It would mean living in New Orleans full time. That was a much more conflicting thought. This town’s heat was making her do crazy things. Like Lukas Rinaldi.
She couldn’t even process everything that had happened tonight, but she would when she was alone. She’d reason through all of it and why it had turned her on so damn much. And then she would move on.
She had a job to do. Lukas was at the center of that. She couldn’t afford to let him close any other way.
She finished up the software patch, double checking that she would get what she needed, then left the server room. She couldn’t go back up the service stairs she’d come through—that would take her right by Lukas’s office in Triple Threat—so she casually made her way to the front entrance. Fortunately, the man guarding the door was only watching for people coming in, not trying to exit.
Once she was finally upstairs and out the door, into the humid NOLA early fall air, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. A little bit more of the tension in her shoulders relaxed as she grabbed a cab and gave her address.
But it wasn’t until she made it all the way to her apartment, through the door, locking it behind her, that she truly felt safe. She’d gotten away without him catching her.
It was after midnight. She brushed her teeth, took out her contacts, and changed into the oversized shirt she slept in, resisting the urge to check out her butt in the mirror to see if it was still red from the flogger.
She got into bed, ignoring the aches on places in her body that had never done so before, resisting the urge to replay the past few hours in her mind.
The kinky ball was over, Cinderella. Time to go back to the boring old pumpkins.
She wanted to fall asleep, knew her body had been through enough that she shouldn’t have any problems falling asleep, but couldn’t. Which was why she heard her phone chirp softly signaling she had a text. She slipped on her glasses to read it.
I think I’ve warned you about leaving without a proper goodbye and how that gets someone punished. That was your third strike, princess.
Oh God. Lukas. She didn’t even waste time wondering how he’d gotten her number. She typed back quickly.
I figured avoiding an awkward goodbye was probably easier for both of us. But thanks for a great night.
There. Easy. Sophisticated. No fuss.
She ignored the wetness prickling at the back of her eyes at the thought of this being their last conversation. It was so much better this way. She was surprised when she got a response.
Night isn’t over yet.
She didn’t even know how to respond to that. Then she heard the knock on her door. Oh, sweet Jesus. Lukas was here.
She sat up in bed trying to figure out what she should do. Did she pretend not to be here? Tell him she was somewhere else?
The knock came again, louder this time.
If this door is not opened for me in one minute, I promise you will not sit comfortably for days by the time I’m done whaling on your ass.
She stared at the phone, unable to move. What would it mean if she did? What would happen? What if he found out the last few hours were basically a fraud? That she wasn’t really the passionate woman he thought she was.
I can’t.
Her phone rang five seconds after she sent the text. She answered even though she knew she shouldn’t, but didn’t say anything.
“Are you afraid, princess? Is that why you can’t open the door?”
“Yes,” she whispered, the word barely a sound.
“Because you’re worried for your physical safety? You’re afraid I’ll hurt you?”
“No.” She wasn’t. Lukas wouldn’t in the way he was referring to, she knew that.
Too late she realized her mistake. He might’ve backed down if he’d thought she was truly afraid for her safety.
“Then you will get up right now and open the door. If you do you’ll save yourself a spanking, princess. Stop overthinking and do it.”
She was out of the bed and already walking toward the door. She couldn’t resist him when he talked in that commanding voice.
And she was honest enough to admit she didn’t even want to.
Chapter Fourteen
She unbolted and unlocked the door, opening it.
“Two seconds to spare. Cutting it a little close to a spanking you won’t forget, that’s for sure.” He leaned against her doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest, studying her.
She became very aware that she had no makeup on, and was dressed in a sleep shirt and in her glasses.
Well, no need to worry that he would mistakenly think she was sexy and sophisticated. No danger of that now.
“You left,” he finally said.
“I thought it was better that way.”
His eyebrow raised. “I told you to stay. That I would be back.”
She just shrugged. Neither explaining that she was afraid to engage in oral sex with him nor that she’d needed to break into his server room would go over well, so she just kept quiet.
“Do you have a couch?” he asked, surprising her with the sudden change of subject.
“Yes. Why?”
“Because as punishment for running away again you’re going to be bent over it naked in a few minutes, presenting me your ass so I can plug it.”
She felt her sore nipples harden against her sleep shirt, knew her eyes were wide as saucers.
He stepped into her hallway, backing her up, closing the door behind him, and locking it without turning around. Then his arm wrapped around her waist and travelled down to grab her ass under her shirt, pulling her up against him.
His teeth nipped at her lower lip before his mouth finally settled fully on hers. He kissed her until they were both breathing hard and the room was spinning around her. Her hands had somehow found his hard waist and were clutching him to her.
“That’s better,” he said against her mouth as she moaned and leaned into him. He eased back, studying her face. “Those glasses. They’re going to be the death of me. Christ, woman, you look like an extremely fuckable librarian. Sexy as hell.”
“Thanks,” she whispered.
He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Why did you run, princess?”
“I didn’t.”
“Your legs may not have been moving in a sprinting motion, but you very definitely did run from me. You were scared. Tell me why.”
She took a step back, but he just followed her forward and she ended up with her back against the wall. He was so much bigger than her, something she wasn’t used to at her height. His broad chest made her feel small and feminine.
“I was overwhelmed by everything. I didn’t like it.” There was truth and lies in both those statements.
His brown eyes narrowed. “By the flogging? That was pretty intense, but I literally saw you dripping as I spanked you, so I don’t think that was it. Do you want to honestly tell me you didn’t like that?”
She shook her head no.
He moved in closer. “And when I fucked you, your tight little cunt was like a vise around my dick as you came. You want to tell me you didn’t like that?”
She shook her head again. He’d know she was lying if she didn’t.
“That blow job damn near rocked my entire world, but admittedly, that could be overwhelming.” His hands came up and took off her glasses, placing them on the table next to the door. “Did I push you too far with that? Fucking your hot mouth that way?”
She was caught up in the pull between them. Couldn’t look away from him. “No, I liked it. I wanted to do it.”
“Then why did you run?” He kissed the corner of mouth more gently than she would’ve ever expected him capable of.
She needed to tell him the truth. Not about the server room, but about her. He was just going to find out anyway.
“I’m not who you think I am,” she said against his lips.
“Are you a Russian spy?”
She rolled her eyes. “No.”
&
nbsp; “A wrestler for the WWE? A cop? A sparkly vampire?”
“No.” She sighed. “Lukas, be serious.”
“Fine, princess. Who are you if you’re not who I think you are?”
She threw up her hands in exasperation. “I’m not a passionate woman, okay? Despite what happened tonight. That was just sort of an accident. I’m not a sexual, sensual being. Some people are. You are. I’m just not. Never have been. Never going to be.”
He stared at her for a long moment before clutching her to his chest. She could feel his torso moving, almost like deep shudders.
Then she realized… “Are you laughing at me?”
He drew in a deep breath and took a step back so they could see eye to eye. A smile still pulled at his lips. “No. Or hell, I’m trying not to because I know that will hurt your feelings, but it’s really hard. Not passionate? Jesus, woman. You sucked me off so well a couple hours ago that it was damn near embarrassing how fast I came. Not passionate? You have come apart—literally dripping—on my fingers and cock in the last week. And I have no doubt you’re going to come apart on my tongue just as soon as I…”
He trailed off as she tensed again.
Realization dawned in his eyes. “This is about oral sex, isn’t it? You ran because you don’t want me to go down on you?” His eyebrows looked like they were trying to find a permanent spot in his hairline. “I’ll admit, that’s a first.”
She pushed him and slid out from between him and the wall and marched into her living room. “You know what, you don’t understand. Couldn’t possibly,. and I don’t expect you to. You’ve been like an open-twenty-four-seven sex-candy shop since high school. It all comes easy for you. Naturally. For some of us it doesn’t, okay?”
He followed her but didn’t say anything.
“So that’s why it just won’t work out for you and me, and why I left. Because sooner or later, the Ice Queen is going to make an appearance, and it will ruin everything. And all the hot stuff you and I have done will get tainted by that and my normal unresponsive nature. And then you’ll think of me that way too.”
The smile that had still been pulling on his face disappeared. His eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward.
“I recall telling you on Wednesday that it was not acceptable for you to call yourself that anymore.”
“Not saying it doesn’t make it any less true. No amount of commands in that sexy, authoritative voice is going to make it any less true that you and I run at two different sexual temperatures. You run hot, and I run—”
“You can say it.” His tone was neutral this time as he cut her off, taking another step into the room. “But just be warned that if the word cold comes out of your mouth—hell, if any self-derogatory term leaves your lips about your sexuality—it’s going to earn you a spanking on your naked ass with my hand. And it’s going to happen after I put that plug in, so don’t think I’ve forgotten that.”
He took another step. Jesus, why the hell had she never noticed how big he was? Maybe it was because she was in bare feet. He made her feel tiny. Out of control. How did she both love and hate that at the same time?
She moved another step and found herself against the back of her couch—the very couch he’d promised to bend her over when he used the anal plug.
Suddenly, cold was the furthest from what she felt. It seemed like the very air was singeing her lungs as she struggled to get a full breath.
“And Reina?”
She watched as he began unbuttoning his shirt, unable to drag her eyes away.
“Wh-what?”
“I’m going to do all that plus make you come over and over again, screaming my name as I eat your pussy very, very thoroughly.”
Okay, he was back to the oral sex topic again. He didn’t seem to understand that she wasn’t just making this up.
She placed a hand out in front of her as if that would stop him. “Lukas, look, I know you’re a good guy. And truly, truly this isn’t me fishing for compliments or offering some sort of challenge.” He took a step forward, and she slid a little further away along the back of the couch. “I-I’m just not wired like most women. I don’t really like oral sex because it doesn’t give me enough stimulation. Okay?”
His head tilted to the side as he studied her, but he stopped. “And you know that’s perfectly fine, right? Different people like different angles, pressures, positions. The nipple clamps I put on you would send some women crying to the cops. That doesn’t make what you need any less legitimate than what they do.”
“Not according every ex-boyfriend I’ve ever had. I’m sure I haven’t had quite as much practice as you, but I’m sure half a dozen guys can’t all be wrong. I’m—”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I told you what will happen if you say it. And I’m a man of my word.”
She shook her head. He was never going to believe her words. The only thing that would make him understand was showing him. She hated that this would taint everything else, but it was the only way. So she waved her red flag in front of the bull.
“I’m cold, Lukas. They’re not wrong. I’m the Ice Queen.”
Chapter Fifteen
She looked so sure of herself as she said it, but also wary like he was going to start whaling on her any second.
And oh, he would be in a few minutes. She’d thrown down the gauntlet, hadn’t she? Wanting to prove she was right. To be able to say told you so.
But Lukas knew the truth.
She so desperately wanted him to prove her wrong. And he would.
But there was more at stake here than just proving she wasn’t cold. Most importantly was going to be that she could trust him, trust that when he said he was going to plug and spank that ass of hers, he was going to do it. Trust that when he said he was going to make her come, screaming, that he was going to do it.
Yes, he was going to prove, by God, she was not a damned Ice Queen. He already knew she liked it harder, needed an edge of pain to help get her off. Needed someone to help her shut off that damn brain of hers that was convinced—from empirical data according to her—she was frigid.
Maybe she wouldn’t like traditional oral sex. Who the hell cared? There were five thousand other ways to get off. He wasn’t so egotistical that he would think less of her if she didn’t come from his mouth on her. Every woman was different. What was important was showing her that what her mind needed and her body craved—domination and a little bite of pain—was perfectly fine.
She was way too smart to be convinced that a data pool of only six previous lovers—when probably at least half had been damn teenagers who wouldn’t know a g-spot from gmail—was enough to conclusively prove she didn’t like oral sex. She was convinced she was cold because she thought what her body wanted was not what her huge brain considered normal. She wanted to want vanilla, but she didn’t. So, when she got it, it hadn’t really turned her on.
Lukas knew exactly what needed to be done to get her to come all over his tongue. He had to turn on her mind just as much as her body. Get her out of her own head.
And he was about to get started.
“Where’s the box I sent you, princess?”
She gulped. Literally. “On my desk.” She pointed to the corner. He reached over and grasped her chin, pulling her in gently for a kiss. She sighed, her eyes fluttering closed, obviously not expecting that.
Keeping her off balance—physically, mentally—was key.
He lifted his lips from hers. “Remove all your clothes and bend over the arm of the couch. Same safe words still apply like at Deeper Threat. Red if you just can’t handle it any more or if you’re truly frightened or hurt.” He grasped her chin again. “My end of the deal is that I’ll stop immediately if you say it. Yours is that you only say it if you truly mean it, not just because you don’t think something should be happening.”
She nodded.
“When you got your Master’s, what was your favorite class? The easiest or the hardest?”
Those br
own eyes narrowed. “Usually the hardest. Why?”
“You liked those best because they pushed you. Challenged you. I’m going to do that tonight, and you’re going to take it. Now naked, bent over the couch.”
Her eyes were wide as saucers, her mouth forming a little O. He reached around and smacked her hard on the ass, setting her into motion.
He walked over to her desk and picked up the items he’d sent. He wouldn’t use the clamps again tonight; her nipples were plenty sensitive already. A simple pinch would get the desired effect. Probably wouldn’t be using the flogger again either. He wanted the intimacy of his bare hand on her skin as he spanked her.
But the anal plug and lube? That was his first order of business. Having that up her ass would have her constantly aware of an area she didn’t want to concentrate on, definitely didn’t want to think that stimulation back there turned her on.
When he turned toward the couch again, she had removed her clothes and was perched over the arm, just like he’d told her. He kicked off his shoes and socks then slowly walked back to her.
“Bend your elbows so you’re face down on the cushion.” He smiled as her breathing hitched and her new position left her ass further up in the air on the thick armrest. He came to stand behind her, trailing his finger down her spine and ass cheeks. “I am never going to get tired of this sight. Stuff fantasies are made of right there.”
He took a bolster pillow and tucked it between her hips and the arm rest, bringing her buttocks up another few inches to the perfect height.
He opened the package of lube and spread some over the plug then squeezed some directly between the crack of her upturned ass. She shuddered slightly at the cold drop.
“This plug is to remind you that you’re not just to run away every time I turn my back on you. When you do that, you get punished.” He began rubbing the lube up and down the crack of her ass with his finger, pushing at the hole but not entering. Keeping her on edge. “If you run away from me again, the plug will be much larger. This one is really for pleasure only.”
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