”

Moira flashed an apologetic look. “Please don’t be mad at me. I just worry that you’ll never let yourself fall in love again.”

“Do not say the ‘L’ word around me.”

“Fine.” Moira rolled her eyes. “I’ve yet to see you get all giggly and excited about a man since you started working here. You pick the most boring, lame…”

“Safe,” Emma replied as she took her keys out of her purse. “I don’t have to worry about anything becoming too serious.”

“I’m just saying maybe it’s time you started looking for a man that is everything you
do
want instead of men you know aren’t right for you.”

Emma twirled her keys on her finger as she made her way to the door, trying to maintain a casual air. “No thanks. I like my life how it is.”

Not giving Moira a chance to respond, Emma walked through the office area of the dungeon and tried to ignore how terribly lonely she was.

Ryan Darwish took a deep breath and let it out slowly, incorporating some of the meditation techniques he’d learned in order to slow his pulse and calm his thoughts. That would work for about ten seconds, then he would realize he was going to see his high school crush and he’d start freaking out all over again. Sweet, feisty, and unbelievably gorgeous Emma Simonov, who’d been the star of his teenage and adult fantasies for longer than most marriages, was waiting for him and he was torn between running in there and driving away. Emma…his beautiful Emma with her golden blonde hair and killer curves.

Fuck, even her name was sexy.

He hoped Kiss of Blue didn’t have their parking lot monitored because they’d have a prime view of him sitting in his car, working up his nerve to go inside. Then again, the windows of his black custom ’78 Camaro were tinted enough that someone would have to have a high quality camera or thermal imaging to see him. He doubted Kiss of Blue had either. Unlike most pro-Domme businesses, theirs was in a nice part of town with an independent spa in the front section. The city knew what went on at the dungeon and taxed them just like any other business, but the front of a spa allowed them to blend in with their vanilla neighbors. The street entrance led to the spa, but the enclosed and gated side entrance to the building where he was currently parked led to the dungeon.

Part of him was irked that Emma didn’t recognize him; then again he’d made a drastic change since they’d gone to high school together. He’d almost gotten up the nerve to ask her out their senior year when her fuckwad boyfriend had come into the picture. Not that he would have had much of a chance with her back then. To say he was shy when he was a teenager was an understatement, and Emma had been one of the most popular girls in school. This was before he’d gotten into weightlifting and boxing, and he’d still been all knees and elbows. Those activities and a late growth spurt during his freshman year of college had made him put on a good four inches of height and thirty pounds of muscle. Add to that his shaved head, and he barely resembled his high school yearbook photo, unlike Emma who looked as pretty now as she did at sixteen.

He’d had plenty of women over the years, and had indulged in some rather kinky activities, but when he’d learned Emma was a professional Dominatrix, he’d almost passed out. In high school she’d been the popular, sweet girl everyone loved - prom queen and all that shit. She’d always been nice to him, but he knew she never saw him as anything other than a friend. When they’d spoken earlier she’d seemed as fresh faced as ever in her sweater with the coffee stain on its sleeve, but he’d seen her briefly during his tour last week in her full Dominatrix outfit. The sight of her stalking down the hall in black latex with strategically placed flames and killer red stilettos with silver spikes on the heels made his dick achingly hard in a only a few heartbeats. And her lips…perfectly shaped and painted with a wet, shiny scarlet lipstick that drove him fucking crazy. At that moment, he would have sold his soul for a chance to feel that lipstick smearing across his lips in a kiss he was dying for.

Some people might think he was crazy for going to all this effort to seduce Emma because of a kiss they’d shared in high school, but they had no idea how powerful that one kiss was. He’d had the pleasure of touching her, tasting her for one night, and he’d never forgotten it. In those few stolen moments with Emma he’d lost his heart to her forever.

During their senior year, Ryan and Emma had once been at the same party. She was there with her asshole boyfriend and he’d been hanging out with a group of his friends. Ryan kept an eye on her all night, watching as she and her boyfriend got plastered. Every time that stupid fuck put his sloppy hands on Emma’s denim shorts-covered ass and groped her, Ryan had wanted to walk over there and punch the other guy out. When he’d seen her date fishing for his car keys while loudly protesting that he was fine to drive, Ryan stepped in and pulled Emma over to the side, insisting that he drive her home. He wasn’t the only one who noticed, because her boyfriend’s friends were taking away his car keys despite his loud, drunken protests.

Emma finally relented and let a very sober Ryan drive her home after her date had puked all over himself. Having Emma in his car, with the odd mix of beer and baby powder-sweet perfume coming from her, had Ryan hard as a rock. But there was no way in hell he was taking advantage of a drunk girl - especially one who was currently singing along to the radio and waving her arms around as she danced in her seat like no one was watching. She had a brightness to her, a light she seemed to give off that warmed his soul. She was living in the moment, enjoying everything life had to offer, while he was still learning how to become a man. He’d never met a girl as self-confident as Emma, and he found it incredibly sexy.

When they reached her house, he parked out front and turned the radio down. She faced him and her smile fell as she studied his expression. Her sun-kissed blonde hair shone in the low lighting of the dashboard and his heart ached at her beauty.

“Ryan, what’s wrong? Did I do something to make you mad?”

He shook his head and looked away, unable to face her wide blue eyes. “No. It’s just…Emma, you deserve better than the guys you date.”

She grabbed her purse off the floor. “What are you talking about?”

“Look, I know it’s none of my business, but you need a guy who’ll worship you. The idiots you hook up with have no idea what it means to treat a woman right.”

“They treat me fine. We have fun, no big deal.” She gave a laugh that was obviously forced. “What, you think you could do a better job at being my boyfriend?”

For a long moment he stared at the dark neighborhood street and turned off his headlights so he wouldn’t annoy the neighbors. The dim illumination gave him a sense of being hidden, which gave him the courage to say what he really thought. She was so plastered she’d probably never remember it tomorrow.

“Emma, I’d be so good to you that you’d never want to leave me. I’d take care of you the way you deserve, and you would never have to worry about me fucking around on you. I think you’re perfect and I think you should have a guy who will treat you in the way you deserve.”

“What do I deserve?” she asked in a soft, slightly slurred voice.

“You deserve to be loved, really loved, by someone with all of his heart.”

She made a little noise that alarmed him so he turned back to face her, surprised to see a tear run down her cheek. Her mascara smeared as she rubbed it away and he reached out to her without thinking, pulling her into his arms as best he could in the front seat of his car. Guilt ate him when she made a little muffled sob that broke his heart.

“Oh, baby, please don’t cry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m an asshole.”

“No,” she whispered softly against his chest. “That was the nicest thing any guy has ever said about me.”

She pulled back enough to look at him, the scent of the beer on her breath strangely arousing. “How come I never noticed how cute you are? Your eyes are amazing…I want to bite your lips.”

Flushing, he tried to push her away but she refused, winding her fingers into his hair and gripping hard enough to hurt. The expression on her face looked years beyond her true age of seventeen. He felt like the kid in high school that he was while looking at a grown woman. An absolutely, heart-stoppingly, beautiful woman.