She reached out to touch him but hesitated, afraid of causing him more pain.
Instead, she knelt at his feet, focusing on the ankle restraints. She fumbled with the buckles but finally pulled them away.
He drew his legs together with a grunt and drew his hips back from the padded cushion.
Kate couldn’t help staring at him. He was harder than she’d ever seen him before from any of their sessions, more than she’d thought possible. It took all her self-restraint to not reach out and touch him, dab her finger in the teardrop of moisture gathering at the tip of his cock, suspended in midair.
She drew a finger down his leg, invoking another grunt.
His unfocused gaze settled on her, his tearstained cheeks red and flushed.
Kate smiled and stroked the back of his leg.
Alex grunted, and she saw him come back to himself, return to their shared reality.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” Kate replied.
The applause started as she got to her feet and started on his wrists. It grew in intensity, finally a deafening roar.
“Do you hear that?” She leaned forward and murmured in his ear, careful to avoid touching his raw back. “All for you.”
“No.” Alex winced as she entwined her fingers with his and slowly brought his arms down to his side. He turned his head and smiled at her. “For us.”
Kate almost lost it right there, the emotional storm breaching the last of her barriers. She let go of him and stepped back off the pedestal.
Alex turned his head and reached out his hand toward her.
She took it and smiled, unable to find the words.
“I’m a little—” He let out a deep sigh before slumping against the cross, eyes closed. “I’m a little tired.”
Someone handed Kate a damp white towel, which she threw over his shoulders. Alex began to shake, the rush of adrenaline that had carried him so far almost finished.
She knew he was close to collapsing, the rush of emotions dragging him down to earth with a painful snap.
Kate could take him to one of the booths until he recovered enough to travel, maybe back to the room, but her gut told her they needed to leave the club. It was time for some personal aftercare, not an improvised moment in a strange place.
Besides, as she squeezed her thighs together to quell her shivers, she wanted their first time together to be in her bed—not sprawled across a couch in the club.
But their options were limited. She didn’t see any car keys among his clothing, so he’d taken a cab to the club as she had.
Her hands were trembling. They could rest in the locker room until the cab showed—but it’d be a long wait. At this time of night, it’d be tough to get fast service.
Kate snatched up his pants from the pile on the floor and held them open. She winced inside with each pained movement as he slowly stepped into them.
She didn’t dare try to put his briefs on.
He wrestled with the zipper and finally pulled it up with a shaky smile and an annoyed grunt, keeping the towel on his shoulders.
Matthew came to her side. “No shoes, no socks, no shirt,” he said. “He can travel like that.”
He handed the rest of Alex’s clothing to a woman beside him who placed them in a plastic bag. “There’s a tube of lotion in the bag. Use it on his back when you get home, after you shower. It’ll help with the healing.”
Kate nodded.
Matthew looked up and caught Alex’s attention, locked eyes with him. The club owner reached out with both hands and snapped the two wristbands off Alex’s right wrist with hard, fast twists. “Well done.”
Alex nodded and lowered his glance, accepting the praise.
“I have a car waiting out front with instructions to take you home. Go take care of business,” Matthew addressed Kate. “Don’t even think about coming back for a week at least—you both need the rest.” He smiled. “Glad to have you both as active members.”
Kate took the bag and took Alex’s hand. He followed her off the podium to silence. The audience had thinned out or turned away from the pair, allowing them the privacy to retreat from the public display.
“Can you walk?” Kate asked.
Alex nodded. His stiff, awkward steps soon became less so until he was walking slowly but steadily beside her.
They went through the door into the entry area. The hallway was empty, Jackie having long ago departed her post.
Ed and Eddie opened the door before they got there, obviously warned by Matthew beforehand. They didn’t bat an eyelash at Kate’s disheveled appearance or Alex’s half-nakedness.
The two bouncers formed a protective barricade around them as they walked to the car. Kate recognized the sedan, one of Matthew’s personal fleet. He kept them on hand for special occasions or VIPs.
Ed opened the back door of the waiting car, giving them both a slight bow.
Alex nodded as he half-fell into the car, keeping the towel on his shoulders. Kate smiled and slid in beside him.
“Until next time.” Ed shut the door.
The car had tinted windows and a silent driver who looked once in his rear-view mirror and put up the privacy wall, cutting them off from him.
As the car started to move, Kate found her own coat on the seat, pulled from her locker.
Of course Matthew would have a master key for all the lockers, she said silently.
Common sense demanded it.
Alex looked around the interior of the car with a dazed expression. A water bottle sat in the cup holder in front of him. He winced as he reached for it.
“I’ve got it.” Kate took the bottle and twisted the cap off. She put it to his lips and tipped it slowly. Water dribbled free from the corner of his mouth and trickled down his chin and neck, mingling with sweat.
She pulled the edge of the towel over to dab at his lips before handing him the bottle. “Don’t gulp it,” she warned. “You’ll make yourself sick.”
While he worked on the water, she reached in her pocket and retrieved the tiny key.
He looked at her with wide eyes, and for a second, she was afraid he hadn’t come all the way back yet. This was hell and gone from snuggling on the couch in his living room.
“We need to both clean up. You can’t take a shower with this on.” She tugged at the leather strip, her heart racing at the way he tensed under her touch. “Off.”
His frown made her giggle.
“Don’t be sad. We can put it back on tomorrow, if you’d like. Right now it’s the right time to take it off.” Kate stroked his face. “Thank you.”
He paused for a second, and she saw the conflict in his eyes, the urge to stay her submissive just that bit longer.
Then she saw the Alpha coming out, the urge to take her to bed in his way, possess her in a way he’d never been able to do before. Laid open and bare to her, he needed to show his love and devotion to her in a way that went further than a leather collar would display.
He wanted the woman now, not the Domme.
Something she was ready to give him.
“Okay.” He tilted his head down to allow easier access to the buckle.
Kate carefully pulled the collar free and clipped the lock back on before placing it in the bag.
Alex rolled his shoulders, flexing the muscles. He took a deep breath and sat a little straighter, letting out a satisfied grunt.
“Are you good?” She watched him finish off the bottle and place it back in the holder.
“I’m good.” He licked his lips and grinned. “I’m good and ready.”
“For a nap?” Kate couldn’t help teasing him.
He reached for her free hand and placed it on his crotch. “Not right away. Time for the bonus round.”
She couldn’t help returning his smil
e with interest, giving him an appreciative squeeze through his jeans. The answering gasp went straight to her core, increasing her desire tenfold.
“Aren’t you the forward one,” Kate said. “I should punish you for that.” Her voice caught on the last sentence.
Alex smirked. “Not until tomorrow.” His voice was hoarse and rough. “Just so you know, I’ll be on top for the first five or six times.”
She was about to berate him, tease him for his comments, but the rush of need surging through her made it impossible.
Instead, Kate snatched up the chocolate bar sitting in the second cup holder. She ripped the wrapper off and devoured the sugary snack in a rush.
Suddenly, the tables were flipped, and he was leading her.
“We’re going to your place,” Alex said. “Because I sure as hell don’t know where we are.”
“Yes.” Kate risked a glance outside and saw the familiar scenery. They were only a few minutes away.
“Good.” He gave her an impish wink. “Did I please my Mistress?”
“Very much so.” She leaned in and kissed him. “Very much so. But now I’m going to take you upstairs and tend to your back. Shower first to clean up, then a good application of lotion, then to bed to rest.”
“You think that’s going to happen?” He gave her a wide grin. “I wasn’t joking.”
“Let’s get through the shower, and we’ll see what you can handle.” She gave him a gentle squeeze, delighting in his sudden intake of breath. “We can sleep in tomorrow if you’d like. Stay most of the morning in bed.”
The car came to a stop as Alex nodded. “At the least morning. I was thinking late afternoon. And evening if we order in pizza.”
Alex didn’t look at the security guard on their way through the lobby. He suspected he wasn’t the first man coming in looking like he’d been on an all-night drinking binge, bare-chested and without socks or shoes.
The burning on his shoulders and ass had subsided during the car ride, the damp towel offering some sort of surface medication to soothe and dull the pain, at least on his back. He arched his back, feeling the abused muscles beginning to stiffen up.
They weren’t the only things getting stiff and hard.
Alex growled as he studied the flashing red numbers over their head.
The elevator ride up to Kate’s apartment was too long, too long for what he wanted to do. What he needed to do.
Fuck it.
Now.
He grabbed her around the waist and pressed her against the wall, letting the towel slip off his shoulders.
She dropped the coat and the bag with his clothing, her left hand clutching his hip in an attempt to avoid grabbing his back. Her right hand instinctively clamped on the back of his neck, squeezing where his collar used to be as he nipped and bit along her jawline and pulled her down to him.
“Only yours,” he rasped, the words surging out from deep inside, the emotions battering his body and soul. “No one else’s. Only yours.”
He couldn’t believe what he’d just done. A public scene in a BDSM club, up on a pedestal spread-eagled with everything hanging out for everyone to see.
For her.
All for her.
He grabbed her hips and moved her up the wall, urging her legs around his waist as he rocked against her. Her answering gasp drove him on, and for a horrifying second, he thought he’d come in his pants like a horny teenager on his first date.
“Down,” she ordered with a chuckle. “Down, boy.” Kate slapped his forearm.
He continued to sway against her, pushing his self-control to the edge.
Kate threw her head back and whimpered, driving him onward.
The elevator doors opened, freezing them in place for a second.
Kate was the first to move. She slid out of his grasp and snatched up the towel. She threw it back over his shoulders before leading Alex out by the hand, dragging the bag behind them.
He kept grabbing at her, stroking and touching as much as he could. He stroked her arms, tugged at the buttons on her blouse, ran his fingers down her back and dipped into the hollow at the base of her spine as he pulled her damp shirt free.
Kate reached into her coat pocket and pulled her keys out. She fumbled with her keys, making ineffective jabs at the opening.
“Stop it.” She slapped his hands away. “I can’t do this with you pawing me.”
He licked his lips, drawing his tongue slowly over the dry skin.
She giggled. “Don’t do that. We won’t be doing anything if I don’t get this damned door open.” Kate finally slipped the right key in. “There.”
She pulled him in after her and locked the door out of instinct. “Right. Bathroom’s down the hall, first door on the left. You go start the shower,” Kate said before shrugging him off. She shook the bag at him. “Let me put this stuff away and hang up my coat. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
She trotted down the hallway and went to the right.
Alex watched her leave, admiring the tight fit of her jeans.
Soon.
He wrinkled his nose, catching a whiff of his own stink.
Shower first.
He wasn’t going to climb into bed with her, smelling like a dirty sock.
Alex went to the bathroom and pulled the white towel off his shoulders. He inspected it, expecting to see bloodstains.
Nothing.
He folded it into a square and placed it on an empty shelf.
Alex rolled his shoulders, flinching as the abused skin flexed. He twisted to see himself in the mirror hung on the back of the door.
The full-length showed red raised marks on his back but no open wounds.
Alex couldn’t help grimacing as he shifted to try to get a better view.
Damn. Going to be wearing her marks for a week or more.
The thought filled him with a sense of pride mixed with the desperate need to show her how much he loved her for this, for giving this to him.
“I don’t hear the water running.” The shout down the hall snapped him out of his inspection.
It took a few minutes of fumbling with the taps to get the water to the right temperature—below scalding but not ice-cold. Folding his pants and placing them to the side was an effort, but he managed.
He was caught between bone-deep exhaustion and raging desire.
All he wanted to do was find a balance between the two.
All he wanted was Kate.
Alex stepped inside the shower stall. He turned slowly as the hot water ran over his skin.
Not too bad.
He winced as the spray hit one sensitive spot on his right ass cheek, the pain flaring up.
Okay, not totally too bad.
Alex picked up the bar of soap and lathered it in his hands, the familiar routine settling him even more.
What I did—
What I’m going to do—
He ducked his head under the unrelenting spray, letting the water stream over his face and drip down over the rest of his body, the muscles loosening under the barrage of hot water. A roll of his head, and he felt the last of the tension wash away, the flogging retreating into a pleasant memory.
A very pleasant memory.
Never going to forget this night.
Neither will Kate.
Finished with his own business, Alex picked up the washcloth. He doused it under the spray before adding a dollop of body gel from the conveniently placed container sitting on the small shelf.
He waited.
Chapter Seventeen
Kate forced herself to slow down, to unbutton at least half the buttons on her blouse before she pulled it over her head in a frantic rush. It pulled at her skin, the sweat slowing her down.
Take your time.
He’ll still be there.
Her head was spinning, his fingerprints burning her skin where he’d touched her.
Where he’d kissed her.
Where he wanted to do more.
Kate emptied Alex’s clothing on the floor and dug to find the lotion. Matthew had a special blend created especially for these occasions—it wouldn’t instantly mend Alex’s bruised skin, but it’d speed the healing along and help with the pain. The towel he’d given her to place on Alex was doused in the same medication and had doubtlessly helped Alex already.
She pulled out the slender tube and hefted it in her hand.
Okay.
She drew a deep breath.
No more waiting. No more delaying.
It was time.
Kate walked down the hall and into the bathroom.
She saw the shadow in the shower stall, waiting.
Waiting for her.
Perfect.
Kate placed the lotion on the sink before opening the door and stepping in.
Alex stood there, already wet and dripping. He held a washcloth in one hand, his head bowed as he waited.
Slow and steady, Kate. Don’t show how eager you are.
Kate smirked at her inner voice.
Yeah. Right. You’ve been ready for weeks. Now we just have to get from here to the bed without humping on the floor.
Or against the wall here in the shower—
Oh God.
She turned her back to him and lifted her face to the warm water streams, hoping the heat would cover her blushing.
“We both need to get cleaned up before I put that lotion on you.” It took all Kate’s willpower not to turn around and slam him against the wall, lift one leg and pull him in. She was wet and ready and willing, had been since she’d flogged him back at the club.
But it wasn’t what he wanted. What he deserved.
What they deserved.
Alex cleared his throat. “Let me wash your back first.” He squeezed the cloth, the thick foamy liquid dripping through his fingers.
“But—” She hesitated as he advanced on her. “You—”
“Humor me.” Alex smiled, the Cheshire Cat-like grin stirring her desires even more.
“But—” Kate couldn’t fight anymore. “Okay. But don’t wear yourself out before we get to bed.” She ran her hand down his stomach and dropped lower, relishing the gasp as she took hold of him and squeezed, the silk over steel twitching in response to her touch.
Strictly Business: Hooded Pleasures, Book 1 Page 26