by Anya Summers
Yet she yearned for a best friend, for a family, for that one man who would take her as she was and not try to mold her into something else. She grappled with the question of whether or not to accept his proposal all day long.
By mid-afternoon, she still had no answer as she cleaned the club, wiping down all the surfaces. It made her remember the night Jared had described what was happening in each scene. He’d aroused her to the point where it had frightened her. Waves of need swamped her system and she feared his power over her should she give in to her desires.
Sherry entered with her cleaning trolley and gave her a nod. Normally Sherry had a smile for Naomi, but today she seemed a bit reserved as they worked their way through the room. Naomi liked her and thought they could be friends, given the chance. Sherry always had a smile for everyone. And didn’t she have two Doms after her? If they were anything like Jared, holy moly, was she in for quite the ride.
“Careful,” Sherry said as Naomi accidentally dropped her bucket, sloshing some water onto her shoes.
Immediately contrite, Naomi said, “I’m so sorry, my head was in the clouds. Here, let me help you.”
Sherry shrugged and gave her a halfhearted grin. “It’s fine, I understand why. Just be careful, okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw you with Jared this morning.”
“I don’t know what you think you saw…” Naomi attempted to deflect. This was one of the cons against accepting his offer.
“Look, you seem like a real nice person and I don’t want you to get your hopes crushed, is all,” Sherry said.
“Why would they be crushed?” Naomi’s heart clenched as fear wriggled its way into her chest.
“Jared is the ‘love them and leave them’ type of Dom. He doesn’t stick around. You looked like you were building white picket fences in your mind while you were cleaning and I don’t want you to get your heart broken. Take it from someone who’s been there.”
Naomi’s heart dropped into her toes at her words, her stomach churned, and she asked, “What do you mean?”
“Jared and I, we had a thing back in Scotland, but he moved on once the novelty wore off.”
Naomi reared back like she’d been struck. Jared and Sherry had been an item. He’d never said boo about it. “Isn’t that nice for you. I have to go. If you could cover for me tonight, I find that I’m not feeling well,” she muttered.
Naomi high-tailed it from the club and headed to her room with Sherry calling after her. She shut it out. She didn’t want to hear any more, she’d heard enough already. She raced to her room, slamming the door behind her and locking it. Then she paced her domain, thinking. There were a few ways she could look at this.
First, it could be that Sherry wanted Jared and was upset Naomi had gotten to him first, which meant she had told her all of that out of spite. She’d witnessed this type of thing before with the girls in her foster homes. So it should come as no surprise. If Sherry was lying about them being together in Scotland, then Naomi, by sleeping with Jared, had a target on her back. And didn’t that just suck monkey balls if it were the case.
On the flipside—and it was the one she didn’t want to be true—if Sherry and Jared had been intimate in Scotland, whether it had been a fling or committed relationship didn’t matter. It was the fact that Jared hadn’t been forthcoming about it. Naomi realized they had only known each other a few days but he’d asked her, in BDSM terms, to go steady which, in her mind, was significant. He wanted honesty from her, but then hadn’t shared a ‘hey, by the way, I banged your co-worker a while back, hope you don’t mind,’ admission of his own.
Naomi paced some more, working herself into a near panic state. She’d never get to sleep if she didn’t have some answers from the man himself. As much as it terrified her to do so, and she dredged up every last reserve of courage in her body, she had to ask him. When she was married to her ex, she had never confronted situations head on. Since her divorce, she did. Because she understood what it was like to play the ostrich and pretend you didn’t see the destruction of your world, only to realize that you were standing on quicksand the entire time and it was working to swallow you whole.
None of it would matter if she didn’t care for him. Damn feelings. Life had been so much easier for her when she chose not to care and kept people at a distance. Her half-hearted attempts to keep Jared at arm’s length had been for naught. His campaign had been like an atom bomb to her system. Naomi was petrified that she would uncover deceit.
Was her island paradise really pie in the sky make-believe? She had experienced so much at his hands, it was a whole new world that had opened up for her and it was one she wanted to explore.
She dressed in club gear and went searching for him, avoiding Sherry completely—who was busy chatting up the Dom behind the bar and batting her eyelashes at Master Carter, who was too enthralled with Jenna to truly notice Sherry. When Naomi didn’t spy Jared anywhere, she left and headed up to his penthouse suite with her universal keycard.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her when she stepped inside his place. Jared was in nothing but boxers, the clothes he’d worn were in a heap on the floor, and he was leaning drunkenly back on his leather couch, a nearly empty bottle of Scotch in his hands.
“What have you done to yourself?” Clearly, she wasn’t going to get the answers she sought tonight, and felt a bit deflated in her self-righteous anger. Something was wrong. Jared didn’t strike her as the type of man who usually imbibed alcohol in this type of quantity.
“Naomi, lass. Don’t you look fine this evening? Come, give me a kiss and then sit on my face so I can suck all your cream.”
She blushed to high heaven as he grinned and his head fell back. The man was in no shape for anything. He was going to have a right foul hangover in the morning. She approached him, feeling sorry for the shape he was in and wondering what had driven him to drink a fifth of Scotch.
She leaned over him and the stench of alcohol made her wrinkle her nose, it was practically seeping from his pores. “Up with you, let’s get something into that belly of yours and then you into bed so you can sleep it off.”
His hands cupped her breasts, his fingers sliding beneath the fabric to play with her nipples. Pleasure spiked in her veins but she knew she had to stop him and take care of him. She batted his hands away and plastered a stern look on her face.
“You are in no shape to do such things,” she scolded him. “Up with you, now. We’ll put some hot food in your belly and get you into bed.”
“A sub ordering me about! I should spank you until you come, but as there are two of you right now, your punishment may have to wait.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
“I saw that, subbie, twenty more spanks will be added.”
Like he was going to remember any of this. The man was three sheets to the wind. She took the nearly empty bottle from his hands and left him there. She went into the kitchen and fried up some eggs and toast. And that was when she heard it, the sound of him retching. Turning the burners off, she raced into the living room to see him emptying his stomach into a trash can.
When he had finally finished, and was about to collapse onto the floor, she raced to his side and helped him to stand. She towed him into the bathroom and turned the shower on full blast, the water temperature lukewarm. He’d fight her on it but it was better for him. Not bothering with stripping off his boxers, she opened the door and hefted him inside.
“Jesus Christ, woman, are you trying to kill me?” Jared roared.
“Jared, sit on that bench and be a good boy until I finish cleaning up your mess in the living room.”
He stumbled and sat, glaring at her as the water poured down over them. “This isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is. Sit here and stop complaining, you big baby.” She hurried out of the shower and the bathroom before he could issue a retort. She toweled herself off in his bedroom and then went to the closet wi
th all the cleaning supplies. She put the garbage into a larger bag and set it outside his door. She’d deal with getting it to the garbage dumpsters later. As it was, she had a man baby to deal with.
Naomi scrubbed the floor, cleaning up any extra spillage. When she deemed it was clean enough, she went back into the kitchen, washed her hands, tossed away the meal she’d started and began again. She made another batch of eggs and toast and set it on his table, then went in search of Jared.
She found him passed out, sitting upright on the shower bench with the water still running, his head back against the tile wall. Her heart clenched. What had made him do this to himself? She stepped in and shut the water off, then wrapped a towel around him, coaxing him out.
“Jared, come on babe, let’s get you fed and into bed. I just need you to wake up enough because you’re too heavy for me to carry.”
She pestered him but nothing seemed to make him budge. Out of ideas as she tried hefting him up, she decided the best way to wake him up was if he was up. She snaked her hand beneath his wet boxers, curling her hand around his flaccid manhood. Even in this state, his member was impressive. She stroked her hand over him and smiled when that part of him decided it was ready.
It was unique feeling him harden in her hand; his shaft lengthened and filled until he was tenting his boxers. She gripped him, stroking up and down his length. She stopped, glancing up at his face to see if he was awake. Her eyes met his darkly aroused, sea green gaze.
“Don’t let me stop you, continue,” he said.
She withdrew her hand and shook her head. “No. I was just trying to wake you up.”
“Well, you succeeded, little one.”
“You need to eat.”
“I know what I want to eat and it’s not food.”
She smacked his seeking hand away. “Jared McTavish, stop that. You need to eat. I made you some food and so help me you are going to eat it. And then you are going to sleep the rest of this Scotch off.”
His gaze turned from aroused to pissed off, his nostrils flaring. “That’s not how you address a Dom, little one. You are walking a very fine line and will be punished.”
“Oh, up yours with all your rules. I’m trying to help you, you bleeding idiot, and considering I just spent the better part of an hour cleaning up puke, you will do as I tell you to.”
He gave her a murderous glare, and she instinctively took a few steps back. It was stupid, she knew that in her head, but she’d been slapped one too many times for back talking to her ex not to be concerned, especially given that Jared didn’t have full faculty of his senses after all the booze. At her gesture, his gaze turned darker, if that were even possible. Then he nodded without saying a word, and stood up. He dropped his soaked boxers onto the bathroom floor, wrapped the towel around his waist, and left the bathroom entirely.
She followed him, ready for the explosion, keeping her gaze on the front door until he settled himself at the kitchen table. He didn’t say a word as he shoveled forkfuls of eggs into his mouth. He didn’t speak again until he had finished every crumb. He even drank the glass of milk she’d set beside his meal. She knew milk seemed a weird drink to give him but it really was the best thing for a hangover. It coated your stomach to help the acid and helped to rehydrate your body. It really was a win-win.
Jared tossed the two painkillers down as well.
“Thank you. I think you’ve done enough now, you don’t have to care for the invalid.” He stood and weaved, catching himself on the table.
She was at his side, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Let’s get you to bed and you can sleep it off.”
It took her about fifteen minutes to get him settled into bed after another trip to the bathroom—this time, thankfully, just to relieve his bladder, which was a good sign, and then to brush his teeth. He was out cold in under a minute once she actually got him into bed.
She knew she should leave, but worried that he might get sick again and need her aid. She put a waste basket next to his bed and stood watching him sleep for a moment. Her decision made, she turned the lights off in the kitchen and living room, then went into the bathroom and got herself ready for bed. She hoped he didn’t mind her staying. He’d said he wanted her with him at night, well, this could be a test run.
All the other stuff they needed to address could be done once he was awake and aware. She stripped out of her damp clothing, pulled one of his tee shirts out of his dresser and climbed into bed with him.
She studied him as he snored, having a chance to look at him without all that potent chemistry swirling between them. He truly was a beautiful man. The lines around his eyes were relaxed in his sleep. She leaned over and laid a kiss on his brow, then settled herself by his side.
She had ordered him about and not once had he raised a hand to her. Maybe she could finally put the past to rest—with him.
Naomi was startled awake when a warm mouth latched itself around her nipple. The first fingers of early morning light filtered into his bedroom. Jared’s tousled head rose as he sucked on the bud until it was pointed and swollen. Her fingers threaded their way into his thick hair, holding him to her breast as he curled his tongue around the peak. She used this chance at being unrestrained to learn his body by touch alone.
As he worshiped her breasts, kneading, nipping, and sucking them into his mouth, she caressed the firm muscles in his broad shoulders and across his back. Jared kissed an open-mouthed wet trail down her abdomen. Anticipation tingled along her spine as he spread her thighs with his hands, nudging them further apart, and she watched the dark outline of his head as it descended to her sex. He swiped his tongue along her folds from her clitoris to her slit, and she canted her hips in invitation.
Jared latched his mouth onto her pussy, flicking his tongue against her sensitive nub until she was writhing, thrusting against his mouth, her hands gripping his head as she came. He didn’t stop with the first one but continued his delicious onslaught to her senses. If this was what he meant by being his sub, she was all for it. The man did not disappoint in the oral department and seemed to relish the act.
He added two of his digits, inserting them in her clasping pussy as he performed a series of nibbling bites on her clitoris that sent her to the moon. Naomi was awash in a sea of heightened pleasure as his fingers thrust in a steady rhythm. It wasn’t long before he added a third, stretching her delicate tissues. She bucked against his hand, eager for the climax she could feel on the horizon.
Between one thrust of his fingers and the next, Naomi’s body splintered. Shockwaves decimated her composure as she writhed and thrust, milking every drop of the orgasm. He crawled up her body and claimed her lips in a hungry kiss. She tasted herself on his lips and it stirred her, re-igniting the flames of desire as his tongue plunged inside to duel with hers. The firm ridge of his erection nestled between her slick folds and he rubbed against her over-sensitive flesh.
She wanted to taste him, which surprised her. She had never enjoyed or desired to give her ex head, but she wanted to feel that firm ridge of Jared’s flesh on her tongue. She nudged his shoulder as he ravished her mouth, saying without words what she wanted.
Jared rolled onto his back, taking her with him and she was astride him. She pulled back from the kiss and when he would have tempered her actions, she shook her head and said, “Let me love you. I need this, Sir.”
Jared settled back onto the bed, putting his hands behind his head and watching her with a raised brow. “I’m all yours.”
That was what she was afraid of, but she squelched it as she sat up, straddling his abdomen. In the half-light of pre-dawn, the sculpted contours of his body almost made her purr. From his pectorals to his six pack, he was a divine creature, and all hers. She traced the outline of his pecs with her fingers, circling the flat disks of his nipples and watching them pebble under her caress. She stroked the contours of his abs, learning the firm ridges, almost as if she were committing them to memory.
Feeling his
muscles clench and tremble beneath her fingertips was like an aphrodisiac. She wanted her mouth on him and leaned down until she hovered over one of his nipples. With her gaze trained on his face, she swiped her tongue over the hard point, enjoying the flavor of his skin on her taste buds. Jared clenched his jaw, his muscles undulated in his shoulders and it gave her a perverse satisfaction to be the one doling out the pleasure and watching him squirm.
Naomi went on a campaign with his body, mirroring his actions with her nipples, running her tongue through the divots and ridges in his stomach. As she moved her body down his, the bulge of his erection nudged against her belly, and then it was between her breasts as she nibbled on the taut grooves of his victory lines. His belly trembled beneath her touch, and she couldn’t stop her grin.
Amazingly, the more she worshipped his body with her tongue and teeth, the more turned on she became. A part of her wanted nothing more than to skip over the intense foreplay and go directly to hot sex, but she needed to taste him. Glancing down at his cock nestled between the globes of her breasts, she smooshed them together against his member, stroking him with her tits.
“Christ,” Jared hissed, and she glanced up. The hungry gaze on his face sent a deluge of energy straight to her pussy and it opened the floodgates. Wetness trickled down her thighs. She glanced back down at his cock, and the drop of pre-cum seeping from the crown beckoned her lips. She released his cock from her breast sandwich and moved further south until her mouth was lined up with his bulging member. She grasped his shaft with her hands and Jared growled a moan deep in his throat.
She flicked her tongue against the head, lapping up the pre-cum like a cat with a bowl of cream. His salty taste invaded her senses and made her want more. She teased his crown, running her tongue around the ridge before she enveloped him in her mouth. He was so wide it stretched her mouth and she had to remember to breathe through her nose as she sucked his length, taking as much of him in as she could without gagging.