Reluctant Surrender (11 page)

“Why?” She shook her head and held up her hand before he had a chance to say anything. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. I know why, I just don’t know why I said that. This submission thing isn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be.”

She looked so upset with herself that he couldn’t help smiling. “Colin, come here.”

Her hangdog expression made his smile deepen. When she stopped in front of him he chuckled and lifted her chin. “We haven’t started the ‘submission thing’ yet. Are you okay?”

“We haven’t?”

He shook his head.

“Then I’m definitely not okay.” She shifted from one stocking foot to the other but he refused to give up his grip on her chin until finally she whispered, “I’m a wreck.”

He examined the light dusting of honey-colored freckles on her nose and sighed, “You’re an adorable one. Where are your glasses?”

“The black ones? I only wear those when I work with my stationary camera. Why?”

He dropped his hand and stepped back, shrugging. “Just wondering.” Which wasn’t true at all. She was less kissable with the glasses on and right about now he was hoping some of her disguise or a bit of her armor was around to help him out. He needed to take things slowly. At least initially.

“I’ll get my blog post written. Don’t worry, I’ll focus mostly on the good. As the commercial says, you only have one chance at a good first impression. But my readers are pretty smart and if I go gangbusters right off the bat they’ll probably wonder.”

He waited until she was nearly to her workspace. “Colin?”

“Hmm…?”

“I want you to take off your pantyhose and bring them to me.”

“W-what?”

“You heard me. Put your hands under your skirt and take down your pantyhose. I want to think about your legs being bare against the office chair while I’m out. Come on.” He motioned with his right hand, gauging her reaction. After the shoes and the comments about being denied the use of his desk, he fully expected her to refuse. He was completely prepared to tell her that it was okay for now, but that soon she’d do it for him, when she turned her back and bent over.

Son of a bitch, she was doing it. Maybe he had a better chance of getting the results he was after by pushing her erotic buttons first. He’d intended to work his way up to the physical, and try to connect with her emotionally on some level to begin with, yet she had walls up in that direction. So, instead of tearing them down to get through them, he could sneak behind them and unlock the door to let some light in.

“Here.”

He accepted the wadded-up pair of hose and didn’t look at them. He was too intent on her. “Very good, Colin. From now on I don’t want to see you wearing these. At least not in the house.”

Guiding her back to the chair he’d set out for her he waited until she was seated. “Lift up.”

When she did he bent over and pushed her skirt up higher on her thighs. He didn’t expose her bottom, just enough skin to keep her heated. “Sit.” And when she did he intoned, “Open your legs, Colin.”

He knew she was staring at the top of his head so he kept his eyes glued to the silken expanse of thighs while he waited for her to comply. “You can do better than that, sweetheart.” Now he tilted his head and looked directly at her. “Wider.”

“All right.”

Her quiet, almost breathless words dared him to go further with her. There was something about her determination to push herself with this that taunted him. “Unbutton your blouse, Colin. Start at the top and go down. Just three buttons. That’s all.”

Her hands shook, but she did exactly as he told her and stopped at the third. When her hands returned to her lap he said, “Palms up, sweetheart. I require every part of you to be open. Do you understand?”

Slowly, without breaking eye contact with him, she turned her hands until her knuckles rested on her naked and spread knees. “Yes.”

He looked down and took his time examining her before he whispered, “This is how I want you to stay until I’ve left the room. After I’m gone, you may work on your blog post, but make sure that skirt stays as it is and this skin,” he trailed his fingers up the inside of one thigh and smiled when she twitched, “stays exposed. No closing your legs.” He straightened and pulled up her chin. “I want you always open for my attention.”

Once he was gone, Colin nearly slid off the chair. She was also trying hard not to hyperventilate. A perpetual state for her when she was around him, she decided as she took a deep breath. Finally, all the giddy and heady sexual energy she’d been experiencing these last few months converged and she knew why. She’d accepted this. On some unseen level she’d let go of her fear and embarrassment and listened to him. Really listened to him.

God, what a voice he had. Husky, with just the right amount of roughened edges that set her nerve endings jumping. With the least bit of provocation, she would have gotten on her knees and given him head. She would have stripped and let him take her from behind. She would have done anything he had in mind to do. She recalled the bold green steel of his eyes and she knew why they called him The Hypnotist. He never backed off. Far from it. He moved forward. Daring. Silently pushing her buttons until she couldn’t think straight, but then that was the point, wasn’t it?

With a sigh, she turned and opened her laptop. Waiting for it to load, she silently mused. If anyone had told her six months ago that she’d be here, doing what she was planning to do for the next ten days she would have laughed her ass off. Colin Reneaux, a strong woman scorned by an asshole, had no business kowtowing to a sexy Dom and yet here she was. She’d battled the urges. Challenged them even, by agreeing to cover that preopening event. Even going one step further and meeting the other two Doms on their turf as a way of saying, “Colin, woman-up and confront your suspicions before they sneak up on you” type deal. A plan that would have worked if Ethan hadn’t entered the ring. Within a heartbeat span of meeting him, he’d knocked her out. From that second forward all the sexual urges, pangs and fantasies became more pronounced and constant. She couldn’t escape them even in sleep.

She recalled the woman she’d spoken with on her blog. Back then she hadn’t thought of anything beyond wanting a better understanding of what was happening to her. Not that she believed the hype of sub-frenzy, but it did freak her out because most of the symptoms that described that state of being, she had. It was kind of an ass-kicker, really, because it just showed her how clueless she was about her own needs and desires. She never suspected anyone would read down that old post to the seventy-sixth comment but Ethan had and as vague as she’d tried to be, he had seen through what she was saying to the truth.

She may have suspected she was a submissive.

But he knew she was.

Pulling up that blog site now, she barely paid attention as she published the first of the four posts she’d written prior to coming to the boathouse. She’d anticipated it would take a few days to settle and didn’t need the added stress of work. With that done, she stared at the screen until the images disappeared and all she saw was her silhouette as one word popped into her head.

Paddle.

She scowled. She’d spent a modest amount of time before the opening and a lot of time after it researching the dominant and submissive dynamic and the philosophies behind it. She’d been so busy trying to understand it. Explain it. Excuse it, that she’d neglected to look into the actual practices with any depth.

“Colin, don’t lie,” she said out loud. Quickly making her decision, she typed the words BDSM kink in the search box. “You were afraid the FBI would pick up your IP address and show up at the door. Living in constant fear of Casper finding out about you.” But now that she was at Ethan’s and he was all about the kink she doubted the FBI would be interested. Surely that was old news to them. Besides, Ethan probably had a special license or something. Meh, even if he didn’t no one would ever know it was her looking at these sites.

“Hmm…” She viewed a few still shots. Ones that detailed men clearly dominating women in titillating ways and she shifted her bottom in the chair, reminding her that her legs were spread because Ethan had ordered her to spread them. She flushed when the heat of her skin against the leather chair came into focus. “Let’s see what there is under ‘spanking’.” The screen filled up and she blinked. “Holy crap.”

Chapter Seven

Ethan was relieved that the final inspection was completed so quickly. It meant two things. The resort would be on target to open to the public by the thirtieth and he could return to Colin sooner than anticipated.

Walking back to the boathouse, his pace quickened as he thought about her. About her reactions to him an hour ago. She was ready. Willing. Wanting to do for him, if only he asked and that cranked his gears. Gears that, until most recently had been stiff and unmoving. He knew it was the past situation with Jade that had turned him off for a while. Thank Christ Colin, with her innocent nerves and natural instincts had turned up. Not that this was a one-sided deal where only he benefited. A woman as smart and as curious as her would have eventually found her way into the community. She may have even lucked out and found a competent Dom, but he doubted it. There were far more incompetent “wannabes” out there, and unfortunately they always seemed to get to the innocents first and screw them up. His ex was a prime example.

He stalked into the office, took one look at her and halted. Her desire came at him full force. So strong he almost stepped back. Almost. “Colin?”

“Yes?” Her reply was barely audible before she cleared her throat and exited out of whatever was on her computer. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

Why was her face the color of a candy apple? That’s what he wanted to know. “Did you finish your blog post?”

“Uh-huh.”

Jesus, if she looked at his crotch one more time he was going to spank her for being— He spied the computer and narrowed his eyes. “What did you blog about?”

“The, um, place up there.”

She was pointing in the direction of the resort. “The mansion?”

Her nod was more like a bobble. What the hell was wrong with her? Surely a little direction with some skin meets leather didn’t get her this worked up. He took a seat behind his desk and swiveled sideways. “I want to read your post.”

“W-why? It’s boring. An intro piece. You’re not even mentioned yet.”

Her stalling only made him want to read it more. He motioned for her to hand it over.

“Ooh-kay.”

“Thank you for pulling it up for me.”

She was fidgety as she returned to her chair. He waited until she was seated and then he turned his attention to the post. Halfway in he realized she was telling the truth. Not that it was boring, she had a fluid and easy style of writing to read, it was just what she’d said. An intro piece. More about the mansion’s history than its current BDSM resort status.

Something was up with her, though. He hadn’t been mistaken. Her sexual anxiety permeated the room. Her eyes continued to devour him and not that he was paying close attention to them, but it was hard to miss those twin-spiked nipples spearing the silk of her blouse. Could she still be buoyed by that bit of authority he wielded before he left her?

He went to sit back, intent upon closing the laptop when he spotted the mute button engaged. It drew his attention like a female twosome in a vat of oil. He pointed the mouse over her browser history and clicked. Trying hard not to scowl as he read the list.

Two woman being pony spanked.

Woman eats huge cock while Master paddles her.

Submissive craves her Dom’s cane.

Master spanks his slave into proper submission.

He kept his face expressionless as he moved to eye her over the edge of the laptop.

“What? You don’t like it? I can—”

He held up a hand. “Stay seated please.”

He returned to scroll down the list and when he got to the link
I think I’m a natural submissive cock slut
his stomach muscles clenched and his cock stiffened to granite. Had she typed that search phrase?

His dick thickened even more.

With a steady breath he slowly closed the computer. “Colin?”

When she looked at him she licked her lips and all he could think about was her sucking him off.

“Yes?”

Leaning back in his chair he studied her. “Were you a naughty girl while I was gone?”

“No, I finished the—”

“You wrote it before you came here. Either that or you’re the fastest writer on earth. I saw the time published and it was less than five minutes after I left this room.”

She licked those lips again. But this time it was more out of nervousness than to moisten. His dick didn’t care why she did it. Only that she did. It stretched and filled some more.

“So.”

Calmly he eyed her even as he decided she took “belligerent brat” to a whole new level. Coming forward, he braced his palms flat on the desk top. With the proof on her computer between his outstretched hands, he said, “Answer the question.”

“Yes, I wrote the article before I got here.”

“That was me stating the matter, not a question. Answer my question about being naughty.”

His eyes narrowed when she tilted her chin up in a definite silent “no”. He had to keep his Dom mode to a minimum. Otherwise she’d be slung over his knee, skirt up and panties down in no time and it was too soon for that.

“I’m being generous at the moment and you’re pushing me. The option to answer a simple yes or no is on the table. If you don’t exercise one of these options I don’t think you’ll be happy with what follows. In fact, I’m sure you won’t.”

“It’s a demeaning question and I refuse to answer it.”

He kept his tone calm. “Is it as demeaning as me asking you point-blank if you’ve been viewing internet porn? Or more precisely, a cock slut playing Hoover to her Master’s equipment?”

She stood.

“Sit down.” When she took a step toward the door to defy him, he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Colin, sit down.”