by L. A. Witt
“Well, not for you.” I grinned even bigger. “I’m rather enjoying this.”
“I thought you said you weren’t a sadist.”
I shrugged. “Well, I do have a little bit of a sadistic streak. But it’s not the pain I enjoy. It’s watching you squirm because I told you to.”
Right then, he squirmed. Because of the cock cage? Because of the comment? Didn’t matter—I was making him squirm.
“Just think of how good it’ll feel once I take it off.”
He closed his eyes and released another long breath. “I can’t wait.”
“You won’t have to wait much longer.”
“Thank you.” He met my gaze. “I should, um, get back to…”
“Yeah. Me too.”
He glanced at the soda machine and then at his hand, as if he’d forgotten what he’d come here to do. After a second, he apparently figured it out, because he dropped the coins into the slot, jabbed the Mountain Dew button and waited while the machine hummed to life. The drink fell into the tray with a loud thunk. He started to reach for it but paused. Then he sighed and turned to me. “Do you…would you mind…” Holding my gaze, he swallowed. “Please?”
I leaned down and reached into the machine. As I handed him the can, I lowered my voice. “My place after work?”
“Yes.” He closed his fingers around the can, sucking in a breath as if he hadn’t expected the cold.
“You could probably use that if you needed some ice.”
His eyes widened. “Ice? On my—”
“Well, it’s a thought.”
“Dick,” he muttered. Then he froze. “I mean…”
“You want to wear it a little longer?”
He grimaced. “No. Sorry.”
“I’ll let it go since we’re here.” I paused. “I mean, we did agree to keep this separate from work.”
“We did. But I don’t suppose that’s getting me out of this thing any time soon.”
“Not when it’s punishment for that little snicker that happened at work.”
“Damn. It was worth a try.”
“It was. And it was a good try.” I winked, struggling against the urge to touch him. A hand on his arm or his shoulder, maybe his face. But that would be way too conspicuous. And it would be far too tempting to bring him in for more, and I was pretty sure a long kiss in front of the office Coke machine would be a bad idea.
“Anyway, I’m about to head back to my office.” He exhaled. “I’ll see you tonight?”
“Definitely.”
“Looking forward to it.”
We exchanged grins and then turned to go our separate ways.
And goddammit—Mitchell.
He folded his arms and halted. “McNeill, we’ve discussed this.”
I exhaled. “Yes, sir. I know. And I directed him to Mr. Forsythe.”
His eyes narrowed. “That looked like a pretty friendly conversation.”
“I was being polite.”
“I see.” He set his jaw, holding my gaze because God forbid he look away first.
I gestured past him. “I should get back to work.”
“Mmhmm.”
Without another word, I walked away, grinding my teeth as I headed back to the Zone. It was amazing how quickly that son of a bitch could put me back in my place. I may have been a Dom in the bedroom, and I may have been a human being in the eyes of most people—including Rick—but Mitchell never failed to remind me that I was still shit on his shoe. I swore, if this place paid me a penny less, I wouldn’t stand for this dancing monkey bullshit.
But of course I would. I needed this paycheck at least until my kids had graduated, and this particular job wasn’t available at nearly as many firms in this town anymore.
I closed my eyes and exhaled. Mitchell had control over me here, but he didn’t control any other aspect of my life. And though the bastard had nearly killed my good mood, as soon as I thought of Rick struggling through the meeting with that cock cage on, I grinned to myself. Indeed, there were some things this place couldn’t take away.
You can tell me not to talk to him at work.
Won’t stop me from gagging him, tying him and fucking him till he cries when we get home.
Oh yes. That thought would get me through the rest of the day…
Chapter Fourteen
I was just about to shut the garage door when Rick’s Mercedes came into view. As he pulled into the driveway, I stepped outside to greet him.
He parked and killed the engine. As he got out of the car, though, he paused, grimacing. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but the motion of his shoulder and the twist of his lips told me he was adjusting his caged cock.
“Having trouble?” I asked, resting a hand on top of the car door.
He glared at me, and I could only imagine the profanity on the tip of his tongue.
I lifted my chin and stared him down. “Answer me, Rick. Carefully.”
Immediately, the glare turned to a more acceptably chastened expression, and he dropped his gaze. Gingerly, he emerged from the car, pausing once to curse before he was finally on his feet. “This thing is a bitch.”
“That’s the idea.” I took my hand off the door. “What did we learn?”
The look he shot me very clearly said That you’re an asshole, but he wisely whispered, “To keep a straight face during meetings.”
“Good. Now let’s go inside and take that thing off you.”
“Yes, please.” He shut the car door. The alarm chirped, and we started into the garage, but he hesitated. “Your ex isn’t home, is she?” He eyed me. “I’m happy to meet her, but maybe not like this.”
I laughed, wrapping my arm around his waist. “She’s out tonight. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re not wearing something like this when you finally meet her.”
“Much appreciated.”
We headed inside.
The previous times we’d been here, we’d both moved fast to get down to the dungeon. After all, why delay the fun? But Rick wasn’t going anywhere quickly.
Especially since we weren’t going to down to the dungeon.
I faced him in the hallway. “So there’s one more thing you have to deal with before I take the cage off.”
His eyebrows pulled together. “Okay?”
I pointed to my left. “You still have to get up the stairs.”
Slowly, he turned toward the stairs. His head fell forward as he mouthed Fuck…
“The sooner you get to the top, the sooner that thing comes off.”
His lips pulled tight, and his brow furrowed with frustration, but he didn’t say a word. He just quietly, stoically started up the steps. Though I had no doubt he wanted to get this over with, he didn’t hurry. Not that he really could. Gingerly, gripping the bannister like it was the only thing keeping him from stumbling and putting himself in a world of hurt.
I stayed behind him. “You’re halfway to the top.”
He paused. Pushed out a breath. Kept going.
At the top, I took his hand and guided him to my bedroom, which was only a few feet away. There, we stopped, and I turned to him.
“Well done.” Smiling, I cupped his face and kissed him. “Most people are begging me to take the cage off long before this point.”
“I didn’t realize that was an option.”
“It’s not. But people beg for it anyway. You did well. How was it?” I trailed a fingertip along the edge of his jaw. “Wearing that all day?”
“Torture,” he ground out. “Fucking uncomfortable as hell.”
“You going to snicker when my boss busts my balls again?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Good.” I stepped back and gestured at his belt. “Take off your pants.”
He didn’t hesitate. He quickly unbuckled his belt and unzipped his trousers, and—carefully—slid them down.
I knelt in front of him, not letting it show that my knee objected. I carefully supported his caged cock in one hand, and with the other, gently
unfastened the strap around his balls. As I slid the whole assembly off, Rick closed his eyes and released a long breath.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “Jesus, that feels so much better.”
“I’m sure it does.” I rose, the jingle of the cock cage masking the crackling in my joints. “You handled your punishment well.” I dropped the device on my dresser. “I think you deserve a reward for that.”
He swallowed. “A reward?”
“Mmhmm.” I kissed him again and murmured, “How tender are you?”
He glanced down and shrugged. “A hell of a lot better now without that…contraption.”
“If it hurts too much, we can stop.”
“Doesn’t hurt.”
“Not yet. But say so if it does.”
“I will.”
“Good.” One more kiss, this time long and deep, just the way I’d wanted to while we’d stood beside the Coke machine this afternoon. “Strip, and then bend over the bed.”
He immediately started unbuttoning his shirt. I took my time while he shed his clothes like they were on fire, and I’d barely toed off my shoes before he was obediently bent over the bed. Excellent—now I could enjoy the view while I undressed myself.
A man like Rick looked hot no matter what. Leaning over the bed like that, long legs apart and that beautiful ass just waiting to be fucked? Perfection.
I stood behind him and, in absolutely no rush at all, rolled on a condom. Once I’d put some lube on my cock and on my fingers, I pressed a fingertip against his ass.
As I carefully eased my finger into him, he groaned softly.
“Feel all right?” I asked.
He nodded, his forehead brushing the comforter. “Yeah.”
“Good.”
After a while, I added a second finger, and he groaned again, gathering fistfuls of the comforter in his kneading hands.
“I’ve been waiting for a sub like you for a long time.” I spoke slowly and quietly, watching myself fuck him with my hand. “Where have you been for the last twenty years?”
“Looking…” He grunted as I bent my fingers inside him. “Looking for you.”
I bit my lip. God, yes. “You found me. And now I’m going to make sure you feel amazing tonight.”
“Already do.”
“Good. I think I know what’ll make you feel even better.”
“Please.”
I slipped my fingers free and put more lube on the condom. Then I pressed against him. He leaned back, and I let him, especially as the head of my cock breached him and he took me deeper.
Neither of us made a sound as I slowly—stroke after smooth, gentle stroke—worked myself all the way into him. I found an easy, steady rhythm, rocking my hips and watching myself disappear inside him again and again. Why did people have sex with the lights off? Hell if I knew. And why was I thinking about that? Or anything?
I shook myself and ran a couple of fingertips up his spine to make him shiver. “This isn’t the last time I’m gonna fuck you tonight. When you’re in that meeting with your investors tomorrow, I want you thinking about how this felt.”
He clawed at the comforter. “I’m always thinking…about how you feel.”
“Good.” I slid my hands up and down his sides. “I’ll just have to make sure you still feel me tomorrow.”
He just moaned.
I rocked my hips a little faster. “Your punishment’s over. You did well, and now I want you to enjoy this. No rules—just enjoy it.”
“Thank you,” he breathed.
“Do you want it slow like this?” I asked. “Or faster?”
“However you—”
“I’m asking you.” I ran a hand up his back—God, I just needed to touch him. Everywhere. Always. “How do you want me to fuck you, Rick?”
“H-hard.”
Music to my ears. Holding my breath, I grabbed on to his hips, and I fucked him hard. Hard enough to knock him off balance for a second; he didn’t have far to fall thanks to the bed beneath him, but his knees buckled. I kept riding him, and he eventually got his feet under him, but I didn’t imagine he would have cared if his legs had just given out completely.
This view was… Holy hell. Lean, powerful muscles. Narrow hips. His gorgeous ass taking my cock while his hands clawed at the bed.
“I could do this all night,” I ground out. “You’re fucking beautiful.”
And so was the long, helpless moan he released.
“Can I—” His shoulders bunched and he swore under his breath. “Jerk my…jerk myself off?”
“Yes. Anything that feels good. Anything.”
His hand moved slowly at first. Maybe he was a little tender—God knew my skin had been irritated after wearing that damned thing all day—but he picked up speed. His elbow and shoulder moved rapidly, implying the motions I couldn’t see. Oh, my mind’s eye filled in the blanks. Though I was behind him, watching him take my cock over and over, I could see his long fingers around his cock, squeezing and jerking it while I pounded him.
He turned his head. “C-can I come?”
“Yes.”
He moaned but didn’t come just yet. Probably making sure he had permission before he dared get close to the edge, and now that he did, he pumped himself faster and faster, and he tightened around me as I matched him thrust for thrust.
“Oh. Fuck.” In a heartbeat, he was impossibly tight. Shuddering. Shaking. Swearing. “Oh my God, Jon…”
I let myself go. My vision blurred, my knees shook, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not…get…deep enough. Gripping his hips, I held him against me, my own hips jerking until my knees damn near buckled.
And then we were both still. Aftershocks rippled through me. My vision cleared, though it still sparkled around the edges. I rubbed my hands up and down his back just for some contact, and he arched into my touch like a cat. At that point, I was genuinely surprised neither of us had started purring.
After a few slow breaths, I pulled out and paused to give my trembling legs a chance to stay under me. Rick pushed himself up on one arm. He was shaky too, surprise, surprise. With a little help, he managed to get to his feet, and we both stumbled into the bathroom like a couple of drunks.
“And I thought I couldn’t walk earlier,” he murmured as he wiped off his arm. “Wasn’t this dizzy at work, though.”
“Maybe it should be tighter next time.”
He shot me a horrified look.
I winked and tossed the condom into the trash. “Kidding.”
“Fucking hope so,” he muttered.
“You want me to put it back—”
“No! No.” He gazed at me through his lashes. “Please, no.”
I just laughed and kissed his cheek. After we’d cleaned ourselves up, we returned to the bedroom and fell back into my bed. It was much too hot for any kind of covers, especially since I wanted to be as close to him as possible, so we left the sheets rumpled at the end of the bed and tangled ourselves in the middle of the mattress.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Like I’m going to sleep like the dead tonight.”
“It’s not even seven.”
“Says the guy who didn’t have his dick in a cage all day. I’m exhausted.”
I laughed. “Mission accomplished.”
“Uh-huh.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Funny, sex like that feels even better after being tortured all day.”
“Does it?”
He nodded. “Spent all day uncomfortable as hell. Then the cage comes off, and suddenly I’m over your bed and you’re fucking me. And it felt amazing.”
“Are you saying you want me to do it again?”
“I’d…rather…” He chewed his lip. “I’d rather not wear that thing very often, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it in the future.”
“Good to know.” I kissed his cheek. “Just means if I have to punish again, you know there’s going to be a reward at the end if you take your punishment gracefully.”
; “How do I get the reward without the punishment?”
“Don’t misbehave.”
He flashed a wicked smile. “What fun is that?”
Goose bumps prickled my neck. “You are just bratty enough to be fun, you know that?”
“So you like your subs bratty?”
“To a point, yes.” I slid my hand up his chest, running my fingers through the thin, dark hair. “You happen to walk that line exactly the way I like it.”
“Apparently Leathr was right.” He took my hand and kissed my palm. “We are a good match.”
“We’re an incredible match. Where the hell have you been for the last twenty years?”
He laughed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “I could ask you the same thing, you know.” Dropping his arm to his side, he turned to me. “Bottom line, though, even if it took me this long to find a Dom like you, the wait was well worth it for this.”
“Likewise.” I pulled him closer and let him rest his head on my shoulder. “You were well worth the wait.”
And he definitely was. I still couldn’t believe my luck. I had the sexiest man who’d ever set foot in Mitchell & Forsythe. I had a sub who was just bratty enough to ensure I could have all kinds of fun with punishments. And I had a lover who could make me come so hard, my eyes watered.
No doubt about it—I’d hit the fucking jackpot.
Chapter Fifteen
My line of work could be easily summarized using two words: feast or famine. Some weeks, I was bored off my ass, taking my sweet time on simple mock-ups for proposed renovations. In a matter of hours, though, I could go from boredom to sucking down coffee between catnaps while working on complex superstructures that had to be done yesterday.
For the first couple of weeks I was seeing Rick, things were quiet enough. I’d put in my eight hours, exchanging glances in meetings and in the halls, and then we’d go back to his place or mine. Evenings left us both bleary-eyed and aching the next day. Weekends were a blur of ropes and sex.
And then, like a tornado dropping from a clear blue sky, several major projects tumbled into my department’s lap. They were all impossibly urgent, of course. The higher they piled—and my God, they piled up fast—the deeper my heart sank. So much for those ridiculously hot nights.