Need You Tonight (25 page)

Hands went up in the air faster than Tessa could count them. Bids flew. Men. Women.
Two couples. Her gaze darted around the crowd, seeking, looking for the one man she
wanted to hear a bid from. Where the hell was he?

“I hear six thousand pounds. Anyone else?” Jace asked. “Going once.”

True panic began to set in for Tessa. Maybe Kade had gotten held up somewhere. Maybe
he didn’t know it was time yet. What was she going to do if the man who’d bid the
highest won?

“Going twice.”

Her safeword was poised on her tongue, when a voice from the back of the crowd silenced
Jace. “Ten thousand pounds.”

A murmur went through the crowd, and everyone turned. Tessa squinted, knowing who
the voice belonged to but not allowing herself to believe it until she saw him. When
the group parted and Kade strolled up the center, Tessa lost all of her starch. In
that moment, it really did feel like her prince had come. Kade had changed out of
his suit and replaced it with a luxurious dark blue tailcoat with gold buttons, a
matching vest, tan breeches that hugged him in just the right way, and riding boots.
He looked regal and proud and absolutely lose-her-mind gorgeous.

Her fantasy hadn’t been even close to seeing it live and in the flesh. This was the
sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life. With his dark blond hair and that aristocratic
tilt to his chin, he really could’ve stepped out of another time. No other person
in that garden looked half as distinguished as he did standing there. Royalty among
the commoners.

“Seems we have a big spender,” Jace observed. “Anyone want to top this gentleman?”

The crowd was silent and Jace declared her sold. Kade made his way to her with intent
on his face. He stopped in front of her, towering over her in both stature and attitude.
She was shaking.

“You’re all mine now,” he said, his voice silky and dark. “Kneel down.”

Her gaze never left his as she knelt slowly at his feet. Jace handed Kade a pocket
knife, and she held her breath as Kade ran the blade beneath the loop and released
the rope. He handed the knife back to Jace and then pulled her collar from inside
his jacket. She closed her eyes as the leather touched her throat, the feel of it
around her strangely comforting.

When she lifted her lids again, Kade cupped her chin with one hand. “Your training
starts now. Let me see what I’ve purchased.”

With his free hand, he undid the old-fashioned pants, the flap falling open. He had
no underwear beneath so she first got an eyeful of hard, flat stomach, then the impressive
state of his cock came into view. He took himself in hand and stroked upward. In front
of God and all the people in the crowd, he rubbed the tip of it over her lips.

She glanced at the crowd and he tapped her cheek with the back of his hand. “Eyes
on me. No one else here matters. I’m your master. Open for me.”

She licked her lips, blood rushing loudly in her ears, and opened her mouth. The minute
he slid along her tongue, she centered all her focus on him. She knew people were
watching. She knew how she must look. But instead of being embarrassed, this surge
of determination filled her. She would give Kade the blow job of his life. She would
show him and all these people that she knew how to please him—this beautiful man who’d
gone through so much trouble to give her this fantasy. He hadn’t declared her desires
silly or unworthy or dumb. He’d honored them by going above and beyond to create it
for her, down to the most minute detail. She would show her gratitude in the most
obvious way possible. She would please him as if he really were her master. She would
put her all into the fantasy, too.

She closed her eyes as he laced his fingers in her hair and guided her down his length.
“That’s right, girl. Take all of me. I want all these people to see that I got the
best slave of the bunch. My own little harlot.”

She ran her tongue along the thick vein on the bottom of his cock then drew back to
lave the crown. She didn’t know if there were fancy techniques for giving head, but
what she lacked in skill, she would make up for in enthusiasm. Kade groaned loud enough
for anyone nearby to hear and his fingers tightened against her scalp.

“You look so beautiful sucking my cock, Tess,” he said, his voice filled with grit.
“You’ve got every man who’s watching jealous because no one has a sexier slave than
I do.”

The words drifted over her like soft, stroking hands, the sincerity in his voice and
use of her first name making something inside her lift and lighten. She pulled back
slowly, letting her tongue circle him, then looked up. “Thank you, sir.”

The look in his eyes almost undid her. But she reminded herself that every man probably
looked at a woman like that when she had his dick in her mouth. It was nothing more
than that. But she couldn’t stop stupid emotions from blooming in her chest like big,
fat flowers. She closed her eyes and redoubled her efforts on pleasuring him.

Soon, she lost all sense of everything except the feel of his grip on her hair, the
way he was moving her over his cock, and the sounds he was making. He was rough, grinding
his hips against her mouth and not giving her leeway to pull off. But she relished
the sense of being at his mercy, could feel her body relaxing and giving over to it.
And when she opened her eyes to enjoy watching her well-dressed duke lauding his power
over her, that sent him over the edge. He pulled out and spun her away, leading her
with his grip on her hair and pushing her down on all fours. She hit the grass on
hands and knees and he shoved her skirt up her thighs. The night air hit her damp
skin. His fingers dipped inside her. “Look how fucking wet you are, girl. So damn
sexy. Everybody can see how badly you need me to fuck you.”

Her fingers dug into the earth as he pumped fingers inside her, jostling the clit
ring and sending pleasure straight up her spine. She couldn’t think about anyone watching.
In that moment, there was no one there but the two of them and what he was doing to
her.

“Tell me you need to be fucked. Beg me for it.” He curled his fingers along her G-spot.

“Please, sir,” she gasped.

“Please, what?”

“Please, fuck me. I need you to.”

She heard him opening up the condom packet and then he was at her entrance. He shoved
forward without finesse, but her body was so ready for him that he met no resistance.
His hand reached around and gently tugged her clit ring, the simple move nearly sending
her over into orgasm. Her teeth clamped together, the combination of the stimulation
and her sensitive, freshly shaven skin almost too much. But she didn’t want this to
end too fast. He thrust into her with long strokes and her head lolled between her
shoulders as he buried deep over and over again, his fingers constantly teasing her
hot button.

She lowered to her elbows, her body going into surrender mode, and put every ounce
of energy into not coming. But Kade seemed intent on keeping her on the edge and holding
her there. He knew when to move his fingers more gently and when to tug and pinch.
She was outright begging after a while.

“That’s it,” he said, his voice strained. “Beg me for it. You want to come?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell me,” he demanded.

“I want to come.”

“Then come, slave.” He sunk all the way into her and slid the ring off.

Every ounce of energy burst out of her in one shrieking cry as the orgasm crashed
down on her. Her nails sunk into the grass and she let it all go. She didn’t care
where she was or who was watching. All she cared about was Kade inside her and the
overwhelming sensations overtaking her.

Soon Kade’s groans joined hers and he came hard, dragging her hips against him with
a bruising grip and pumping into her with unchecked force. Tomorrow she would be marked.
She would be sore. She would probably be shocked that she’d done this in front of
others.

But at that moment, she didn’t fucking care. She was sailing.

When the last of his release was emptied inside her and their breathing had slowed,
he eased his grip on her and backed off. He slipped her skirt down to cover her and
helped her off her knees. She sat down in the grass, watching him tuck himself back
into his pants.

When he was done, he crouched down in front of her and tapped her nose with the tip
of his finger, a twinkle in his eyes. “I guess you’ll do, slave.”

She snort laughed, an indelicate sound that she tried to cover, to no avail, especially
when he gave her a broad grin.

“Perhaps I’m worth more than ten thousand pounds, sir,” she teased.

“Oh, I assure you, I’d empty my coffers for you.” He leaned forward and gave her a
long, openmouthed kiss that garnered a whistle from another partygoer.

Only then did she remember that others were still watching them. Kade helped her to
her feet and they turned to face the party. Some people had moved on to do their own
thing, but there were a significant number of people with their gazes still on them.
Most were smiling their way and one clapped. Not knowing what else to do in such a
bizarre situation, Tessa grabbed her skirt and gave a little curtsey.

Kade laughed and wrapped his arm around her. “Already practicing to be a princess.”

She smirked and leaned into him. “Don’t tease me, sir. I know how the aristocracy
works. I’ve got no shot.”

He turned her away from the group and pulled her against him, his hands cradling her
face. His eyes were clear and determined when he looked down at her. “You’ve always
got a shot with me, Tess. Always have.”

You could be my princess
. He didn’t say it, but the meaning was there. The sentiment made everything inside
her ache. She’d had the princess life. It was a farce. “Don’t, Kade. Please don’t
say things like that.”

He pressed his forehead against hers with a sigh, but didn’t push the issue. “Come
on, I’m not done with you. There’s a table I need to spread you across. I plan on
having you as a side with my meal.”

She took his hand and let him lead her into the party. And the night turned out to
be sexy and amazing. Magical. A fairy tale coming to life and dancing around her.
But she knew when he tucked her back into the car that night, exhausted and sated,
that there was no way she could stay at The Ranch for the rest of the weekend. No
way she could play his submissive for that long, seeing him look at her with more
than lust in his eyes, feeling more than she wanted to feel.

Her body may crave it.

But her heart wouldn’t survive it.

She couldn’t be what he wanted.

TWENTY-FOUR

“Calm your ass down. Falling for someone is a
good
thing, chickadee.” Sam scanned the bottom shelf of the romance section in their favorite
used bookstore.

“No, it’s not. Not for me. Not right now. I’m doing that thing all over again—looking
for love in all the wrong places.”

She snorted. “Should I slap a cowboy hat on you and call you Sissy?”

“This isn’t funny.”

Sam ignored her, happily humming the soundtrack of
Urban Cowboy
.

Tessa adjusted her stack of books before they slid from her arms. She’d gone for all
horror and thrillers today. Enough with the romance. No more princes or dukes or anything
in between. She needed to break this fairy-tale addiction. “And I don’t know why you’re
all for this now. Weren’t you the one who sent him packing when he tracked me down
to your place?”

She shrugged. “I sent him away then because I wanted to see how bad he really wanted
to find you. If he’d just wanted booty call number two, he would’ve let it go at that
point. The fact that he went as far as he did to find you is kind of romantic. Frankly,
I’m kind of pulling for Team Kade now.”

Tessa tilted her head back, staring at the water-stained ceiling tiles and trying
to talk herself out of shaking her way too optimistic best friend. “You don’t get
it. I
know
the type of guy Kade is, how relationships are for him. It’s the whole reason I let
this go beyond that first night. I knew the freaking score, and I’m getting all attached
anyway.”

“You know what kind of—” Sam sat back on her heels, peering up at her with a frown.
“Oh, honey, you Googled him, didn’t you?”

“Maybe a little. Aren’t those necessary dating steps these days?”

“Not if you want to actually
enjoy
dating.” She sighed and pushed herself up from the floor, a highlander romance tucked
under her arm.

“I needed to know what his life has been like since I knew him. He’s done some amazing
things with his company. But his personal life . . . well, the gossip columns call
him the Time Share Bachelor. A month or two with him and a girl falls head over heels
and is picking out china patterns. Then he dumps her.”

“That’s probably because—”

“It’s because he likes the chase. The challenge is in getting a girl to fall for him.
So he lays it on thick, is the perfect guy, irresistible. Remember how Doug could
dial up the charm?”

She shook her head. “Doug was never charming. You saw what you wanted there. This
isn’t that. From everything you’ve told me about him, Kade wouldn’t be that ruthless.”

“I’m not saying Kade’s doing it with bad intentions. Maybe each time he really does
think the girl could be the one. But I told you how things were for him in high school.
Girls ignored him at best and teased him at worse. Think how satisfying it must be
to get the most beautiful women in the city crawling after him. He can bed them, get
them desperate for something real, then leave them in his wake when he gets bored.
And I”—she pointed to her chest—“represent the ultimate prize in that game. The girl
he wanted in high school who basically told him he wasn’t good enough.”

Sam laid her book on top of Tessa’s stack. “I think you’re taking your Intro to Psych
classes too seriously.”

Tessa followed her to the next aisle. “All I’m saying is that his exes don’t go away
gracefully. The main suspect in that restaurant fire is one of his former girlfriends.
Batshit crazy stuff. Women fall in love with him. And God, believe me, I can see why.
But then he’s on to the next. I was okay with that. I figured since I knew what I
was getting into, it was fine. I didn’t want anything serious anyway. Then fast-forward
a few weeks and here I am, cruising down the same goddamned path. And your head would
explode if you knew some of the things we’ve done together. I should be running fast
and far. He wants a
real
submissive, Sam. He hasn’t said that, but I know it’s more than fun for him. We went
to this resort this weekend, and I saw how natural he is in that world. I’m not cut
out for that. I just left a marriage where I was treated like property. Why the hell
would I even want to mess with that role? How could I find that sexy? What is wrong
with me?”

Sam tilted her head in sympathy. “
Nothing
is wrong with you, hon. Maybe you’re just as kinky as he is. Have you considered
that? And you’ve been dealt a shitty hand with people in the past. That doesn’t mean
that this guy is going to screw you over, too. You said it yourself, he had feelings
for you back then. Maybe that never totally went away. Maybe you
are
different for him.”

“Or maybe as soon as he knows he’s got me, he’ll walk away. It would be kind of poetic
justice considering what I did to him.” She bent down and set the teetering stack
of books on the floor, then sat down next to them.

Sam sighed and sank down next to Tessa. Hopefully, no one was looking for romances
by authors with
Q
last names because they were now blocking the whole section. “So just break it off
with him then.”

“What?” She looked at Sam, wondering where her hopeless romantic of a friend had wandered
off to.

“You don’t want to get hurt. I get that. But that’s the only surefire way to ensure
that you don’t. Tell him you need some space right now, that you need to focus on
your job and school.”

She blinked. It was the exact thing she’d been thinking she needed to do, but hearing
it out loud made her chest pull tight. “I’m not even sure we have anything to really
break off. We’ve never put a label on any of it. It’s just been sort of this super
intense adventure.”

Sam patted Tessa’s knee then grabbed half the stack of books before standing up again.
“Well, there you go. Problem solved. You can go back to focusing on your list. There’s
a Mexican cooking class at Central Market next week. We should go. And I think this
store has a book club we can join. You can meet some new girlfriends.”

The words turned into droning noise in her head. She managed a wan smile. “Right.
Sounds great.”

“Perfect,” Sam said brightly. “Now grab the rest of those books. We’ve got to get
back to work.”

Tessa hung up the phone and raised her arms above her head in victory, sending a broad
smile to the man leaning in her doorway. Finally, after her shitty morning and her
stress about what to do about Kade, she had some good news.

Gibson grinned back. “Got ’em?”

“Doubled his donation from last year and is going to sponsor the swag bags.”

“And the crowd goes wild,” he announced, complete with sound effects of a cheering
arena. “I told you you’d get him. The guy is a hard-ass in business but he’s a softie
when it comes to kids. Plus, I heard you talking to him. You could’ve charmed the
watch off his wrist if you’d wanted it.”

Tessa leaned back in her chair, grinning like a cartoon character. She knew she had
a long way to go. But after the drama with losing the band booking, this was definitely
the biggest victory she’d had in a while. “I researched the crap out of his company,
his life, and the causes he’s championed in the past. Your tip on jotting down talking
points before calling was brilliant. It helped me not to stall out and have those
awkward silences like I did with that guy James Alario. God, that one was awful. But
with this guy, as soon as I asked him about his dogs, I was in and it became a relaxed,
normal conversation.”

Gibson crossed his arms, looking pleased. Something about the expression reminded
her so much of Kade that she had to rub chill bumps from her arms. There was no blood
relation between the two, and they certainly didn’t look alike with their opposite
coloring. But it was obvious that the brothers had been cut from similar cloth—and
mighty fine cloth it was. She was still a bit in shock that the gorgeous, confident
man standing before her now used to be that angry, gangly boy who’d called her a bitch
to her face when she hadn’t stood up for Kade in high school when his name had been
trashed.

At the time, she’d deserved Gibson’s anger, had almost welcomed it as penance for
all that had happened. But when she’d found out that Gibson was going to be her new
boss, she’d been convinced that all that hate would still be there. She’d braced herself
for getting fired on the first day. But instead, Gibson had been nothing but professional
and helpful during her time here. If he still held any ire toward her, he’d been successful
in hiding it.

“You’re good at talking to people,” Gibson said, nodding at the phone. “These bigwigs
are used to people blowing smoke up their asses with all that fake flattery and fawning
to get what they want. But you can tell you’re not doing that. You’re a straight-shooter
and once you start talking about your charity, you’d have to have a heart of ice not
to be at least a little affected by that. Hell, when I heard you talking to Mary Fielder
the other day, you had
me
wanting to take in foster kids.”

“Hey, don’t rule it out,” she said, pointing at him. “They’re always looking for good
people to help.”

He laughed. “No way, not right now anyway at least. I can barely keep a plant alive.
Kade got the daddy gene. That one might’ve been left out for me. You’ve met my train
wreck of a father.”

She shuddered, remembering the few brief times she’d come across Kade’s stepdad. Even
in just the short glimpses, she’d sensed the poison in that man. She’d stayed with
enough families over the years to pick out the evil that glimmered beneath the surface
in people. Kade’s stepfather had been ripe with the stench of it. But before her mind
could run away with memories, her attention snagged on something else Gibson had said.
Kade got the daddy gene.

“Kade wants kids?” she asked, the idea not quite gelling with the image she had of
him.

Gibson frowned, opened his mouth, then thought better of it and shut it. He pushed
off the wall. “Never mind, not my place to say anything.”

That had her sitting up straighter in her seat. Gibson was the only one besides Sam
who knew she was seeing Kade. “What is there to say, Gib?”

Gibson looked toward the open door, obviously debating, then gave in. He turned back
to her. “Kade already has a kid, Tessa. A daughter from his first marriage.”

All air evaporated from her lungs. “What?”

Kade had mentioned a previous marriage in passing, but it hadn’t even crossed her
mind to ask if there were children. And in all the time they’d had together so far,
he’d never said anything about having a child.

“Don’t take offense if he hasn’t brought it up. It’s not the easiest topic for him.
He’s even managed to keep it out of the press because he doesn’t want any of that
attention directed at his daughter. The custody situation is messy, and he doesn’t
get to see Rosalie very often. His ex has gone through a lot of trouble to limit it
to only a few hours a month.”

“Why? Does she live far away?” she asked, not understanding why a mother would keep
a child away from her dad if he was a good guy and wanted to participate.

Gibson shut her office door and stepped forward, bracing his hands on the chair across
from her small desk. “His ex-wife had the judge in her pocket and painted Kade’s lifestyle
as deviant and endangering to a child even though he, of course, would never expose
Rosalie to any of that. He keeps his sex life private just like any other responsible
parent. But his ex paid one of the maids from the service Kade used at the time to
take pictures of a room he had upstairs at his house. It held all his kink equipment,
which, of course, would look terrifying to an outsider. And she also got one of his
former girlfriends to give a statement about his proclivities. You know how things
can be twisted out of context. Throw out to your average person that he ties up women
and beats them for enjoyment, and you’ve got people ready to burn him at the stake.
The accusations and evidence did enough damage to get him only limited, supervised
time with his daughter. Rosalie’s not even allowed over to his house.”

“Jesus,” Tessa said, her shoulders sagging with the knowledge.

“Yeah, he has another court date coming up, so he’s hoping for a better outcome. He’s
locked down his private life. Up until you, for the last two years he’s kept things
at The Ranch where everyone knows how to keep things quiet. Publicly, he’s said that
he isn’t in that lifestyle. But I don’t know how far those things are going to go.
People are still suspicious since he only goes out to public events with friends or
his assistant.”

“They know he’s not living like a monk,” she said flatly.

“Exactly,” he said with a tired huff.

It warmed her to see how much Gibson seemed to care about his stepbrother, like he
would do anything to fix it for him. Hell, she wished
she
could fix it. The thought of Kade being cut off from his daughter, and some little
girl out there missing out on time with her dad. God, what she wouldn’t have given
to have had more time with her father. Her mother had gone off the deep end with her
bipolar disorder, trading her meds for drugs of another sort, right around the time
her dad had gotten sick. She’d dragged Tessa to a new town and kept her from him.
By the time child services had stepped in to remove her from her mother, her father
had been too ill to care for her. He’d died of brain cancer three months after she’d
been placed in foster care.

“There’s nothing else to do but hope?” she asked.

Gibson shrugged. “He’s got a top-notch lawyer who told him he needs to create an image
of stability. Kade’s cut down on a lot of his travel and regulated his work hours.
That playboy, being seen at all the hot spots version of himself is in the past. He
has a room set up for Rosalie. But that judge is all 1950s values and conservatism . . .”

“Kade needs a wife and a picket fence,” she said, the words landing like rocks in
her belly.