Coveted (Pandora's Playground #1)

by Alannah Lynne

  But that wasn’t going to happen, and even though she should be grateful for the gifts she’d already received, her body had turned needy and greedy for more.

  Her earlier concerns of not being ready to play had been obliterated, but now she suffered a new dilemma. Mathew had awakened something inside her she feared would never be put back to sleep.

  His moods were like an ever-changing kaleidoscope, and she didn’t know how to track the constant shifts. He was brutally cold one minute, scorching hot the next. He cursed her apology, then nearly singed her with the heat radiating from his eyes. His touch was possessive, and she couldn’t mistake his desire, yet here she sat, alone in her beautiful Roman tub.

  A light splash as the water swished higher on her breasts brought her head up to find a very naked—and extremely luscious—Lucas with one foot in the tub, the other in the process of swinging over the side to join her.

  “There’s no need to get in with me. I’m fine. Really.”

  His green eyes narrowed and his jaw popped as he sat next to her, then wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her onto his lap. “Unless you want me to put you over my knee and spank your ass”—he raked her with a scathing gaze—“for real, you’ll stop telling me what you do and don’t need.”

  She held his gaze defiantly for a few beats, but his narrowed eyes, as well as the strong set of his jaw and thinned lips, indicated he was still firmly in Dom mode. And unless she wanted an aching ass to go with the rest of her throbbing body parts, she needed to heed his warning.

  She lowered her gaze, but damn, her mouth just wouldn’t stay shut. “I need a friend right now, Lucas, not a Dom.”

  She held her breath and waited for his harsh retort. But his glower didn’t deepen, nor did he scold her. Instead, he kissed her temple, then rested his cheek against hers. “You need both, love.”

  After a moment of silently rocking her back and forth, he gathered a puddle of water in his palm and drizzled it over her chest. The warm water caressing her already sensitive nipples caused them to harden into tight buds, and her back arched, seeking more stimulation.

  “I had a different plan for who would fulfill those roles, but since I’m the only one here right now, you’re stuck with me in the capacity of both.”

  Lucas was one of the most frustrating people she’d ever encountered because he was almost always—like nine times out of ten—right. This time not being the exception. Even though she’d thought she was fine being alone—something she’d gotten used to—being cradled in his arms, pressed against the solid wall of his chest, provided a reassuring sense of peace she didn’t often experience.

  She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder and ran her fingers back and forth across his chest in a slow stroke intended to soothe them both. But as he continued to drizzle water over one breast and then the other, she grew more restless and found herself squirming on his lap, trying to assuage the thrumming ache between her legs.

  “One mind-altering orgasm not enough for you?”

  His tone was light and teasing, but as he dropped his hand to massage her breast, she found it difficult to laugh at his humor. Instead, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back on her neck as he pinched her nipple, then gave a slight tug while twisting.

  Heat seeped into her breast and down to her belly. Arching farther into his grasp, she gasped and said, “You wanted to bring my submissive out to play.” She jerked and wrapped an arm around his neck, instinctively trying to get closer as he tweaked her nipple again. Panting through the painful pleasure spreading through her chest, she said, “I think you’ve succeeded.”

  His breath brushed over the sensitive tips as he chuckled and lifted her so she floated on the surface of the water. “She was more eager than I expected.”

  She had the sense she should feel guilty about that, but as he slipped an arm under her shoulders to keep her afloat and dipped his head to draw a puckered bud into his mouth, she found it impossible to be anything but turned on. Oh God. As he tweaked the other nipple with his fingers, sparks ripped through her breasts and settled low in her belly with the heat and intensity of a lava lake ready to explode.

  He licked, laved, nipped with his teeth, and within seconds, she teetered at the precipice of another orgasm. She groaned and arched her back, offering him more, but to her dismay, he backed away and left her dangling on the precarious edge.

  “God, you’re beautiful. And so fucking responsive.” He trickled more water over her breast and across her stomach, then swirled the water around on her belly in a teasing, ticklish touch. “It’s a pity I’m not the one.”

  Struggling to catch her breath and recover from the near miss of another orgasm, she cracked her eyes open and caught his gaze. “The one what?”

  “Who gets to call you mine.”

  His words were direct and simple, yet, as she fought the aftereffects of dangling on the edge of mind-numbing pleasure, she struggled to comprehend. “I don’t understand.”

  “You’ve always been one of the sweetest submissives I’ve ever known. The man you choose to give yourself to is the luckiest bastard on the planet.”

  She scrunched up her nose as she considered Lucas as that man. They had chemistry, albeit not the kind that melted panties and sheets, but she obviously responded to him. He’d already brought her intense pleasure once this evening, and she’d always enjoyed his touch when Ian allowed him to play with her. She knew him well and trusted him with her life. She could see herself with him. “How do you know you’re not the one?”

  The corner of his mouth lifted with a whisper of a smile. Then the smile faded and he sighed. “I could suck your nipples until they were perfectly plump like sweet red strawberries ready to pick. I could stroke your pussy until you purred and have you screaming until you lost your voice.”

  The heat sweeping through her system as well as the fresh gush of cream between her legs proved he spoke the truth. “Yes, you could.” She gave him a saucy smile. “So why don’t you?”

  He laughed and stroked his hand through her wet slit, just enough to tease and taunt, but not nearly enough to satisfy. “While I would enjoy doing those things and more, ultimately, that’s not what you need.”

  She moaned and lifted her hips, trying to entice him to give her more. “It doesn’t happen often, but I’m pretty sure you’re wrong.”

  He grinned and resumed his lazy caress of her belly. “You would get off and be sated, but you wouldn’t be truly satisfied. You wouldn’t glow the way you did when Mathew made you come.”

  Heat infused her cheeks and she bit down on her lip as she thought about Lucas’s role in her previous bone-melting experience. “He wasn’t the one who made me come. You did.”

  His dark hair brushed the top of his tanned shoulders as he shook his head. “My mouth and tongue were tools, just like the flogger. Mathew was the one in control of your release.” His eyes darkened to a deep forest green. “And it was stunning to watch.”

  Her stomach cramped with a fresh wave of desire as she recalled the heat in Mathew’s eyes, the passion pouring from him as he ordered her to focus on him. To see him. To know he was the one commanding her release.

  As her breath grew choppy and warmth pooled in her belly, she conceded Lucas was, once again, right. Any orgasm he gave her would be a serviceable act, nothing like the wild, heart-stopping connection she experienced with Mathew.

  Except Mathew wasn’t here, was he? He’d walked away. And while he did give her a hesitant backward glance, the end result was still the same. “Yeah, well, in case you haven’t noticed… you’re the one here with me, not him. So he obviously doesn’t want me or my submission.”

  Before she caught her next breath, Lucas tightened his grip around her waist, used his legs to push out of the water, and sat on the edge of the tub. In the next heartbeat, he rolled her face down over his knee and delivered a solid swat across her ass. She barely had time to gasp with shock before the second landed, and the
third, fourth, and fifth fell in rapid succession before she got out an enraged, “What the hell?”

  As soon as he finished with the fifth, he took her with him as he slid back into the tub, then spun her around so she sat on his lap. The entire incident happened in less than thirty seconds, and if not for the blazing heat ripping through her backside, she might be tempted to think it never even happened.

  “One, I don’t tolerate mouthy subs, and you’ve pushed my last button tonight. Two”—his hard, steady gaze held hers captive—“Mathew opened himself up enough tonight for you to know that statement about him not wanting you is bullshit. Don’t you lie to me or yourself again. Ever.”

  A sob caught in her throat, not because Lucas hurt her, but because she’d upset him. Her pleasure came from pleasing those around her, and knowing she’d disappointed him caused a crushing ache in her chest. She bit down on her lip to stop the quivering and took a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry for angering you. I just…” She tried to look away, but he caught her chin in his grasp and held her gaze.

  “You what?”

  She drew in a deep, shuddering breath to regain control of her emotions and shook her head. “I’ve spent years thinking he hated me.”

  His eyebrow rose questioningly. “And now?”

  She sighed with defeat at having to admit once again, Yoda was correct—and with sadness because she didn’t know how to handle the situation. “He doesn’t hate me. He said nothing could be farther from the truth.”

  He blinked and drew back a few inches, as if surprised by her confession. Hey, hey… point to Muriel. “When did he say that?”

  “Earlier.” A grin tugged at her lips. “You were a little preoccupied, so you probably missed it.” Resuming the back and forth sweep of her fingers across his chest, she said, “Why did you arrange this tonight? I mean, I understand why you thought it was time for me to start coming back to the club. But why did you want Mathew to participate?”

  His gaze never wavered from hers as he gave a careless shrug and said, “It was time.” His response said, It should be obvious, except nothing about tonight was that clear cut.

  Frustrated with his mind games, she clenched her teeth and drew in a long, grounding breath. After releasing it in a puff, she said, “Lucas, Sir… I say this respectfully, so please don’t spank me again… I don’t feel like talking in circles or jumping through hoops to get answers. Please speak plain English. And even better… speak slowly and enunciate.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk, but he nodded once and said, “It was time for you to realize how Mathew feels about you.”

  This time she was the one drawing back with surprise. “How did you…?” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “How have I missed that all these years?”

  “One of the things that endears you to people is your sweet innocence.” He wrapped his hand over the top of her hers, then pulled her fingers to his mouth for a quick nibble. “That sounds crazy considering we’re sitting in a community bathtub in a kink club and just had a mild version of a ménage. But it’s true.”

  Heat infused her face as she thought about her secret fantasy of a real ménage and how much she’d hoped Mathew and Lucas fulfilled it tonight. Even though it didn’t look like that would ever come to pass, she’d stripped for them and been flogged and orally satisfied by one man while another held her close and ordered her to come. Definitely not the actions of a sweet, innocent woman.

  “I also knew Mathew would never play with you on his own, so I had to force his hand in order to make him confront his feelings.” He shrugged and rested his head back against the edge of the tub, and she realized he was as frustrated with the situation as her.

  “Why has he always made me feel like he can’t stand to be near me?”

  “Because he can’t.”

  She gasped and tried to pull away, as if it would shield her from his hurtful words. But Lucas’s arm tightened around her waist and drew her closer. “You have to see things from his perspective. I suspect Mathew’s been in love with you from the beginning, so it’s been painful for him to be around you and Ian. Ian knew how Mathew felt, and he understood that’s why Mathew kept his distance.” He dropped his head and brushed a chaste kiss across her lips. “That’s how I know Ian would want you and Mathew to be together. And why I tried to force the issue tonight.”

  She swallowed roughly and blinked back tears that blurred her vision. “Did you and Ian talk about me and Mathew?” The idea seemed ludicrous, but they’d obviously shared information at some point.

  He rocked his head side to side. “In a roundabout way. While planning your wedding, Ian told me he’d chosen Mathew as his best man because he knew how head-over-heels Mathew was for you. He was certain if anything ever happened to him, Mathew would take good care of you.”

  She bit her lip and thought back to that prophetic conversation with Ian. “I once asked Ian why Mathew disliked me so much, and he told me I was being silly. He said, ‘Don’t you know everyone loves you?’” She blinked a couple times, trying to clear her vision. “He meant that literally, at least as far as Mathew was concerned, didn’t he?”

  Lucas nodded. “Yep. Ian never talked to Mathew about it because he knew it would be too uncomfortable. And because Ian never confronted him, I think Mathew believes he’s fooled everyone all these years.” Lucas grinned, but the smile held a lot of sadness. “Mathew has sacrificed a lot over the years to make sure he never put himself in a position to cross a line with you. But now”—he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled—“honestly, I’m tired of seeing him suffer and watching the distance between you grow when there’s no need for it. It’s getting to me.”

  “So what now? He’s not ready to face his feelings or he wouldn’t have run out.”

  “At this point, it’s up to you.”

  She gasped. “What am I supposed to do?”

  Lucas’s gaze dropped to her breast and a smile curved his lip as he tweaked her nipple again. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

  “Seriously? What do I do? Walk into his office bare-ass naked and hope he likes what he sees enough to drop the walls he’s spent years building?”

  Laughter bubbled from his chest and filled his green eyes. “I don’t think you’ll have to go to that extreme. And you won’t have to go to his office. Keep your eyes open and be more aware of your surroundings.”

  Irritation and defensiveness flared in her chest. “You keep making me sound like a clueless twit.”

  His eyes narrowed and he tweaked her nipple in a punishing move meant to remind her she was getting dangerously close to earning another punishment. “That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it. Mathew has been around a lot more than you realize over the past year. Look for him. And when you see him, reach out.” As she continued to stare, confused, he laughed and wrapped both arms around her and snuggled her close. “If there was a stray dog in your neighborhood, how would you gain its trust?”

  A stray dog? Lord, his train of thought was hard to follow sometimes.

  She thought back to the stray cat that had shown up in their neighborhood when she was a little girl and how hard she and her mother worked to gain its trust. “Well, the first thing I’d do is put out food. When it came to eat, I’d talk to it, let it know it could trust me… try and coax it to come closer. If it did, I’d pet it and love on it and hope it eventually knew it was safe with me.”

  His broad smile lit up the room. “That’s exactly what you need to do with Mathew. Except with him, he’ll eventually be the one to put the collar on you rather than the other way around.”

  Chapter 9

  It had been exactly twenty-four hours since Muriel walked into Pandora’s Playground, and she hadn’t stopped thinking about Mathew for a total of five minutes. While Carl Germaine, her last client of the day, slipped into the adjoining bathroom to dress, she took the sheets off the massage table, dropped them into the hamper, then went to the cabinet for a fresh
set. And proudly enough, she did all that without checking the clock. Again.

  Last evening, as Mathew set a time for Lili to arrive at the club, Muriel had breathed a sigh of relief at having it coincide with her standing seven o’clock appointment. She’d mistakenly believed she would be so focused on Carl she wouldn’t have time to think about Mathew… or wonder how things were progressing… or imagine him touching Lili, stroking her… comforting her once the punishment was over. But once again, things didn’t go according to Muriel’s plan.

  Every time she checked the clock to see how she was doing on time, her thoughts strayed to Pandora’s. At seven, she began to tremble as if she were the one strapped to the spanking bench. She knew Mathew would dread the whole scene, so while he probably left Lili alone for a few minutes to add a layer of anxiety that would keep him from having to be so heavy handed in getting his point across, Muriel doubted he would tarry too long. At ten past seven, when she was certain Mathew had at least shown himself to Lili, nausea roiled in Muriel’s stomach, forcing her to stop and sip a soda to settle herself. At seven thirty, she wondered if they were still going… or was the worst behind them? At eight, certain they’d finished, she couldn’t erase the visual of Lili curled up on Mathew’s lap while he stroked her hair and wiped away her tears.

  It was ridiculous to obsess about something she couldn’t control—something that was none of her business—but she couldn’t stop herself from running with scissors down the jagged path anyway.

  For all she didn’t know about Mathew, she was certain punishing Lili would take an emotional toll on him. Kind of like when parents said to their children, This is going to hurt me more than you. Physically, Lili would experience the pain. But Mathew was so opposed to corporal punishment—he’d even told Lili he loathed it—this incident would also leave a mark on his soul.

  Muriel wished she could be there to provide a kind of aftercare for him once he finished with Lili. But despite Lucas’s confidence, Muriel still wasn’t convinced Mathew would be interested in anything she had to offer.