by Terri Pray
“Oh, I’m a gift now, am I?’
“Oh yes, one I plan on savoring every single step of the way.” He twitched at the edges of her blouse, letting the fabric lift upwards, away from her body, before it rested back against her skin. The soft contact was enough to bring a fresh shiver, tiny goose bumps rising under the path of his fingers.
Was it cold?
No, it didn’t feel cold. Good, then his touches were having the right effect.
Her nipples poked against the cups of the bra, tempting him. It would have been so very easy to reach out and brush against them. His fingers itched and he had to yank his hands back away from her body before he gave in to temptation.
He slipped out of his shoes and walked quietly around her until he looked at her back. She tensed at the slight sound, frowning, straining to hear what was going on. Good, she wasn’t entirely sure where he was.
“Nervous?” He leaned in and whispered against the back of her neck.
Sue half jumped, and clenched her fists. “Rotten bastard.”
“And you love it.” Alan caught the back of her blouse and eased it down over her shoulders, then down her arms until he dropped it on the floor. “You’re enjoying this, learning more about yourself and what you like, yet you don’t know what’s coming next, where I’m going to touch you, or what I’m going to do beyond stripping you.”
She sucked in her bottom lip, chewing on it.
“And you’re nervous.”
“So were you.”
He couldn’t argue that point. He reached down and unhooked her skirt. “No stockings today though?”
“Tights instead.”
He bit back a groan as he looked over her, the skirt pooling on the floor. Her legs were covered by the thin, almost silken covering of a pair of nearly black tights. The thin nylon clung to her legs, covering her panties. He shivered, stroking her legs. Smooth, tempting, even the tiny imperfections, the small snarls and black lines where the tights had caught on something, only added to his desire to strip them from her.
She groaned as he stroked her legs, caressing them lightly down from her ass to her ankles until he settled down on his knees in front of her. How could anyone look sexy in tights? Well, she managed it.
It’s not what’s she’s wearing, or doing, it’s her. Sue. Everything about her.
He reached up and hooked his fingers into the top of her tights and eased them down over her hips, carefully exposing the soft skin beneath. Her scent filled his nostrils; the delight of an aroused woman so close to him only served to add to his own growing need. Yet he controlled himself as he lifted her feet up slowly, one at a time, and eased the nylon from her delicate toes.
Heat, he could feel it through her panties, calling to him, begging that he strip them from her and delve into her sex with tongue and fingers alike.
She didn’t move, except at his direction, her breathing ragged, thighs trembling as she struggled to hold position. Did it really feel that intense to her? Each touch, each light caress? The dampness he could see in her panties said yes.
He leaned up on his knees, reaching upwards to catch the edge of her bra with his fingers, his teeth nipping at her panties until he knew he had a firm hold on the material. She groaned, her weight shifting slightly from one foot to the other, not enough to break position but the struggle ever more apparent with each passing moment.
He teased his fingers across her firm nipples then pulled at her bra, bringing the cups down, baring her breasts to the delight of his fingers even as he tugged on her panties with his teeth.
“God!” She gasped as he pulled her panties down, dragging his nails over her body, the scratches light, barely enough to raise red lines on her skin, yet she arched into the touch, her heels almost leaving the floor until she forced her body back under control.
“You almost lost it there,” he murmured, taking hold of her panties in his hands and slipping them down from her body fully. He rocked back to his feet, chuckling softly as he undid her bra and let it drop to the floor. “But you made it, Sue. You can move again.”
“Good.” She groaned. “I wasn’t sure I could hold in place any longer.”
“And when do I get to taste you?” His cock threatened to push through his pants if he didn’t do something about the pressure in his body soon.
“When you’re ready to.” Her gaze trailed down the full length of his body, lingering on the outline of his cock, a wicked smile claiming her lips. “Though from the looks of things perhaps we should move onto something else?”
“But I thought -- oh!” He cried out as she wrapped her hand around his cock through his pants, squeezed once, and then released her hold on his body. God, how could he ignore her change of heart?
“Strip.” She purred.
His hands moved to his pants before he had the chance to think his actions through. His cock ached with the need to feel her body wrapped around it, those tight, slick walls, a ripple of delight and promise of far more if given the chance.
“I want you.” He shrugged out of his pants.
“I know.”
“I need you.” He reached for her arms, pulling her close even as he kicked off his pants and underpants fully and stood there only in his shirt.
“You’re insane.” A wry smile twitched her lips, a moment of sadness flickered across her eyes and it was gone.
“Maybe I am, but that doesn’t change the way I feel.” He was getting dangerously close to saying something that could ruin everything between them. Before his mouth got the better of him he cleared what little gap there was between them and wrapped his arms about her. His lips closed on hers as she gasped, arching into his touch.
Hot, willing, and mine.
With a low growl, he moved them both back towards the rug in front of the fire. They didn’t need the bed, not this time, but he did need her. Now. Not five minutes later, but here and now.
“Alan,” she murmured, not fighting his choice. “God, I’ve never felt this way before.” Her thighs parted, letting him settle between them, her fingers teasing at the soft curls on his chest.
“Do you want me to stop?” Please don’t tell me to stop. I’ll do it, but please don’t.
“No, not now, not ever.” She arched, tipping her hips. “Please, don’t make me wait.”
He didn’t.
With a low, deep moan he eased into her body, shuddering as her walls clenched on his cock. Liquid velvet, heat, silk, he’d heard the terms before, but no two women were the same. There was no real term, no way of describing how it felt to have a woman’s sex wrapped about his cock, but his mind still tried to provide the words.
At least it did until she twisted her hips and all but danced on his erection.
Thought fled. A dozen muscled fingers clenched on his body, massaging his cock as he rocked within her Her nipples scraped his chest, her breath caressed his lips as she wrapped her arms about his neck.
He drew back, until only the tip of his cock was still in her body, gasping. He had to find some level of focus, a way of keeping control, but she had other ideas. Sue pressed her heels behind his ass and tugged him back into her welcoming sex.
He groaned, fighting to keep some level of control as his balls tightened, his sac heavy, full, aching as the need built up in the pit of his stomach. His thighs shook, ass tightening, and still the ball of heated pressure surged upwards into his pulsing cock until he knew what little control he had left was about to be lost.
“Sue!”
“Come for me.” She leaned up, nipping at his neck. Her body tightened, released him only to tighten again. The catch in her breath let him know that he wasn’t the only one who was ready to come “I want to hear you, feel you come for me.”
His body responded before his mind had the chance to protest.
Alan cried out, his thighs tight, body taut as he thrust fully into her, shuddering as his body denied all pretense of control in a series of long, trembling jolts of pleasure until he collapsed down agai
nst her and rested his head on her breasts.
Chapter Fourteen
“Alan?” She shifted a little beneath him. “We can’t stay like this all night. No matter how nice it feels.”
He looked up, blinking a little. Had she really worn him out that quickly? They were both tired from the night before. Not enough sleep, all that sex, and she wasn’t young anymore but that didn’t explain his sleepy and sated expression.
Odd, with other men she’d always been annoyed at the quick sex acts, the grunt-and-come types, except this was different. He’d taken the time to build her up, arouse her, take care of her and would have done more if she hadn’t insisted on pushing things to sex when she had.
But he wasn’t like a typical man either.
She ran her fingers gently through his hair. “I need to get up and shower. That way I’m not feeling uncomfortable when we talk.”
Alan rested his hands on the floor before easing out of her body and pushing back up to his feet. “Let me help you up, love.”
She frowned slightly but quickly smoothed the expression away. Love? Had he just called her love? It wasn’t the first time either from what she could remember. No, he didn’t mean anything by it, just a habit, or a manner of address by him.
So why did her heart miss a beat when he used it towards her?
Because a part of me wants the word to mean something coming from him.
“Did you want to be alone in the shower?”
“Yes, I think so.” She nodded and tried to smile. “You know women, we need to wash off, get cleaned up after sex. Most of the time, at least.”
“You mean when you haven’t just passed out?” he teased and sneaked an arm about her waist. “Come on, let’s get you that shower.”
She leaned into his touch, enjoying the sense of peace she felt in his arms. No tension, no concerns, except for that one little word that could bring her so many problems.
A slight smile tugged at the corners of her lips and she opened the shower, turning the water on as she took the towel from Alan. “Thanks. I won’t be long.”
“Take as long as you need, I’m not going to rush you.” He pulled out an oversized toweling robe and set it on the counter. “I’ll shower when you’re done and then we can have something to eat, maybe sit and talk for a bit.”
God, there it was. Something going on between them, time to end it?
No, he’s not going to end it. This is something else. Come on, you’ve been pushing him to talk, so that’s all he wants to do. It’s time to face that little demon inside. That need he’s awoken. There’s no going back from it.
“Is there something the matter?”
“No, quite the opposite, in fact. I want to talk to you about the problems with the blogger ring. I think I have an answer but I’ll need your help. I also need to talk to you about our shared need.”
A shared need. That was one way of putting it. Did he truly need to explore this odd situation between them, or was he just being nice? No, the look in his eyes, the tone of his voice, it was a real enough desire.
How was she supposed to learn, though? With him?
It was better than trying to stumble along alone.
And he wanted to be with her.
“Then I won’t be long.” She ducked into the shower, letting the warm water hit her body.
For a moment he stood there, outside of the stall, watching her. Normally that invasion of privacy might have made her uncomfortable, or would have made her turn so her back was to him. Not this time. Sue smiled at him through the dimpled glass and let him watch until he was ready to leave.
Comfortable. At peace. Accepted.
They were more than just words now.
Did things like this happen so quickly under normal circumstances? She’d heard about love at first sight -- who hadn’t -- but it wasn’t actually supposed to happen.
Admit it, silly. You love him. It’s not just lust. You really love him.
All right, she did. So what?
So tell him.
No, she wasn’t ready for that yet. Another couple of days, weeks, maybe. Just enough time so she could figure out if this really was what she wanted. If this man, this wonderful man young enough to almost be her son, was the one she wanted to spend her life with and then…
Then what?
She frowned and reached for the shampoo, washing her hair.
Ask him to marry me? Do women do that now?
Some did, the brave ones, women who had the confidence to follow through every dream, every hope. She didn’t have that strength.
Yes, I do. All I have to do is stop questioning every damn thing.
* * * * *
She poured the steaming water over the hot chocolate mix and stirred it slowly.
“I see you found everything you needed.” He rested one hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. “Would you like to sit down with me for a while? I think we need to talk.”
“About the ring, yes, you mentioned that.”
“More than that.” He leaned against the kitchen counter. “And the ring can wait for a moment. I want to talk about you and me, how we both seem to need something here.”
Sue pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and settled down at the table, looking up at him. How many heart-to-heart conversations had she shared with Barb at their kitchen table? More than she cared to count.
“You know what D/s means?” Alan picked the chair opposite her. “And some of the other terms involved, like limits, red flags, safe words?”
“I think so, dominance and submission, right?” She took a moment to think about the rest of it. “Limits, they’re things a person cannot or will not do, or go past. Red flags I’m not sure of, and safe words are code words used to stop play of any sort?”
Alan nodded. “Right. Red flags are signs, warning signs, in a person that may mark them as being dangerous. Such as saying, as either a dominant or submissive, that you have no limits, or that they aren’t needed.”
All right, that made sense. “And you think that I’m…?”
“That you’re a dominant, or rather a woman with dominant tendencies. I don’t know how far that goes, but I’ve seen it very clearly in how you react around me.”
Sue cracked a smile. “I’ve never explored it with anyone other than you. I’ve just spent a lot of free time reading -- well, erotica I guess you would call it. Ones where men are submissive and women are dominant.”
“So it’s something that’s drawn you for a while.”
Sue nodded as she curled her hands around the steaming mug. “I’m just not sure what to do now.”
“We take some baby steps, find out a little more about where our desires lie. If you want to take this further than what we’ve already done.”
Did she?
Hell, yes!
“Okay, and if I said yes, what then?”
“What do you want to do? I’m willing to explore this with you, slowly of course. I don’t want to rush you into anything and there will be a lot of things we have to look into. What we want to do, how we wish to take things, but if it’s what you want -- well, it’s what I want, no, what I need.”
For a moment, Sue didn’t trust herself to speak. It was one thing to dream about this type of thing, it was another to have a man offer her the chance to explore things further. And this wasn’t just any man; he was her boss, so how was that supposed to work?
Her head threatened to start pounding.
“Why me? Why not go to a woman you pay so you know it’s kept secret?”
“If all I wanted was someone to beat my ass, or make me lick boots on occasions then yes, I’d find a dominatrix to sport with. But I need more than that. I want the whole package. I want a woman who can be my wife, my partner, my lover, and who isn’t afraid to be dominant with me in the bedroom, or beyond that if it’s what we decide we both want.”
“And you think that person, that partner, is me?”
“I don’t know for certain.
I want to say yes, that I know without a doubt that you and I are meant to be together. But nothing in life is certain, is it? I only know that I’m more comfortable with you than I’ve ever been with any other woman I’ve known before. There’s something here, I can feel it. I just don’t know where it will end up.” He reached across the table, taking one of her hands in his. “But I want to try.”
No declaration of love, or passion. No false words of hope. Just a soft smile that reflected in his eyes. The touch of his hand against hers. And something else. Honesty.
“I was expecting something else,” she admitted, quietly.
“Ah, you mean something more along the lines of me stating I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you?”
Sue nodded.
“And are you disappointed that I didn’t say that?”
“A little.” What woman didn’t want to hear that they were loved? “But we don’t know each other that well, do we?”
“Enough to know that I care about you. No, it’s more than that, but would you really believe it if I said that I loved you right now? We’ve not spent that much time together…”
She blinked. Had she heard him correctly? Or was she just reading between the lines? “Alan? Are you saying that you love me?”
Alan fell silent, but kept hold of her hand, his brow furrowing.
“Or am I being foolish?”
“No, not foolish. I just -- yes, I love you. I just wanted it to be special when I told you. Romantic, even. Not in the middle of a discussion about dominance and submission at my kitchen table. Call me old-fashioned but I imagined something more…well, beach, moonlight, and a diamond ring.” Alan gave a sheepish smile.
Romantic?
Didn’t he understand what hearing those words, knowing that he truly did love her, care for her, want to be with her, meant? How she felt?
Tears stung her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks.
He’d wanted it to be special, not just a series of words, an empty declaration, or something said just so he could tumble her into bed again.
“Sue, did I say something wrong?” He squeezed her fingers. “You look as if you’re about to cry. God. Whatever it is, I’m sorry, please. I didn’t mean to upset you.”