by C. J. Thomas
Peering into her incredible eyes I admitted, “I lost control of my instincts the moment I laid eyes on you.”
Her eyes relaxed as they hooded with seduction swirling inside her pupils. “I have that effect on men.” We kissed. “Though, I wish you hadn’t.”
I chuckled, feeling the corners of my eyes crinkle.
The car slowed to a stop and Kendra glanced out the window. “Are we allowed to go back here?”
Without having to look at where we were, the lights were familiar enough for me to know we had arrived at my penthouse suite. Deciding to keep the mood light, I flicked my wrist and checked the time. “No. You’re right. I may have double booked.”
Kendra gave me a sideways glance.
Slanting my brows, I said, “Remind me your name again?”
Quick to catch on, Kendra snickered. “Hardy-har, mister. This isn’t your fuck pad, Counselor.”
“No?” I pulled her mouth to mine. “Are you sure about that?”
Her lips parted and our tongues touched. “Then again, maybe it is.”
5
Kelly
The heat sparked in the car followed us all the way to my front door.
When I’d glance to Kendra, she’d giggle. I’d smirk, and the mood was light. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that had us acting like teenagers. Or perhaps it really was a feeling like we were finally moving past the gigantic obstacles we had overcome to feel free. Either way, it felt good. Just the two of us. Alive and in good spirits.
“Where are the flowers, Counselor?” she asked from under a dark curtain of lashes.
Clamping my fingers into her hips, I growled, “Kiss me and I’ll show you.”
Stretching her body out, her lips touched mine. Our tongues swirled and soon I had her pinned against the wall. Hard with desire, I forgot the stresses that kept me tense.
When Kendra’s feet hit the floor, I reached for the door handle. Before I could push the door to my apartment open, Kendra asked, “Where do we go from here?”
I could hear it in her voice. Sincerity sprinkled with fear. Knowing what waited for us on the other side of this wall, I thought through my answer before responding. “We’re free. We can finally do whatever we want.”
Her eyes danced.
“No contract. No payments. No one to report to.”
A silent look filled her face.
“I love you, Bella.” My hand was back on the ledge of her beautiful ass. “I want nothing more than for us to be a normal couple. You’re the only girl I want rolling between my sheets.”
Her eyes twinkled as she listened.
“No more jealousy when it comes to past lovers, all right?”
Her head nodded, then I kissed her.
The moment the door opened, we were quickly reminded of the life we were trying to escape. The place was still trashed from when Detective Fletcher abused his powers to come looking for the evidence we collected in Sylvia’s apartment proving Oscar was corrupt.
“I don’t know what I was expecting, but I don’t remember it looking like this.” Kendra’s gaze bounced over the floor.
“C’mon.” I took her hand. “Let’s not let the memory of this ruin our night.”
Kendra kicked off her shoes, as did I. Stepping over the mess, we headed to the back bedroom, ignoring the disorder that waited for us in the morning. Though we were both exhausted from the day, I felt eager to make love to her, if only to prove that I was as committed to us as I said I was.
Once inside the master suite, I shut the door to Kendra telling me she was open to the idea of having a normal relationship. “That’s great,” I said. “Because I wasn’t willing to let you go just yet.”
Falling down onto the bed, our tongues were constantly dueling. She was so beautiful with her hair fanned out above her head. There was no other place I would rather be then here with her.
Kendra mewed as my lips fluttered over her neck.
Her leg hooked around the back of my thigh as I freed her from her clothes.
The tips of my fingers brushed over her soft flesh making her gasp. Bending, I began kissing her still purple skin, believing my lips would be the medicine to heal her completely.
Turning her head, Kendra covered her face with her hands.
Drawing my brows together, I pushed myself up on my hands. Though she didn’t want me to see, I swore she was crying. “Hey. Did I do something wrong?”
She shook her head and barked a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m broken, Kelly.” Her eyes where dry when she lifted her head to meet mine. “Jobless. My family sucks. I still have that drama to deal with.”
“Like I’m any different?” I pointed at my sternum.
Perching herself on her elbows, she said, “But you are. Look at you. You can have any woman in the world, yet you chose me.”
Gripping her calves I yanked them down the bed, getting Kendra’s body to slide beneath mine. “Because it was an easy decision.”
“I just listed the reasons why I’m no good.” She wet her lips. “They aren’t qualities that any man should find attractive.”
“Does commitment scare you?”
Her eyes darted across my face. “A little.”
I admired her honesty. That alone was reason enough to keep her. “We can be great,” I said, pecking at her lips. “But the decision isn’t mine to make.”
A glimmer of hesitation flashed over her green eyes.
“We must decide that together.”
Hooking her hand around my nape, she pulled me back to her lips. Sweeping her tongue into my mouth, she rolled me onto my back and left the bed.
With my elbow tucked under my side, I watched her saunter to the dresser mirror. Pulling her hair back, she wiped her eyes.
“I want to make love to you.”
Her eyes found me in the mirror’s reflection. “I’m not groomed.”
“I don’t care.” It wasn’t like her to be feeling insecure or making excuses. She was one of the most confident women I knew. There was more to it than what she was saying. “What’s this about?”
Turning away from the mirror, she moved to the closet.
I scooted myself to the edge of the bed, thinking I might know the cause of her worries. “If you’re worried about Marvin, his day of judgement will come. I can promise you that.”
She stopped. Her head hung. Her silence said it all.
“Tomorrow, I will begin the process of dismissing the challenge to your inheritance.” I stood as Kendra glanced over her shoulder, giving me a weak smile. It was a look that made me think she might not believe me, or that she didn’t care anymore.
Sliding the closet doors open, I tipped my head back knowing what it was she was going after. I held my breath, waiting to see what she surfaced with next. Taking the diamond-studded collar between her fingers, she turned and locked her eyes with mine. I could see her mind churning as if debating whether or not to ask me to put it on.
“Do you think we’ll ever get back to how things were?” she asked.
Dropping my gaze to the opened collar, my stomach clenched. Bile rose up my throat. I felt disgusted for introducing Kendra to the lifestyle Madam insisted we have. Madam said it would cure my pain; make me forget the agony of losing those I loved most. It may have worked at the time, but now I could see past that façade. It was a temporary solution to a lasting issue.
I inched closer to Kendra until I towered over her. She looked up at me with gorgeous doe eyes. “Things will never be the way they were,” I said, stealing the collar away from her.
6
Kendra
The truth was coming out and I couldn’t stop the leak.
Feeling a small part of me leave my heart, I watched Kelly set the collar below the mirror on the dresser.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t trust Kelly with admitting my flaws; it was how I felt. Broken. Used. Damaged—both mentally and physically. I’d fought the war and now was back to hoping nothing had changed. He deserved
to hear it—to share a glimpse into where my mind was at. Too much of our lives were kept in the dark for reasons I still couldn’t fully explain. And the time for that to stop was now.
Kelly angled back to me. Gripping my hips, my hands fell flat against his chest. His heart beat as his muscles jumped. Taking my face between his hands, he bent and pressed his lips against mine.
Opening for him, I sucked his tongue into my mouth.
My nipples tightened and my thighs quivered as me core temperature spiked.
Ironing my hand down his ripples of hard muscle, I worked to undo his belt. Wedging my hand inside his underwear, I took his heavy cock into my palm. It twitched with excitement and I knew it was on.
Nipping at his lips, we shed our clothes, tossing them to the floor around us. Kelly walked me backward with his hand grazing my pussy. The backs of my legs hit the bed and I tumbled backward with Kelly’s massive body pinning me to the soft, forgiving mattress.
Wrapping my legs around him, I hooked my ankles, latching on to him, directing the angle of his hips. He rocked his manhood between my thighs, peppering soft kisses down my neck. Each kiss soared in temperature, branding me with the kind of heat that left my limbs tingling with subdued passion.
As much as I wanted to go back to how things were before I met Madam—to the day that I first bumped into Kelly tramping down the staircase in Madam’s office—I had to let it go. We were never going to get that back. Kelly was right. Those days—those feelings—were finished.
I inhaled a sharp breath of air as Kelly’s hands moved across my fluttering stomach. A calloused hand landed on my left orb. Palming my breast, he pinched my taut nipple and rolled it between his fingers until I mewed.
Panting, I reached one hand between us and rubbed my erect clit.
Letting go had never been my strong suit. I was the type of person who ran, hid, and preferred to pretend like the things that haunted me didn’t. The truth was, they did, and the years of suppression had finally caught up to me.
Dipping his head between my thighs, I fisted his thick hair, arching my back off the mattress as he swirled his tongue between my legs. And when his mouth covered my mound, I gasped. “Shit,” I breathed.
Kelly’s serpentine tongue flicked, circled, and thrust between my folds and over my sensitive bud. My vision blurred as Kelly took me out of this world and into his. Higher we climbed, rolling my hips where I wanted him to go.
As much as I wanted Kelly to take me out of this planet and into the dark underworld of nightclubs the detectives had mentioned, I appreciated Kelly’s willingness to deny me the request. With my heart nearly exploding, I needed him to tip me over the edge naturally.
Pursing his lips, he sucked my clit between his teeth.
I bucked and thrust my hips forward.
Palming his hands kneading my breasts, I squeezed my boobs and growled. “Jesus Christ.”
Kelly took me to the edge and, just as I thought I was going to be baptized, he retreated.
“Fuck you,” I said against his chuckles.
My vagina throbbed with undeniable need to sheath his gigantic cock. Catching my breath, I was convinced that I could get off without Kelly getting rough with me. As much as I wanted him to spank, prod, and force me into compromising positions that hung dangerously close to sparking another trigger, I knew that I needed this to be just sex.
Tugging on his ears, I pulled him up for air. Crawling his way up my body, he crashed his mouth over mine. Tasting my warm aroma on him set my body ablaze. Our tongues dueled once again in a battle for the ages as I reached under him and guided the tip of his shaft to my moist entrance.
Stretching me slowly, Kelly entered me with the precision of a master. Arching my back, my eyelids fluttered to the ceiling one intense inch at a time. Fully inside me, Kelly rocked his hips with gentle aggression that burned the coals hot.
Kissing him with eyes shut, a calming silence closed like a bubble over my ears.
Suddenly, the need of what I thought I had to have vanished. It was just us, in union, suspended in time.
Kelly rocked and circled his hips. He flipped me onto my stomach and pushed himself inside of me before sitting me on his lap for what felt like hours. He grabbed and squeezed until we were both a sweaty mess. It was strange and foreign bliss that didn’t quite feel like us, but I accepted it willingly.
Denying himself his own temptation to release, and with my body on fire, I gritted my teeth losing count of the times I thought I would orgasm but didn’t. I wanted it so bad. Needed it to confirm that what my heart was feeling was real.
I loved him and he loved me. Yet my body held back.
Growing frustrated, I bucked my hips into his, growling as I stared behind him at the closet of toys. Grinding my clit against his pelvis, all I wanted was one minute with his toys so that I could come. With them, I could get there.
Dropping back onto my hands, I pulled away and flipped onto all fours. Kelly gripped his slick cock in his hand as I backed into him. He latched onto my hips and began fucking me with added intensity.
“Grab my hair,” I demanded.
Ignoring my pleas, he slapped my ass.
“Pull my hair,” I yelled.
Instead, he slid his thumb between my ass crack and thumbed my anus just hard enough to tease me into thinking I could come.
“If you want it, take it. Fuck me in the ass,” I cried out over my shoulder.
Kelly’s grip tightened. His muscles flexed. Grunting, I knew he was close.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew why he refused to listen to my demands. We both had the same fears that he would spark a trigger and this would be all over.
Whipping my hair around my shoulders, I didn’t know which was worse; ending with a triggered climax, or going on forever without one.
Taking his dick out of me, Kelly stopped breathing as he flicked his wrist and sent his hot seed across my back. Moaning into the air, I wiggled my hips before dropping my head into the mattress.
His climax was explosive and I immediately got jealous.
Without expressing my concerns, I kept my disappointment to myself.
Rolling onto my side, Kelly collapsed next to me. I watched him breath heavily, and soon I was smiling. At least I could appreciate that I’d done that to him. Broken the strong man down and made him pant like a dog. Because, next time, I was the one who’d look as pathetic as he did now.
7
Kendra
I woke from the blackout type of sleep that leaves you feeling rested yet slow to wake.
Stretching my arms over my head, my thighs flexed as I turned to look at Kelly.
Pinching my brows, I pushed myself further up and noticed his spot was empty. Patting the sheets, they were cold. I rolled my head and looked toward the en-suite bath. The light was off, the walls dark.
“Kelly?”
Sounds from the living room echoed to the back. Suddenly, his disappearance was making more sense. I was sure he was cleaning up the mess left behind, hoping to hide it away before I saw it again. His efforts were appreciated, though he didn’t have to worry. I was a big girl who could handle the truth.
Scooting my bottom to the edge of the bed, I dropped my feet to the floor and stared at the closet. I took my hair inside my hands and swept it off my neck, thinking about last night.
The sex was great. Passionate and everlasting. It was exactly the kind of sex women would kill to have. Even if they didn’t get off like me, it was still worth having.
Hanging my head, I closed my eyes and sighed.
I knew I was lucky—understood Kelly had what it took. There was still an empty pit that left me feeling unsatisfied.
Turning my head, the closest pulled me closer.
I flicked my eyes to the dresser.
My heart stopped.
The collar was gone. I wondered what else Kelly made disappear to ensure things would never be the same.
Wiping my palms on my ba
re thighs, I debated looking in the closet. In the end, I decided to ignore the temptation, afraid to know he might have also rid himself of the toys I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I headed for the bathroom and sat on the toilet, disgusted by my lack of grooming. Hairs seemed to have sprouted everywhere since my last visit to the spa, and it was any wonder Kelly managed to find me attractive at all.
Standing, I flushed and wrapped my naked body in a clean bathrobe. Padding to the front of the house I found Kelly organizing. “Good morning.”
He turned around and smiled. “Hey, beautiful.”
Sweeping my gaze across the once-littered floor, I said, “I like what you did with the place.”
“I thought it could use some touching up.” His gaze followed mine.
Feeling light on my feet, I floated across the floor and headed toward my man. Wrapping my arms around his tight waist, his eyes heated with last night’s leftover desire. Tipping my head back, Kelly embraced me with the warm glow of love.
“I have coffee made and breakfast on the way,” he said.
“I’m starved.” Pushing up on the tips of my toes, Kelly kissed me.
Glancing to the clock on the kitchen stove, he said, “Take a shower, and breakfast should be here by the time you’re finished.”
My insides warmed. There was something about having Kelly tell me what to do that made me feel whole. It made him powerful, arrogant, and sexy at the same time. That was the man I loved—the man who claimed me as his own. “Care to join me?”
His eyes sparkled.
Cupping his groin, I felt his cock thicken in his shorts as his eyes swept across my lips. “If you’re still in there after the food arrives then, yes, I will join you.”
“You promise?” I stroked the length of him.
“Go.” He pushed me away.
“I guess I’ll just have to take a long shower,” I called over my shoulder, listening to him laugh. Kelly had his eyes on me the entire way.
Scampering into the bedroom, I felt light, my head clear. With him cleaning, ordering breakfast, and reacting to my touch with heated desire growing in his shorts, it fed my belief that things could get back to normal sooner than I’d originally thought. But I still felt off about not being able to orgasm with someone I clearly was affectionate with.