“Sometimes I like to overwhelm, too.”
“And you are quite capable of that.”
I laughed. “It doesn’t always have to be me submitting to you, does it?”
He kissed my forehead, then nuzzled between the pillow and my cheek to find my ear. He sucked my lobe but didn’t speak.
“No answer, huh?”
Dean leaned back his head. I searched his eyes for a response.
“You’re not all damaged, are you?”
His chest rumbled as he released me, and I propped my elbow on the pillows, giggling with him. I ran my finger down his arm and squeezed his bicep with a sigh.
“It’s a fair question,” I said.
Dean flashed me his gorgeous smile. “No, I’m not damaged. I just have this urge with you. To feel you surrender... It’s undeniably hot—the way you move, the way you respond.”
I felt the same playing the recipient, the one responding to his control. What about him brought this out of me? No, seduced this out of me? “You’ve done this before, though,” I said.
“Sort of. No assignments, and a little rope play, but not this in depth.” He raked his hand through his hair and propped himself up beside me, the blankets rumpling at our hips.
“So you’ve never tied a girl up?”
“Not like you were last night, no. It was much less involved.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How’d you get into it?”
“You and all your questions.” His voice sounded playful, but the avoidance didn’t sit right with me.
Not if I was expected to surrender to him—and even if I had already dived headfirst down that hole.
I flashed him a sassy grin. “You know, since I let you tie me up, it seems fair you tell me.”
Dean chuckled. “Touché.” He rested his free hand on my waist, caressing me. “I just don’t talk about it much, since it hasn’t happened a lot. But I told you about Niko.” I nodded. “He was an influence. He was incredible with women. The ones he dated blew me away—they were rich, coifed beauties who fawned over him. When I was young, I thought it was his money, but when I got older I saw he never flaunted it. He ran the firm, but sailing kept him too busy for flashiness.”
“Firm?”
“Sova,” he said.
My brow wrinkled in confusion. “His firm is your firm?”
“He named it after me because we were so close. He hoped I’d take it over, and I did.”
“Oh, wow,” I said, pausing. “Did he want out, or...?”
Dean shook his head. “He signed the business over to travel the world with his wife, Cassandra.”
“That’s sweet.”
“They are sweet,” he confirmed. He trailed his fingers over my hip in winding circles that stirred my blood. I attempted to absorb his words and ignore the heat trying to flood my body. “They come through here sometimes, every couple of years. He’s an amazing man, and she’s lovely. They’re happy.” His eyes glimmered as he reminisced.
“So are he and Cassandra...kinky?” I asked, failing to make the connection.
Dean snorted. “Definitely not. She’s as vanilla as they come, I think.” I didn’t have much time to react to the way vanilla oozed from his mouth before he continued. “Prior to Cassandra, Niko wouldn’t settle down. Sure, he’d be with one woman for a while, but women were his thing. They were to be worshipped and adored, and he was unbelievably smooth with them—”
I interrupted. “You’re pretty smooth, too.”
Dean pinched my hip, and I jumped.
“Well, you are,” I said.
He bowed in for a kiss, tangling his tongue with mine. Even in the momentary burst of affection, my body craved more. When Dean peeled away, his face had turned serious. “I just like directness and honesty. I like you.” He blurted it out so abruptly his cheeks flushed red.
“It’s mutual,” I said, but with the color lingering in his face, I pressed on. “Does that make you nervous?”
“No. It’s just different.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re different.”
We both lay still for a minute, Dean’s hand frozen on my hip.
“Anyway,” he said, the pitch of his voice shifting as he continued his story, “there was this woman he picked up with when I was nineteen. She was gorgeous and classy. I hadn’t seen him with anyone like her before. She was like an old-fashioned movie star, decked out in furs and diamonds and elegant to the extreme. One night she stayed over on the boat, and since I crashed there so often, I walked in on them.” He slid his thumb lower, mindlessly tickling my hip bone and sending chills through me. “He’d taken her below deck, and he had her naked and spread, tied up to some of the equipment.”
Wow.
Dean’s finger had taken on a mind of its own, tracing from my hip up to my breast. Between the thought of a young version of him witnessing this and the drag of his hand, I struggled to resist pressing against him.
“I’ll never forget it. I remember thinking how different she was from the reserved lady I’d seen, all dressed up. She bucked and writhed under his hold, totally getting off, and it was...” He licked his lip. “It was hot. Like she was this wild, beautiful horse, and he was training her.”
“Hmm.”
Dean focused on me.
“Am I a horse to tame?”
He scooted near, letting me feel the fullness of his cock. I gulped. Dean closed his hand over my tattoo, then followed the letters with a fingertip. “You’re no horse, Maya. Nor are you tameable in any way—” he squeezed my side again, “—but there’s something in you that yearns to be pinned. To be controlled. To run free in that.”
I tensed.
How did he see this in me? And why had this shown up now, with him?
“I’m no submissive,” I said.
“Says the woman who spent part of the evening tied under me.” Dean grasped my wrists and rolled me onto my back. When his lips met mine, I frowned.
“No fair.”
“What’s with all this fairness commentary? I answered your questions, and I don’t usually share my backstory. I think it’s plenty fair.”
“You don’t share it because you’re a player, right?” I snapped, quickly biting my tongue.
“Is that what Selby told you?”
Dean bumped the hard ridge of his cock against my clit. I offered him the wide spread of my eyes in answer, and he continued grinding, making part of me long to fight against him—but the rest of me ached for him to enter me.
“I’ve dated a lot, it’s true. I don’t normally find women I like to know well. Or women I want more from than a few casual fucks.”
I closed my eyes, losing my mind with the weight of his pelvis. What did I care if he was a player? This wasn’t serious. We were simply messing around. “Dean, I don’t—”
He caught my wrists in one hand, the motion halting my words in my throat. With his other hand he fondled my breast and my hip, then dug his thumb into the bone until I gasped.
Yeah, I cared.
I peered at him, captivated by the heaviness of his gaze.
“You’re one of those women.”
I arched to meet him. I loved the way he grazed my folds, wetting me with his pre-come. “Am I?”
“God, yes,” he said. This time his kiss was bold, his mouth swallowing mine. He reached for the nightstand and grabbed the condom he’d thrown there last night, before purring in my ear, “You’re a fucking dream, Maya.”
I was moaning before he finished unrolling the condom to drive into me.
Chapter Ten
Saturday turned into one of the most pleasant mornings I’d had in recent memory. Neither Dean nor I had anything on our agendas, so we tossed about until well past
the lunch hour, when he gathered his things and planted a kiss on my nose before opening my front door. Then, in clear view of my complex, and in complete contrast to the affectionate goodbye kiss he gave me, he reached around to smack my ass and bent toward my ear.
“Until your next assignment, vixen.”
No one was in the parking lot or on the walkway in front of my apartment at that moment—the neighbor wasn’t walking his three dogs, and the other one wasn’t pushing her baby in the stroller on her daily fit walk—but I stood rooted in astonishment after Dean threw that glorious smile over his shoulder and headed to his car.
I couldn’t ignore the instant urge coiling through me from the crash of his hand on my rear.
I shut the door, trying to sort all of this out. Dean was sweet and sexy, but he could switch into this domineering powerhouse in a second’s time. The gentle side of him drew me in, as did this game we’d started to play.
There’s something in you that yearns to be pinned. To be controlled.
Shaking myself, I ignored the hot swell of lust that filled me. I was alone in my own house and yet my body had forgotten that I’d been to bliss and back a few times in the last day. It was like Dean had permanently switched me on, turning me into a sexual conduit that needed more, constantly more.
I went back to my room and grumbled while I donned my running clothes. Hopefully, a jog would clear my head. When I took off, my music blasted in my headphones, a loud storm that attempted to subdue every morsel of thought as I made my way along my path across the Bicycle Bridge. Today, the bridge lived up to its name. Dozens of cyclists merged with other runners and walkers, enjoying the glare of the mid-June sun. I weaved my way through them, knowing I ran too fast considering my usual pace. Plus, my body was sore from being tied and filled in the magnificent way Dean had when he overtook me.
Ravished me.
I sprinted down the path. The blood pumped up my thighs, circulating where it shouldn’t while I ran, and I was winded by the time I stumbled across the tree I’d graffitied. I bent over, my hands on my thighs and my sex fluttering with want—while I was fucking running. How was this possible?
I squinted against the sun to find the words I’d written not two weeks ago. I want you inside me. They were the five little words I’d felt right then, sweating and panting, all of me torn by this bizarre urge to submit like Dean had asked. I craved it, and yet it wasn’t me. I was too independent for this crap. I gathered my breath, trying to understand. I’d spent years fighting to erase Charlie’s control, his angry, violent words and actions. Escaping the memory and becoming this version of me—free and open.
So how could I be into this with Dean?
Because it’s not the same.
“Fuck,” I mumbled aloud. Dean had made me come more in two dates than any man I’d ever gotten involved with, and he’d done it all with complete control over me.
And on top of that, I’d started to like him—probably way too much this soon.
I stood upright and wiped the sweat from my temples. A group of cyclists tore by, lifting their heads in a polite hello before wheeling away on the path that looped under the bridge. I wrapped the fingers of one hand around my wrist. I couldn’t stop thinking of how erotic the experience had been—Dean tying me up and licking me, filling me. Making me feel like the most beautiful, worshipped woman alive all while putting me in the most vulnerable position I’d ever been in.
I bolted off along the water and ignored the nerves prickling at me.
Why did I want this so badly?
* * *
I miss you, Maya.
I curled my legs into my chest, an instant warmth in my heart. His sweetness had me captivated. He was tempting and seductive, but enchanting, too.
Do you? I typed.
Yes. Constantly.
I paused my movie and rolled onto my side on the couch. Work had been hectic for both of us over the past couple of weeks, and while Dean and I spent most days chatting and texting, I couldn’t stop hoping we’d see each other soon.
The feeling is mutual, I typed. Where are you?
On a break at work. Work, work, work... Too many people around or I’d call. I’m at the Berkeley house.
Dean had a huge new contract for a million-dollar home that had absorbed most of his time.
I bet it’s going to be amazing. Your hands...your skill...
You’re too kind, he typed. Also, my work is not near as fascinating to me as you are.
I played along.
Oh really?
Really. Everything about you...what I’d do just to kiss you right now.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds, picturing his lips on mine. The thought made my pulse race, because his kiss alone was powerful.
I could succumb to the press of his mouth for hours.
I’d love that, I typed.
Would you?
God, yes.
What else would you love? If you could have me right now—what would you want from me?
I inhaled a heavy breath at the images of the rounds we’d already had.
Your lips across my skin.
Anywhere?
I grinned. Yes, anywhere. Everywhere.
Can I start at the back of your neck?
Please, I typed. Then what?
I’d have to bite you there...feel the way you’d quiver in my arms. I’d trail my lips across your shoulders, let my hands slide down to your hips. I’d have you folded over...
I wriggled on the couch. Naked, I assume?
Of course. Naked and tied up.
With a chuckle, I wrote, Do you ever think of me not tied up?
All the time. I think of you a hundred different ways...but you bound up and unable to move, it’s so sexy. I like that I can give you pleasure and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me. You’re mine for the taking, for whatever I have to give.
I pressed my hand to my chest. It was insane how fast he made my heart thump, how often. Even when we started plain in our texts, the dynamic we shared always crept in, haunting me...making it impossible to sleep solidly or think straight on the occasions I let him slip into my mind.
I typed, I don’t know why I like this so much with you, but I do.
That makes me happy. I like it too.
I stroked the edge of the phone. I wasn’t lying—though every time I thought of it, I grew a little uneasy. After my history, after trying to be free, was this healthy?
Are you still there? he typed.
Yes. Just thinking.
Me too.
What about?
The curve of your ass. The sound of your breath. The way you’ll feel, tight around my cock while I fuck you.
Jesus. He was too good.
You’ve got me revved, Dean.
Good. You’ve done the same for me.
Then we’re even!
Ha ha. For now, he typed. But I’m hoping to see you soon.
I’d like that.
Are you going to Alex and Selby’s dinner next weekend?
Alex’s three contracts had him running around for weeks, but now that he had a weekend coming up to chill, Selby had suggested a celebratory dinner. I didn’t realize she’d invited Dean, too.
Yes, I typed, surprised. A mock double date, huh? Good old Selby and Alex. Very sneaky. Glad I’ll see you there, I wrote, though I wasn’t sure about Selby eyeing us, trying to ascertain what we were doing, in her concerned yet oft overbearing way. And with Alex’s awkward perceptiveness, he might well figure out what Dean and I were up to. I didn’t know how I felt about that yet.
Sounds perfect, Dean typed. Sadly, for now, must run. X
Talk to you soon. XX, I typed. I shook my head and sat back up on the couch, wondering h
ow this would play out. Hot, mesmerizing Dean, who’d strung me up and fucked me senseless the last time I saw him, and who, for all I knew, could be doing the same thing with someone else—he was coming over to Selby and Alex’s place so the four of us could hang out?
This would be interesting.
* * *
The next Saturday, I arrived early to Alex and Selby’s house with a couple of bottles of wine and a bowl of salad in hand. While Selby played queen of the kitchen, I found Alex with his feet up on the coffee table as he drank his beer and watched the game.
“Hey, Maya.” The wear of work showed in his face, and though I knew he enjoyed the mini-gathering, I’m sure he appreciated Selby bustling about on her own.
“Hi, Maya!” she called. I set my offerings on the coffee table and sat next to Alex while she banged around in the kitchen cupboards. “Get your butt in here when you’re done flirting with my man!”
Alex rolled his eyes, then patted my knee. “How’s it going?”
“Oh, you know. Lots of work...” I propped my elbow on the back of the couch and checked out the game. “Hardcore, as usual.”
“Ditto.”
“Awesome on your contracts by the way. You’re killing it.”
“Thanks, doll.” He lifted his beer. “Are you prepared for this big shebang Selbs arranged? You know she’s dying to check out you and Dean.”
I buried my face into the armrest. “You’ve failed me.”
He threw up his hands. “Hey, you decided to screw the man she doesn’t understand.”
“Fuck me,” I mumbled.
“Oh, I’m sure he did.”
I smacked Alex as he took a swig of his beer, a couple of droplets spilling on his shirt. Selby would scream if she’d heard him. He winked.
“Was I right though? Are we burning shit down yet?”
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, which I did once I stood from the couch and gave him a mock curtsy. “But of course.”
“Nice. Trouble ahead!” Alex raised his beer with a tilt of his head, and I scooped up the salad and wine bottles to head into the kitchen.
Selby had, in her usual fashion, outdone herself. For a mere party of four, she’d managed to arrange a gorgeous spread of food. My salad paled beside her homemade lasagna and roasted vegetables, so the least I could offer was to set the dining room table. The quaint, adjacent room had been their one complaint when they’d bought the two-bedroom, but I’d loved the cozy space whenever I hung out with them.
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