by Tara Sue Me
She’d picked out the dress she’d wear to the nuptials with care, telling herself she didn’t care what Evan would think of it, but knowing she wasn't fooling anyone. In the end she bought a pale pink, form fitted dress with a flared skirt. Times past, he’d tease her mercilessly whenever she wore her favorite color. She wasn’t sure what bozo decided that redheads weren’t supposed to wear pink, but he could stuff it. Evan could as well.
Right, you want him to stuff it all right, as deep as he can into you while you beg him to never stop.
Please. She was a Domme. She didn’t beg for anything. Especially from a man.
Technically, you’re a switch.
She hated it when she argued with herself. Shutting down her inner voice, she turned her attention to the front of the church.
Less than three minutes later, the processional started. Julie had asked Sasha to be her maid of honor; Abby, Dena, and Julie’s sister stood up with her as well. Dena’s husband, Jeff, was the best man, Cole, Nathaniel, and Daniel’s brother-in-law rounded out the wedding party.
With everyone else in place, and Daniel standing at the front of the church looking happier than Kelly had ever seen, the congregation stood and turned to face the back door in anticipation of Julie’s entrance.
But before her gaze settled on the spot where the bride would appear, it met the warm blue of Evan’s stare. In the seconds before he, too, turned to wait for Julie, Kelly couldn’t help but notice there didn’t appear to be a plus one in the picture. With a self satisfied smile, she focused her attention on her two friends getting married.
An hour later, everyone had moved to the clubhouse for the reception. Abby and Sasha saw her enter and immediately made their way to her.
“When did you get in?” Abby asked, grabbing her in a hug. “I hadn’t heard anything from you and feared you wouldn't come.”
“Please. I’ve been waiting for this wedding for years. Nothing was going to keep me away.” Kelly took a step back and looked at Sasha. “And how are you and Cole doing? You’re next, you know?”
“Yes, but we’re going much less formal and we aren’t inviting near as many people.”
Sasha and Cole lived as Master and slave. It wasn’t a lifestyle Kelly had any interest in, but she’d known Sasha for as long as she’d known Julie and the petite brunette had never looked better or been more in love and as content as she was in her current relationship.
“Sure,”Abby replied. “That’s what all brides say.”
“But I mean it.”
Abby remained silent but sent Kelly a yeah right look.
Sasha didn’t appear fazed at all. “Tell us what’s new with you. How’s Dallas? Met anyone interesting?”
“Dallas is great. I love having my family nearby, and police work is police work, but no special man so far,” she said, knowing that was what Sasha really meant with her question.
“That transparent, am I?” Sasha asked with a giggle.
Kelly smiled, it was so refreshing to see Sasha happy and laughing. “Pretty much.”
Sasha changed the subject to Julie and Daniel’s wedding, and they all agreed how perfect the bride and groom were for each other, and how beautiful Julie looked.
“Excuse me, ladies,” someone said from behind them and Kelly’s breath caught at the sound of Evan’s voice.
Though all three women turned, Evan only looked at Kelly. Her heart raced. She’d not remembered just how blue his eyes were. The time apart from him had done nothing to diminish the effect his nearness had on her.
“Kelly,” he said. “Will you dance with me?”
Abby and Sasha gasped in unison. Kelly turned automatically to the nearby dance floor. While she’d been chatting, the number of couples dancing had increased to where they filled almost all the space. Her mind raced to find a reason to turn him down: she didn’t dance, the song was too slow, there was no room.
But she didn’t want to turn him down, and the truth was she didn’t know why she was trying to come up with reasons to do so. No, the truth was she wanted to be in his arms and feel his body pressed against hers.
Her gaze fell to his outstretched hand and she placed her own in it. His thumb caressed the top of her hand and her stomach fluttered at his whispered, “Thank you.”
They walked to the dance floor and Kelly wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not that the room fell silent for a millisecond before the soft hum of conversations picked up again.
Evan stopped at the edge of the dance floor and took her into his arms.
Oh, God, this was such a mistake.
She liked the feel of his arms way too much.
She liked the heat of his body way too much.
She liked the mischievous grin he wore way too much.
“I expected you to show up today in a cowboy hat and boots,” he said, and instead of shooting back with a retort of her own, she laughed.
Hell, she liked the way he teased her way too much.
“I’m not that much of a Texan,” she said. “I did live in Wilmington for a number of years, you know.”
“True,” he said. “But I found I couldn’t joke about you wearing pink today because you look so damn hot and I had to tease you about something.”
She sucked in a breath. He thought she looked hot? In pink? With a shake of her head, she decided not to reply with a snappy comeback. If he could control himself and not joke about her wearing pink, surely she could likewise keep the smartass replies under wraps.
The song ended and neither one of them made a move to part ways. Well, this is certainly different. She kept her eyes focused on Evan’s chin, not wanting to see her old friends’ reaction at her and Evan dancing.
Evan had one arm around her waist and held her hand with the other. She leaned further into him when he pulled her closer. “It seems we’re causing more than one open jaw stare,” he whispered in her ear and her body shivered, though she wasn’t sure if it was a result of what he said or the fact that his warm breath tickled her skin. “We were fairly inconspicuous until Julie pointed at us and said something to Daniel.”
She groaned. “And I can’t even say anything to her because she’s the bride.”
Evan chuckled and her belly tightened in response because that chuckle made his body brush against hers in several awesome ways.
“You have to admit,” he said. “If it hadn’t been her, it would have been someone else.”
“True, but no one else is the center of attention today other than her.”
“No one else was the center of attention,” he said.
She forced herself not to look. “What? Who else would anyone be looking at?”
“A certain redheaded siren in a pale pink dress.”
“Please. I’m the most boring person here.”
He didn’t say anything, and for some reason, she got the impression he was angry. But about what?
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He remained silent, and she assumed whatever had pissed him off wasn’t her business and would stay that way.
“If you were my submissive and said something like that, I’d punish you,” he said, breaking the silence. “I find it hard to believe you would allow your subs to do that either.”
What the hell was he talking about? “I have no clue what you’re yammering on about,” she said.
His body didn’t relax, but remained ramrod stiff. “You talking down about yourself. You said you were the most boring person here and not only is that not true, but you’re putting yourself down. I don’t allow it from my submissives and I’m sure as hell not going to allow it from you.”
Her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. Fuck, the thought of his hands on her in punishment. She took a shaky breath, determined not to let him know how much his statement turned her on.
“You think you can discipline me?” she asked in her best Domme voice.
He pulled back a touch and captured her gaze. “I suggest you don’t s
tart down a road you’re not prepared to reach the end of.”
His gaze was so intense, even if she wanted to look away from him, she wouldn’t be able to do so. “What does that mean?”
“I think you would allow me to do a good number of things to you.”
He was right and even though she wasn’t going to lie and tell him otherwise, not that he’d let her get away with lying to him, she didn’t want to agree with him, either. Instead, she said nothing.
And of course, her silence didn’t bother him at all. He leaned close and she made herself stay still and not move back. “I’m not sure if you don’t remember or if you’re only pretending you don’t.” His voice was low and seductive, and she never wanted him to stop talking. “It’s possible you don’t remember, you were quite sloshed, after all. Or maybe you think it was a dream and never happened, but let me assure you, it did. You told me you never fucked the men you topped.”
She’d told him that? Fuck. What else had she told him? She started breathing heavier and he smirked. Damn, she hadn’t thought he’d be so observant. Which was stupid on her part, because he was a Dom and from what she’d heard in the women’s locker room, he was a good one. She should know better than to think she could keep something like that from him.
“So you tell me, Kelly. Do you fuck other men or has it been that long since you’ve fucked?”
She tried to pull up the outrage to at least pretend to be offended, but found it impossible to do so. However, she couldn’t speak because her mouth was too dry. She licked her lips and his breath hitched.
She got some self-satisfaction from that and smirked herself as she replied,“It’s been that long since I’ve fucked.”
As she thought, he hadn’t expected her to actually answer, much less to answer the way she had. Someone nearby cleared their throat and Kelly jumped back, looked up, and discovered not only had the song ended, there was no music playing at all and almost everyone was looking at them.
Feeling her face heat, she turned away from Evan and walked off the dance floor, trying to act as if it was no big deal she just been caught by all the guests at Julie and Daniel’s wedding talking about how long it’d been since she’d had sex. Regardless if anyone heard or not. She wished she was a chameleon with the ability to blend into the background. But even as a chameleon, such a thing wouldn’t have been possible with the way Evan stopped by her side on his own way off the dance floor and whispered, “This isn’t over.”
It might not be over, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to talk with him anymore. For the rest of the reception, she kept her distance from him, though she’d be lying to say she didn’t monitor him. Not that it mattered, she caught him keeping track of her.
Whether or not they admitted it, and whether or not they liked it, there was something that drew them to each other. They could fight it all they wanted, but it would always be there.
Kelly thought about drinking a little too much again, but found she couldn’t do it. After Daniel and Julie had their big farewell, she walked past Evan on her way to leave. But she stopped after taking only three steps away from the front door. She wouldn’t wait long, but she would wait for a few minutes. No more than five.
She didn’t have to wait two, and she appreciated he didn’t attempt to cover that he’d followed her out.
“I was hoping to catch up with you before you drove off.” He stepped right into her personal space without apology and brushed his fingers down her arm. There was no way he didn’t notice the gooseflesh his touch left in its wake. “I didn’t want to leave things the way they were between us.”
“You and I discussing my sex life, or lack thereof?”
“With you and I at odds.” He dropped his voice and the rough tone revealed more than he probably planned. “Let’s go somewhere private to talk.”
An outright lie if she ever heard one. If they went anywhere private, there would be no talking. They were both sober, and the awareness between them only intensified every time they were together.
She didn’t care. “Come to my hotel room.”
His eyes flashed with raw lust and need, but his voice was calm when he replied. “I don’t want to be something you regret.”
“You already were.”
Chapter Five
“You already were.”
Kelly’s words echoed in Evan’s head, even as he followed her car to her hotel. He’d been so surprised by her answer he hadn’t questioned her about what she meant. What exactly did she regret? Moving? Or that the two of them had never got together before she moved?
He hoped she didn't mean what they were getting ready to do in her hotel room. They were both adults who were attracted to each other. They had bickered with sexual undertones for years. Neither of them thought they would end up in her room drinking coffee and chatting. She knew as well as he did once they were in that room together, all bets are off. The past was past. The future hadn't happened yet. There was only now and it would be them, naked and fucking, and nothing else.
He had wondered if she would show up at the wedding. At first it didn’t look like she would make it and he’d been afraid she wouldn’t be there. But he knew how close she was to both Daniel and Julie, and that nothing short of an emergency would keep her away. Sure enough, he only had to be patient. She walked in wearing that light pink dress and looking fucking gorgeous. He barely kept his eyes on the ceremony in front of him. After a few minutes, he didn’t even bother trying to concentrate on anything else. He knew all he would think about was Kelly.
Or more to the point, Kelly in that pink dress. How it would feel to take it off her body. Inch by inch. Slowly revealing the skin underneath. Like he was unwrapping the biggest fucking present of all time.
He pulled to a stop at a red light, while Kelly continued on to the hotel. She’d told him where she was staying, as well as the room number, so he didn’t feel the urge to catch up once the light turned green. He shifted, attempting to ease the discomfort of his erection and finally gave up, knowing nothing would work. Nothing except sliding it deep inside Kelly, and telling her to hold on while he rode her good and hard.
Fuck it, he couldn’t wait.
But when he’d parked at last and made his way to her room, he knew they couldn’t do anything until he found out what she meant at the reception when she claimed he was already a regret. Maybe he was being shortsighted or stupid. Maybe it didn’t matter why he was a regret as long as they were able to correct it tonight.
And maybe it didn’t matter if they could correct it or not.
He took several deep breaths while standing in front of her door, hoping to calm his dick down. They would talk, damn it, before they did anything. Even though he’d wanted her for years, he also respected her and needed to know where she’d been coming from with those words.
Decided, he rapped on her door with his knuckles and took a step back, closing his eyes and repeating in his head what he would say once she opened the door.
“You don’t know how much it means to me that you asked me to your room tonight. I’ve wanted you for years, and to know you feel the same is a fantasy come true. However -”
“Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to come inside?”
His eyes flew open at the sound of Kelly’s voice. She stood in the doorway, looking at him as if he was the last piece of steak at an all you can eat meat buffet. Normally, he bristled at being viewed as a piece of meat, but tonight, she could grill, fry, or flambé him and he wouldn’t complain a bit. Actually, he wasn’t sure if meat flambé was a thing, but whatever.
He opened his mouth to tell her he wanted to talk for a few minutes, but she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him inside while at the same time somehow managing to both kiss him and close and lock the door behind him.
Fuck. It was better this way, anyway.
He moved, wanting to get a hand on her ass, but she pushed
him against the wall and lifted his arms so they were over his head. Pulling back she caught his eyes.
“Keep them here,” she said.
He didn’t have to. After all, he was both bigger and stronger than she was and she hadn’t bound him. But she had a raw sexual energy about her and damn it all, he wanted to see what she did with it.
“Say please,” he said because teasing her was so much fun.
She cocked her head to the side. “That’s not how I work.”
He kept his hands where she’d put them, but he wasn’t ready to completely comply with her. Or at least he wasn’t ready to let her think he was. “Then you can look at this as a chance to learn a new way of doing things.”
He expected one of her typical snappy comebacks or at least a hint of challenge in her eyes, but she gave him neither. In fact, the set of her lips and the way she held her head sent a message that she expected nothing less than his obedience. “That’s not going to happen either.”
“What makes you so certain?” Raw sexual energy aside, did she really think he’d do everything she asked without any pushback?
“It’s really very simple. All you have to do is ask yourself one question.” She cupped his erection. “Would I rather be a smartass or have Kelly’s mouth wrapped around my dick? Because you can’t have both.”
That certainly explained the confident look, because fucking hell, she was right. “I’ll keep my hands here all damn night in that case.”
This time she laughed softly. “I thought you’d see things my way. Or at least a certain part of your anatomy would.”
There was no reason to argue with her. Especially when she was one hundred percent correct. “I normally don’t allow my dick to make decisions for me, but it seemed prudent in this case.”
“It did, did it?” she asked and this time he didn’t answer. He couldn’t because after she ensured she’d captured his eyes again, she sank to her knees before him and he discovered he’d lost the ability to speak. “Move your hands and I stop. Got it?”