Tamed (17 page)

Porter clenched his jaw, not wanting to let the fucker off that easy. All the same, he cared only about what Kenzie wanted. She was all that mattered. And he understood an assault charge would drag this out for months. For that reason alone, he gave her a nod, then ushered her from the room.

As they reached the door, Adrik called, “Do tell. Who gave you these photos?”

Porter replied, “That is not relevant.”

“To you,” Adrik replied with a dangerous smile. “It’s very relevant to me.”

Porter grinned harshly in return, letting all his hatred for this man be unleashed in his features. “If you want to know, only look into those you trust.” Porter then pressed a little harder against Kenzie’s back, wanting her far away from Adrik.

That was his final jab to Adrik. He knew the dipshit would spend the next days, weeks, and months trying to find out who had ratted him out. Porter got some satisfaction over that. This was over for Kenzie, but Adrik would be suspicious for long after that, questioning everyone and anyone he knew.

The group stayed silent as they left the office and entered the elevator. It wasn’t until they made it outside that Porter heard Kenzie’s sigh. They stopped by the palm tree at the curb and Kenzie looked from Porter to Sawyer and finally said, “I’m not sure I can ever have the words to thank either of you. What you’ve done for me—”

Sawyer interjected with a smile, “Done what friends do for each other, Kenzie.”

She all but jumped at him, wrapping her arms around him. “I hope one day I can do the same for you.”

Sawyer grinned at Porter as he hugged her, and all the heaviness inside Porter fled him. Kenzie leaned on her friends and saw the outcome of that. He hoped for her that she would do so more often from this day forward.

Once Sawyer backed away from Kenzie, he glimpsed at his wristwatch. “I need to get going. I’ll be working all weekend, since I took the last few days off. Enjoy Club Sin without me.”

Porter smiled in return, so grateful for Sawyer. He moved toward his friend and they shared a manly hug. “I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me shit.” Sawyer gave Porter a hard smack on the back, and then his expression lightened. “Well, maybe you could put in a good word for me with Chloe.”

Porter laughed, realizing what he had assumed had been accurate, as there had been an attraction there between them. “Consider it done.” Though he also knew Sawyer would have his hands full with Chloe. She wasn’t submissive, and he couldn’t picture her in the dungeon. She had once told him when they were investigating a man who was cheating on his wife with a Dominatrix that she thought kinky people were strange.

Porter hadn’t been insulted, as Chloe didn’t know enough about the lifestyle to truly make a judgment call on it. All she’d seen was one man who was interested in being a slave, used as if he was simply an object for his Dominatrix to toy with. It wasn’t the right relationship to help a vanilla woman understand the specialness in a D/s relationship.

Sawyer strode off down the street lined with palm trees, and Kenzie said to Porter, “That went well, didn’t it?”

“It did, and I’m proud of you, Kitten.” Porter reached for her and liked how eagerly she came into his hold. “Let’s keep a low profile for the next couple days to make sure this is all smoothed over, and Adrik is telling the truth that construction will begin on the casino.”

Her brows furrowed in their cute way. “You do realize that it’s Club Sin this weekend and if we lie low we’ll be missing out on that?”

“Of course I do.” He brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “But the group is scattered this weekend anyway. Sawyer is working. Ella and Kyler are on their honeymoon.” He dragged his fingers through her hair, relaxed by the sensation. “A lot has happened in a very short time, and I don’t know about you, but vegging around the house and ordering Chinese food sounds like the perfect weekend to me.”

Her features softened, and it seemed to Porter that he had said exactly what she wanted him to. “You know, if you keep feeding me as much as you are, I’m going to explode out of my jeans.”

His fingers tightened in her hair, warmth sliding into his groin. That sight wouldn’t displease him. “I’m sure you could find a way to work it off with some vigorous exercise.”

She wiggled her hips against his hardening cock. “I might need someone to help me with such an intense workout.” She leaned in to him, offering herself for his pleasure this weekend. “Would you be up for such a challenge?”

His cock went from semi-hard to steel in two-point-two seconds. He pressed himself against her, arching a brow. “Keep looking at me like that and wiggling that sexy body against mine, I’ll do one better and fuck you right in my car, kitten.”

She stood on her tiptoes and licked his bottom lip. “Promise?”

He loved seeing the high-spirited spark in her face and hearing the snappiness of her voice, because now it wasn’t used to get something. It was simply her personality shining through. He yanked her against him, gazing down into her gorgeous eyes as the breeze fluttered her hair around her face. “You’re trouble.”

She grinned. “Damn right I am.”

Seven long days had gone by and Kenzie wondered with each passing day if Adrik or his goon would show up at her store, but no one did. The construction of the casino had begun, and Kenzie needed to close her shop for one day while they demolished the buildings next to hers. When the dust cleared, her store remained, and she heaved the longest sigh of her life before she and Porter laughed in relief. Later on in the week, she’d received drawings for the new front of her store, which modernized it. Kenzie didn’t mind. She thought the look suited her store perfectly.

It seemed that life returned to normal, or a normal that Kenzie had never known before. Porter had stayed with her for the entire weekend and they’d done just as he’d said they would, which wasn’t much of anything. They had slept more hours than Kenzie had slept in a while. He had played games on his iPad while she read the afternoon away, and they had sex just as much as she curled up with her book.

Last weekend had been wonderful. Now she wished she was frozen in that moment. The scent of sex and leather brushed through her nostrils as she scanned Club Sin, sitting on the couch near the entrance. She studied all the scenes going on around her, somehow feeling detached from it all.

Tonight was her final night with Porter and the end of their arrangement, and she knew what their scene tonight would mean to him. She needed to give Porter things she hadn’t given anyone in Club Sin because he, out of anyone, deserved the Club Sin Master status. He taught her to trust again. He got Adrik to leave her alone. He helped her come to grips with her mother’s and her sister’s deaths. Porter had helped her achieve so much, and now she felt liked she owed him.

She didn’t feel the usual sense to push on him to get what she needed. She only wanted to give him something back in return. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she needed the pain anymore to free her mind, which was confusing all in itself. She realized as she sat on the couch, examining all the sexual exchanges around her, that she felt like a newbie submissive without any clue what she needed from her Dom.

Soft voices arose all around her, as did the sounds of slapping against flesh. Porter was here somewhere in the dungeon. She could feel his heated stare sizzling over her body, but she hadn’t seen him yet. The longer she sat, the more she came to the realization of what she had to do for Porter now. There was one way to show everyone in Club Sin that he was a Dom to be respected. That he could tame the feistiest of submissives.

He deserved that from her now.

Dressed in a black lace bra with matching thong and six-inch heels, she pushed off the couch, drawing in a deep breath. Then she moved toward the stage that had been set up, likely for a show this evening that one of the Club Sin Masters put on as a teaching exercise. Though deep inside her, she wondered if Porter had arranged this stage tonight for them.

Heat blasted through her core as she stepped onto the stage with the St. Andrew’s Cross in the center. The thought of him watching her now tickled her senses. Was he somewhere in the dark parts of the club, waiting to join her? Heat coursed through her, pooling warmth low in her body. She lowered to her knees, locking her hands behind her and bowing her head.

There, she waited for
him.

A few gasps of surprises sounded from the crowd, though it didn’t bother Kenzie as it would have before. She wanted to shock them, because it meant the impact of what she was doing was working.

Only a minute passed before the air around her shifted slightly, becoming more charged, and then a finger ran over her shoulder. She shivered, keeping her head bowed, showing those in Club Sin that this Dom was to be revered. That he, only Porter, had gained the submission of the one Club Sin submissive who fought against every Dom.

In her line of sight, she noticed Porter’s shoes in front of her before his hand came into view. As she slid her touch into his, rightness settled across her and her heart reached for his. She lifted her head and held his potent stare.

So perfect this man was. So trustworthy. So very kind.

The side of his mouth arched. “You are absolutely beautiful tonight, kitten.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Now his smile beamed, glinting with amusement at her obedience. Though she also saw a slight edge of mischief there, as if whatever she was doing wasn’t having the effect on him that she hoped for. “Come. Let me bind you.”

He kept her hand tight in his, and then he assisted her into position on the St. Andrew’s Cross, binding one wrist to the left side of the cross with black hemp rope and then quickly binding the other wrist. Heat bombarded her as he bound a rope just above her breasts and across her rib cage, and then he knelt and used the longer ropes to bind her at her thighs, calves, and ankles, leaving her completely trapped. She burned, her muscles tightening and her sex moistening.

He rose in front of her, examining her with a tilt of his head, and his features weren’t that of a Dom. Too light. Too playful. In that very second she realized why. He pressed his fingers against her side and began tickling her.

Kenzie burst out laughing, squirming to get away, yet the ropes held her perfectly still. Porter chuckled with her and said, “See that smile, kitten. Always give me that.” His fingers moved quickly over her, tickling her over and over again. “Your laugh…it’s beautiful.”

She couldn’t breathe as tears of laughter filled her eyes. By the time he stopped, Kenzie had smiled more in these last ten minutes than she had in such a long time. Somehow that felt better than any pain she’d ever received in a scene.

He gave her a moment to catch her breath, and when she finally did, she couldn’t help but glare. “You…you are…”

“An ass that’s driving you insane?” he offered.

She gave a firm nod, and he barked a laugh, adding, “Good. Tell me that, then. Don’t be too obedient, kitten; it’s not you, and not what I want.” He brushed his fingers over her cheek, and she melted into the trust of his touch. She burned with the kindness of his heart. He dragged his finger across her parted lips, holding his focus right there on her mouth. “Be yourself with me. Always.”

Porter saw the fire burning in Kenzie’s eyes, and he loved those flames. While he appreciated her show of complete respect, he also didn’t want Kenzie to change. He liked her spunk. He also found it entirely sexy and thrilling.

She gave him a playful smile. “Well, then, you’re telling me that I won’t get in trouble if I curse at you until I have no curse words left for tickling me?”

He nodded, so drawn to this woman. He found Kenzie refreshing. She had enough sass in her soul to not be submissive, yet she was and found something freeing in that. Of course, he wanted to tame Kenzie. That was the purpose of their arrangement. Yet he realized now he didn’t want to tame her too much.

Porter liked her the way she was.

He tapped her nose and replied with a grin, “Nope, you won’t get into trouble. It’s you. I enjoy it.” Her eyes widened as he lowered his hand to her side, and then she gave a loud curse as he tickled her again and again, until she was laughing and gasping for air.

Lightness filled his chest seeing that smile and hearing her laugh. Too long he had suffered seeing her in scenes that were intense but not giving her what she really needed from her Dom. He wanted to see more of this side of her, and now that he knew she could laugh so freely, he wanted to make it happen as often as he could.

Kenzie’s smile made life good.

Her cheeks were flushed and eyes were glazed. The only thing he had planned for this scene was to have fun, something he doubted she ever experienced. He knew her show of submission at the beginning of the scene was enough to get him Club Sin Master status. Now he did this for Kenzie. She’d never tolerated a scene like this before, and Porter wondered if Kenzie even knew herself how much she’d changed. How much more she allowed from Porter’s touch, not from force or being mind-fucked into it, but because she wanted it.

There was something special in that. Something that fulfilled him as a Dom more than anything else had before this moment. He considered her, this special woman, knowing he wanted to keep her. All the same, he had stayed away from her tonight purposely after she arrived at Club Sin to gauge her head space.

Within one second after entering Club Sin, he knew she wasn’t thinking ahead to a future with him. The fact that she hadn’t approached Dmitri to change her hard limits so that he could hold her when their scene was finished was proof enough that her mind space wasn’t at all where he wanted it to be.

Patience.

He needed that with her.

It appeared he needed more patience than he had.

Scanning over her naked form bound in the ropes, he admired her. Her body called to him. Her small frame empowered him. Her beauty mesmerized him.
Mine,
his heart told him. He tickled her again and she burst out laughing, attempting to move away, but the bindings held her still.

When he stopped, she wheezed, bowing her head. “Oh my God, you are so dead for this,
sir.
”

“Those words might mean more if you weren’t bound to a cross with no way to get to me.” He lowered his hand between her thighs, discovering her wet, and he loved that. Always wet for
him.
Her arousal under his care stoked a possessive desire in his chest. He swirled the pads of his fingers over her swollen clit and she moaned, her eyes fluttering.

Now he showed Kenzie that intensity could be brought through other means that didn’t include pain. Her endorphins were flying high with happiness and he thought she needed to feel more of that side of BDSM. Though as he continued to touch her, the sudden clarity struck him. As hard as his cock was, as much as he ached for her, he couldn’t take her now.

He wanted
more.

This no longer was enough for him.

Porter wanted to
own her.

He slid his fingers deep inside her, and as he pumped his fingers inside her warm and wet sex, he also began tickling her sides. She began moaning in between laughing, and he never let up. He continued until she gasped for air, until she had no control over her body, and until only sensation captivated her mind. Only then did he stop tickling and focus solely on her sweet cunt.

He pumped his fingers hard and fast, demanding her orgasm. Her scream rang out around him, speaking to his heart. There was no pain in her voice. There was no strain or worry. There was only room for the pleasure he offered.

When she relaxed in the binds, he eased his thrusts and slowly removed his damp fingers. He reached for the ropes and quickly removed them. By the time he’d unwrapped her wrists, she sagged against him. He gathered her in his arms, holding her so very close to him, and he was consumed by the desire to never let her go.

He hastily made it to the couch and set her down, grabbing the blanket sitting on the edge and draping it over her. While he knew he couldn’t hold her now, as per her hard limits, he took a seat on the table in front of the couch. There was no way in hell he would sit far away from her, as every other Dom had done. She shut her eyes with a smile on her face, and then he dropped his head, fighting against his desire to take her into his arms and demand that she let him deeper into her soul.

He wasn’t sure how many minutes had passed before he noticed a pair of black shoes in his line of vision, but he figured it’d been a while since he spotted Dmitri. No one would have interrupted their aftercare until Kenzie was fully recovered. Porter took a quick glance at Kenzie, finding her watching him with a sweet expression, one he wished he saw more often.

He averted his attention when Dmitri said, “Nicely done.”

Porter didn’t feel the satisfaction he expected to feel. He didn’t have everything he wanted from Kenzie.
Christ,
he wanted so much more. Their eyes locked, and he couldn’t tear his gaze off her as he replied, “Nah, this was all Kenzie.”

Her smile was sweet. Tender, in fact.

Dmitri squeezed Porter’s shoulder. “The tattoo appointment is tomorrow at noon.” Then he strode away.

Porter didn’t pay any attention to where Dmitri headed; he stayed focused on Kenzie. A month now he had craved the prestigious role. Now it seemed so small in comparison to what he could have with this gorgeous submissive staring at him.

“I’m happy for you,” she said.

He moved closer now, seeing that she had fully recovered and was looking a little clearer. Though he kept his distance, staying on the table instead of sitting with her, he leaned, resting his arms on his knees. “Tonight was about you. Nothing else.”

Her expression softened, and he wondered what she was thinking. Did she care for him, as he did her? With Kenzie he couldn’t make assumptions. Right to the heart of it, he thought as her Dom he’d done some great things for Kenzie, and that fulfilled him, but she had yet to show that she cared for
him,
not just appreciated his care.

He cared for her.

He wanted her to be
his.

How to accomplish that remained a mystery.

He thought he’d found love once before with Cora. He had a history of his relationships turning into friendship only. That was fine, and he’d long ago accepted that, but he needed a sign from Kenzie that this was more than just the arrangement between them. More important, that it was more than friendship. She hadn’t shown those signs yet, and he wasn’t sure how to guide her to feel safe enough to do that, or if she felt that way at all.

She needed to take this next step, and he wondered if she would.

As if she read where his thoughts lingered, she said softly, “So our arrangement is over.”

Even if she hadn’t been clear in her feelings toward him, he wouldn’t close the door to it, either. He wanted this relationship as a possibility for the future, and maybe she simply needed more time. “It doesn’t have to be.” He hesitated, letting his question linger.

She considered him with furrowed brows, yet he saw the spark of interest in the depths of her eyes. “You want to continue to play in Club Sin?”