Second Touch (Emma's Arabian Nights, #2)

by Mayburn, Ann

  “Hold on.” She quickly called her parents’ house, a quick check showing that it was close to midnight on a Thursday night. Her parents would normally be in bed by now, but she hoped they would answer. Thousands of terrible things went through her mind, situations involving death and accidents, rape and murder. She blindly reached out and grabbed Ryan’s hand without thought, needing his strength to help her through whatever tragedy she was about to face.

  It only took two rings before her mother picked up, “Emma!”

  The sound of people laughing and talking loud came from the background. Emma blinked in confusion as she tried to process why her parents would be having a party. “Mom, what’s going on?”

  “Oh honey, you’ll never believe it.” Her mother gave an almost hysterical giggle. “We’re rich!”

  “What?” She barely noticed Ryan pulling the car off the road and parking in front of a darkened house.

  “We’re rich! You know how your father is always filling out those stupid prize forms and playing the lottery? Well, we won!”

  For a long moment Emma could only stare at Ryan in disbelief as he watched her carefully. When she spoke her lips felt numb. “Mom, is this a joke?”

  “No, not at all. Honey, we won six hundred thousand dollars!”

  She couldn’t comprehend her mother’s words, couldn’t make sense of them. “What?”

  “A lawyer came by today to inform us of our winnings. We got the first lump sum of three hundred thousand dollars and we’ll get the rest in quarterly payments stretched out over the next three years. Oh, and we also got an amazing financial consultant.”

  Clearly her mother had lost her mind. “Let me talk to Dad.”

  “Earl…Earl,” her mother called out, “Emma wants to talk to you.”

  A few moments later her dad’s deep voice came over the line, “Hi, pumpkin.”

  “Dad, what’s going on?”

  “God has blessed us,” he said in a choked up voice. “We have enough to pay off our mortgages and all of our bills. Emma, we’re sending you back to college, sweetheart.”

  “Dad…” Ryan squeezed her hand with a questioning look. “Dad, are you sure this isn’t some kind of scam?”

  “No, it’s not a scam. Our lawyer checked it out and the first payment is already in the bank. Well, what’s left of it. Right now we’re having a credit card bills burning party in the backyard, toasting marshmallows over a fire we fueled with all the bills we paid off today.” He let out a laugh that sounded close to a cry of relief. “It’s a miracle, an honest-to-God miracle. We’re paying you back every penny you gave us, Emma. It killed your mother and me to take it in the first place and we can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for us. We know how hard it’s been for you.” His voice cracked on the last word and he roughly cleared his throat. “You’re a better daughter than I deserve.”

  She couldn’t think of anything to say, any way to processes this as she stared at Ryan, his concerned look deepening as he said, “Is everything okay?”

  Instead of answering him she licked her lips and said, “Dad, I’m so happy for you, and for Mom. Don’t worry about paying me back, just…just don’t blow this money, okay?”

  “We are paying you back and we will not blow this. We have a meeting set up with our new financial planner tomorrow, he’s from a well-respected financial firm, and from what we talked about today we’ll have more than enough to finally retire.”

  “That’s great, Dad, just great.”

  “Emma, are you okay?”

  “Huh? Yeah…I’m fine. It’s just a bit of a shock, you know?”

  Someone yelled for her dad in the background and he said, “I have to go, sweetheart, your Mom’s breaking out the champagne. I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  He hung up and slowly lowered the phone to her lap as Ryan studied her. “Emma, are you okay? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

  She continued to stare at him, her thoughts racing to the point where she didn’t have the brainpower to control her body at the moment. Ryan leaned closer and cupped her face with both of his hands. “Baby, you’re scaring me.”

  “Hold on.”

  With a shaking hand she quickly called Moira’s home phone. A man picked up. “Moira’s house, this is Greg, how can I help you?”

  Moira always had at least one service submissive living with her so Emma wasn’t surprised that he’d answered her phone. “This is Emma. I need you to get Moira right away. It’s an emergency.”

  “Emma?” Ryan said in a tense voice, but she held up her hand, focusing instead on the dark view beyond the windshield of his car.

  Emma listened to the sounds of a crowd on the other end of the line for a few moments before Moira answered the phone, out of breath as she said, “Emma, are you okay?”

  “I quit.”

  “What?”

  “I quit.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the reality of what had just happened finally sinking in. “I mean I don’t quit quit, but I need you to cancel all of my single male clients. I’ll keep the four couples I have, but that’s it.”

  “What? You want me to cancel all your male clients? What the hell is going on, Emma? Did Ryan pressure you into this? I know you were a mess when you left, but honey, you shouldn’t make rash decisions like this.”

  A smile finally broke free and when she looked at Ryan she found him studying her closely. “It’s okay. My parents won the lottery or some shit.”

  “No fucking way!”

  “Yes fucking way.” She giggled and tried to control herself, afraid that if she started laughing she wouldn’t stop. “They have enough to pay their bills and then some. I’m going back to school, but I’ll still need my own money, so I’ll keep my couples. They need me and I love helping them. Is that okay?”

  “Oh darling, that’s more than okay. Are you sure this isn’t a scam? That it’s really real? You know once I dump your single guy clients they might be too butt hurt to come back. Male submissives are weird like that.”

  “I’m sure.” She held Ryan’s gaze as he continued to watch her with an unreadable expression. “I’ve got to go, I’ll talk to you more tomorrow.”

  She hung up and threw her arms around Ryan’s neck, raining kisses all over his face. He finally unfroze and grasped her in a hard hug, burying his face against her neck. “Did that just really happen? Did you just quit?”

  Pulling back, she nodded. “I did. I won’t see my male clients anymore, but I will still see my couples, are you okay with that?”

  “I’m okay with anything you do, Emma, I just want to know why you still want to see couples.”

  “Well, first because I’ll need the money to live off of when I return to school to get my master’s degree, but also because they need me.” She struggled to find the right words to explain why she needed to do this. “In a weird way I’m like a marriage therapist for them, or maybe a sex therapist. I’m teaching them how to love each other without fear of rejection, or judgment. That it’s okay to be kinky. That they can be totally honest with each other because a relationship based on lies is doomed from the start. Do you understand?”

  For a moment she worried as his expression closed down, then he slowly nodded and placed a gentle, heart-stopping kiss on her lips. “I understand. You never cease to amaze me.”

  She whispered against his lips, “Take me home so I can throw you down on my bed and fuck you until we can’t walk, my boyfriend.”

  He pulled back and the darkness that flitted through his gaze dissipated, a broad smile curving his kissable lips. “Sounds good to me, my girlfriend.”

  Chapter 9

  For the rest of the drive back to her house she stared out the window, her mind a million miles away as she absorbed the unbelievable changes in her life. A little bit ago she’d been bordering on slipping into a soul-crushing depression, unable to think of how she could have Ryan and care for her paren
ts, but in one fell swoop, everything changed. To say she was happy was an understatement; she was practically glowing with joy. When they pulled into the parking lot of her apartment she didn’t wait for Ryan to open the door before she ran into his arms, then grabbed his hand and dragged him after her through the parking lot and into her apartment in record time while he laughed behind her.

  After tossing her keys somewhere in the direction of the kitchen, she attacked him with a kiss that was hot enough to melt iron.

  She slammed him back against the wall and raised his arms over his head, holding him pinned there while she rubbed up against him and moaned. He was hard, like a steel bar behind the soft leather of his pants. The skin above his wrists was still slightly oily and she smiled at him as he gave her a rather bemused look. “Shower time.”

  Giggling, she led him to the small bathroom attached to her bedroom and they quickly stripped, barely taking their eyes off each other as her heart practically sang with happiness. He was hers, really hers, and she could belong to him without hurting her parents. Once they were both nude she turned on the water, shivering as he kissed her neck while they waited for it to warm up. Once they stepped into the shower Ryan hissed and she winced. “Sorry, love, I forgot about your welts.”

  He swallowed hard and shifted so the water wasn’t directly on his back. “I’m okay.”

  “Hold on a sec.”

  She jumped out of the shower, her nipples beading as the cold air hit them, the water dripping from her body onto the tile floor as she searched her medicine cabinet. She hopped back into the shower with a bottle.

  He glanced down at the bottle then back up at her. “What’s that?”

  Squirting a generous amount of the special soap into her hand she said, “Turn around.”

  With an arched brow he complied and she couldn’t help but feel an odd mixture of guilt and pride at the welts covering him. It wasn’t, by far, the worst beating she’d ever given a man, but it was the first time she’d marked Ryan. Just the memory of how amazing he’d been while taking his flogging sent a renewed rush of lust through her.

  “This is a special anti-bacterial soap. I bit it on a patch of ice in the parking lot last winter while wearing a skirt. Scraped the hell out of my knee and leg, and the hospital gave me this soap. It won’t sting, but it will help keep any of these welts from getting infected.”

  He tried to look over his shoulder as she soaped him up. “How bad is it?”

  “Not bad.” She traced her finger over the pattern of a lotus blossom in his back tattoo. “I made sure that I didn’t hit hard over your ink. Most of your welts are on this delicious butt and these yummy thighs of yours. Speaking of which, put your hands on the wall and bend forward slightly. I need to take care of your ass.”

  His immediate tension made her grin, but he did as she said. Sliding her soap coated finger between the cheeks of his ass she gently massaged the still tender tissue of his anus, enjoying his groan that was part pleasure, part discomfort. Ryan had looked so fucking sexy while he ate her pussy and Chris had fucked him with the butt plug. There was something about watching two, raw Alpha males playing together that did it to her every time, but she wondered how Ryan felt about it.

  “Were you okay with Master Chris playing with you?”

  His butt clenched around her finger and he said in a low voice, “My Mistress’s pleasure is my pleasure.”

  She gave his ass a slap with her other hand, making sure she hit a welt so it would sting. “Honesty, Ryan. Don’t try to hide behind flowery bullshit. I need to know if you enjoyed it or if it’s something you’d rather not do again.”

  He blew out a harsh breath. “I don’t know.”

  The vulnerability in his voice called to her and she gently rinsed him clean. “What do you mean?”

  “Everything was so…intense that anyone touching me at that point would have felt good. But I don’t think I could go any further than that with a guy.”

  “Understood. And what about Tanya? Did you enjoy her oral skills?”

  He actually shivered and she had to fight a laugh. “That woman has no gag reflex.”

  “She used to, but Master Chris taught her how to suck dick. That’s why she’s so good at it, she learned from the best.”

  Ryan grunted and she smiled as she knelt to wash his legs. “Master Chris also taught her how to lick a man’s ass until he comes from that stimulation alone.”

  “Are you trying to hook me up with Master Chris?”

  She stood and gently turned him, getting an eyeful of his thick erection before lacing her arms around his neck and rubbing her hips against his, trapping his cock against her stomach. “No…well, maybe. But don’t worry, it’s more of a fantasy than anything else. If it doesn’t turn you on it won’t turn me on. I think it’s a matter of enjoying the forbidden, the taboo. In this case, a very straight guy being seduced by a skilled bisexual man.”

  He grunted and she could read the war between desire and uncertainty in his dark, expressive eyes. Water beaded on his sinfully long eyelashes and her gaze fell to his full lips. “How did you like Tanya sucking me off, Mistress? I take it you weren’t jealous?”

  “Oddly enough, no. If it had been Moira or any of those envious bitches that were watching I might have snatched them bald, but Tanya? She’s different. She loves sex for the sake of sex, but she is completely devoted to Chris and Moira.”

  “Are they a couple?”

  “Who? Chris and Moira? No, not at all.” She laughed. “Whatever that chemistry is that people that are attracted to each other share, they have none. Moira once said that when she tried to kiss Chris it was like kissing her brother and Chris said pretty much the same. They just aren’t attracted to each other even though they’re both highly sexual people in their own right.”

  “So Tanya is like the glue that binds them together?”

  “Yes.”

  He lifted a bottle of her vanilla body wash from the shelf and squeezed it into his hands, lathering up before he moved her back so he could begin washing her. “What about when they want to get serious? Like what if Chris wants to marry Tanya and have little pink haired babies?”

  She grinned then shrugged, enjoying the wet glide of his hands over her breasts, the brush of his calloused palms against her nipples. “I don’t know. They aren’t traditional by any means and I don’t know if that conversation has ever come up. I can tell you this, I don’t think I can ever picture Moira donning a white dress and trotting down the aisle.”

  His touch slowed as he soaped up her hand, taking it in both of his and massaging the pad of her thumb while he washed her. “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  His gaze met hers and her breath caught in her throat as she read the intense emotions there before he looked away again. “Think you could ever wear a white dress?”

  “If the right guy asked me, after we spent a good amount of time dating, I might.”

  Releasing her hand he gently turned her so he could wash her back. “You have the best ass I’ve ever seen. Think I might have a chance to get up inside it someday?”

  She shivered as he ran his hands over her buttocks, enjoying the proprietary squeeze he gave them. “Only after I take you first so you know what to do.”

  The warmth of his laughter washed over her like the water, and he pulled her back against his body, cupping her breasts and rubbing the tips with his thumbs. “Mmmmm, I can assure you that I know what to do. I can make it so good for you that you’d be begging me to put my cock in your round butt, pleading with me to fuck you harder, deeper.”

  “Really?” She’d meant for her voice to come out as sarcastic, instead it came out breathy with desire.

  “I promise.” He moved her wet hair to the side and licked the water off the banging pulse of her neck. “I’d spend at least a week working you up to taking my cock, using my fingers, toys, and my tongue to get you ready for me.”

  “Hmmm.” She melted back int
o his embrace, enjoying his strength and the way his lips moved over her skin.

  With a soft chuckle he moved her to the side so he could turn off the water. “Come on, Mistress, let’s get you in bed.”

  They quickly toweled off and he gave her the bad boy grin that made her heart race. “Can I stay the night? Please?”

  She hadn’t intended on him leaving, needed him here with her, craved the feelings of his arms wrapped around her while they slept, but she wasn’t going to let him know that.

  “Do you snore?”

  “Nope.” He grinned again. “Do you?”

  “Nope. Do you hog the sheets?”

  “Nope. Do you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll just have to make sure to keep you close to me so you share.”

  She led him to her bed with a laugh, and turned on the low light on the side table. Her queen size bed actually took up most of the space, allowing room only for a narrow dresser, but she loved it. The brass headboard had been her grandmother’s and the pink, green and white star pattern quilt that her mother had made her covered the bed. Ryan traced his fingers over the pattern. “Did your mom make this?”

  She looked up at him as she tossed the decorative white lace pillows to the floor. “Yeah, how did you know?”

  His gaze grew distant and he gave a sad smile as he traced the pattern. “You probably don’t remember this, but my mom and your mom were part of the same quilting circle. I recognize the pattern.”

  She could vaguely remember her mom having a group of women over to the house a couple times a month for a quilting bee, but since it hadn’t interested her, she never really paid much attention. “I didn’t know that.”

  He shrugged, then gently pulled the quilt back and slid beneath the white sheets with a sigh. “Nice. Why is it that women know how to make their beds so comfortable? I swear no matter what I do I can’t get the same feeling in my bed.”

  Picking up the last decorative pillow she whacked him. Then she took a clean towel and laid it over her pillow before turning off the light and joining him. “I don’t want to hear about you in other women’s beds.”