Just That Easy (22 page)

“Uh-uh. Stop it now!”

“What!?”

“The wheels are going to start turning. Don’t. No thinking.”
They reached the bathroom, and he set her gingerly on the edge of the tub,
turning the water on and adjusting it.

She had gotten over her unnerved feeling that he could read
her so easily because he did it so often. The soft feeling of just letting him
be in charge for the moment overshadowed her anxiety about letting it happen
anyway. “Okay. For now. Besides, you’ve paid enough attention to me, I want to
pay some attention to you. How many would it take you to fall apart like that?”
She reached over, handing him a bottle of bath bubbles.

“Baby you make me fall apart like that almost every time.”

“Hmm. Then why do you get hard again so fast?”

“Because I think about the fact that you just made me fall
apart.” The tub was half full. He picked her up, setting her in it and settling
down next to her.

“Never ever had a man draw me a bath, let alone climb in
with me. Nice.”

“Thank you. So, uh, what about this attention?”

She tapped her index finger on her lip, watching his eyes
focus there. She played it out, parting her lips slightly, licking them. He
grinned and she felt him stretch in the tub next to her. “Let me think. Trying
to decide if I want to show you how long I can hold my breath, or my riding
skills. I did used to ride horses when I was a kid. My aunt had a farm.”

He gave a knowing nod, his hands sliding over her leg under
the water. “So that’s why your thighs are so nice and strong. Horses are good,
but I like riding you better.”

“Oh, that’s a whole new adventure to consider. Always wanted
to write a sex-on-a-horse scene.” She looked at him and noticed he had that
twinkle in his eye. “Don’t tell me you’ve already done it.”

He grinned. “No. Was just thinking I’d like to.”

She slid onto his lap, straddling him, shocked she had any
energy at all. A small sigh escaped her. “Okay am I still calling the shots?”

His voice had dropped to the rough timbre it took on when
his desire had him in its grip. “Do you want to be?”

“Yeah.” Lifting her hips, she moved to slide him smoothly
inside her. “God that feels good. Okay, if I’m in charge, then I want you to
tell me more. I want to know about the women you’ve been with.”

He shifted, tensed, eyes hard on her now. “Why?”

Moving her hips, she felt him relax again but only slightly.
“Because I want to understand who you were. How that makes you what you are
now. Seems like a big deal to you sometimes, but that’s not how you are with
me.”

He shook his head and palmed her hips under the water,
sliding her back and forth over his heavy erection. Eyes heavy with lust, his
face remained tight. “No relation whatsoever. I’m serious, Teryn. Here’s an
abridged version. I am not ugly and I’m not stupid. I never wanted to use
anything I had to get women but apparently, women think otherwise. They came to
me, always have.”

“Why is that such a big deal?”

“Because it’s not right to use what you are to take
advantage of someone.”

Her instincts flew to being protective, that he had done
nothing wrong and had no reason to feel shame for. “If they came to you, how is
that taking advantage?”

His eyes grew dark and hard and she felt him tighten beneath
her. “I can’t explain it. I don’t really want to discuss this. They wanted
something from me, they traded sex for it. I let them. I don’t like that about
myself.”

“Okay, I get it now. I won’t ask you about it again. And I’m
sorry, I didn’t understand it was like that.” She kissed his cheek, nuzzled
against his neck. “Didn’t you ever love anyone, Grant? Ever have to work to try
to make someone love you?” He always seemed so disconnected from his entire
life before her. She wanted to know, even if it was pushing her into territory
she’d told herself she wouldn’t go. Too emotional.

He took a deep, long breath and she realized her mistake.

“Yeah. I have loved someone that made me work at it. Once.”

Breaking the Girl

That damn French chocolate. The taste of it was so good,
but every time he slid the fat little strawberry dripping with it into her
mouth, he pulled it right back. She wasn’t allowed to do anything but wait.
Wait for him to put it back in her mouth, or whatever else he wanted to do.

After a long, tense day of waiting, the evening had finally
arrived. They’d gone to the gym again in the morning. That had been its own
intense little journey. Left the gym for the grocery store, where he’d kept up
the teasing, touching her lightly somewhere, every chance he got, and that
didn’t even cover the grapes, feeding them to her in the produce section had
seemed as if it had to have been illegal the way he did it. Then the sporting
goods store, where he made her wait in the car. Finally the adult toy store,
where she also couldn’t go inside. The nervous little trembles that kept
vibrating through her were sort of addicting, delicious. A little scary.
What
was he going to do?
Every time he got back in the car, his grin was even
more devious, wicked. His immediate kiss as soon as his very attractive ass hit
the seat, more hungry than the last.

A really light dinner—as if she wasn’t too jittery to eat
anyway—to keep them both energetic and on edge, he’d said. Finally, he told her
to go take a shower, and he’d have everything waiting for her when she was
done.

“How did you like the daylong foreplay?”
he whispered
in her ear as he pushed her toward the bathroom. That sense of him being in
complete control. The exact opposite of every time they’d been together before
today. Even when he was telling her what he wanted, commanding her to try
something, using his voice to push her, he’d never been able to hold back and had
lost control with her. Not this time. This time his moves were as deliberate
and forceful as his words always were. Raw, bordering confrontational like
always, but nowhere near to letting go.

In the shower she’d fumbled everything she put her hands on.
Wanting to rush through, see exactly what it was she was in for. Forcing
herself to just take her time, she savored the new idea that the whole day had
been about leading her slowly, very, very slowly, toward whatever was waiting.

Whatever happens, don’t be afraid of me. Remember.

The vision of the deep-blue fire in his eyes through the day
didn’t help to calm the shivery tension. They had practically shimmered with
heat and authority, but not the unchecked wildness she usually saw there. This
was a new side to him she hadn’t seen. This was a little bit of the man she’d
gone to dinner with at the restaurant, but intensely more driven. This man
looked as if he had the power to make anything happen that he damn well
pleased, and he knew it. His words, and his presence, told her everything she
needed to know about what was coming, even while she very carefully decided to
push it into her subconscious.

Stepping out of the shower, she was unsure if she should get
dressed, or what to do from here. She towel dried her hair, pulled on her soft,
fuzzy black bathrobe from the back of the bathroom door and walked into the
bedroom. It had been transformed.

Candles were everywhere. There must be a hundred of them and
she could feel the heat from all those tiny flames licking her skin. There was
a satin cloth draped over the bedside table, hiding whatever was under there,
but it looked like more than a few things.

What things?

Then there was the bed. Stripped bare except for a crisp,
clean, white sheet. Laid out on it in stark contrast were three things. A
really nice pair of matching black lace panties and bra. The kind that you
can’t find just anywhere, the ones that a woman would save a whole week’s
paycheck to own, and probably only wear twice a year, unless she was made of
money and could afford to wear them anytime. The panties were tiny little
shorts, see-through lace so thin it looked like a mere whisper of fabric. A
thin strip between the legs, and high cut in the back to leave her bare cheeks
open for viewing. The bra was the same material, with demi cups and wired to
push her breasts to the maximum of feminine appeal.

Then there was the long, snaking piece of black rope, curled
innocently next to the bra and panties. A shiver ran down her spine, cold as
the blast of air from a freezer on a hot day.

Her subconscious chose that moment to open, flowering like a
spring rose, reminding her just exactly where she was, and what was going to
happen.

“Put them on. Leave the rope, I’ll take care of that one.”
His voice was heavy, measured, deep and sensual as always. It sent a hot stab
of need between her thighs. How did he do that with just his voice?

She turned to see Grant leaning against the door frame, an
eyebrow cocked at her, and another piece of black material dangling in his hand
where his arms crossed casually across his bare chest. Barefoot, still in his
jeans, he looked as if he was just hanging out, not waiting for anything
particular at all.

“Grant…this isn’t something I wrote. I-I never finished
this.”

“No, you never wrote it at all. It’s still in your head, but
you know exactly what it is. You wrote the idea of what this means, but this
has to be created between us, and you know that. This can’t be written, Teryn,
it’s not a script. You either want it, or you don’t.”

She did know exactly what it was, and her mind flew back to
that day, sitting in her office. Writing out the thought about what submission
really was as she was thinking it, imagining it. Trust. Being strong enough to
let your partner dominate you, tenderly, fiercely, take you somewhere you’d
never been. Knowing Grant could be the one to do that, and the thought
terrifying her. Deeply. She’d have to give something of herself for this,
probably a lot of something. Is that why she so casually had handed it to him
to read? So he would know? That had therapy written all over it.

Did she want him to be the one to do it? She knew he could,
just as surely as she knew she could give in to it. What she wasn’t sure of, is
if she could let herself go to that deeper level of trust with him. Where would
that lead? It wasn’t the fear of what would happen now, it was the fear of how
it would change everything.

“Do you want this?”

Taking in a breath, she closed her eyes. “Give me a minute.”

“I’m not going to be like I usually am. I think you’ve
already seen that today. We both know I can do this, where I can take us with
this, but there’s no way I’m doing it if it’s too much for you.”

There it was already. The responsibility of the control.
Never going far enough to hurt, just far enough to fly.

“Just say no, and we’re done. We’ll go to the movies.”

Movies? Christ, was he fucking kidding?

The robe slipped from her shoulders, and she stepped into
the panties. God why did she love it so much when he told her what to do? She
hated authority in almost every form, but three words from him and she
jumped-to like a nervous schoolgirl. Except, he hadn’t told her, he’d made her
decide for herself.
Made
her.
Do you want this?
He knew damn well
she did. She knew he did.

The bra in place, she felt him move in behind her. “Close
your eyes, sweet thing.” The smooth length of soft-as-butter suede closed
around her eyes. She felt it cinch tight at the back of her head and descended
into the soft darkness, already the other senses taking over to replace the
loss of sight. His warm breath on her shoulder, the air moving past when he
stepped toward the bed, the smell of…chocolate?

His heat returned, closer this time. “Put your hands behind
your back.” The cord snaked around her wrists as she complied, tightening. It
was soft, covered in a silky-feeling weave, but tight. Very, very tight. She’d
already seen his prowess with knots, she would never get out of it unless he
let her. Being completely at his mercy brought a new level of intensity.

“Can you move them?”

Her wrists wriggled. She could twist them a little, but as
expected, there was no getting her hands free.
Unless he let her.
A
shiver ran through her entire body. Silvery, chilled, and not unwelcome.

“Good, I don’t want you to go numb. I just want your
complete submission.” His voice had changed instantly from smooth and soothing,
to commanding, full of authority.

She sucked in a breath, feeling the cool air flash over her
tongue. Everything felt so much more intense when there was only the sensation
of it, nothing to give her any visual cues as to what was happening around her.

“I’m going to tell you exactly what to do, when to do it,
and how to do it. If you don’t, there will be consequences.”

He put his hand at the small of her back, pushing her
lightly toward the bed. His breath tickled the edge of her earlobe. “I’m not
going to hurt you, at least not any more than you want me to.” The whisper shot
over her skin, down her belly and straight between her legs. She felt the slow
crawl of dampness spread from within her.

He guided her forward until her knees bumped into the edge
of the bed, then he held her shoulders, lowering her down, face first, onto the
cool sheet. “Turn on your side.”

She rolled toward his voice.

“Stay where I put you, don’t move unless I say so.” He left
her again, this time she heard the clinking of glass, something liquid. It was
enthralling to hear every little tiny nuance of his moves. The scent of
chocolate this time was unmistakable, mixed with something wet, something
sweet.

The scent of strawberries exploded right beneath her nose.
The slick, wet feel of it passing over her top lip. “Just hold still.” The
tender piece of fruit slid tantalizingly over her entire mouth, pressed just
hard enough to leave a trail of its juice on her skin. Just enough to wet it.

“Don’t even think about licking your lips.” His voice was
closer, right against her neck. She felt his teeth against her chin, nipping
her. His tongue shot out and slid slowly up over her chin to her mouth. He
flicked his tongue softly over every part of her lips, then sucked them gently
into his one by one, leaving not even a trace of the delicious strawberry
behind, only his taste, warm, subtle. She could smell his skin, feel every tiny
scrape of the stubble on his chin as it brushed against hers. It left again.
Replaced immediately by the dark taste of chocolate. He pressed a strawberry
coated in it against her lips, gently between them.

“You want to taste it, don’t you?”

She nodded her head.

“Lick it.”

Her tongue shot out, sliding over the strawberry, pulling
the chocolate off the dimpled surface. He pulled it away, and she instantly
felt the warm, wet thickness of his tongue in place of it, twisting over hers,
sucking hers deeply into his mouth. The scent of his skin flared again, and
with her newfound heightened senses, she detected the subtle difference of
arousal on him. He pulled back.

It wasn’t the chocolate, it wasn’t the strawberries, they
were completely benign. It was the taste, the sensation, the scent.

He pinched her nipple through the soft lace of the bra.
Hard.

Everything went from mildly sexy and interesting, to a sharp
stab of stinging pleasure. She gasped.

“Turn your head a little. Open your mouth.” She heard a
lower pitched growl in his voice. “Don’t swallow until you absolutely have to.”
His fingers lifted her chin, tilting her head back. Cold, fizzy liquid poured
into her throat. Champagne. Really good champagne. She endured the mouthful
until it spilled from the corners of her mouth and then she swallowed hard,
just as his mouth moved to her chin licking away the drops of liquid that
spilled over.

“Are you learning how to sense everything?”

“Yes…it’s…”

“Stop talking. Just answer my questions.” His voice was
firm. Rough.

“Yes.”

“Good. This was just to show you how to take everything in,
get you used to using your senses. This was the seduction. Now I take you.
However I want, as long as I want, and as hard as I want. You’re mine to play
with, Teryn, and I’m going to do exactly what I damn well please with you. What
you want makes no difference. What I know you need, is what you’ll get. Nod if
you understand, keep your mouth shut.”

She nodded, the callous tone in his voice made her bite her
bottom lip. An abrupt feeling of dread came over her. Maybe this was a mistake.
She pulled her shoulders in tight, her knees moved up toward her chest.

“Did I tell you to move?”

“No.”

“Right. Your first lesson. It was going to happen
eventually. As good a time as any. On your belly. Now!”

She rolled to her stomach, still willingly following his
direction, but the sharp tone in his voice made her tense up, hold her breath.

He leaned in and whispered into her neck. Bringing her fear
back down just a notch, giving her something to grab, to bring her back where
she needed to be. “Relax, baby. Pleasure spiked with pain. You’ll like it. I
promise. Spread your legs.”

His words didn’t do much to reduce her apprehension, but the
whisper against her neck reminded her of who he was. Her lover. He was leading
her somewhere. Then the bite of a sharp sting across her bared ass, so quick
she heard the snap. She screamed a muffled cry into the sheet. Strangely her
thoughts flew to the realization that the sound of a whip cracking she’d seen
in the movies was exactly what she’d just heard against her own bare skin. A
flood of warmth covered the burning flesh, his tongue, licking away the sting.
His hand slid beneath her, cupping the warm mound of her flesh, sliding heavily
back and forth over the silk panties, pushing her clit back and forth between
her own wet lips. Her cry was replaced with a soft moan of pleasure.