by Sara Brookes
Ezra.
Smirking, Kochran blocked off the entire row for the night. Challenge accepted, my friend. Challenge. Accepted.
* * *
For the third time that day, Maddy swore she’d imagined the last few conversations she’d had with Kochran and Ezra. All those not so subtle implications, those innuendo-filled invitations. The men had to be joking. She’d started it, allowing Kochran to claim a kiss her first night of work, and going a little further each time with Ezra. She wanted to crawl into a corner and die a few times of embarrassment. But then there’d been that scene with Kochran...
Neither man appeared put off by the fact they each had a place in her life. At least sexually. She reminded herself it was all just more harmless fun. It meant she wasn’t uptight. That she was capable to letting her hair down and having a good time. Maybe she was seeing things through rose-colored glasses. She wanted the men to be attracted to her because she found them both incredibly sexy. She didn’t want to have to decide because, mothertrucker, what they’d done to her still gave her the shivers days and days later.
The feel of Kochran’s arms banded around her as he held her during aftercare still lingered. That soothing embrace had stayed with her, giving comfort where she hadn’t realized it was needed. She’d been so focused on the scene, on how he’d made her feel, she’d completely forgotten about the period immediately following an intense connection. Having never experienced that level of care, she wasn’t sure how to live without it now. It had immediately become as integral to her as the actual scene itself. She’d loved the sound of his breathing steady in her ear while she’d floated on the cloud of euphoria. Her words slurred, her thoughts broken, as though she’d been drunk on the finest wine. She’d never expected the simple pleasure to have such a profound effect.
But something else had penetrated this newfound intimacy. As much as she adored every gift that Kochran had given her, an ache of loss had been prevalent. Not enough to diminish her enjoyment, but enough to remind her a piece of something she needed was missing. For too long she’d channeled her desires into other things. Work. Video games. Cracking code. Kochran and Ezra had opened a new world to her and showed her how she could exist in both and still be who she was. By integrating everything together, she could truly explore the woman she’d become. She wasn’t new, but enhanced. Madeline Zane 2.0.
She was still smiling at the thought when Ezra came into the office. “What has you so amused?”
“Just an upgrade I’ve been thinking about.” The one that made her all tingly inside.
“To the servers?”
“Myself,” she admitted.
When she looked up to his inquiring gaze, her heart gave a solid thump. Everything tightened at once, all in the right places. Her libido was pinging off the charts, but so was something else. Something she hadn’t expected.
Her heart.
Love wasn’t a part of her plan, but looking deeper, she realized she wasn’t ready to rule it out entirely. It would, however, need to be pushed off to the side because she wasn’t interested in exploring that particular aspect at the moment. The fact it was there at all meant she definitely had a connection with him.
As though he could see inside the deep recesses of her mind, Ezra scooted his hip onto her tiny desk. “Questioning everything that has been happening lately?”
“I wasn’t expecting to find this kind of thing when I broke into the website.”
“Well, no,” Ezra said carefully. “This place has a tendency to pull forth a lot of things from people. But what you do mean...thing?”
Maddy tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. At least her hands weren’t shaking. That had to be something. “A new world that accepted me fully, faults and all?”
“Faults are open to interpretation. Just like what one person thinks is odd, another person covets. Weird is normal for some. Like you.”
She blinked. “It’s odd, hearing that I’m weird but that it’s okay.”
“I like weird. I like strange.” Ezra cupped her jaw, cradling it. “Most of all, I like you.”
His interest made a warm ball of fuzzy things glow inside her core. “I’ve had great relationships with the men I’ve dated. Hell, my business partner is my ex-boyfriend. But the whole spark thing has never been there. Sex was okay, but more like a way to relieve tension or something.” Maddy cringed. “That didn’t sound right.”
“It wasn’t fun?”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever had fun intercourse.” She blushed at the admission.
“Ah, so that’s your deep, dark secret. You haven’t been hurt before, you just haven’t opened yourself to possibility.” Ezra held out his hand. “How about we change that?”
Maddy stared at his outstretched hand, unable to form words.
“You’ve already taken the first few baby steps. Waded a little deeper with Kochran. Discovered you liked what you’d been exposed to because you’re still here. You didn’t run from the building screaming about the freaks who get off on all kinds of kinky things. How about stepping up on the diving board with me and finding out just how much fun jumping off can be?”
“I don’t know if I can.” Though he’d described exactly what she’d hoped for when she’d written out her fantasy. “Some days, my mind is like a thousand tabs open on a web browser.”
“An excellent Dom will focus your mind down to only one.”
The analogy made her smile. She’d been drawn to him the moment she’d calmed down after yelling at Kochran, then even more so when she’d had her head about her that first day of work. Like his boss, there was something about him that wasn’t intimidating, but totally was at the same time.
She couldn’t shake the feeling they both could make her kneel with the right look. That something wasn’t a thing she could define, but she knew she wanted it. She also knew both men could give it to her. Sure, it wouldn’t be exactly the same, but that was part of the thrill. They could help define all those things on that list. Why had she written out the fantasy she had about sitting at a Dominant’s knee and not one that was far tamer?
A woman could dream.
With Ezra and Kochran, she didn’t have to.
Chapter Nineteen
Maddy held her breath as she stepped into the themed room dubbed the Cloud. This was the first time she’d been on this side of the glass in this particular area of the club reserved for semi-private play.
She’d hoped for this room and hadn’t at the same time. It was light and airy and...romantic. Better than the gothic set up of the next room over, with its ominous shadows and walls comprising oversized, dark stone block with sconces hanging from elaborate hooks embedded in the stone. Or the sterile medical examination room at the end of the row. Or the one filled with all sorts of medieval torture implements on the other side of the hall. Or the makeshift garden that spanned the last two rooms.
Though she’d like the pain Kochran had introduced her to, she definitely wasn’t ready for some of the more sophisticated, and darker, aspects of the lifestyle. The soft, dreamy air of the linen walls and sheer, draping curtains that hung from the ceiling and framed a gorgeous antique bed was more along the lines of what she needed tonight.
A fun perk had come along with her new status as full member of the club: access to the massive closet of clothing located on the top floor just down from Ezra’s office, available to members. Maddy wore an outfit she’d found tucked between the gleaming stilettos and leather corsets. The white linen dress shifted over her skin like it weighed nothing. With spaghetti straps and tiny pink roses, it was the most feminine thing she’d ever worn. In ways she couldn’t explain, it made her feel pretty. For a woman who lived in yoga pants and oversized tees, the dress was enlightening.
She made a slow circuit of the room, taking it all in. As she walked forward, she n
oticed something was affixed to the window, low near the floor. Though she’d passed the room many times, she’d never noticed it before. The window, sure. The pane of glass meant anyone could walk by and see what was happening in the room. Fine with her. She wanted people to see. Wanted everyone to know she had the privilege of playing with two of the finest damn Doms at the club.
As she stepped closer, she noted a circular item was stuck to the surface with suction cups and a loop of the same metal was connected to the center. It reminded her of the fancy towel holders she seen in the bathrooms here at the club. Unable to stop herself, she reached out and gave it a sharp tug. It didn’t budge when she pulled harder. Huh. Strange.
The door opened and she snatched her hand away as though she’d been burned. Ezra stepped into the room, his hair damp. His stark white shirt hung open, revealing the lines of his abdomen and torso. Blue jeans. Bare feet. It was as though he’d stepped off the pages of a magazine and onto a beach to spend the day relaxing.
She suddenly felt overdressed and picked at the low neckline of the gauzy dress. He smiled as he came closer and set his hand over hers. “Nervous?”
Lying to him would be silly. “A bit. Maybe I should have thought about my clothing choice a little more. You look so...relaxed.”
He dragged his finger under one thin strap. “It’s perfect.” Everything inside her went warm as he pressed his mouth against hers. “Just like you are.”
Need and relief made her weak all over.
“As much as I adore looking at you like this, the dress really does need to come off.” Ezra whisked it away without preamble.
Her blood ran hot at the way his gaze coursed over her naked body. That gaze stayed focused on her as he lowered himself onto the overstuffed white couch against one wall. The soft light spilling over him showcased the definition of his shoulders, his pecs, the dark circles of his nipples, and the trail of dark hair her gaze followed to the bulge in his jeans.
Maddy licked her lips, imaging how Ezra would taste against her tongue.
“Come stand in front of me.”
She did as ordered, feeling a little out of her body and grounded all at once. It was an interesting dichotomy. She burned for the promise of what was to come, need and fear and surrender a blissful mix in her system. He stared at her, the minutes stretching out for so long, she lost track of time. She sank into her head, that lovely, cottony blend of subspace that was as intoxicating as any fine wine.
“Bend over.”
She did so without hesitation, loving the way the position placed her mouth directly over the denim encasing his straining erection. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. But they had quite a few steps to progress through before she would be allowed the pleasure of having him in her mouth.
She inhaled the heavy, musky scent of him, catching the traces of precome that indicated he’d been rock hard for quite some time. The yearning to taste him increased with each passing second. When she pressed her lips to the fabric, he cupped the back of her head and tightened his hand in her hair. She gave a soft groan when he tugged and pulled her away from his crotch.
“You’re glowing, Maddy.”
He shifted his hold, positioning her so she was perched on her knees between his spread legs. With his free hand, he tugged on his jeans, parting the fly so she could see the fabric barely constraining him underneath. No help for it—her mouth started to water as he tucked his thumb under the elastic waistband and pulled down slowly. Inch by infinitesimal inch, he uncovered his erection. She’d touched the length of it before, had it in her mouth, so his size didn’t come as a surprise. But from her angle, she had an entirely different perspective of how long and thick it truly was once again. He stood high and hard and proud and so beautiful.
“And now you look as though I’m the feast you want to ravish.”
She nodded as her gaze coursed over the shaft, thickly veined and already beautifully flushed with arousal. The desperate need to touch him, use her fingers to map him, rose to join the sea of sensations twisting through her. She wanted to do everything at once.
“May I touch you?”
He tilted his head to the side as he released her hair. “No.” Immediately, a sense of dread knifed through her. He touched the skin between her eyebrows, smoothing away the tension. “Just your lovely mouth for the moment.”
It was a diabolical strategy, granting her only part of what she craved. Still, the more he denied her things, the more turned on she became. Like a length of rope, they were twinned inexorably around one another in an erotic dance. So much of what Ezra did for her, to her, was like Kochran’s commands, yet so different at the same time.
“Go on.”
She sighed around that first contact between her tongue and the tip of his cock. Unable to help herself, she closed her lips around the broad head. Ezra grunted, but said nothing to admonish her. Parting her lips, she licked the slit, tasting the dampness there. Though he’d denied her the ability to touch him, he allowed her the freedom to explore with her mouth. She used the tip of her tongue to trace the underside of the crown, the ridge, and loved the contrast. Trailing down, the difference between the smooth velvety skin and the crest of the veins stood out in relief. She pressed her lips in an open-mouthed kiss against the base.
Ezra grunted again, this time gruffly, as though it was caught somewhere between a growl and a moan. The noise washed over her back, erupting a trail of gooseflesh wherever the sound caressed. Encouraged, she repositioned, and closed her mouth around the crown. His thighs quivered against her shoulders as she traveled over the heated steel with slow, dragging movements.
“Did you like when Kochran used the flogger on you?”
She pulled off, startled by the question at first, fighting the urge to look up at him to see his expression. “I was sore the next morning. But in a good way. Like I had this constant reminder, this trigger, that made me think about him, about what he did during the scene. Every time I did, it turned me on.”
“Would it also turn you on to know I wanted to touch each and every one of those marks afterward? To press on them so you’d feel them even more?”
She looked up to him. His eyes had gone half-lidded, a dreamy expression painting his face, as though he’d gotten lost in his own imagery. “I’d like that.”
Ezra’s eyes snapped clear. “I needed to feel those marks, too. Feel them hot against my palms while I held you down and fucked you.” The vivid pictures of that confession flashed in stunning color before her eyes. “Mmm, you like that idea. Your eyes just lost focus and your breathing is uneven. My little kinky coder.”
The power emanating from Ezra was so intense, she lost her train of thought. She drew in a deep breath, enjoying the way that authority made her feel. Her hunger for him increased exponentially.
Ezra touched the hinge of her jaw, dragging his thumb down to the corner of her lips. She parted for him, tasting the flavor of his skin in her mouth, reminding her what it had been like to have his cock resting against her tongue.
“Take me into your mouth again, Maddy.” He fed his cock between her eager lips.
She needed him with the same longing that she had to feel him nestled deep in her cunt. Her ass. Maddy thought she was going to die from the pleasure. The ache in her gut as the knot of desire drew tighter and tighter, a sign that when she was finally granted release, it was going to feel so mothertruckin’ fantastic.
With Ezra in her mouth again, she looked up the taper of his abdomen, the mouthwatering terrain of his chest. Pleased, she focused on the part of him in her mouth, the length of which she was ready to lick like the finest, most delicious ice cream. Every inch of him pleased her and she allowed it to show by groaning softly as she opened more so he could slip into her throat. Ezra answered with a quiet murmur of pleasure. Instinct took hold of her as she savored him, sucking him slowly as though she had no
need to breathe.
“Jesus Christ.” Ezra’s quiet words were like a prayer. He wrapped his hand against her nape, and Maddy reveled in the tremble of those strong fingers. She pulled back enough to inhale and then sank once again. The strong taste of his muskiness leaked from the tip, making her crave more. With Ezra deep in her throat, she entered an almost trancelike state, her enjoyment originating from the pleasure she was gifting him.
His cock pulsed and she drew back. This time, she used her tongue, mouth, and teeth to slowly slide up and down. She caressed Ezra, increasing the suction every so often to draw forth a hiss from him. The glistening moisture her mouth left on his length made it seem as though she was polishing him.
Her focus narrowed further so she was aware of only Ezra. It had been the same on the stage with Kochran, the knowledge that others were watching enough to give her exhibitionist streak a thrill. With her back to the glass, she had no way to know if others were present, but for the moment, she didn’t care. Her only task was to gift her pleasure to him.
“You’re so fucking good at this.”
Maddy made an inarticulate sound as Ezra tightened his fingers and took total control of the moment. Her breath came out hard and raspy as he guided his cock against the back of her throat, pushing past her gag reflex again, growling as he nestled deep. He leisurely fucked her mouth, alternating between shallow and deep thrusts.
Just when she thought he was going to release down her throat, he pulled her completely off him, angled close and took her mouth with a fierce, urgent growl of possession. He tore his mouth away again, his eyes alight with an intense fire as he spoke. “As much as I love what you’re doing, it’s my turn to play.”