by Jenna Jacob
“God, he’s so small,” Tony marveled.
“He’s so beautiful,” I cooed, leaning in close to inhale the sweet scent of baby lotion.
Sitting in a wheel chair holding the little boy, memories came flooding back. A whirlpool of emotion threatened to pull me under. His perfect round face and dark lashes resting on his cheeks reminded me of my Nathan. No mourning allowed. Those days are done. The gentle mental prod, coupled with the tuft of dark curly hair on Tristan’s head, kept me from spiraling down into the murky depths of sadness. But it didn’t stop the tears from spilling past my eyes.
“That’s exactly what happened when I looked at him,” Julianna sniffed. “He’s so… beautiful.”
“He’s more than that,” Tony whispered. “He’s a precious gift from god.”
Nuzzling Tristan close to my face one last time, I sucked in a shaky breath and smiled. With a tiny nod, Mika lifted him from my arms.
“I should have these stupid casts off in about two more weeks if you need a babysitter.”
“We’ll take you up on that,” Mika grinned as he settled Tristan back into Julianna’s arms. “By then we should have the green light to try for another.”
A low growl rumbled in Julianna’s throat as she sliced Mika with an evil glare. “Not likely, Sir. Your toy box is off limits for at least six weeks.”
“Six weeks?” Mika choked. Seconds later a wicked grin curled his mouth. “That’s okay. We can improvise.”
“And on that note,” Tony laughed, “we should head out so the others can come back.” Bending to give Julianna a kiss, he smiled. “You did damn good, momma.”
Mika looked down on his family; joy, pride, contentment, and love swam in his eyes. My heart warmed with happiness for both him and Julianna.
“Don’t worry about a thing at the club,” Tony assured. “I’ll snag James, and we’ll appoint some DM’s until Drake makes it in.”
“Thanks, man. I was going to ask if you might handle that for me.”
“I’d be happy to. Give me a shout if you need anything else,” Tony offered as the two men hugged, slapping each other in manly fashion. “Congratulations, bro, or should I say Dad? Tristan’s an awesome little dude.”
“Yeah, he is at that.” Mika beamed.
The minute we returned to the waiting room, Drake and Trevor bolted past us, impatiently. After saying our good-byes, Tony and I headed back to the club. Our conversation was light, focused mostly on the new baby. I worried that since I’d opened the door to my past, Tony would take the opportunity to shove a shoulder against the thing and splinter it to smithereens. But, thankfully, he didn’t.
Swinging by a fast food drive-thru, we grabbed some burgers before hurrying back to my room. Tony wolfed his dinner down, and I sat nibbling on mine, watching him get ready. When he peeled off his dress shirt and donned the requisite black, Genesis Security T-shirt, I couldn’t keep my gaze from his rippling muscles. My mouth watered, and I wanted to moan. My attraction to the man had grown at a steady pace, but over the past few days, it seemed as if it were taking off like a rocket ship. The nights were becoming more frustrating, and I found myself lying awake with a constant burning ache as I listened to him snore. Fighting the urge, more than once, to wiggle my way beneath the covers and wake him with my mouth. I was unsure how much longer I could behave.
As if sensing my stare, Tony turned and flashed a seductive smile. The eager arousal in his eyes dismantled my control. Setting my burger aside, I met his carnal stare with a seductive gaze of my own. It was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Tony ate up the distance between us in three long strides. Cupping my chin, he forced my eyes to meet his while the muscles in his jaw ticked.
“I’m trying to be an honorable Dominant here, but you’re making that extremely difficult, angel.”
“Who said you needed to be, Sir?” Staring at his full lips, my voice dipped to an intimate whisper. Having already memorized his taste, I craved to gorge myself on his heated breath, soft lips, and slick tongue.
His chest expanded in quick labored movements. His nostrils flared. “You’ve not given me the green light, yet. It’s up to you to decide if and when you’re ready.”
Suffused in the untamed hunger vibrating off his rigid body, I slid my tongue over my bottom lip with a slow, sensual glide. “Green,” I replied in a kitten-like whisper.
“Fuck,” he whispered. Bending low, Tony gripped a fist in my hair and slammed his mouth against mine.
There was no hint of finesse in his kiss, just raw, animalistic, entitlement, jolting me straight to the core. Wired and more alive than I’d ever felt before, I arched up to him.
Without breaking the kiss, Tony released my hair and knelt down in front of me. The soft stroke of his tongue on mine nearly had me coming undone. Sliding his hands beneath my cotton top, he framed my waist before skimming his palms up my torso to cup my throbbing breasts. The air froze in my lungs as he dragged his thumbs across my nipples. The tingling buds drew even tighter, stinging with an ache to be tasted, toyed, and teased. My tunnel clenched in demand while Tony swallowed my desperate whimper. Sliding my shirt up, he exposed my lacy peach bra.
Breaking the kiss, he eased back. His red, swollen lips glistened. And his hooded gaze left a searing trail of heat as it drifted across my flesh in a languid glide of approval. With nimble fingers he released the clasp of my demi-bra. Brushing it aside, he palmed my breasts as they spilled into his hands.
A tortured growl rumbled in his chest as he bent and flicked his slick tongue over each taut bud. I cried out as a surge of electricity shot south, but Tony didn’t relent. He opened his mouth and sucked in deep, first one breast then the other, before dancing his talented tongue in tormenting circles around the tightly drawn crests.
“Yes,” I moaned on a raspy sigh.
Deliberately avoiding the sensitive tips, he stirred the dizzying current through me. The pulsating torture was maddening. Need swelled and pounded incessantly beneath my clit. Tangling the fingers of my uncast hand in his hair, I coaxed his hot mouth back to the aching tight tip of my breast once again.
“Tony,” I breathlessly called out. “Please.”
Writhing on the chair, mindless by his visceral hunger, hot nectar spilled from inside me.
“Please what, pet?” he murmured against my flesh.
“More. I need more. Stop teasing me. I can’t stand this game anymore.”
Slowly easing back, his teeth scraped along the glistening tissue until he held my nipple between his teeth. With a sharp bite, he released it as I cried out on a whimper.
A feral glint danced across his eyes. “Tell me what you need, angel.”
“I need you to fuck me, Tony. Please. I need to come,” I panted. “Christ, it’s been weeks. I can’t take this anymore.”
The glimmer of sadistic delight vanished from his eyes, and an almost arctic expression lined his face. It was as if he’d suddenly closed the shutters and barred the door to lock me out.
“What? What’s wrong?” I gasped.
“Sorry, doll, but I have no interest in being a convenient fuck buddy. If all you need is to have the edge taken off, well, you’ll have to do that yourself.”
His scathing words sliced deep. My mouth gaped in utter astonishment as Tony slid my shirt back in place, stood, and slowly backed away.
“What the fuck?”
“Language,” he barked.
“You rev me up only to shut me down like I’m a goddamn car. What kind of sick, sadistic games are you trying to play here?”
“One more curse word and I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,” Tony threatened in a low controlled tone. Stepping closer, he leaned in, hovering over me. “Tell me, Leagh, what exactly is it you want from me besides an orgasm? Do you even know?”
I swallowed tightly. I want you to love me. Protect me. Own and train me to be the kind of submissive you want. But most of all, I don’t want you to shut me out or fucking die on me! The truth
sizzled on the tip of my tongue.
Pinching my lips together in a tight angry line, I had no desire to eat a bar of soap or gamble on Tony’s rejection when he discovered the weak, scared woman inside.
“I asked you a question. What do you want from me, deep down inside, Leagh, besides an orgasm? You were quite clear that you needed relief. But what about trust? Control? The things that go deeper than a few minutes of mindless pleasure?”
Tony gripped the erection straining beneath his jeans. “Every inch of my body screams for you, from my throbbing dick all the way to my greedy soul. I have no intention of simply scratching your itch. When I decide to make love to you, I’m going to sear myself into every cell of your body… thoroughly and completely. When I slide into your hot little cunt, it’s going to be for all the right reasons. The ones that leave no doubt how absolute and unconditionally I own you!”
His fervent pledge and the ferocity blazing in his chocolate eyes slammed through me…all the way to my toes. Yes, I wanted an orgasm—not simply for the sake of relief—but to strengthen our connection. How could he not see that? Every hour I spent with him, I longed for a hundred more.
“But before I begin to possess you, you’re going to show me every damn skeleton you’ve got locked inside your well-guarded closet.”
Even when peeling back my layers with his emotional scalpel, as he did now, Tony had the uncanny ability to free the chains inside me. The dream of opening up to him both thrilled and terrified me. I had two choices. I could sit suffocating on my own stubborn pride or I could start being honest with him. Was I ready—would I ever be—to rip open the scabs of my past and make them bleed?
“Why do you have such a hard-on to dig up my dirt? It’s over and done with,” I snapped, trying to stall for time and come up with a way to wriggle out of responding.
“My hard-on has nothing to do with your past and everything to do with the sweet taste of your lips… your sinful soft breasts, and candy-hard nipples. Now start talking.”
He backed me into a corner, and even though my body responded to his erotic words, my mind rebelled at his demand. I raised my chin defiantly.
“I don’t want to. But if and when I change my mind, you’ll be the first to know. Go work the dungeon. I’m done.”
A sarcastic smirk played on his lips. “There you go again, topping from the bottom. George may have let you get away with that shit, but I won’t! And just so you know, this conversation is far from over, little one.”
“Not if I refuse to play your little power game. What are you going to do about it, Tony…Spank my ass?” I hissed. Hating that I sounded like a spoiled child. It pissed me off even more that Tony knew how to push my buttons so damn easily. “Go ahead. Spank me. I’ll just fly into subspace. Oh, but that’s not what you want is it? No, you want to slice and dice me open, so you can read the puddles of blood like some flippin’ Rorschach test. Let me tell you something, Mister. That’s not going to happen.”
“I don’t put much stock in a Rorschach. However, you might as well get real comfortable in that chair, sweetheart. I have a feeling this could take all night.”
“Oh that’s right. You’re the big bad Dom, and I’m just a meek little sub. Go right ahead. Ask all the questions you want. It doesn’t mean I’ll answer a single one of them.”
Tony threw back his head and laughed. My anger surged, and my blood pressure spiked. I clenched my fist into a ball wanting nothing more than to punch him in the jaw.
“Leagh, you’re not equipped to play these kinds of games with me.” His smile vanished, and his eyes narrowed. “Let me warn you now before you get in over your head. Reverse psychology won’t work on me. I’ll chew you up one side, and spit you out the other. You’re way the fuck out of your league, angel.”
I bristled. His condescending tone scraped up my spine. Anger and sass weren’t going to deflect Tony’s mission. He had the upper hand when it came to mind fucks, and we both knew it. The tenacious bastard wasn’t going to stop until he clawed me open. A fat tear slid down my cheek as Tony continued to hold me in his unyielding gaze.
“You’re some piece of work, you know that?” he chided. “I’m sure this little trick of yours worked on George, but it won’t on me, sweetheart.”
“What trick?” I spat, angrily wiping my cheeks.
“Turning on the water works and trying to gain his sympathy with those big ol’ crocodile tears. They’re not going to work on me, sweetheart.” Tony flashed a mock smile.
“You bastard. I hate you!” I screamed as I raised my right knee aiming to launch my foot into his balls.
Tony side-stepped to the left and my foot glanced off his thigh. “I wouldn’t be here if I thought you hated me, Leagh. Oh, and trying to kick me in the nuts is going to cost you… big.”
Before I could toss back a verbal barb, Tony swooped in and wrapped his hands around my waist. He plucked me out of the chair like a ragdoll. I yelped and tried to smack him upside the head with my cast.
“You hit me, and so help me god, I’ll haul you to the dungeon, chain you to the cross, and fire up your sexy ass with my whip.”
Incongruent to the fury roiling off him, he gently eased me onto the bed. Yanking my cotton pants off, he tossed them to the floor.
“Spread your legs for me, angel,” Tony instructed in a husky voice. His sleepy, seductive stare raked over my legs, zeroing in on the scant peach thong covering my sweltering mound.
“In your wildest, wettest dreams,” I spat, squeezing my knees together. Pushing off from the mattress, I sat up. “Give me back my pants, and get the hell out of my room.”
Tony sucked in a deep breath before he turned and walked toward the door.
Thank god. Finally he’s going to leave me in peace! My inner voice cheered.
Pausing near the dresser, Tony bent and lifted his black toy bag off the floor before returning to the side of the bed.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.
“Reminding you that I’m the Dom and you’re the sub,” he replied with an evil grin.
Tossing the over-sized duffle onto the bed, he plucked his cell phone from his pocket, fired off a text to someone, and pocketed the device. Slowly, Tony pulled back the heavy zipper. Reaching in, Tony pulled out a bundle of white cotton rope
“You are not tying me up. You can’t.”
“I am. And I can. It might take a little creativity with your casts and all, but I’ll manage.”
“I don’t doubt your abilities, Tony, but I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”
“Really? I haven’t heard you use your safeword, sweetheart. You’re not going to be stubborn and refuse to say it again, are you?”
I wanted to slap the cocky smirk off his lips. Stubborn? Oh, you son of a bitch. You haven’t seen stubborn, yet.
“I will never safeword to you.” Not while my pride was at stake.
“Is that so?” A sparkle of challenge danced in Tony’s dark eyes. “We’ll just have to see about that won’t we? In case you change your mind, your word is still protocol.”
As he peeled off my shirt and bra, I gritted my teeth. The lesson Tony intended to teach was nothing more than a test of wills. Did he honestly have such little faith in mine? Things were about to get ugly…real fast.
Peeking out from beneath my lashes, the lethal calmness of his stare terrified me beyond words. Still, I wasn’t about to clue him in on how thoroughly he unnerved me. When his attention settled on my lips, I flashed a condescending smirk to which he replied with a surly snarl. A part of me wanted to laugh. For a man who made his living helping others unravel their inner feelings, Tony was woven tighter than an Oriental rug.
I’d never seen him so out of sorts. He was always calm and in control, until now. He obviously had no trouble doling out his tender aftercare to the throng of pain sluts that fell at his feet, but when it came to me, he hitched up his bad-ass Dom boots. It chaffed but, at the same time, fed some twisted, impati
ent part of me that ached to yield to his command. Emotions swirled inside me like a springtime cyclone as Tony unleashed his creativity, binding me to the bed. In short order, he had my legs spread wide and one wrist tethered to my casted arm, strung up nice and tight to the headboard.
“Okay. You’ve tied me up. Are you happy now?”
“Sweetheart, the only happy bone in my body is my hard dick. Trust me. It’d be a whole lot happier if it was balls deep in your sweltering cunt. But I’m content having you all splayed out nice and pretty for me.”
Desire slammed down my spine, exploding into the fray of anger and wounded pride. Come hell or high water, there was no way I was going to let my frustrated libido win.
“You obviously aren’t going to spank me, or fuck me, so give me a hint here, Tony. Just what do you have in mind?”
He stroked a broad finger along my cheek. “I hope your tongue’s as wicked, wrapped around my cock as it is testing my patience, angel.”
I laughed to hide the shiver of arousal that skittered through me. “You’ve made it quite clear that option’s off the table. Guess you’re never going to find out, are you? And since you won’t fuck me, do you mind telling me why I’m naked?”
“Stripping away your barriers, sweetheart.” A satisfied grin crawled across his face as Tony pulled a set of clover clamps from his bag. “The real question you need to ask is whether or not you’re going to leave claw marks all over that stubborn pride you’re clinging to or are you going to do what you really want to and submit?”
“Why ask? It’s obvious what I want doesn’t matter. You’re going to take it whether I give it or not,” I snapped.
“It definitely matters,” Tony declared. “I’m not forcing you to do anything. You’re the one who holds the power, angel. I’m not the enemy. That tenacious pride of yours is.”
Reaching down, he circled one taut nipple with the pad of his finger then the other. I sucked in a quivering breath as the outer muscles of my stomach rippled. Inside they swirled, wild with nerves.
“Relax, angel. I haven’t even started yet.”
That’s what worried me the most. Tied to the bed with my nipples hard as cherry pits, cream spilling from my folds, and his dark hypnotic eyes piercing all the way to my soul. Tony was on crack if he thought I held an ounce of control. He owned my control, and he damn well knew it.