Playing Jax [Wylde Shore 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Jan Graham

  “I won’t let anything happen to her, Marcus. Not only would you never forgive me, but neither would the sexy woman across the road.”

  “Yes, look after Aunt Rhia as well.” Marcus stood to leave. “She’s Bethany’s favorite aunt.”

  “She’s Bethany’s only aunt.” Steve corrected. “Bethany needn’t worry. I’ll make sure Rhia is kept safe and happy.”

  Marcus paused near the entrance to the garage stairwell. A frown creased his brow, and his voice carried a tone of concern.

  “You have an admirer, my friend. I’ve seen him as I’ve been checking up on you.”

  “I swear the information you come across rivals God’s knowledge. Who is it?

  “In this case God knows more than me. I have no idea who it is, my friend. He is probably in his late twenties to early thirties. I initially assumed he was linked to your drug investigation, but now I’m not sure. I’ve seen him at Miss M’s, the station, here at your place. Tonight however, he was across the road. Don’t look so concerned, he didn’t gain access, and he was gone by the time you arrived home with her.” Marcus looked thoughtful for a moment. “My gut tells me it’s not the drug case he’s involved with. He’s always well hidden, watching but not interfering with anything. I’m convinced he’s watching you, Steve. He’s collecting information about you, those around you. If I wasn’t leaving the country, I could possibly find out more. Unfortunately that won’t be possible. Be careful, my friend.”

  Steve didn’t doubt Marcus was telling him the truth. He just had no idea who the stranger could be. Still, he’d have to be more careful. His thoughts immediately turned to Rhia. He didn’t like the idea of a man snooping around her home. He’d have to ensure he upped her home security for times she was by herself. Not that he intended to give her much time alone.

  He glanced across the road toward her house. The lights were still on. He’d go over and make sure she was okay. He cursed and glanced at his watch as the lights started to turn off. Eight p.m. was early to go to bed, but then, she’d had an emotional day. As he opened the door to sprint across the street, she emerged from the house.

  * * * *

  Rhia walked quickly across the road. She should have gone straight to Steve’s. The time at home alone had only served to make her mood worse. She should be feeling relieved. Instead she had a sense of impending doom. She’d spent the last hour telling herself that Patrick was safe and his mother was going to recover. His father would never hurt them again. With every positive reminder came the what-ifs.

  What if Kevin Johns was given bail? What if he came back for vengeance instead of staying away? What if he convinced his wife to return to him? What if they died just like the family in England?

  She could see Steve standing in the doorway, watching her like a sexy guardian angel as she crossed the street and walked up his drive. She was so lucky to have found a man like him, caring, protective and dependable. Not to mention sexy. She knew Steve would never hurt her. Even when she asked him to, and she intended to ask him soon.

  She’d been talking with Angel, investigating BDSM. She had a lot to learn, but from what she’d discovered she was keen to be the submissive woman Steve needed in his life. The little spank on her bottom he’d given her as she left his office played on her mind. Rhia had watched videos that she found on the internet and was aroused by what she’d seen.

  The thought of being so wicked as to look up porn on the internet made her giggle. She shivered as Steve took hold of her hand and led her into the house. His touch always sent a tingle through her body. The firm spank on her bottom would do more than make her tingle. It would make her wet. After all, the thought of it was enough to have that effect.

  “What were you giggling at as you came up the steps?” He pulled her into his arms and stared down at her. She loved the way he looked at her. Even when he was being all dominant and bossy, the look melted her heart.

  “I looked up porn on the internet the other day. Who knew people like to do half of the stuff that goes on behind closed doors?”

  Steve groaned in frustration as he pulled her down onto the sofa with him, sitting her on his knee. “Dare I ask if you liked anything you saw?” He leant toward her and gently kissed her lips.

  “I liked lots of things I saw,” she answered as he continued to apply tender little kisses down her neck. “I watched someone being spanked, and flogged, and tied up in red rope. I saw a woman have sex with two men. Oh my goodness, who knew people could do that? I mean she seemed to like it. But…well…”

  The words trailed away as he slipped his hand under her shirt, cupped her breast, and teased at her nipple through the soft cotton Lycra that covered it.

  “You’re a bad girl, aren’t you, sweetheart? Tell me what you thought of what you watched.” He continued to kiss his way over her neck.

  “I got wet. I found it arousing, but I don’t understand why. I mean, after tonight with a woman lying in hospital…why would I find it stimulating to watch someone being hit? And the flogger, I don’t understand it really.”

  “It’s different. It’s not abuse, Rhia. It’s consensual. The Dom monitors what’s going on and makes sure the sub remains within the limit of what they like, what they can endure. Would you like an example?” As soon as Rhia indicated yes, Steve pushed her bra cup aside and began manipulating her nipple between two fingers.

  “Is that pleasurable or painful?” he asked. It was definitely pleasure. The moan that escaped her lips left no doubt.

  His fingers pressed a little harder as he rolled the nub between them. He asked the question again.

  “Mmm, pleasure.” As soon as she answered the press turned into a pinch. She moaned at the pleasure even though slight discomfort accompanied it. He released the pressure a little and then gave a firmer pinch, pulling on the nipple as he pinched it.

  “Pleasure or pain, Rhia?” He asked.

  “Um…still pleasure I think, yes pleasure.”

  “Tell me when it becomes pain.” His fingers firmed once again, pinching the nipple tighter, pulling it hard in an upward motion.

  “Ouch…no…yes, still pleasure.” Her little mewling sounds had become louder, more frantic. The line was beginning to blur. It hurt sometimes but quickly became nice again. Her body was still reacting to the touch as if it was pleasurable, but her mind registered pain at certain points throughout his ministrations.

  “I don’t know, pleasure, still…Pain.” She screamed the word as he gave a final hard pinch, twisting the nipple to the side.

  Whereas before she was thrusting her breast forward, seeking the touch, she quickly jerked back, her hand pushing against his in an attempt to retreat from his fingers. He swiftly dipped his head, his mouth replaced his fingers and he licked the tight button firmly, sucking it into his mouth, laving it with his tongue. The pain disappeared, replaced once again with an arousing action that she pressed into, sought out with a long slow groan of delight.

  Cool air flow over her nipple as he released it from between heated lips. “Do you have a better understanding now, baby?”

  “That was a good example, except now I’m all horny, and I decided I was too worried about Patrick to have sex tonight.”

  He pulled the bra and top back over her breast and snuggled her head against his chest. “No sex it is. Now tell me why you’re worried.”

  Rhia sat on his lap and told Steve her story. She poured out all the grief and frustration she felt over the family that had been murdered in her English parish. As she spoke, Rhia suddenly realize she’d never expressed her feelings about the incident. Yes, she’d relayed the story to the media, Meg and Barry. Up until now no one had bothered to ask how the murders affected her. Steve listened intently. He didn’t tell her she shouldn’t feel the way she did, or that she needed to get over it…he listened.

  “I’m worried that Patrick and his mother might not be safe. What if they go back home and…”

  “It’s their choice Rhia. And if someth
ing happens it won’t be your fault, just like it wasn’t your fault that the young woman and her children died in England.”

  “I can’t go through something like that again. I had nightmares for months. I cried for nearly as long. It was horrible. I kept thinking I should have done more, made them safe somehow. I really did try to convince her not to return home, that the priest was wrong. A marriage where a woman is beaten by her husband is not sanctified by God, no matter what the priest said. I don’t know why she didn’t listen to me. Maybe I didn’t explain it correctly or something.” Rhia wiped away the tears that fell as she spoke to Steve.

  “I’m sure you explained it just fine, sweetheart. You did all you could, as I said it comes down to choice. She chose to believe the priest and go home.” Steve gently stroked her back.

  “But what about Patrick and his mom, what if history repeats itself?” Rhia knew she wouldn’t be able to cope with the guilt she’d feel, having not been able to help.

  “We’ve done all we can to keep them safe, to give them a positive outcome so they can move on to a better life. That’s all we can do, the rest is up to them.”

  “I wish I’d had you with me in England. I wouldn’t have been so scared and alone. Especially after I went to the media and blew the whistle on the priest and the church’s attitude.”

  The feelings of fear and isolation during the last few months in England still played on Rhia’s mind. It had been a time of reassessment, the time she had decided that her faith was based on a falsehood, a book open to interpretation by whoever read it and her interpretation was far different from that of the church she had once been so devoted to.

  “I hate the thought of you being scared and alone. I never want you to feel like that again.”

  Rhia sat quietly nestled in Steve’s arms, enjoying the tingle that ran through her body like little sparks of electricity each time he stroked her back or legs. When his hand finally can to rest at the juncture of her thighs, she let out a soft moan.

  “Have I told you how pleased I am that you’ve been wearing these delectable panties for me? I particularly like the pink ones you wore on Wednesday.” His fingers stroked the crotch, pooling more moisture on the fabric from between her legs. “However, tonight, I’d like them off, so lift up for me.”

  Rhia raised her bottom slightly as he gripped the material and dragged it downward. When the panties were free of her body, he held them up and inspected them before he scrunched them up in his palm.

  “I’m tempted to smell them.” His eyes sparkled with mischief as he smiled at her.

  “You’re a bad man sometimes.” Rhia giggled. “That’s so dirty.”

  “You don’t know the half of it, sweetheart.” Steve made a growling noise as he placed the panties next to him on the lounge. “Now where was I?”

  Steve slipped his hand back under her skirt and began to toy with the dark curls at the apex of her sex.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m exploring the novelty of your lush, soft curls.”

  “I did notice all the porn girls didn’t have hair. I was thinking of shaving it off to see what it felt like.” Steve buried his face against the side of her head and groaned. “Is that a good groan or a bad groan?”

  Rhia knew it was a good groan because his cock flinched beneath her. He’d been so patient with her. His erection had been evident beneath her lap since they’d first sat down. He hadn’t once complained about her statement of no sex, but as he played she wondered if she might not change her mind.

  “It’s a good groan. I love the curls as they tickle against me when I go down on you, but I’d also love to taste you bare.” Steve’s tongue moved unhurriedly across his lower lip after he replied. His eyes had become dark and filled with lust. “Let me shave you.”

  Rhia gasped softly. His expression conveyed the desire behind his request. She was strangely aroused at the thought of allowing him to do something so intimate and found herself nodding in anticipation before the word yes passed her lips.

  Steve lifted her off his lap and placed her on the sofa. He moved in and out of the room, collecting the items he deemed necessary, a towel, water, washcloth, and a teak wooden box.

  “Stand up for me.” Rhia quickly complied with his command.

  He removed her skirt and top and laid her lengthways along the coffee table, a soft thick towel beneath her and a small cushion under her head. He sat down on a small stool and placed her feet on his knees, his legs spread to either side of the low table. She lay open before him.

  Steve opened the wooden box and pulled out a razor, filling her with a sense of trepidation. She’d expected a disposable razor like she’d bought to use on her legs and underarms. The old-fashioned cutthroat razor looked like new. The steel caught the light as he unfolded it from the handle to reveal the blade.

  “I inherited it from my grandfather.” Rhia gulped nervously, her eyes fixed on the shiny blade. “I will never do anything to endanger you, Rhia. Do you believe me when I say that?” He stroked her curls and tenderly ran his fingers along either side of her pussy lips.

  Rhia’s heart pounded, a fragment of fear edging at her mind. She started into his eyes and glanced toward the blade and back again. “I believe you and I trust you. I was just expecting something plastic.”

  He chuckled as he bent forward. He kissed her curls lovingly and whispered see you again soon against her mound. She closed her eyes as the razor moved between her legs. He trimmed away the excess hair, the blade never coming near her skin. She opened her eyes when warm water trickled over her sex as he moistened the remaining hair. The water soothed her skin, even as the heat of arousal began to build inside her. He applied the soapy lather to her skin using an old-fashioned shaving brush. Rhia moaned as his fingers moved gently over the area. The impersonal brush discarded, he massaged along the crest of her sex, fingers sliding along either side of her lips.

  “You are so beautiful, baby, and so responsive, even to the gentlest of my touches. My cock is pounding in my jeans as I do this for you. It’s so damn hard.”

  She watched him wipe his fingers clean of soap and once again pick up the razor. The skin pulled taught beneath his fingers and a shiver thrilled her spine as he removed the first of the hair. He shaved her effortlessly, like he’d done it a million times before.

  She began to ache for him, moisture building between her lips. Her nipples peaked beneath her bra, and her breath became shallow as unfamiliar sensations flowed over her. She responded to everything he was doing, the water warming her skin, the creaminess of the soap against her flesh, the tickle of the brush, and then the coolness of the blade as it stroked over her.

  “Oh my god, this is so…so…I don’t know what it is. It’s—”

  “Erotic,” the word came softly from his lips.

  “Erotic,” Rhia breathed the word and the blade of the razor once again slid over her taught skin. She heard the light scraping sound and wanted to sigh. “I don’t understand what’s happening. All you’re doing is shaving me.”

  “I’m doing more than that, sweetness.” He kissed her inner thigh. She couldn’t hold back the groan that indicated her overwhelming arousal. “I am tending to your needs. I’m touching your sex. When you look down at me you see me watching the most intimate part of you. Your body’s reacting to the combined memory of what we’ve shared together, my possession of this part of you. The way I’ve stroked you with my fingers, my tongue, and my cock and the pleasure you experience from those acts.”

  Rhia felt like she might come just hearing his words. His deep, husky voice sounded so sensual and when he gazed up from between her thighs, his eyes, filled with heated lust, sparkled the deepest shade of blue sapphire. Her pussy clenched at the sight of him. Warm water on the soft washcloth eased away the residual lather that tainted her skin. He cupped her now-naked mound, stroked across her, his long fingers easing between her lips.

  “You’re so wet for me.” His head descende
d closer to her, and she heard the groan of a man trying to hold onto his control. The swipe of his tongue between her bare folds was the beginning of pleasure that would last for hours to come.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Steve dragged the St. Andrews cross out of the storage room in the back of the garage. For something that had been packed away for nearly two years, it still looked as good as new. He sorted through the other bits and pieces he had packed away. The list of new items was getting longer. He should have thought about the ramification of keeping the dungeon equipment he’d shared with Kathy. The reason they’d been packed away for so long was because he hadn’t wanted to deal with any of this.

  Rhia was asking to be trained as his submissive. He didn’t doubt she had the potential to meet all his needs, but he wanted to be sure she was pressing the issue because it was her interest. It shouldn’t be something she was doing just because of him. There was no way to find out for sure unless he took the plunge and actually officially entered into an agreement with her. At this point he’d just been giving her little tests to see if she had the nature of a submissive.

  She was showing definite promise and interest. His methods to date had been subtle. She responded to instruction well and obviously wanted to please him. She didn’t mind exploring the pleasurable side of pain. She was eager to please, to obey him if he did the Dominant thing as she called it.

  In the back of his mind though, he had one nagging doubt. If Rhia didn’t know he was a Dom, would she still be interested in being a submissive?

  He’d decided to set up the dungeon again. The room in his home that he envisaged housing the dungeon had been sitting empty since he’d moved in. The walls had been painted and flooring installed when he bought the place. He’d resisted installing the fixtures and other items because he didn’t want to stare at a dungeon he had no use for. He wasn’t sure if setting the space up now was appropriate or not. He may still end up with a room that reminded him of what he’d once had with Kathy, should Rhia decide submission was not what she believed it to be.