by Anthology
I was tempted to say no and be done with it, but I took too long to answer.
“Who is he?” Jasper asked.
You don’t want to know, I thought. “A consultant,” I said.
“What kind of consultant?”
I frowned. I’d always thought consulting was one of those boring jobs that ended conversations. “Business.”
“Is he intimidated by your job?”
The thought almost made me laugh. “Hard to say.”
“My ass is getting numb.” Jasper shifted in his seat. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“No.”
“It’s off the record. You have handcuffs. Do you ever use them in the bedroom?”
“What? No!” The denial was so vehement that Jasper had to know I was lying.
A moment later he confirmed it by saying, “Lucky guy. I’d love to find a woman to tie me up.”
“I… I don’t tie him up. Listen, can we not talk about my sex life?”
“Ok.” He paused. “Would you feel comfortable continuing this job if you had kids?”
Even Corbin had never asked me that. If he had, I would have told him yes. Corbin was filthy rich and could afford an army of nannies.
“Audrey?”
“I’m thinking.” As I stared out at the trees lining the street, I tried to imagine being a mother, out until midnight or later. Men did it. My dad certainly had. He’d also been divorced three times.
“I don’t know,” I said softly, surprising myself. “Even PI work has ridiculous hours.”
“That’s a tough decision,” Jasper said, and I wondered if we were back on the record.
“Well,” I said with a forced smile, “I’m not sure I even want kids. Suppose they turn out like my brother?”
Jasper was kind enough to laugh.
At five minutes before six, Rob pulled even with my car. I rolled down the window while Jasper slid out of the passenger’s seat.
“What’s the breakdown?” I asked.
“Kat will come at ten, and Martin will take the overnight.”
The overnight was only until four, which meant someone would have to come out then. “Not me,” I said. “I’m way over on hours.”
Rob shook his head to dispel my worries. “It’ll be covered. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“In the morning?” Jasper asked. He hadn’t yet gotten into Rob’s car. “I can’t stay out all night.”
“Only until ten,” Rob said.
“I can’t stay until ten,” Jasper said.
I didn’t roll my eyes, but I really wanted to. “I’ll take you back to the office.” It was a short drive from Corbin’s condo.
Unfortunately, we hit traffic. It was almost seven when I pulled up next to Jasper’s car. I ran up to grab the notes I’d been working on earlier, then hightailed it home.
Corbin was waiting inside the door of his luxurious condo. He was wearing an elegant tuxedo and a scowl.
“Oh, shit,” I said, glancing at my watch. I was thirty-two minutes late. “I am so sorry, Corbin. There’s this journalist my dad hired, and I had to—”
“You didn’t realize you’d be late?” he asked. His blue-green irises seemed even more intense, like sparks might fly out of them. Despite that, his face was neutral, his voice calm.
My cheeks heated. “I knew I’d be late,” I said. I was going to elaborate, but the truth was that I’d kind of forgotten about our impromptu dinner date.
“I’ll call the restaurant and change our reservation,” Corbin said. “Go get ready.”
“Thank you, and I’m sorry.”
Even though I really wanted to gawk at Corbin in a tux, I scooted to the bedroom as fast as I could. Anyone else might have thought he wasn’t upset.
Actually… He wasn’t upset, exactly.
He was waiting.
My punishment would come later, when I least expected it. That way, I would be jumpy all night, not knowing when he might decide to teach me a lesson. I hoped it would involve spanking and lots of hot sex… as opposed to a punishment designed to take me to the edge, then leave me frustrated.
Quickly, I pulled a black cocktail dress from the closet and laid it on the king-size bed, which was neatly made with dark gray sheets.
I set a personal record for showering. Rather than bother trying to tame my damp curls, I dried them as much as I could and twisted them into a messy bun, pulling down tendrils to soften and sensualize the look.
When I emerged from the bathroom in a towel, I saw that Corbin had changed the dress on the bed. Gone was the quiet black number that made me feel confident and sexy. Instead, I was looking at a shimmering crimson gown, strapless and long. It was new, as were the red heels on the floor.
I picked up the dress, turned it over. A scandalously high slit bisected the back. I felt my face heating. Once on, the outfit would either be extremely sexy or extremely slutty. A matching red thong lay on the bed.
“Get dressed.” Corbin had materialized in the doorway, arms folded over his broad chest. He’d taken off his tuxedo jacket, but he was distractingly sexy in his crisp white shirt. I caught the gold flash of cufflinks.
“I was only thirty minutes late,” I said.
Uncrossing his arms, he stalked toward me.
“Ok,” I said, laughing.
I wondered how long he’d had this dress, how long he’d been waiting for me to mess up on a night when we were slated to go out. I quickly pulled on the thong, unzipped the dress, and stepped into it.
The fabric was tight, and the bustier thrust my breasts up and together. That was probably a good thing as it would distract from my arms and shoulders, which I felt were too muscular. I knew better than to make that complaint in front of Corbin. He claimed to find my body perfect, and if I so much as hinted otherwise, he was sure to do something drastic, like force me to stare into a mirror while he fucked me.
“I can barely walk in this thing,” I said. A cool breeze licked up the backs of my thighs. Slutty. Definitely slutty.
“It’s not like we’re going on a hike,” Corbin said.
Would that we were.
Chapter Five
His hand on the small of my back, Corbin guided me through the crowded yet somehow intimate restaurant. I noticed a famous singer being seated near the front.
Our table was in the back, where the lighting was dimmer. It was more private. Some of the tension eased from my shoulders as we followed the host, and my mind wandered to work.
Chaew was probably on a plane to Venezuela or something. If he was gone, at least Dad wouldn’t flip out because someone else had grabbed him. As far as silver linings went, it was pretty tarnished.
When I sat on the chair, I could feel the velvet of the cushion against the bare backs of my thighs.
“I don’t like this dress,” I whispered to Corbin.
He smiled. “But I do. You’re stunning.”
“Well, I feel like an idiot.”
Leaning on the table, he pinned me in place with his gaze. “Take it off if you like,” he rumbled. “I’ll lend you my jacket.”
Even though he was joking, I considered the offer. At least his jacket would cover everything in the back.
Corbin smiled seductively. “Is it that painful?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
One of his hands disappeared under the table, and a moment later his strong, warm fingers were on my knee, drifting higher. “I can take your mind off the dress,” he promised as he pushed the bottom of the dress up, almost to my hips.
He probably thought I’d resist, but the second he touched me, all I wanted was him inside me. If I couldn’t have that, then I needed an orgasm. Thanks to the problems at work, it had been several days since we’d had time for sex… entirely too long.
Corbin’s hand slid higher, and it was everything I could do not to slouch in my seat and push my hips toward him.
“Here comes our waiter,” he said casually as he paused, his fingers close to my pussy.
> I sat up straighter, plastered a smile on my face and tried not to look like I was a hair’s breadth from being fingered.
“Good evening,” the waiter said.
Corbin’s hand moved higher, and I froze. One of his fingers stroked over the silky, panty-covered mound of my sex. His touch was feather light, but I felt my neck and ears turning red as my heart rate rocketed up.
“Good evening,” Corbin said. “Don’t recite the menu yet. We’ll wait until the sommelier is available.”
“Of course,” the waiter said, almost bowing.
The second he turned away, Corbin plucked aside my panties and thrust two fingers deep inside my wet, clenching flesh.
I gasped audibly, both my hands flying to his thick wrist and my eyes squeezing closed. The tendons and muscles in his forearm worked as he finger-fucked me.
My face felt like it was on fire, but I couldn’t deny the orgasm Corbin was summoning with each twist of his fingers.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
Somehow I complied, and I found him inches away, his electric blue-green eyes so focused that I felt like I was standing naked on a stage.
A sadistic grin spread across his face. “I would have given you this orgasm at seven, but you weren’t home. Should I make you wait longer?”
“No. Yes—” It didn’t matter what I said. Ripples of pleasure were already shooting through me. I would come if Corbin wanted me to.
He leaned closer and nipped my lower lip. God, he smelled so good, his spicy aftershave mingling with the faintest scent that was simply Corbin.
“You’ll have to wait,” he said, pulling his hand away. As he did, he pinched my inner thigh hard enough to make me gasp, to make me lose the orgasm.
The waiter and the sommelier approached the table. Neither gave any indication that they’d seen what had just happened.
Blinking, I tried to pull myself together while Corbin asked questions about the wine. He solicited my opinion several times, but I couldn’t speak.
I was so horny. I didn’t give a damn which variety of grapes were in the wine, what region the oak barrels came from, or what the vineyard owner had named his dog. I didn’t even care what we ate—I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it.
“So,” Corbin said once we were alone again. He leaned back in his seat—too far away. His grin was devastatingly handsome. “Tell me about your day.”
If I wasn’t so in love with Corbin, I would have absolutely hated him.
The best thing I could say about dinner was that I ate some of it. Every bite tasted like denial, every sip of wine like bitter regret.
“I should have stayed on the stakeout,” I said as our table was cleared for the fiftieth time.
Corbin laughed. “What you need, you wouldn’t find sitting by yourself in a car.”
“Who says I was alone?” I snapped.
His grin grew broader. “The nervous guy in the blazer? He’s not your type, baby.” He motioned our waiter over. “The lady is interested in your dessert cart.”
Dessert, of course, couldn’t be a scoop of ice cream with a spoon shoved in the top. There had to be a presentation. And tea and coffee. And a sweet after-dinner liqueur.
Whenever my misery started to fade, Corbin would lean forward, fix me with his unwavering gaze, and talk about the filthy things he would have done if I’d been home on time.
“All of that in half an hour?” I snapped after he’d described how he would have tied me up and licked my pussy until I fainted from pleasure, then pumped me full of come three or four times before letting me shower and dress for dinner.
“All of that and so much more, baby,” he said in that seductive deep voice of his.
The drive home was agony. The seatbelt across my chest and around my waist felt like Corbin’s hands grabbing me, restraining me while we fucked. I sat with my knees pressed together, a little moan building deep in my body.
“Please,” I said as he opened the penthouse condo’s front door. “Please don’t send me to bed like this. I’m dying.”
One of Corbin’s eyebrows lifted in mild curiosity. “If you’re dying, then I think you need a doctor, not my cock.”
I groaned. “Corbin, I’m sorry. We’d only made the plans a few hours before, and I was distracted. It never got into my long-term memory or something.”
“You think this is helping your cause?”
I crossed my arms over my chest, accidentally brushing one of my stiffened nipples. “No,” I said quietly. “I figure you’ll do what you do, but I wanted to explain and say I’m sorry. Sex aside. I screwed up, and I’m sorry.”
Corbin studied me for what felt like forever. “In a moment, you’ll be on your knees. For now, don’t move.”
I pouted, but I was secretly happy. If I was sucking his cock, I wouldn’t have him staring into my eyes and reading all my secrets, and if I sucked him well enough, maybe he’d give me the orgasms I so desperately needed.
Corbin walked a slow circle around me. I could feel his gaze on my bare skin. “You’re right,” he said. “That dress isn’t your style.”
He continued walking, then stopped. “Face me and kneel,” he ordered.
Gratefully, I turned and sank to the floor. Corbin bent down behind me, his knuckles bruising the insides of my thighs as he grabbed the fabric, bunching it up. A loud rip screamed through the silence, then cool air whispered across my buttocks and lower back.
Usually I hated when Corbin destroyed my dresses, but not this time. This time I was ready to cheer. My only regret was that he didn’t pull it all the way off.
He yanked the top down, exposing my breasts. “That’s better.”
He walked away, leaving me kneeling on the floor.
Chapter Six
What could I do but wait, just as Corbin had waited for me?
My high heels didn’t want to stay on, so I relaxed my toes to keep my arches from cramping. One shoe fell off completely with a dull thud.
Everything was silent. I was facing the front door, just as Corbin had been at 7:32. I stared at the gleaming golden knob, at the modern table where I usually dropped my keys and phone. I imagined the rest of the condo behind me: large, well-appointed, orderly, moonlight pouring through the skylights unless the computerized system had closed them—I’d been too distracted earlier to notice.
I’d assumed Corbin would leave me for thirty-two minutes, but he returned in a third of that time, shirtless, wearing black silk pajama bottoms.
The muscles of his arms and chest were thick, his abs sculpted. My body seemed to melt into liquid arousal at the prospect of being under him while he pumped inside me.
“Look at me,” Corbin said, and I raised my gaze to his. “Open up wide, baby.”
“Are we playing doctor?”
Corbin tugged at his waistband, and the silken pajamas pooled on the floor with an intimate rustle. Even though I dropped my gaze, I could still see his calves and thighs in my peripheral vision. They were molded steel, but the undeniable power of Corbin’s naked body wasn’t what caused the breath to stutter in my chest.
“We’re playing naughty bounty hunter gets disciplined by the criminal,” he said. “I’m gonna fuck your mouth with my weapon.”
He was joking, kind of. I swallowed as I stared at the enormous throbbing erection inches away, the prominent veins, the broad shaft. Corbin’s cock was a weapon. It was too large to be otherwise, and if he used it to bring me pleasure, it was because he chose to.
But even when he was trying to choke me, or trying to hurt me, I always enjoyed myself.
My tongue darted to wet my lips as I slowly parted them.
Corbin pinched my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “That’s enough,” he said even though I hadn’t opened wide.
Uh-oh, I thought.
He stepped a little closer, and the side of his cock bumped into my cheekbone. I could smell him, a combination of fragrant shower gel and his natural masculine musk.
Taking his thi
ck shaft in hand, he rubbed the head over my mouth. Everything was so quiet that I could hear the brush of skin on skin, the wet sounds as his cock forced my lips apart.
But I couldn’t open because of Corbin’s hold on my chin.
He dragged his cock to the side.
It tugged at the corner of my mouth, and I felt foolish, like he was drawing imaginary clown lips over my own. A slightly salty flavor traveled along my tongue, and I began to quiver with anticipation. My other high heel fell off my foot.
“Open for me,” Corbin commanded, his voice quiet. He relaxed his hold on my chin, and I opened wide and leaned forward to take as much of him as possible.
Hungry moans welled up from my throat. It had been too long since I’d had him in my mouth, and I’d missed it.
“You’re going to take me all the way,” he said, cupping the back of my head and urging me onto his length.
He allowed me a scant moment to master my gag reflex, then he continued deeper, his hard girth stretching my lips wide as he finally settled almost all the way inside me.
“Good,” he said breathlessly. “Very good. Suck me. Work my cock.”
I didn’t know why he bothered giving the order because he gripped his other hand in my hair, taking control, setting the tempo.
“Suck,” he said, slamming himself in so deep that I couldn’t breathe. I squirmed, but Corbin didn’t care, wouldn’t stop, not unless I used my safe gesture.
“I want to feel your lips, your tongue, your throat caressing me.”
He rocked back, and I feverishly laved his shaft with my tongue. I knew the veins pulsing on his cock, had traced them a million times. Moaning, I sucked harder on the swollen head.
“Oh, god,” he said. He was breathing quickly, and then he began rocking faster and faster.
Any hope I’d had of keeping up was abandoned. I dug my fingers into his rock-hard thighs, and all I could do was hold on as he claimed my mouth with every engorged inch of his delicious cock.
He pounded so hard that my lips started to go numb, and I even gave up on trying to breathe. When he triggered my gag reflex, he allowed me just enough time to overcome it, then he continued.