Four of Hearts (10 page)

She was nervous. Candace clung to Ryan’s arm like a shipwreck survivor clinging to a bit of flotsam. He stepped closer, took her hand, and pulled her away from her husband. She held on tight to Ryan for a second, then followed Richard. Her hand trembled in his. He pitched his voice low so only Candace could hear. “We don’t have to do this, Candace. If you’ve changed your mind, I’ll understand.”

“No. I haven’t changed my mind. I’m just nervous.”

And utterly delicious
. He’d wanted her the first time he saw her, but his heart had been elsewhere. Since then, he’d gotten to know her, and she’d charmed him, just like she’d charmed his best friend. Now he had the chance to touch her, and so much more. “Understandable.”

“It’s. . . I. . . .”

“You, what?”

“I don’t have a lot of experience with other men. Just Ryan, and . . . .”

“And the idiot who left you at the altar?”

“Yeah. Just them.”

“I’m not Ryan, and I’m not an idiot, either. I’ll make you feel good, I promise. I want you, Candace.” He took her hand and placed it over his straining erection. Her eyes grew wide, but she didn’t pull away. “That’s for you. Do you trust me?”

“Yes. I know you won’t hurt me, and Ryan would kill you if you did, so you won’t.”

“True. He might kill me anyway. This could go either way, you know. I can feel him staring a hole through me right now. He loves you. Men are possessive creatures, and Ryan is more possessive than most. That he’s willing to share you is a testament to how much he loves you.”

“I know. I want this for him, but I want it for me too. I want to experience the same things Fallon does when she’s with you. It sounds intriguing.”

“I won’t take you to the same level I take Fallon. Complete submission is something you have to build up to. I’m going to bind your wrists above your head, and that’s all. If you have trouble remaining still, Fallon will help you. If I remember, your safe word is Ice Water.”

“Yes. It’s silly, but I like it. It reminds me of the night I met Ryan.”

He remembered that night well. She’d bewitched his friend and changed all their lives. She was doing it again with her sexual curiosity, changing everything. “All you have to do is use it, and all play stops. I won’t resume if you use the safe word, so be sure its what you want before you say it.”

“I will. I mean, I won’t. I won’t use it.”

“Okay then. Shall we?”

“Yes. Let’s do it.”

Richard searched her face for any trace of fear or nerves. He’d wanted, needed to calm her before he began the seduction. The idea of having sex with an unwilling partner went against everything in him. Her direct gaze told him she was more comfortable with the situation. “Forget we have an audience, if you can. Just concentrate on me, on what I’m telling you to do, on the way I make you feel. Can you do that?”

She nodded. He changed the timbre of his voice. “The proper answer is ‘Yes, sir’.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stand in the center of the room. Wait for my instructions.”

“Yes, sir.”

Richard took a deep breath and watched her take her place. Fallon had done as he requested, and now she and Ryan were ensconced in twin chairs on the opposite side of the room. They could see easily, and would be invited to the bed, once he took Candace there. For now though, he had every intention of showing Candace what it was like to be a sub. His sub.

He moved around her in a slow circle until he stood in front of her. Fallon must have given her some instruction, either that or she was more of a sub than she thought, because her eyes were cast at the floor. Not a sign of nerves now. She thought she was in control. It was his job to take that control and show her how much freedom there was in losing it completely.

“On your knees.” She complied. Richard discarded the short sarong, slung low around his hips. He used his forefinger to tilt her chin up. “As you can see, I’m wearing jewelry this time.” He’d opted not to wear the curved barbell through his Prince Albert piercing the evening of the costume party. Now he wished he had so it wouldn’t be such a surprise for Candace today, but it couldn’t be helped. If she was going to be with him, she’d get the full effect, piercing and all. “I think you’ll like the way it feels inside you. Now, open for me.” Candace opened her mouth and he guided his cock inside. Damn. She was hot, just like the last time. “Look at me,” he commanded. Her eyes met his and he saw desire and something else, triumph maybe. “Suck me. No hands.” He fisted his hand in her hair and held her to him as he rocked in and out of her mouth. She tried her best to control her movements, but he held her firm, making it clear she did his bidding. “That’s it, let me do the work. I’ll take you anyway I want you, and you’ll let me.”

Richard sensed movement across the room. He knew Ryan wouldn’t take this part well. Fucking his wife was one thing, dominating her was something else entirely. When Ryan didn’t come and beat the shit out of him, he continued. “Take it, Candace.” He thrust harder. Wide eyes held his, but she didn’t try to stop him. He let her go and pulled out of her mouth.
Damn
. She was going to be an excellent sub. She learned quickly.

“Stand and disrobe. I’ll see what’s mine.” He half expected her to glance at Ryan, seek out his approval before she dropped her sarong, but once again she surprised him. As soon as she gained her feet, she averted her gaze, and her silk sarong whispered to the floor.

Holy shit
. He knew she was bare. He’d seen that last week, but he wasn’t prepared for the lush curves she had somehow managed to keep him from noticing. Where the fuck had his eyes been for the last year and half? His brain supplied the answer before he comprehended the question, on Fallon. He’d had eyes for Fallon only for so long, he hadn’t really noticed the details of other women, but now, for these few moments, Candace was his. His to admire. His to touch. His to command. Where Fallon was slim and athletic, Candace was all soft, generous curves. Her cameo skin was dotted with the most sinful spattering of freckles he’d ever seen. He wanted to touch every last one of them. He let his eyes travel from her downcast face, all the way to her toes. Toes that she wiggled at him.
Well, fuck
. She was going to be a challenge, after all.

“Spread your legs.” She did. “Clasp your hands behind your back. I’m going to touch you. Don’t make a sound.”

Her carotid fluttered, but she did as he commanded. He traced her collarbone with his index finger, and when he reached her shoulder, he followed his finger around to her back. He drew an invisible line down her spine to her clasped hands and back again. She had the cutest little dimples at the small of her back. Too bad his plans didn’t include butt play. Maybe next time. Next time?
Shit
. He couldn’t be thinking about doing this again. This was a onetime thing. It had to be. He completed the circle, letting his fingertip absorb all the data he needed.

Her skin felt like satin, and the slight tremor rippling through her, told him how aroused she was. “Close your eyes. Concentrate on my touch.” Her eyelids slid closed. Her eyelashes fanned across her cheeks. He picked up the peacock feather he’d brought for the occasion and skimmed it across her skin, pausing here and there to flatten it against her. She shuddered as he teased her mound with it before flattening it over her.
Lovely
. He trailed the feather over the crease of her thighs and down to her toes, and back up again along the sensitive skin inside.

She bit her lower lip, stifling a sob. Yes, she was enjoying his little game of seduction. Before long, she would give him anything he wanted, and he wanted her. Beneath him. Sheathing him. His cock felt ready to explode, but it could wait. He’d give Candace as much pleasure as he could, before he took his own. Her nipples became tight little buds as he teased them with the feather before traveling over her shoulder and down her back. The tip of the feather lingered on her butt cheeks. He remembered how his handprints had looked on them and the little whimpers and sighs he’d coaxed from her when he applied his hand to her ass. Candace was a responsive woman, and denying her expression now would only make her orgasm that much more satisfying for him and for her.

He tickled the backs of her knees and couldn’t help but smile at the way her body shimmed at the erotic teasing. Her skin glowed with arousal. It didn’t take a genius to know she was wet. It was time to take her.

“Give me your hands, Candace.” She held her hands out in front of her. “Open your eyes, sweetheart. Watch me bind you.”

He tied the cotton rope around her wrists, and guided her to the bed. She followed his orders without question, and soon he had her right where he wanted her, right where he’d imagined having her for the last week. Candace lay before him like a banquet. Her wrists secured to the headboard above her head, her legs spread wide for him. Richard glanced at his audience. Fallon recognized the signal, and she and Ryan took up their places on either side of the bed.

“I’m going to touch you. I want to hear you now, Candace. Ryan and Fallon want to hear you too. We want to know what you’re feeling. Ryan especially wants to know you’re receiving pleasure.”

“Yes, sir,” Candace answered.

Richard lowered himself between her thighs and parted her folds with his thumbs. She was wet and swollen, like a ripe peach. He bent his head and tasted her. She cried out and bucked her hips up to meet his tongue. He tasted. He feasted. Fallon held Candace’s leg on one side, Ryan on the other, so she was open to him. Their voices were low as they soothed her, so when he judged she could take no more, he sat on his knees and pulled her atop his legs. He slid inside her easily. She gasped, and went still. “I’m going to move now. Stay with me. I’ll tell you when to come.”

He moved slowly at first, pulling almost all the way out, and taking his time as he went back in. She was tight, and he knew the sensation of the barbell in his Prince Albert piercing sliding along her sensitive inner walls was new to her. He held her knees in the crook of his elbows and supported her for his thrusts. She was lovely in her arousal. He almost lost it when Ryan placed a hand just above her pelvic bone and held it there for a couple of thrusts.

“Dear God, Candace. I can feel Richard inside you. Oh God, sweetheart, it’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

She was. It was.

Ryan watched Richard’s cock disappear inside Candace, once, twice. “Ahh, Candace. You’re so beautiful. I wish you could see how you look with his cock in you. You’re a goddess.” Ryan stretched out beside Candace and slipped his hand between her legs, parting his fingers so Richard’s cock slid between the Vee and into Candace. With his other hand, Ryan stroked his wife’s face and hair. Richard couldn’t make out the words, but he knew Ryan was telling Candace how beautiful she was.

Something warm spread through Richard and wrapped around his heart. He loved these two people. This was a gift, from him to both of them. Fallon touched him then. A light whisper of her hand along his back and he looked away from the couple to his wife. He saw it in her eyes, her understanding. She’d known this would happen. She’d known all along.

Fallon came to her knees and kissed him. Her tongue slipped between his lips and one hand joined Ryan’s. Fallon wrapped her fingers around the base of his cock. He broke the kiss and ground out the command. “Now. Come for me now, Candace.”

He drove into her hard, until he felt the first ripples of her climax. He leaned in for Fallon’s kiss. His own orgasm came fast and hard. He drove his hips against Candace, unable to control the fierce need to empty himself in her anymore than he could control his need to breathe.

“I’ll run a hot bath for her.” Ryan nodded at Fallon’s statement. Yeah, a nice hot bath would be just the thing for Candace. Fallon returned and Ryan lifted Candace and carried her to the bath. He smiled as he kicked the door closed. Richard had argued for the addition of spa tubs in their personal suites, and he had argued against the use of valuable space when a shower would do. He was damned grateful now for Richard’s insistence.

He stepped into the steaming water and eased down, holding Candace as if she were a fragile doll. With his back to the tub, he held her, her back to his front. She sighed and relaxed against him.

“I love you.”

“I know. I love you too,” he said. She had no concept of how much he loved her. She couldn’t possibly understand that she was his soul, his reason for living. Her head lolled against his shoulder as he washed her with gentle hands. He loved her more each day, and today was no exception. It had to be insane, this passion of his to give her pleasure. Sometimes he thought he might live without another orgasm of his own, as long as he was able to watch hers.

“Ryan?”