Need You Tonight (22 page)

But he was damn sure going to figure out how to make her feel good.

She moved back into his arms and the press of her bare breasts against his chest nearly
undid any hope at controlling his body. But he breathed through it and focused on
her eyes. There was so much there��want, curiosity, fear, and a little sadness. He
knew why that last one was there. He wasn’t under the impression this would change
anything long-term. He still didn’t have what Doug had to offer her. But maybe, just
maybe, he could show her that he had more and better.

He slipped his hand behind her thigh and drew her leg over his, letting her feel how
much he wanted her. Her eyes went a little wide, but he kissed her before she could
think too much. As soon as their mouths melded again, the tension drained from her
body and she sank into his touch. Seconds turned into minutes as they kissed and explored
with hands and mouths. When he put his lips over one of her nipples and sucked, the
sound she made reverberated through him like a siren call. God, yes. That. Whatever
that was, he wanted to give her more of it. Encouraged by her reaction, he let his
hand drift to the band of her shorts.

He stayed there a moment, stroking her belly and kissing her breasts, but when she
whimpered beneath him, he gathered the guts to move his hand lower. When his fingertips
grazed hair, he looked up at her. “Is this okay?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

After a deep breath to calm himself, he let his hand slide downward, feeling her most
private of parts. Heat touched his fingers, then wetness. He groaned, the silky feel
of her almost too much to process. He stroked along the outside of her folds, listening
to the noises she made to guide him. She was so soft and delicate there. He wanted
to taste her. But he knew that’d probably be too big of a step for them both.

Instead, he moved his hand lower, finding her opening, and carefully inserted the
tip of his finger. He wasn’t sure if he could hurt her by doing this, but she made
a soft sound—pure pleasure. He groaned and his dick pushed against his zipper. God,
he’d never imagined that a girl would feel this hot. He could only imagine what that
wet heat would feel like around him. With gentle movements, he moved his fingers back
along the folds of her skin, stroking her in a way that he hoped to hell felt good.

She tilted her hips upward. “Oh, right there . . .”

The hard little nub beneath his fingertips swelled against his touch. He’d read enough
dirty books and seen enough internet porn to know this was a good spot, the clitoris.
He circled it again, and Tessa grabbed his hair. Man, he could do this all day to
see her react like this. He lowered his mouth back to her breast and kept his fingers
moving.

Her grip tightened against his scalp and she lifted her hips in a little rhythm until
she was doing most of the work, rubbing against him like she needed. He figured out
quickly that he better not change anything up. He sensed she was building to something
and didn’t want to ruin it.

“Oh, God, I think I’m going to—” But she didn’t finish the thought. Instead, she made
the sexiest damn sound he’d ever heard in his life. It was nothing like what was in
the movies. No screeching sounds—just these soft, gasping breaths and a moan that
made her body shake.

It was more than he could take. With his free hand, he reached for his dick, hoping
to do something to hold back the inevitable. But as soon as he wrapped his hand around
it, he exploded.

“Fuck,” he ground out, rolling back on the bed and letting what he couldn’t stop overtake
him. He let out a strained groan, and the orgasm happened before he could even unbutton
his fly—ruining his cargo shorts and his pride.

Fuck. Me.
Way to go, Fowler.

Half an hour later, he walked back into Tessa’s room with wet hair and pajama pants
that were too short for him. He hadn’t quite found his pride yet. It was probably
still in shreds somewhere on the side of the bed. She peered up from the same magazine
she’d been flipping through earlier that night. She gave him a shy smile. “So, hey.”

“Your foster dad is too short.”

She glanced at the pants. “Maybe you’re just too tall.”

He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, embarrassment burning a path to his face.
“Sorry about . . . well, y-y-you know.”

“Hey,” she said, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze, “don’t be. You made
me feel so, I can’t even really describe it. If anyone should be blushing, it’s me.
I can’t believe we just did what we did.”

“That makes t-t-two of us,” he said, rubbing his thumb over the top of her knuckles.

She chewed her lip as if considering what she was going to say next, but the shrill
ring of the phone interrupted the moment, making them both jump.

She pulled her hand from his and leaned toward her bedside table. “Dammit.”

“What’s wrong?”

She picked up the phone and turned away from him. “Hello? Yeah . . . no, I’m just
about to go to sleep . . . Did you have fun?”

Kaden’s teeth clenched when he heard the male voice on the other end.

“Um, right, sure, we can still do that. You can pick me up here. Can we figure out
the rest in the morning? I’m really wiped out.”

Tessa exchanged her good-byes with Doug, which involved a “you, too” that meant that
prick had said
love you
or
miss you
or some bullshit to her. All when he’d probably spent the night fooling around on
her. Guy’s night out, his ass. He’d overheard enough of Doug’s and his friend’s locker
room chats to know what happened on guy’s night.

When Tess hung up the phone and turned back to him, all the light had gone from her
eyes. Fat, ugly guilt sat there instead. And the bitch of it was that he didn’t know
what the guilt was over. He hoped it stemmed from what she was going to have to tell
Doug when she broke it off with him. But Kaden had a feeling it was directed toward
him. He could feel the hammer about to fall.

When she didn’t say anything, his hope plummeted further. “Are you going to t-tell
him what happened? End things?”

She looked down at her hands, her shoulders slumped. “Kaden, I, I don’t know what
to say. It’s just confusing and there’s so much . . . you know I can’t . . .”

Icy cold moved through him. “No, you’re wrong. It’s not confusing. It’s about as c-c-clear
as it gets.”

She shook her head, a tear moving across her formerly flushed cheeks. “Maybe if things
were different . . .”

Maybe if things were different, maybe if things were different . . .
The thought circled his head like an ugly buzzard. Crazy ideas brewed. “You really
mean that, Tess?”

She peeked up at him, blue eyes shiny with tears. “Yes.”

He gave a terse nod and stood. “I’m going to sleep on the couch downstairs so you
won’t be alone. I’ll make sure and be out before Doug gets here to p-p-pick you up
for whatever.”

She looked stricken. “Kaden—”

“Get some rest. And don’t make any plans for tomorrow night. We’re going to t-t-talk.”

And hopefully by tomorrow night, he could show her how things
could
be different.

When he told her good night, he didn’t stutter at all.

TWENTY-ONE

“But you can’t cancel,” Tessa said. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and tried
to keep her voice from sounding as desperate as she felt. “Most of the people coming
to the event signed up to see Third Sky perform.”

“Look, dollface, I hear ya and I’m sorry,” said Third Sky’s manager, not sounding
very sorry at all. “But the guys landed a gig on Jimmy Kimmel that night. Can’t miss
that opportunity. I’m sure you understand.”

No, she didn’t. A commitment was supposed to be a commitment. And Billy, her friend
and Third Sky’s guitarist, had given her his word. But she’d forgotten to send the
contract last week and now she didn’t have a legal leg to stand on. Verbal agreements
meant nothing. Neither did integrity, apparently. “There’s nothing I can do to change
your mind. Did Billy agree to this?”

“I’m sure Billy’s real sorry, but it’s a band decision. Hit us up next year and we’ll
give you a discount off the booking fee.”

You’re all fucking heart.
That’s what she wanted to say, but she managed a polite response and good-bye. When
she set the phone in its cradle, she lowered her head to the desk and attempted to
talk herself out of crying and/or throwing things.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath and raised her head to find Kade standing in her doorway, wearing
a three-piece suit and a sympathetic smile. Her shoulders sagged. “Have you looked
outside lately? Is there a dark swirling cloud of doom hovering over the city? I’m
waiting for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man to trundle through at any moment.”

“That bad?” he asked, stepping inside.

Hello, failure, my old friend
. God, she didn’t want to tell Kade this. “The band just cancelled.”

“They can’t. We have a contract.”

She glanced away. “I sent it late. It wasn’t signed yet. I took my friend at his word.
I screwed up. God, I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

“Hey,” he said, his tone sharp. “Never say that about yourself. It was an honest mistake.
You trusted your friend.”

“Trust. Ha! It bites me in the ass again,” she said bitterly.

“It’ll be fine. We’ll get another act.”

“It’s not quite that easy, K— Mr. Vandergriff,” she said, realizing they should keep
it formal in case anyone was still in the hallway, listening. “That band was a big
reason I’ve sold so many tickets to the event. This is going to be a disaster when
I tell people they cancelled. And the event can’t afford to lose that money. I’m already
behind on the goal.”

Panic was seeping in. She could see the doors of Bluebonnet being locked for good,
those kids having no place to help them anymore. All because she couldn’t remember
to send a freaking contract in time.

“Take a deep breath. We’ll figure out something on Monday. I promise. I have a friend
who knows one of the guys in Darkfall. They’d be a big draw. I’ll see if they’re available.”

“But I don’t want you to have to do that. This is my fault. I need to fix it.”

“Tess, first lesson in running a business that I learned was knowing how to delegate
and accept help. If you try to do everything yourself, you’ll fail. No one can do
it all on their own. I certainly don’t.”

“But I feel like I should be able to handle this.”

“And you are,” he said gently. “You’re doing a great job. But be smart and strategic.
I have a connection you can exploit. Use that.”

She nodded, hearing the wisdom in the advice even if it was hard to accept. “Okay.
Thank you. It would be great if you could ask them and—”

He lifted a hand to halt her. “I will, promise. But right now, neither of us can do
anything about it, so I need you to put a pin in it and we’ll work on it next week.
All right?”

She nodded, her panic ebbing. She would handle it. Kade would help. Yes. Okay. She
would delegate that task. That didn’t sound so bad.

Obviously considering that matter settled, Kade stepped inside, shut the door behind
him, and turned the lock. “Plus, I’m not here to talk about work.”

“Oh?”

“I have something for you.”

He had a small unlabeled shopping bag in his hand. She peeked at it, her stomach giving
a flutter. He never stopped by her office for personal reasons. They always kept things
completely professional and purposely distant at work, but she had a feeling that
was about to change. “Is that right? I thought we agreed to no more gifts. You’ve
been giving me too many things.”

“You declared. I never agreed. Quitting time was an hour ago, by the way. You’re the
only one left on this end of the building.”

She glanced at her computer screen. “Oh, I know, but I wanted to finish up a few things.
I’m still trying to figure out some financial stuff from Bluebonnet, and then I got
that call.”

“You’re done for the day now,” he said—a proclamation, not a question.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “I thought we weren’t meeting until eight.”

“Change of plans.” He set the bag on her desk. “Things have been a little hectic this
week, so I thought it’d be a good time to sneak out of town for the weekend.”

She wet her lips, looking at the bag again, nerves creeping in. “Where to?”

He met her eyes with a seeking gaze. “Ready to give me real control?”

“Meaning?”

“To submit to me fully.”

“But haven’t I been—”

“Not just allowing me to call the shots in the bedroom but giving over complete control
in every way. Surrender.” He reached in the bag and pulled out a black leather collar.

Her breath caught, her brain snagging on the word
surrender
. “Oh.”

“I’m a member of a private BDSM resort called The Ranch. You already know that I’m
a dominant, but this will give you a better idea of what that really means. This will
be much more formal. You’d wear a collar. Call me sir. Obey me. Everyone who will
be there is in this lifestyle, so discretion is rule number one for all. You wouldn’t
need to worry about anyone seeing us and talking.”

She needed water, something to ease the sudden dryness in her throat. Yes, she’d let
him mostly take charge since they’d started seeing each other, but going to this place
sounded like it’d be graduating from the kiddie pool they were wading in to being
thrown into the ocean. “Sounds . . . intense.”

“It can be,” he agreed, “but based on how things have gone between us so far, I think
you might enjoy what you’ll find there.”

She straightened papers on her desk, needing to channel the nervous energy somewhere.
“Is it safe?”

His gaze turned somber. “You are
always
safe with me, Tess. No matter what.”

The promise landed heavy on her, the weight of his unwavering assurance almost too
much to bear. Safety. It was something of a fairy-tale concept for her. She’d never
truly felt safe in her life except when she was shutting everyone out of it. Anytime
she’d trusted someone, taken a breath around them and let her defenses down, she’d
gotten blasted. Her mother had left her, foster parents had decided she wasn’t adoptable,
Doug and her best friend had betrayed her. But for some reason, in that moment there
in her office, she believed Kade.

She raised her eyes to meet his and nodded. “Okay. I’m open to trying it.”

The pure satisfaction in his smile lit up places inside her she hadn’t even known
existed. “Good. And if you enjoy tonight and decide you want to stay the weekend,
I can introduce you to the rest of my friends so you can get to know them. A lot of
them will be there.”

She stared down at the collar, the simple thing sending her heart thumping against
her ribs. But his other suggestion is what really had nerves rising. “You want me
to meet your friends? Like not for a fantasy thing, like hang out with them?”

He frowned. “You say that like it’s a horrible notion.”

She rubbed her palms on her pant legs. “It’s not that, it’s just, you know, what you’d
do with a girlfriend.”

“Right.” He stared down at her, hands in his pockets, a tired look crossing his face.
She hated that shift in his expression, like she was wounding him. But they’d made
an agreement, and she planned to stick to it. She wasn’t up to being hurt again, and
she knew if she crossed that line with him, that’s all that would end up happening.
She’d already struggled with her feelings after the night at Colby’s place. If she
let it get serious, Kade would eventually leave or get bored with her. It was a pattern
she’d seen too often in her life—no matter how pretty the promises, no one stuck around.
Love sounded nice, but it was conditional. And she’d never been able to meet the conditions
for anyone she’d loved back for long—not her mother, or any foster family, or even
her husband. Everyone had an expiration date.

And if she hadn’t been convinced that a true relationship with Kade would be a bad
idea already, she’d heard two of the receptionists gossiping in the bathroom the other
day about Kade’s string of past conquests. Apparently, he’d even garnered a nickname
for cycling through women on such a steady schedule. She hadn’t caught what that nickname
was, but she got the gist. He conquered and moved on to the next, leaving broken hearts
in his wake. So even if Kade didn’t see it for himself, she was just the next battle
to achieve.

When she didn’t say anything further, Kade blew out a breath and sat in the chair
on the other side of her desk. “I’m not asking you to meet my parents to ask for my
hand in marriage or anything, they’re just my friends. But if it makes you uncomfortable,
then we’ll stick to the fantasy. You’ll go as my slave and property. You’ll be there
for my benefit only and not to socialize.”

She swallowed hard, the prospect overwhelming. That prince and slave fantasy had fueled
her libido more often than she cared to admit in these last few weeks. But it also
scared her on an elemental level. There was a big difference between playing games
a few nights a week and giving total control to Kade in a place where no one would
bat an eye at a slave girl. But at least Kade was giving her a way to keep this in
the realm that felt safer—fantasy. Not emotions. Not the girlfriend hanging out with
people who were important to him. Just a hot weekend on the edge.

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Would my safeword still apply?”

His eyes met hers. “It always applies, Tess. All I ask is that you give this a chance
before pulling the escape hatch too soon. I’ve shown you some things, but going to
a place like The Ranch can be overwhelming. I’d need complete control. Just know that
you’ll be under my care and that no one can touch you unless I give them permission.”

She coughed, the last part causing her to swallow wrong. But she nodded anyway. “Okay.”

“Good.” He took the collar off her desk and put it in his suit’s inner pocket. “Put
what’s in the bag on then put your trench coat over it. When you’re done, head out
and walk down to the corner by the sushi place. I’ll have the car waiting for you
over there so no one sees us get in together.”

“All right.”

He leveled a gaze at her. “From this point on tonight, it’s Sir or Master Van. Forget
that and there will be a consequence.”

The authoritative tone zipped through her like heat lightning. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“Better.” He stood. “Now get dressed. You have twenty minutes. I’ll see you in the
car.”

Tessa waited until he’d left the office and she’d locked her door before peeking in
the bag. She expected to find some skimpy vinyl something or other. Isn’t that what
one wore to these things? At least that’s what she remembered from those old HBO specials.
But instead she found a gorgeous chocolate brown leather corset with intricate gold
design work and gold ribbons lacing the back. The accompanying skirt was sheer brown
fabric and long, but had slits all the way up each side to the hip. It was a gorgeous
outfit but the colors gave it the feel appropriate for the slave of royalty. Like
she was being dressed for someone’s amusement.

It was a costume she would’ve coveted in the high-end lingerie boutiques she’d gone
to when she’d first married Doug and had thought enticing him with sexy outfits would
work. She’d usually chosen white, flowing things for Doug, hoping it’d be elegant
and ladylike enough for him. But in truth, she’d always been drawn to the more risqué
stuff in the shops, even if she’d been too chicken to try any of it on.

Now she’d be wearing one of those outfits . . . in front of other people. Her stomach
flip-flopped at the notion, but she couldn’t tell if that was fear or anticipation.
She pulled out both pieces and laid them on her desk then peered into the bag, looking
for panties, but of course Kade had conveniently left those out. Lord, she was actually
going to have to walk down the street with only this under her coat.

Well, here goes nothing.
Fantasy was about to become reality. Hopefully it didn’t lose its sparkle.

When Tessa saw the black town car idling at the curb, she almost chickened out right
there. Kade always drove his own car. He’d told her he didn’t like giving up the wheel
to anyone. But tonight he was taking her out in high style—like he really was some
aristocrat claiming her for a night of debauchery.

She knew in theory this whole dominance/submission thing could be sexy, but now that
she was faced with doing it for real, with other people around, she’d broken out into
a sweat beneath her coat. Somehow her legs kept moving forward despite her mind’s
retreat. The corset jostled with each step, threatening to fall down. The thing laced
up the back and she hadn’t been able to cinch it up tight enough on her own. She’d
also tucked the length of the skirt up under her waistband so no one could see the
fabric coming out the bottom of her coat. But even though no one could possibly know,
it felt like every person who passed her on the street had x-ray vision and could
see how little she was wearing beneath.

When she reached the edge of the curb, the driver didn’t get out, but the back door
opened from the inside. She braced her hand on the door and peered inside. Kade gave
her a look that pierced right through her. “Need a ride?”