“I know,” she murmured. “Done this before.”
He kissed the unscathed skin on the edge of her shoulder but didn’t speak. For the longest time, neither of them did. Shane massaged lotion onto her raw skin, soothing the edge off the sting and easing the dull throb that remained, and she tried to stay somewhat awake even while his touch tried to put her to sleep. His hands were powerful and could be so deliciously rough, but she loved how gentle they could be too.
“You’re really good at this,” she slurred.
“What? Putting on lotion?”
Alyssa laughed sleepily. “No. Flogging. Being a Dom.”
He chuckled. “Glad you approve.”
As she slowly came back to earth, Alyssa realized just how far into space she’d gone. There was no doubt in her mind he’d left marks, and she’d be feeling this for days, but he’d also sent her into that hazy, floaty realm where nothing existed except endorphin-fueled bliss. She hadn’t been with many men who could get her there and keep here there—either they backed down too soon, or she couldn’t relax enough to go there.
She went there with him. And he didn’t back down. And it was amazing.
She slowly released a breath as his palms glided over her tender skin. Yeah, she could definitely get used to this.
Eventually, he stopped, put the lotion aside, and offered her some water. While she finished drinking, he lay down beside her and pulled the sheet up onto her legs, stopping below the raw skin on her back.
“Comfortable?” he asked.
“Getting there.” She set the empty water bottle on the nightstand, then carefully turned onto her side. “Much better.”
“Staying on your stomach isn’t more comfortable?”
“Not with these.” She gestured at her breasts.
Shane laughed. “I wouldn’t know, but I’ll take your word for it.”
“Trust me.” She stretched a bit and blinked a few times as if she were just waking up. Her vision was clearer now, as was her mind. “What time is it?”
He picked up his phone and checked the screen. “A little after eight.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He set the phone aside again. “What time did you think it was?”
“I don’t know. Later.”
“Subspace is a bit of a time warp, isn’t it?”
“Mmhmm.”
He rested his hand on her hip. “Enjoyed yourself?”
“Very much so.”
“Good. Mission accomplished.” He kissed her cheek and settled onto the pillow again.
Her limbs were heavy and sluggish, but she wanted to touch him, so she reached across the narrow void and caressed his face. He smiled, closing his eyes as her fingertips drifted over his cheek, and turned to kiss her palm.
She ran her fingers through his hair, but then paused, furrowing her brow as if something had caught her eye. Her thumb brushed just below his hairline. “Is that a scar?”
“That?” He touched it as if he’d forgotten it was there at all. “Oh. Yeah.” He laughed dryly and gently brought her hand down to his lips. “From my younger days.”
“What happened?”
He tensed, but then pressed his lips to the backs of her fingers and met her gaze. “Got into a fight.”
She held his gaze, not sure if she should press for details. But then she grinned. “Did you win?”
Shane laughed, and she thought there was a note of uncertainty in his voice. “I, uh, I held my own.”
“Why am I not surprised that you were a bit scrappy in your younger days?” Her thumb traced the edge of one of his tattoos. “You strike me as the grownup version of a wild child.”
“I wasn’t that scrappy.” He chuckled. “But yeah, you could say I had a little bit of a crazy youth. Don’t know that I’d say I’m the grownup version now, but…”
Alyssa laughed. “Well, I suppose that would be asking a little too much.”
“Hey!” Shane rolled his eyes. “Well, birds of a feather.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He threw her an innocent look, and they both burst out laughing.
She cuddled closer to him. “This beats the hell out of renting hotel rooms.”
“Mmhmm. No checkout time. Way more comfortable.”
She gestured at the walk-in closet. “More…amenities.”
He chuckled. “Yes, more amenities.” He slid his hand over her breast, cupping it gently. “We should do this more often.”
“Fool around in places we’re not renting by the hour?”
“Well, that, but also…more often.” He teased her nipple with his thumb, and when she gasped, he whispered, “Getting through the week with nothing but texts is killing me.”
Alyssa’s stomach clenched.
His thumb stopped. Eyes locked on hers, he withdrew his hand. “Something wrong?”
“Um.” She cleared her throat. “I’m not opposed to seeing each other more, but during the week can get a little complicated. Some weeks, it’s fine. Some…” She sighed. There was no point in beating around the bush. Hell, he was intimately acquainted enough with her body that he had to have at least suspected a thing or two about her by now. “Okay, I know we’re trying to keep real-life stuff out of this, but there is, um, one thing I should probably be honest with you about.”
Shane tensed up. “Okay?”
“I, well…” She paused, her stomach tightening. “I have a son.”
He held her gaze. “That’s it?”
Not even the tip of the iceberg. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” He shrugged and reached for her face again. “That doesn’t change anything.” Inclining his head slightly, he added, “Unless it should?”
“It shouldn’t, but you’d be surprised. A lot of guys find out there’s a kid involved, and they turn tail and run.”
“I’m not a lot of guys.”
“So I’ve noticed.” She laughed softly, but it faltered. “He’s with me every other week. His dad and I trade off on Thursdays. So, when I have him…”
Shane traced her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. “If you aren’t available when he’s home, that’s fine with me. Spend the time with him. He’s only a kid once.” Shane smiled. “I’ll be here when he goes back to his dad’s.”
Apprehension still knotted in her stomach, but she managed to relax a little, and moved closer to him. “Well, as it happens, he’s at his dad’s now. And he’ll be there all next week.” She raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you could come to my place and see all of my toys.”
“I like that sound of that.” He let his hand drift downward, and ran the backs of his fingers down between her breasts. “Just say when, and I’ll be there.”
Shane parked beside Alyssa in her driveway. As they got out of their respective cars, they exchanged glances over the roof of his, and she barely kept herself from whimpering. After another public meal spent winding each other up and nearly having sex in the parking lot, they were finally at her place, and Alyssa was done waiting.
He followed her up the walk, and as soon as they reached the porch, he was done waiting too—he leaned her against the door, kissed her hungrily, and pressed his body against her, digging his rock-hard cock into her hip.
“That should keep you on your feet,” he murmured between kisses. “Till you get the door open.”
“Either let me get it open or fuck me right here.”
He grinned against her lips. “That’s not much of an ultimatum, darling.”
She hooked her leg around his and pulled him harder against her, grinding against his dick, and he groaned softly.
“Jesus.” He kissed her again, and they both fumbled with the key and the doorknob until it finally opened, nearly sending both of them tumbling across the floor. He kept them upright, though, kicking the door shut be
hind them and pushing her up against the wall.
“You keep teasing me in restaurants,” she panted, “we’re going to wind up in jail one of these nights.”
He tensed a little, but then laughed as he bent to kiss her throat. “That’d make a hell of a story, don’t you think?”
“It would.” She tilted her head and bit the side of his neck. “As long as the story included ‘he made me come in front of everyone’.”
Shane groaned against her skin. “You know it would.”
“Mmhmm, I do.” She dug her nails into his shoulders, drawing a groan out of him. “I would expect no less.”
“Good. And we’re not in front of everyone now, but I fully intend to make you come.” He lifted his head. “Bedroom. Now.”
“Change of plans, actually.” She looked him straight in the eye. “I’m in charge tonight.”
His eyebrows jumped, and then he grinned. “Are you?”
“Mmhmm.” She narrowed her eyes. “Unless of course you have any objection to that?”
Shane gulped, and she knew she had him right where she wanted him.
“Good. Now let’s go into the bedroom, shall we?”
He followed her down the hall and into her bedroom, and when she closed the door behind them, she swore a shiver went through him. Nerves? Arousal? He was definitely turned on—walking with a hard-on in those snug jeans couldn’t have been comfortable—but how comfortable was he with this whole idea?
Only one way to find out.
She stood in front of him. “Take off your belt.”
Some guys, especially those who had a dominant side, balked at the first command. Shane’s eyebrows rose, but his hands went straight for his belt, and in no time at all, it was off.
She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”
His Adam’s apple jumped. His brief hesitation was probably less about whether or not to do as he was told, and more about wondering what the fuck she was going to do with that belt, but it was only a split second before he obeyed.
“Undress.” As he did, she smacked the belt on her palm, grinning at the way he jumped every time. Good thing he’d worn a plain T-shirt tonight instead of a button-up—it probably would have taken him an hour to work his way through the buttons, given how much he seemed to be struggling to concentrate.
As he started on his jeans, she hit her palm even harder, and the slap made him gasp.
“Faster, Shane.” Another smack. “You don’t have all night.”
He glanced at her, eyes wide, and then made short work of stripping off the rest of his clothes. Oh yes, he was obedient.
Once he was completely naked, she stepped closer to him. “Hmm, this is a switch, isn’t it?” She ran the looped belt down the middle of his chest to his abs, which contracted under the light touch. “I’m the one who’s dressed this time.”
He swallowed.
She let the belt drift lower, and he sucked in a sharp hiss when it grazed his erection. “This turn you on, Shane? Doing what I tell you to?”
He nodded slowly. “Very much.”
“I thought so.” She pointed at the floor at the foot of her bed. “Kneel.”
Shane’s knees buckled beneath him as if his body took orders from her and not from him. Alyssa’s heart sped up. He really was a switch, wasn’t he?
“Don’t move.” She went to the dresser and pulled open a drawer. “You showed me yours”—she reached into the drawer—“so I think I should show you mine tonight.” His wide eyes followed as she withdrew the long-handled flogger. It wasn’t quite as brutal as the cat o’ nine tails he’d used on her, and the ends weren’t knotted, but the tails were thin and stiff. She’d raised more than a few welts with this bad boy in the past. Tonight? It was on.
She returned to the bed and laid the flogger across the foot of it, right in Shane’s line of sight. “Hands up here.” She tapped the top rail of the footboard, the same place Shane had had her hold on to when they’d done this at his place.
Oh, but he wasn’t just going to hold it like she had. Once his hands were where she wanted them, she wrapped the belt around his wrists, winding it into a figure-eight that wouldn’t cut off his circulation but also wouldn’t let him slip out easily.
Then she picked up the flogger, making sure to let the tails hiss across the comforter. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, whispering something that sounded like, “Oh fuck…”
“What was that?” She dangled the flogger so the ends landed between his shoulders.
“Nothing.” Every muscle in his torso was tight, rippling beneath his tattoos as he squirmed.
“That’s what I thought.”
She went through the same motions he had when the roles had been reversed—warming up his skin with a softer flogger and then, when his back and shoulders were a nice shade of pink, switched to the one she’d taunted him with.
The stiff tails snapped hard against his skin, and he grunted. Again, and this time the sound was somewhere between a groan and a sob. She kept flogging him. Turned the pink flesh to red, drew lines that would be bruises later. One particularly hard smack left a welt that quickly beaded up with a thin stripe of blood, like a cat scratch that was just deep enough to break the skin.
That one made him groan, and he arched and shuddered. “Fuck…”
Alyssa stopped and tucked the flogger under her arm. With her other hand, she kneaded her tired muscles as she stepped closer to make sure she hadn’t cut him deep. It wasn’t bad—a little bit of blood was inevitable with an implement like this.
For a moment, she just gazed at him. Sweaty, covered in angry red stripes, he was stunning. Absolutely stunning. The man kneeling at her feet was a world apart from the one who’d raised welts on her back. He submitted as eagerly as he dominated. Took pain as hungrily as he gave it. An effortless switch—perfect.
“More?”
“Yes.” He glanced over his shoulder, breathing hard and trembling. “Please. More.”
She stepped up next to him and let the flogger’s tails run along his unscathed sides. “And if I don’t want to give you any more?”
Shane took a few slow, deep breaths. “Then…I’ll…” He licked his lips and gazed up at her. “Whatever you want.”
She smiled, and every muscle in his body seemed to relax. “Good thing for you,” she murmured, “I do want to give you more.”
He shivered. “Thank you.”
She stepped back again, and she gave him more. Carefully avoiding his spine, she crisscrossed his back with bright red stripes. A few of them lit up with blood, and the subsequent strike would smear it, but those were the hits that made him shift and moan and sometimes even whimper. He leaned forward, bowing his head and stretching his arms as much as the belt around his wrists would allow, as if he wanted to make his back as big as possible, expose as much flesh as possible, and she took advantage of every inch he revealed to her.
By the time she was done, her arm was aching with fatigue, and he sagged against the footboard, gripping the belt and shaking.
She set the flogger aside and stood beside him again. “Shane.” She stroked his sweaty hair. “Look at me.”
When he lifted his head, the look in his eyes took her breath away. Blissed out. In pain, but in heaven. Overwhelmed and eager for more. She knew exactly how he felt right then. He was a million miles away, and yet hyper-focused. Flying, but anchored.
She brushed a tear from his cheek. “You okay?”
Still distant, still breathless, Shane nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“You’re better than good.” She kissed his cheek and then undid the belt around his wrists. “There’s one more thing I want you to do, Shane.”
He lifted his gaze, his eyes wide and watering.
“I want you to fuck me. Good and hard.”
He shivered, nodding slo
wly.
Alyssa dropped the belt on the floor and motioned for him to get up. She let him get his feet under him—didn’t she know how hard it was to do simple things like stand when she was that far gone? And his legs were probably asleep anyway.
Once he’d found his equilibrium, she led him around to the side of the bed. He was still spacey, so she put the condom on for him—as much as she wanted to make him perform every little task, she preferred to keep that particular one in the hands of whichever one of them was focused and steady so they could be sure it went on properly. And besides, the sooner it was on, the sooner he could fuck her.
She lay back across the bed and gestured for him to get on top. He moved slowly, but he did as he was told, positioning himself between her legs.
She dragged a nail down the center of his chest. “Now. Fuck me.”
No hesitation.
For a few seconds, Alyssa forgot she was supposed to be the one in charge and calling the shots and telling him how to move and what to do. She was so damned turned on, and he felt so damned good—she didn’t care what he did now as long as he didn’t stop fucking her.
She pinched his nipples, and he cried out, his rhythm falling apart for a few thrusts before he recovered.
“Shit,” he murmured. “That feels…so good…”
She grinned up at him. “You like it when it hurts?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good.” She gave his nipples a slight twist, then let go. “Sit up. All the way.”
He gasped, probably from the sudden pain and being released, but recovered after a couple of seconds. He lifted himself up and rested his bent knees beside her hips, gripping her waist tight as he kept fucking her.
Alyssa reached down and circled her clit with her fingers, and Shane’s cock seemed even bigger as her pussy tightened around him. God, she was close now, her whole body trembling with the force of the not yet realized orgasm.
“Oh my God,” she moaned.
“Fuck.” Shane squeezed his eyes closed and held his breath, grimacing with the effort of, she guessed, keeping his orgasm at bay and keeping up this perfect cadence. He was gorgeous like this. Muscles standing out beneath his tattoos. Skin flushed and sweaty. Lips taut and eyes shut tight.
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