He looked devastatingly handsome. The midnight-blue suit and black button-down shirt suited him. She could just make out wisps of dark hair peeking from beneath his open collar. She imagined ripping open his shirt and licking her way across his chest, a voyage of discovery to see if the lush, dark hair really did go all the way down.
“And you prefer lilies?”
Turning, she gave him a weak smile. “I’ve always been a little unconventional.”
He leaned in and toyed with a strand of her hair. She could smell his cologne. Something woodsy, spicy and oh-so-masculine.
“Have you thought about me, Tessa? Have you touched yourself and got wet thinking about me?”
Where the hell had that come from? She blinked. Her breathing quickened. What could she say to that? “I don’t think that’s an appropriate question.”
He laughed. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“That means you have been thinking about me.”
She frowned. Of course she’d been thinking about him but it was arrogant to ask. “Think highly of yourself, don’t you?” Despite his arrogance, her body couldn’t help being attracted to his. He was a pretty package.
He shrugged. “Not really. I’ve been thinking about you.”
He stood in front of her, placed his hands on the sink to either side of her body and leaned down, sniffed the crook of her neck. Tessa had to bite her lip to keep from moaning. She barely knew the guy and he was crowding her space like they were old lovers. His dominance thrilled and terrified her. Her heart slammed against her rib cage, her pussy wept.
Like a moth to a flame. She silenced the pesky voice in her head and tried to keep her voice steady as she replied, “What have you been thinking?”
“I’ve been thinking about you on your knees. Your pretty breasts bound and naked for my attention. I’ve been thinking about pinching your nipples, wondering what they look like. Are they pink and rosy? Or peachy? I bet they are rosy. I bet they blush like the pink on your cheeks. Hmmm.” His tongue snaked along the crook of her neck.
She shivered. His warm, wet tongue sent zings of pleasure coursing through her body. She imagined him running that tongue across her nipples. They stiffened to hard peaks beneath her dress.
“Have you been thinking about me, Tessa?”
She managed to choke out a single word. “Yes.”
“Good.” He stepped away.
Her body cooled. She instantly missed his heat. Why had he stopped? She swallowed, turned her head to look at him.
A smile played on the corners of his lips. He held out a hand. “You ready to go?”
Was she? Hell no. She was stunned and horny. He’d invaded her space, turned her on and left her hanging. Is this what she could expect?
The doubts didn’t stop her from slipping her hand into his. His grip was firm and warm. Electrifying. One small touch sent electrical zings buzzing in her nerve endings.
At that moment, they could have plugged her into the national grid and she would have lit up the entire USA. She wanted to wrap her legs around his waist and rub her aching clit against his crotch.
Tessa gulped. If that was one mere touch, what would sex with Jared do to her system? Yikes!
“Let me just grab my purse, and I’m all set.”
He smiled, an oh-so-knowing smile that said he was the wolf and she was poor Little Red Riding Hood, waiting to be eaten.
Well…she was waiting to be eaten, but in an entirely different sense.
A blush rode high on her cheekbones. She locked up and Jared escorted her to his car. He held open the door like a true gentleman. Her thigh brushed against his as she slipped into the passenger seat. Heat seeped into her skin and her breathing quickened. Her nipples strained against her bra, begging to be touched. Moisture leaked from her slit.
She heard him moan. At least the whole sexual attraction thing wasn’t a one-way street after all.
She swallowed the pulse beating frantically in the back of her throat. Tonight was going to be terrifying and titillating.
* * * * *
The restaurant was a small, chic place she’d read about in magazines. It had rave reviews. What struck her most was the intimacy of the place. Small booths, big enough for two to four people, lined the walls. Most of them were full. The maître d’ led them to a private area at the back of the restaurant. Nestled away in a corner, their booth was slightly plusher than the rest.
Once they were seated, menus in hand, Tessa told Jared, “This is a nice place. I never had the chance to eat here.”
He wasn’t looking at the menu. He stared at her instead, watching her every move as if fascinated. “I’ve been here a few times. It’s a good place. Great food. Nice atmosphere. Friendly. Discreet.”
She nearly asked what he meant by discreet but the waiter came to take their order. Tessa asked for wine. Despite the smart suit, the fancy car and the expensive restaurant, Jared ordered a bottled beer.
With the wine poured, they were once again alone. Tessa took a small sip of her wine. It wouldn’t do to gulp it down. She didn’t want Jared to think her a drunk. He already thought her the kind of gal who made sexual deals with strangers. “So, I guess we should talk about this arrangement.”
Jared reached for his beer. Condensation ran down the frosted glass, and he trailed a finger up, catching the droplet of moisture. Tessa’s gaze followed his finger as he slipped it into his mouth, sucking suggestively.
Everything about this guy screamed sex. Her pussy clenched and tightened. She squeezed her knees together and moisture gathered in the crotch of her panties. An image of Jared between her legs, sucking her clit into the moist cavern of his mouth, flashed into her mind. His tongue coating her nether lips as he gave her pussy long, languid licks.
“We’ll get to that.” Lifting the bottle, he took a sip. “How about we start with something simple. Something normal, like your work, life, friends, family. The usual stuff.”
Fascinated by the way his lips fit around the top of the bottle, she took a while to answer.
“Something normal…” She reached for something to tell him. “You already know I’m a sex therapist.” She sipped at her wine between statements. “I have a mother and a father in Boston. No siblings. I have a few ‘best’ friends, a number of acquaintances.”
Jared raised an eyebrow. “Lovers?”
Choking on her wine, she spit some of it back into the glass. Not very classy but hell, he’d just asked a very personal question. Something she did every day to her clients. Now that the tables were turned, she squirmed in her seat. “Lovers. Well…yes…I’ve had lovers.”
Jared leaned back and toyed with the beer label. “How many lovers?”
“Two, three maybe.”
“How many, Tessa?”
She shrugged, a nonchalant gesture, hoping to appear more casual than she actually felt. “Two. One in college. One more recently.”
“And why did that end?”
“Look.” Anger began to bubble. “I really don’t think that is any of your business.”
Quick as lightning, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. The gesture should have been menacing but it wasn’t. Instead, it felt erotic. His fingertips caressed her pulse point. “It is my business. More than you think. As your Dominant, I need to know everything that’s happened in your sexual past. I need to know how far to go. We need to have mutual trust.”
She gave him a withering stare. “I know about submission and dominance, Jared. I’m a sex therapist, remember?”
He grinned. “How could I forget? So, doctor, tell me what you know about BDSM.”
It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. “We’ll get to that later. First I want to know about Jared Campbell.”
“Nothing much to tell.”
She nodded at his beer. “You drink beer from a bottle. Not expensive beer but average-guy beer. Yet you wear extremely expensive suits and drive a car costing more than my house. You frequent BDSM clubs yet you fe
el no need to indulge yourself in the fashion of the scene. You, Jared, are an enigma.”
Laughing at her analysis, Jared started to answer. The waiter interrupted, bringing their meal. The scent of hot, spicy food made her stomach growl. Jared looked at her and she pressed a hand to her traitorous stomach, apologizing for the noise.
“Please, never apologize for your body’s needs.”
“I always seem to be apologizing for my needs.”
He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
It was difficult to explain. She didn’t want to get into her past right now. It would ruin the night.
She toyed with the stem of her wineglass and stared at the full-bodied liquid. “I just haven’t had the greatest experience with submission. I guess you could say I’m afraid to face my desires. Does that make sense?”
His fingers caressed her knuckles and she looked over at him. He stared at her, compassion filling his eyes. “Yes, it makes sense.”
“Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
They ate in pleasurable silence. Occasionally they would speak, making small talk about the exquisite taste of the food or the awful weather. Once the meal was over and dessert had been served, Jared answered her question about the beer.
“I drink beer from a bottle because it was the way I was taught to drink back in my hometown.” He raised a beer in mock salute and spoke with an exaggerated Texan twang. “We Texans know how to appreciate a fine brew.”
She laughed as he mimicked a heavy accent.
“Sometimes I like to wear nice suits. I’m a guy, so obviously I like to drive nice cars. I used to frequent BDSM clubs, now I just stick to small parties run by friends and Inferno. I don’t feel the need to wear the ‘clothes of the scene’, because when I’m working, I like to keep things semi-professional.” He tipped his beer in her direction. “See, I ain’t an enigma. Just a normal guy from Texas, trying to make a living.”
“Working? You work at Inferno?” She wondered what he did. Bartender? Manager? Stage-show organizer?
“Why, sugar, I don’t just work there. This Texas hick owns the joint.”
She tried, and failed miserably, to hide her surprise. “I’m sorry. It’s just…well…I never expected…”
“You never expected a young, handsome guy like myself to also have a brain?”
She grinned at his self-deprecating humor. “Something like that. So Inferno is yours?”
He nodded. “Lock, stock and dungeons’ worth of goods.”
“Impressive. I hear it’s doing well.”
“I get by.” He drummed his fingertips on the table. Once. Twice. “Now, I answered your questions. Time for you to answer mine. What do you know of BDSM, Tessa?”
She settled back into her seat. The booths were very plush. Anyone could feel at home here. Although other couples were in the room, Tessa felt like she and Jared were alone in their own private world. They really got the atmosphere right in this place.
“Dominance and submission is all about trust. Mutual trust. It is about consent and pleasure, for both parties.” She smiled. “I could give you a whole textbook analysis of the lifestyle but I know it would bore you.” She pushed back a stray strand of hair. “Now tell me what you know on the subject.” She imagined from his experiences, he knew a whole lot.
An image of him as a kinky dungeon master, top to toe in leather, complete with mask and a wooden paddle, flashed into her mind. She sat on hands and knees, thighs spread wide as he smacked the paddle against her ass, occasionally grazing her pussy. The image made her hot. The thought of supplication to his will, the promise of release through pain, made her wet.
“A relationship of this kind is grounded in mutual respect and, as you said, trust. Ultimately, it is the submissive who holds the most power. Or that’s the way it should be. In a perfect relationship, the submissive should be proud to submit to her Dominant, while the Dom should be proud to receive the gift of submission. A good Dominant should know his sub’s needs, anticipate them. Trust and respect are the key issues.”
Obviously, he knew a lot. Unprepared for the stabs of jealousy that coursed through her body, Tessa couldn’t stop herself from blurting, “How many women have submitted to you in the past, Jared?”
If he said hundreds, she was out the door. Giving her body to a man-slut wasn’t on her agenda. She wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship but she needed to respect the man she had sex with. She couldn’t give up control to a man she didn’t respect, and she couldn’t respect anyone who inhaled sexual encounters liked air.
His eyes spoke volumes. I know exactly what you are asking, Tessa.
She looked for a chance to escape. Though the meal so far hadn’t included any talk of having sex, she became increasingly aware of Jared’s presence. Every shift of his body caught her eye, from the way his fingers danced across his beer bottle, to the graceful shrug of shoulders. Every time he smiled, her gaze gravitated to his lips. He just oozed sex and masculinity.
At times she wanted to defy his effect on her. She wanted to walk out, cancel the arrangement and never look back. The rest of the time, the majority of the time, she wanted to drop to her knees, nip at his ankles and beg, “Take me now!”
“I choose my partners carefully. There have only been a few over the years. All of those have been long-term. I’m not in the habit of using kink as a cheap trick to get laid.” A dazzling grin made him look like the devil incarnate. “I can get laid all by myself.”
Usually arrogance in a man made her roll her eyes and groan, but it suited him. Jared Campbell was the type of man women threw their panties at.
Still, a hint of uncertainty crawled down her spine. He’d tracked her down and offered her a deal after one brief interlude, it wasn’t exactly choosing carefully. Before they went any further, she needed to clear that up. If she didn’t, it would gnaw away at her subconscious.
“Hmph. I have no doubt.” Tessa frowned. She smoothed strands of hair behind her ear, gnawed at her lower lip. “So why did you choose me? How did you find me, for a start? I didn’t tell you my name at the club. In fact, I don’t recall talking about anything personal.”
He tilted his head to the side, pondering for the length of several anxious heartbeats. “Why did I choose you? How could I not?” His gaze locked with hers, bored intently into her. The intensity branded her soul, the conviction in his voice made her heart pound with nervous excitement. “You were so pliant in my hands. I could have done anything I wanted to you.” A grin spread across his face. “And you would have let me.”
“I don’t think—”
“I don’t mind you lying to me but don’t lie to yourself, Tessa. You were like warm clay, ready to be molded.” He shrugged. “As for how I found you? Simple. Inferno takes camera shots of everyone who walks through the doors. I did a ’net search. It’s amazing what you can find on there these days.”
“But why? Why go to all that trouble?” Her voice sounded needy even to her. She should mentally kick herself but deep down she really wanted to know.
“I wanted you.”
Who knew three little words could mean so much? Flushed with a strange sense of pride, a small chunk of fear and a whole lot of sexual attraction, she was lost for words. No one had ever wanted her that badly. The intensity scared her and thrilled her in equal measure.
What would it be like to have that desire directed at her pleasure? Her fiancé had never looked at her with such passion, with such need. Their relationship was nice and pleasant. He’d never looked at her with molten fire in his eyes. He’d never admitted he wanted her.
What did a woman say to that?
Thank you very much, now get out of those pants so I can see if the bulge really is that big…
The unconscious mind could be a traitorous thing.
His voice shattered her erotic thoughts. “I think it’s time for your first lesson in the ways of submission.”
Chapter Four
Jared unfolded
his body from the booth, and Tessa quickly swept her gaze around the restaurant. She could hear the steady din of conversation, see some of the patrons eating their food. Whatever lesson he had planned for her initial submission, they wouldn’t be disturbed.
He slid into the seat next to hers. His warmth seeped into her. His breath on her neck made her tingle with anticipation.
An arm across her shoulders, he leaned in. “Trust is the most important element in our relationship. I’m asking you to trust me, Tessa. Right here. Right now. Put your trust in me.”
Nuzzling the strands of her hair, he inhaled her scent, and gooseflesh rose all over her body. Electric zings went into overdrive, setting her senses alight with barely contained desire. Her breathing hitched as fear and excitement heated her blood. Her heart beat wildly. Her skin tingled with the desire to be touched.
She missed this, this animal attraction. The base desire to fuck, to be taken, to give up control to someone else.
She swallowed hard, trying to find her voice inside a barren mouth. “Right now? What did you have in mind?”
“Trust me, Tessa.” Reaching into his pocket, Jared pulled out a piece of thin, black silk.
Her heartbeat quickened. Fascination and fear slammed into her belly as he rubbed the silk between his thumb and forefinger. She imagined him rubbing those graceful fingers against her skin, rolling her nipples, pinching them into hard, puckered buds before taking them into his warm, expectant mouth.
Could she do this? Rationally, she knew Jared wouldn’t think she was dirty and unnatural. He enjoyed the same things she fantasized about. He’d actually experienced some of those things. He’d given pain and taken control. He got off on it. He wouldn’t humiliate her for wanting something out of the norm.
“I’m going to put this on you. You won’t be able to see. You need to trust me not to harm you.”
Panic licked at the edges of her mind. This was a public place. She wasn’t into exhibitionism. What would they think of her wearing the black silk? How humiliating to have strangers judging her.
“Look at me, Tessa.”
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