“I flew to Boston so I could tell Adam all about you in person,” he went on. “How important you are to me, how I want you to be part of my life—of his life too. He told me to tell you he’s looking forward to meeting you. He’ll be home for a long weekend at Thanksgiving. While he’s here, I thought we could include him in our plans. I’m thinking about a Christmas wedding.”
Rylie stared at him. “Wedding?”
“We love each other. We’re already living together. And I’m an old-fashioned guy. I believe in commitment just as strongly as I believe in discipline.”
“Wait a minute. You never asked me if I’ll marry you. What if I say no?”
“Then I’ll have to make it an order. And in this house, if you disobey an order, you get a spanking.” His hand slid down to cup her bottom.
“Will it be the kind of spanking you said I’d beg you for some day?”
He slid his hand down further, parting her legs. His fingers roamed. Arrogant, compelling, arousing. Rylie gasped.
“You can count on it.”
She smiled. “Then I guess you’ll just have to spank me till I say yes.”
Epilogue
A few days later Rylie was summoned to Sullivan’s office. He sat behind his desk, looking every inch the chief executive officer of a successful corporation. “Sit down, Rylie. It’s come to my attention that we have some unfinished business between us that needs to be cleared up.”
Rylie’s heart sank. Was he having second thoughts about his impulsive marriage proposal the other night? She took a seat on the hard chair in front of his desk, remembering the first time she’d been in that spot. It felt like a lifetime ago. She wasn’t the same person any more. That Rylie was aloof and arrogant, tough and quick-tempered. But it was a façade, hiding all the fears and insecurities she’d carried inside. Now she was quietly confident. She’d learned how to let down her guard and just be herself—funny and playful sometimes, warm and loving others. No matter what he was about to tell her, she could thank Sullivan for that. Because of him, she’d torn down that wall… the wall she finally discovered didn’t so much protect her as imprison her.
“I became aware when I got to the office this morning that our six-month agreement expires today,” Sullivan began. “I’ve thought long and hard about what that might mean to us, to our relationship—and then I realized something. Where we go from here is not up to me. You fulfilled your part of the bargain. In fact, you’ve done more than that. You’re a valuable part of the team here, Rylie. I promised that you could write your own employment contract at Sullivan and Sons when the probationary period was up. I’m prepared to sign any contract you present to me. Knowing you, I’m sure your terms will be more than fair.”
He took a deep breath, then hurried on. “Of course, that also means your unpaid work at my home ends as well. I want you to know you’re under no obligation to me any longer to show up there. Your job doesn’t depend on it. You’re free, Rylie. Free to choose whatever you want from here on out—both at Sullivan and Sons and with me.”
Rylie knew Sullivan well enough by now to pick up the undertone of vulnerability in his voice. She thought about what he’d said the other night, about how he’d been hurt too, lost the love of his life. Yet he’d opened his home and his heart to her. And now he was risking it all again, letting her know the decision to stay with him was entirely in her hands.
Rylie looked at him thoughtfully for a few moments before responding. If he wanted to be businesslike about this, well, she could do the same. “And the voicemail?” she asked, her tone even. “Will you be deleting it?”
“I can’t do that Rylie.”
She stared at him, shocked.
“I can’t do that because I don’t have it anymore. I deleted that voicemail months ago. I think it was somewhere around the night I made you go into that sex shop with your naked butt on full display. You were embarrassed and angry with me, but you made a funny, smart-ass remark to those two truckers, and then sashayed out the door with your bare bottom swaying in the breeze. I was already falling in love with you, but your spunk and your sass grabbed my heart. You weren’t going to let anyone get R. L. Duncan down. Besides,” he added, “I wouldn’t have given that voicemail to anyone even if you’d told me to go to hell the night you showed up here at my office. That’s not the kind of man I am.”
He went on, his voice soft. “It’s been an honor and a privilege knowing you and working with you for the last six months. No matter what you decide, I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything.”
Rylie stood, reaching over the desk. “Thank you, Sullivan,” she said, shaking his hand. “It’s been a pleasure getting to know you as well. You’re an excellent CEO—and the finest man I’ve ever known. I’ll get back to you with my decision.”
* * *
Sullivan watched her walk out of his office—and for all he knew, out of his life. He’d taken a big risk, but he realized it had to be done. Otherwise he’d never know for sure whether she was with him only because she feared losing this job. Deep in his heart, he didn’t believe that. But still, the demons of uncertainty whispered in his ear, planting doubt.
She had no choice, the voices said. You put her in an impossible position. At first, if she didn’t submit to your discipline, she risked losing her job. Then you offered her emotional security and a place to call home. Of course she agreed to marry you. She thought it was part of the deal.
Sullivan shook his head. Not true, he told himself for the thousandth time. Still, he was dismayed at Rylie’s reaction to his announcement. She certainly hadn’t thrown herself tearfully into his arms and professed her undying love. In fact, her final words sounded more like a goodbye than a commitment to their future together.
He packed up his usual stack of paperwork, planning to spend a few hours tonight catching up. He’d need something to keep his mind from obsessing over the woman who’d taken over his home and his heart.
The house felt especially empty when he walked in the front door. I need a dog, he told himself. A big sloppy lovable mutt that comes running whenever he hears me come home, then jumps up on me, thrilled that I’m back. He headed down the hall to his office, sinking into the leather chair behind the desk and opening a file at random. But the first thing he saw when he opened it was a copy of the letter Rylie had written to a client—the one he’d used as an excuse to spank her gorgeous ass. He’d forgotten that he kept the original letter, planning to tease her with it someday. Maybe use it to lead into another hot session over his lap.
He forced himself to concentrate, dealing one at a time with the pile of papers that had built up on his desk, forgetting all about dinner. When the doorbell rang two hours later, he was tired, hungry, and annoyed. I’ll get rid of whoever it is, he decided. I’m in no mood for company tonight. He strode to the door, pulled it open.
R. L. Duncan stood on the doorstep, dressed in a severe gray business suit and white blouse, her hair in a no-nonsense bun. She’d changed since he saw her at the office. In fact, he could have sworn it was the same outfit she’d worn the first night she came to his house, complete with the black stiletto heels.
She held out a handful of papers. When he just stared at her, she put them in his hand. “It’s my contract,” she said. “I drew up our new agreement and brought it over for you to read and sign, like you said you would.”
“I told you, I don’t need to read it. I’ll sign whatever you’ve drawn up.”
“Well, as the corporate attorney for Sullivan and Sons, I can’t let you sign something you haven’t even read. Would you like me to summarize it for you?”
Neill sighed. She was going to be a hard-ass over this. “Sure,” he replied. “Come on in.”
He started back to the office, but Rylie stopped him. “We can go over it right here in the front hall,” she said, her tone all business.
Taking the papers back, she began. “I’ll skip all the legalese, party of the first part, etc. Basicall
y, it says that I agree to accept your proposal of marriage under the following terms:
I will take the traditional wedding vows—promising to love, honor, and obey.
You will make me a partner in the business and we will be partners in life.
However, you will be the managing partner in our business and in our personal life you will be head of the household. If at any time I do not obey to your satisfaction, I agree to submit to whatever discipline you feel is necessary.
No contract is valid without a valuable consideration. Therefore, as a symbol of my love for you and my desire to submit, I will never wear panties inside our house. If you ever find me with panties on, I’ll strip right then and there. You will immediately give me the spanking I deserve, then order me to take off all my clothes from now on every time I walk in the door.”
She saw the look in his eyes, first confusion, then dawning recognition, followed by joy mixed with a touch of lust. “I’ve already signed it. All you need to do is sign here and here,” she said, handing him a pen.
She was depending on his ability to size up a situation and he didn’t disappoint her. He stared at her for a moment, and then grinned. “Before I sign, I need to see evidence of the consideration. Pull up your skirt and turn around.”
She turned her back, slowly hiking her tight skirt to the waist, and revealing a pair of wispy black lace panties.
“Oops,” she said, looking back over her shoulder with a little smile. She pulled the pins out of her hair, shaking her head so it flowed down her back in a tangle of dark waves. “Guess in all my hurry to get over here, I forgot to take them off. Now I’ll have to honor the contract and strip for you every time I walk in our door.”
Sullivan grabbed the pen and scrawled his name, then tossed the contract on the floor. “Damn right you will,” he replied, his voice stern. “And you’re getting a good, hard spanking for it… right after this.”
He pulled her into his arms. His kiss was wild and rough. Rylie sighed and molded her body to his, knowing she’d found the man of her dreams.
The End
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More Stormy Night Books by Kallista Dane
Her Darkest Desires
Claire’s world has been turned upside down. She’s suddenly single again, alone for the first time in years, with no idea of what to do with her life. When she finds a series of intriguing ads promising to make every wicked, secret fantasy she’s ever imagined come true, she signs up for a weekend at the X-rated mountain resort The Dark Side of the Moon.
Run by the mysterious Lady Gwen, an ageless Amazon of a woman, and her partner Mistress Jade, a six foot tall domme with an army of devoted subs to do her bidding, The Dark Side of the Moon proves to be everything it promised. Claire finds herself paired with a hot, young dom named Kyle who is more than willing to introduce her to a whole new lifestyle—one that includes plenty of stern, over-the-knee spankings on her bare bottom, mixed with the hottest, steamiest sex she’s ever had.
Now that her darkest, most savage hungers have been awakened, can Claire bring herself to say goodbye to Kyle and go back to her old life?
Captured by the Sultan
Shortly after Dr. Shayla Dennison uncovers a trove of sexually explicit statues in a long-buried temple deep in the desert, she is knocked unconscious during a ferocious storm. When she awakens in what seems to be the distant past, being hailed by those around her as the great Queen of Sheba, the shy scholar finds herself expected to play the lead role in a highly erotic ceremony witnessed by the entire kingdom the night before she travels to meet the man chosen as her husband.
When her caravan is attacked during the journey, Shay is rescued by Tahraz, the arrogant sultan of a hidden oasis, who promptly announces that she will submit to his every command or face punishment like all the other women of his harem. Shay discovers all too soon that Tahraz is as good as his word and she quickly ends up across his lap, her royal robes pulled up and his rough palm reddening her bare bottom.
Hatching a plan to win her freedom, Shay proposes a contest—a series of chess matches—with herself as the prize. If she is the winner, the sultan will grant her freedom, but if he triumphs, Shay will kneel before him as he administers pain—or pleasure—at his whim. But when Shay realizes that she is in love with Tahraz, will she continue to resist or will she give in to the savage hunger he has ignited in her and surrender her body and her heart to him fully?
Kallista Dane Links
You can keep up with Kallista Dane via her blog, her Facebook page, and her Amazon and Goodreads profiles, using the following links:
http://kallistadane.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kallista.dane.5
http://www.amazon.com/Kallista-Dane/e/B00D54IW6M/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7125645.Kallista_Dane
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
More Stormy Night Books by Kallista Dane
Kallista Dane Links
Bared and Tamed Page 13