Burn

by HELEN HARDT

  “Oh my God, Jonah. So good. So good.”

  I flipped her over onto her hands and knees and buried my face between her gorgeous ass cheeks. I couldn’t wait any longer to have her. I stood back, unbuckled my jeans, and forced them over my hips. And I plunged inside that hotness.

  So complete. I had never felt this way with anyone. Every moment I entered her was amazing, made me feel so whole, like we were truly one being.

  I had never had sex like this.

  And I never would again.

  I fucked her hard, pounding into her, because I knew it wouldn’t take long for me to reach climax.

  When my balls tightened, I gritted my teeth and rammed as hard as I could into that sweet heat.

  As I exploded inside her, I closed my eyes. “Melanie, goddamnit, I love you.”

  When my orgasm finally started to subside, I withdrew, still in my boots, my jeans and boxers around my thighs. My beautiful woman was naked, glistening with a sheen of perspiration. And I hadn’t even bothered to take off my clothes.

  Would it always be like this with Melanie? I couldn’t wait to take two minutes to disrobe before I had to fuck her?

  We’d been together for weeks now, but my passion and desire increased every time we were together.

  I longed to show more of the darker side of my desires.

  But not now.

  As long as I could have her, I would turn away from my baser instincts.

  Because I might not have her for much longer.

  Chapter Thirty–Four

  Melanie

  I rolled over onto my back and looked at Jonah. He was gorgeous, his finely sculpted face shining with sweat, his wavy hair plastered against his forehead, his black-and-gray stubble glistening.

  I smiled. “Maybe you should get undressed.”

  He returned my smile and sat down on the bed, pulling his boots and socks off. He made quick work of the rest of his clothes and then lay down beside me. I looked into his dark eyes, alive with fire.

  “Would you tell me about…what you like?”

  He closed his eyes and let out a groan. “I like what we just did together. It’s wonderful with you.”

  “I believe you. I see it in your eyes and I can feel it when you want me. And believe me when I say it’s exactly the same for me. Absolutely wonderful. But I know there’s a side of you that you haven’t shown me. I want to know all of you.”

  He sighed and then turned on his side to face me. “Sweetheart, I love you. I’ve never said that to a woman and meant it like I do with you. Hell, I’ve only said it to one other woman in my life, when I was young. During a summer fling after high school.”

  “You’ve never dated anybody seriously?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve had my share of conquests, and I’ve had a few girlfriends over the years. But I didn’t fall for any of them, and they eventually left me. Sex was fun. Dating was sort of fun, but nothing like what I feel for you.”

  I looked at him seriously. “Did any of them do…those things you like to do?”

  He smiled. “Most of them did, yes. But I was never serious about any of them. I never collared anyone.”

  “Collared?”

  He cleared his throat. “Bound them to me formally. As my submissive.”

  I swallowed. Submissive. I knew the term. And I knew what it meant. Sort of. “Where did you meet them?” I wasn’t sure I really wanted to hear the answer to that question.

  “Here and there.”

  “That’s not an answer. Did you meet them online?”

  “Oh, hell, no. I would never do online dating.”

  I wouldn’t either, although I had considered it. The truth was, I hadn’t had anyone serious in my life for a while either. Same as Jonah, I’d dated here and there, but nothing ever came of any of it, and truth be told, I’d never said “I love you” to any of them.

  “So where did you meet them then?” I prodded.

  “There’s…a club. A club in the city where the leather community hangs out.”

  I gasped, and then felt really stupid for doing so. I wasn’t so naïve that I thought there were no such things as sex clubs. I knew better. But I had lived in Grand Junction for the last fifteen years. I knew it like the back of my hand. Where the hell was the sex club?

  “Do you still go there?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I’ve outgrown a lot of that—the scenes in public kind of thing. It’s not my thing anymore. Never really was something I did regularly. If I was dating someone at the time who enjoyed it, we would go.”

  I bit my lip. “What kind of things did you do there?”

  “Look, Melanie, I will never take you there. I haven’t been there myself in five years or so.”

  “Still, I’m asking. What kind of things did you do there?”

  “Those clubs aren’t for the faint of heart, sweetheart. I didn’t do anything wrong, and everything I did was fully consensual on both sides, but someone like you…”

  “What do you mean, ‘someone like me’? I’m a psychotherapist, for God’s sake. You think I haven’t heard about kink?”

  I hadn’t had any patients who were into kink, but I wasn’t ignorant to its existence.

  “All right. Sometimes my s— er, lady and I would do a scene.”

  “What do you mean by a scene?”

  He let out another sigh. “The thing you need to understand about clubs like these, is they have a certain amount of members who are voyeurs. People who like to watch.”

  I nodded.

  “And then there are people who like to be watched.”

  “And were you one of those?”

  “Not overly. Sometimes I would do a scene with my woman in public. Most often I would do it in one of the private rooms. Except for when I was with…”

  “Who?”

  He closed his eyes. “Are you sure you want to go there?”

  “I love you. I need to know about you.”

  “I’m not into the club scene anymore, Melanie.”

  “That doesn’t matter. It was a part of your life, and I want to know about it.”

  He opened his eyes. “All right. But if you go running and screaming out of here, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  “Good, because if you do, I will catch you. And bring you right back into my bed.” His eyes heated me from the inside out.

  “So tell me.”

  “I was dating—hell, dating isn’t the right word. I was sleeping with this woman named Kerry. She was a true submissive. In fact, she wanted to be my slave.”

  “Slave?”

  “Yes. She wanted to be my live-in house slave, at my beck and call. She wanted me to rule over her not only in the bedroom but also in everyday life.”

  I was shocked. A submissive I could understand, but a slave? “You mean there are people who do that?”

  He nodded. “Lots of people enjoy it, men and women alike. I knew a couple at the club who were these everyday people. The woman was the master—or mistress, as a female is called—and the man was a high-powered orthopedic surgeon by day. At home, he was kept on a leash.”

  “Wow…”

  “I assure you I wasn’t into anything like that, Melanie. I have nothing against people who do it. If it works for them, more power to them. Anything consensual is okay in my book, as long as others don’t get hurt. But I promise you I never even thought about taking Kerry as my slave. I do like a submissive woman in the bedroom, but I don’t want a slave at home. I want a partner.”

  “I see.”

  “One thing I love about you, Melanie, is your brilliance, your intelligence. You know your own mind. I could never ask you—or anyone, for that matter—to be a slave.”

  “That’s good. I can tell you right now I would never be a slave. But like you said, if that works for some people, I suppose it’s a good thing.”

  “It is, for some people. But anyway, that’s what Kerry wanted. And once I fou
nd out that was what she wanted, and I told her I couldn’t do it, she ended the relationship. But before, when she was simply my submissive, we would often do public scenes in the club.”

  “Because you wanted to?”

  “No. Because she wanted to. She loved to be watched.”

  “That’s so foreign to me. I was so embarrassed when Talon and Jade, and then Bryce, and then Talon again, caught us naked in your pool.”

  “That’s a little different. That was my family and my friend. It’s different at the club. There, everyone is in the lifestyle. Those who like to watch get to watch. Those who like to play get to play. Those who like to be watched are watched. Everyone is there for a specific reason.”

  “So what did you do with Kerry at the club? And where is this so-called club anyway? I’m very familiar with the city. I live there, remember?”

  He smiled. “You’d be surprised what can be found in the seamy underground side of the city. But to answer your first question… Are you sure you want to know?”

  I nodded.

  “Kerry liked to be tied up and spanked. Which I like as well. She liked other things too, things I had never tried before, and some of which I probably won’t do again.”

  “Like what?”

  “She liked needles.”

  “Needles?” I gasped.

  “Yes. I was always very careful not to break her skin, even when she begged me to. But she loved sharp points and needles. She also liked candle and wax play.”

  “What…exactly do you do with candles and wax?”

  “You can do a lot of things. She liked me to hold a taper over her breasts and let the hot wax drip on her nipples. She also liked me to penetrate her with a lit candle.”

  I gasped again, my hands over my mouth.

  He smiled. “Not the end that was lit.”

  God, I felt stupid. “Of course. I knew that.”

  “Is this overwhelming for you? Are you sorry you asked?”

  “No, I need to know.”

  “I promise you that candles and needles aren’t my thing.”

  Something snapped in me. So candles weren’t his thing. But…what would that feel like? To have hot wax dripping down my breasts, over my nipples? Did I want to know?

  Before I could ponder any further, Jonah went on.

  “Kerry liked them, and because I was her Dominant and I wanted to please her, I did them. And she liked being watched, so I did them in front of other people.”

  “But you were the Dominant. Wasn’t it her job to please you?”

  “It’s not like that, baby. It’s a two-way street. We please each other. It’s all about pleasure for both the Dom and the sub.”

  This was all a lot to digest. “Did you…enjoy those things? The candles and the needles?”

  “Even though they’re not really my thing, I did, but only because she enjoyed them. You have to understand the Dominant personality. Yes, I like to be in charge, but it’s never my desire to hurt anyone. I want to ultimately bring pleasure, not pain. Sometimes, though, pain is pleasure.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever understand that.”

  “You may not. I’ve often wondered myself why this is the type of play that appeals to me. You’re a therapist, so you tell me. Why do you suppose I like that?”

  Nothing like being put on the spot. “Honestly, the type of sex a person likes has very little to do with other parts of his life. But if I had to make a guess, I’d say you need to be in control.”

  “Why would I need to be in control? I mean, I used to go to skid row and deliberately get beat up, just so I could punish myself for not being there for Talon.”

  I nearly snapped my neck with a double take. “You did? You did that on purpose?”

  “Aw, hell… I never told you that, did I? Fuck.”

  My heart went out to him. “You can tell me anything. You know that. Nothing will change the way I feel about you.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true…”

  “Of course it’s true. How could you doubt my love for you?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “You don’t go out looking for trouble anymore, do you?”

  “No. I haven’t had a desire to. But wouldn’t it make more sense if I wanted to take a submissive role in the bedroom?”

  “No. Not at all. You’re a heterosexual male, so you have sex with women. Women didn’t abuse Talon. Men did. So you were trying to be punished by men because you felt it should have been you instead of Talon. But in your relationships with women, you like to exert control, and that could be because of any number of things. There could be no bigger explanation for them than that you’re the owner of a very successful ranch. Your whole life is about control.”

  “You think?”

  I smiled. “Jonah, it takes months of therapy to uncover things like this. That’s just my best guess at this point.”

  “I see. I hope you’re not sorry I told you these things.”

  I touched his face. “Not at all. It helps me understand you a little bit better to be honest. But truthfully…I don’t think I want to go to your club.”

  “It’s not my club. I told you, I haven’t been there in over five years, and I have no desire to go there anymore. I’ve grown out of a lot of that stuff. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know. Some people live their whole lives in that lifestyle. Others just experiment. Everyone is different.”

  “Are you saying you were experimenting?”

  “With Kerry, because she was into some stuff that I wasn’t. And with the others…some yes and some no.”

  “I think… I think I’ve heard enough for now.”

  “At least you’re not running out of here.”

  “No. I won’t leave you. I love you. And your past is part of who you are today. But I need to go slowly.”

  “I understand. Today I was determined just to make slow, sweet love to you, Melanie. I wanted to do what you wanted, what you deserved. Because that’s how much I love you. I want to please you more than I want to please myself. I wasn’t even going to lick you…down there.” He smiled. “But when you asked me to, I couldn’t help myself.”

  I smiled. “I never thought I would enjoy anal play. I had no idea that part of me was so sensitive.”

  “It’s pretty amazing.”

  “It is.” I somehow felt very daring. “So turn over. Let’s see how you like it.”

  Chapter Thirty–Five

  Jonah

  “Melanie,” I said. “I think you’re forgetting that I like to take a dominant role.”

  “And you’re forgetting that I love you. I want to show you the pleasure that you show me.”

  I laughed out loud. “I can’t fault your reasoning.”

  “And I assure you,” she said, “I will never ever think of you as anything but a truly dominant male. You are the epitome of a man’s man. Broad shoulders, amazing muscles in your arms and legs. And the way you stood up to Dr. Cates… Wow. I know you will protect me with life and limb if you have to.”

  I turned to her and cupped her cheeks, staring at her beautiful green eyes. “Absolutely, Melanie. I would do anything for you. I’d take a bullet for you if I had to.”

  Guilt rushed over me. I hadn’t been there when she needed me. If only I had taken that phone call… I had been over this in my mind time and time again. Even if I had taken the phone call, I might not have been able to get there in time. Talon and I were already on our way out of town. And I didn’t know how long she was in her loft before they left. But I could’ve at least gotten the police involved. Yes, she had said 9-1-1 had rung busy. But I would’ve stayed on the fucking phone until I got a goddamned answer. I would have turned the world on its side to keep her safe.

  Why hadn’t I answered that phone?

  “Well, since you say you’d do anything for me, get on your hands and knees, Mr. Steel. I’m going to lick your ass.” She burst into giggles. “I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth.” />
  I joined her in laughter. I couldn’t believe those words had come from her mouth either. But I loved the fact that she wanted to give me the pleasure that I gave her, and I had no doubt that she saw me as strong and dominant. So I obeyed her and got on my hands and knees.

  “Now let’s see what you can do with that mouth,” I said.

  She was tentative, at first, exploring the cheeks of my ass with her hand, and I could feel her hesitance.

  “It’s okay, Melanie. Touch me. I crave your touch. Everywhere.”

  “I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t want to do it wrong.”

  “You could never disappoint me. And there is no right or wrong. This is just pleasure. Pure pleasure.”

  The touching stopped for a moment, and even with my back to her, I knew she was biting her lip.

  And then, a tiny prickle of warmth slithered between the cheeks of my ass.

  My pulse raced. I had licked many assholes in my day, but this was the first time anyone had licked mine. Now I could see why women liked the practice so much. The flesh was way more sensitive than I would’ve thought, although I should’ve known that, given how women had responded to me over the years.

  It was a new sensation. My thighs began to tingle beneath me, and my cock hardened.

  She became bolder, stroking her tongue up my entire crack, back down, and then focusing on the hole. She swirled her tongue around it, poked at it, prodded at it. My rim of muscle was too tightened up for the tip of her tongue to go in, but the prodding… Fuck. My cock was throbbing between my legs.

  She moved away from my asshole for a few moments, kissing the cheeks of my butt, the tops of my thighs. Goose bumps erupted on my flesh, and the tingling sensation continued. I desperately wanted her to go back to my ass, but I didn’t feel comfortable asking her to. This whole thing was probably way out of her comfort zone.

  Luckily, I didn’t have too long to wait for more tongue in the ass. My God, it was sensational.

  “So good, baby,” I groaned. “That feels amazing.”

  She licked faster then, my words perhaps spurring her on. Soon I felt saliva river down my perineum and my balls.