Alex made a point of looking around. “So it is. How about that?”
“Are you sure you’re just a sexual Dominant?”
He shrugged again, loading his fork with hash brown, sausage and tomato. “I know I enjoy spanking you. Any chance of some coffee?”
After breakfast, the first item on the agenda for Alex was to lock his sub’s day collar into place around her beautiful neck.
He really wasn’t sure how she’d react to it. On one or two rare occasions, he’d collared subs for training, only for them to realise that submission wasn’t for them after all. One in particular had looked like she was heading for full-blown hysteria in the seconds before she’d hightailed it out of Aegis. And then there’d been the blonde at the other end of the scale, who wanted nothing more than to be a 24/7 slave. She’d almost had an orgasm when the collar went on.
And now there was Beth, who gave him yet another reason to love her. Even standing behind her, while he locked the chain into place, he could sense the pride radiating from her. When he turned her to face him, her eyes positively sparkled and her smile made his heart hurt with wanting her. She looked utterly gorgeous.
It would be so easy to take her hand, go back to bed, and make love to her for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, that was a luxury they just didn’t have.
“Just so there aren’t any misunderstandings, Beth, this collar is here to protect you.” He placed his palm over the padlock at the base of her throat, pressing it against her skin. “Anyone who’s part of the scene will know what it means—that you belong to me. Understand?”
“Yes, Alex.”
“And it doesn’t mean that I expect you to submit to me in any way other than sexually. I want you to get used to the feel of it—it’ll be there to tell any Dom that you’re mine, but to anyone else, it’s simply a beautiful piece of jewellery worn by a stunningly beautiful woman.”
The flush that stained her cheeks was enchanting, and it had him fighting the urge to bed her all over again. If only they didn’t have to… It was no use thinking like that. Beth had to know about the secure room, where it was and how to get to it from anywhere in the house, and for that he needed to show her around. Still, she’d found her way to the kitchen all right—and she’d looked right at home there.
An image exploded in his mind, generated by every primal male instinct he possessed responding to the warm female body he held so close—Beth, barefoot and pregnant. Holy shit! He really needed to stop thinking like that. What the hell kind of Neanderthal was he turning into?
Winterleigh was a far larger house than a man living alone needed, but it was the one thing he had fought to keep during the course of his divorce. The property had been a dilapidated wreck when he bought it on a whim at a knockdown price, and hadn’t really improved much by the time his ex-wife walked out two years later. Fortunately, she’d been more interested in what she could spend, so she’d been more than happy to leave the money pit of a house in his hands. It had taken time and every spare penny he’d had, but eventually Winterleigh had been transformed into the closest thing he’d had to a home since he’d enrolled at Sandhurst.
So it was with no small sense of pride that he showed Beth around the sprawling mass that was his home, although he was more interested in her reactions to the property. He wanted her to feel that it could be her home, too. He wanted her to feel involved, and there was one room that might encourage that.
“When I bought this place, this was rather grandly referred to as ‘the ballroom’ in the brochure,” Alex told her when they reached the large empty ground floor room at one end of the house. “At the viewing before the auction, I thought the estate agent was rather more delusional than they usually are. The doors at the end open out onto the formal gardens. I was hoping you might have some ideas about what we could do with it.”
He watched Beth as she wandered through the spacious room, looking up and down the walls and letting her fingers trail over the handles on the French windows at the far end. Then she came to a dead stop.
“You said we.”
Of course he did—she’d be living there too, one day. He quirked an eyebrow to prompt her into elaborating.
“This is your home, Alex.” She paused; Alex didn’t like the look of the frown that creased her brow. “I’m not sure I have any business being included in the decision-making process –”
“Beth, don’t you remember the conversation we had just yesterday? If you decide to stay with me, this will be your home too. Besides, who else am I going to trust with decorating and furnishing the largest room in the house? Cam?”
Alex refused to entertain the idea that she might not decide to stay—it just wasn’t an option in his book. He was, however, pleased to see the idea of the former SAS staff sergeant venturing into the field of interior design amused her almost as much as it did him. Cam Fraser and fabric swatches were about as mutually exclusive as it was possible to be.
“Okay, point taken. What do you use it for now—besides storage?” She glanced over at the cluster of packing crates in one corner.
“What you see is what you get. Any ideas?”
Beth moved further into the room, turning in a full circle—he guessed to get a feel for the scale of it. “It’s a large space—you could do a lot with this, it all depends how you see your life here unfolding.” She flashed a grin at him. “Are you likely to hold many parties?”
Parties…the anniversary parties would have to wait for the wedding reception to happen first. A marquee in the garden, a huge wedding cake, Beth in a champagne-coloured dress that made the most of her curves…
Alex pushed the errant thought to one side—his subconscious was getting ideas well above its station. “Maybe. Come on, there’s still a fair bit to see.”
They ate lunch in the kitchen. After the meal, Alex quizzed Beth about the house. He was quietly impressed with how much she’d taken in so quickly, and then he turned his thoughts to the afternoon, as did Beth.
“Do you have anything in mind for this afternoon, Alex?”
He needed to get a range set up for some target practice, and was just about to tell her that when the machine-gun rattle of a sudden downpour hit the windows.
“I did,” he admitted wryly. Hell, he still should have those same plans; he wouldn’t dissolve in a bit of rain, but it had taken about three nanoseconds for him to talk himself into a pleasant afternoon of lounging around with Beth, talking her into keeping him occupied.
Ah, he was getting too easily distracted now. Anything to do with this woman distracted him. The thought of being Dom to the woman he loved gave him the kind of warm feeling in his chest that he’d thought he’d never be lucky enough to experience. So did the thought of this mess being over and settling down to living here at Winterleigh, with his whole life revolving around her.
Focus, Lombard. Stick with Plan A.
He wasn’t the only one to lapse into a daydream, he realised. Beth was lost in thought, and though he couldn’t be sure, it seemed that her eyes held a certain brightness that could only be attributable to tears.
“Earth to Beth—are you all right? You went away from me there for a moment.”
“Sorry.” She took a moment to gather herself together. “I’m sorry, I was miles away.”
“What were you thinking?”
“It was just a silly thought triggered by the rain.”
“Tell me.”
Beth glanced down at her hands, clasped on her lap. “I just thought that if you went out to set up the shooting range, you’d get soaked to the skin, and then…” She closed her eyes briefly, as if she were fighting some sort of internal battle. “Then I thought that you’d probably seen, experienced far worse than a bit of bad weather when you were deployed. I told you it was silly.”
Without speaking, Alex rose and came around to her, his arms enfolding her and lifting her off the stool she was sitting on. He sat down, so that they were a
lmost on eye level with each other, and then pulled her between his muscular thighs, bringing her as close to him as humanly possible. She raised her hands to frame his face, the look in her eyes startlingly intense.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his cheek.
“For what?”
“For loving me. For everything.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “I love you.”
Alex laid his cheek against the back of her head. His eyes closed automatically with the peace that this woman had unknowingly brought into his life. Now he understood fully what his comrades had fought for. It was never really about Queen and country, but the man beside you on the front line, he already knew that. What he’d never really understood, beyond the logic of it, was fighting for the family waiting back home.
He wasn’t alone anymore. That empty place inside him, the one he’d clung to for so many years, the barrier that protected him from facing the reasons for his failings as a true Dom, was gone. The dark loneliness had been challenged and found wanting by the woman who held his heart and soul as surely as he now held her.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.”
~~*~~
Regardless of what he really wanted to do, Alex kept his mind on his priorities and spent an hour outside on target practice, using the more contemporary weapons at his disposal. The antique shotguns, including a prized Purdey of which he was particularly fond, were excellent for taking out the local clay pigeon population. However, since clay pigeons didn’t tend to shoot back, he’d elected to use one of his potentially lethal pump-action shotguns for the purposes of protection. When he’d satisfied himself that his eye was still good, Alex reloaded the weapon one more time and finished off with a satisfying crop of bull’s-eyes.
As he was cleaning the shotgun back in the gun room, it occurred to him that it might be a good idea to take his old combat knives—also stored in the gun safe—back into the house as a backup plan. He had to consider all the options. Whoever it was, they’d waited a long time for revenge; if his past were coming back to haunt him, he was going to be prepared to meet it head-on.
Satisfied that he’d done all he could for now, Alex went in search of his woman. He’d held off thinking about her while he was cleaning the shotgun, but now he wanted to bury himself in her body and celebrate being alive with her.
“Beth!”
They almost collided in the hall. At the sound of her name, Beth had come running out of the family room. Alex caught hold of her and pressed her against the wall, his mouth crushing hers with the violence of his need for her. “Now I’m taking you to bed.”
Alex headed for their bedroom rather than the playroom. He barely made it inside before he started to peel Beth’s clothes from her body. When she was naked, he lifted her in his arms and laid her on the bed, stepping back to devour her with his eyes. She moved onto her side, facing him, her eyes never leaving his as she pillowed her head on one arm, one leg slightly bent for balance, almost as if she were posing for an artist. He was aware of her gaze never leaving him while he shed his clothes. If he didn’t have her and soon, he’d go bat-shit crazy.
She’d been desperate to be with Alex for the last hour, and now the desperation was gone, replaced by pure animal desire.
Beth wanted him so badly—she’d never realised it was possible to ache with wanting someone until now. For the last hour, she’d been unable to concentrate on anything other than imagining being with this man, pure lust robbing her of the power to concentrate long enough to string words together into meaningful sentences. Right now, she’d be more than happy to spend the rest of her life in bed with him. What was it about this man that was turning her into a sex maniac?
Stupid question, Harrison. Stupid question.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re perfect, Alex?” she wondered aloud, before lowering her head to lick his nipple, like a cat lapping a bowl of cream. A buzz of immense satisfaction came from the noise he made, somewhere between a purr and a growl.
And the taste of him—warm and sexy and male, and she wanted more of him, so much more.
“Beth.” His voice was rough with desire. “Give me your mouth.”
She obeyed, and in the same instant his hand parted her thighs so that his fingers could push into her pussy. She knew she was already wet with wanting him; his fingers moved slickly over her swelling clit, and her hips bucked in response, trying to fuck his hand.
“Easy, love,” he murmured against her lips. His fingers dipped into her pussy again, and then his hand moved further—she felt the tip of his finger pushing against her anus. “Has anyone ever taken you here?”
Beth shook her head. “No one, Alex. Never…” She wanted him to be the one.
The fingertip pushed more insistently, opening her up a little. “Relax, Beth. You know I’ll never do anything to hurt you. We’ll take this at your pace.”
She’d known he’d wanted this—he’d told her so. Even though she was more than willing, she braced herself for discomfort at best, pain at worst, but what Beth experienced was gentle care that robbed her of all sense of self, all sense of time. Alex’s soft words serenaded her mind into acceptance, and his tender touch soothed her body into making the movements he required of her. His hand on her back calmed her when she whimpered at the easing open of the place only he would ever claim. He was the Master of her body, her mind and her senses, and when his cock finally filled her, she opened her eyes and saw their reflection in the huge mirror that almost covered one wall of the bedroom.
The eroticism of the image was stunning. The beautiful, muscular sculpture of Alex’s body as he arched over her melted her insides all over again, and what Beth felt she was watching was not lovemaking or fucking, but a mating of two people who were meant to be together.
Forever.
Their eyes met in the mirror. Alex paused, balls-deep inside the woman he loved. Her hand was resting on the bed; he covered it with his, twining his fingers with her, the way he felt their lives were now entwined together. “Beth?”
The look in her eyes had a dreamlike quality—there was no sign of discomfort now, and it looked like she was enjoying the reward he’d promised her. Slowly, he began to move again, every stroke controlled to maximise her pleasure. It was all for her now.
Her fingers, still tangled with his, tightened their grasp. He knew how aroused she was without touching her pussy—he could smell the warm, feminine scent of her, a scent he could drown in, and one that told him she was close to orgasm.
He pushed her thighs further apart, took hold of her hips again, and began to increase the tempo of his fucking. He wanted Beth to be a wild woman under him, to hear her scream when her climax came.
Her back arched; she was getting closer, he knew it, as she pushed back against him, driving him deeper inside her. Instinct took over—one arm slipped under her waist, and as he lifted her upright, sitting back on his heels, his other arm went across her chest, pulling her hard against his body.
Her whimpers became impassioned cries. She was helpless in his embrace, vulnerable, totally dependent on him not to let her fall, impaled on his thrusting cock, arching back against his body as she surrendered to the pleasure he was giving her.
“Let it go, Beth,” he encouraged her, his voice hoarse with restraint, from holding his own orgasm at bay. “Come for me.”
He felt her clench around him; her head lolled back on his shoulder, and then it began, her body shaking as a wild howl signalled her climax.
Alex reached around to push the pillows out of the way, so he could lower his woman to the bed. His own need for release was increasing, to the point where he doubted he could control it for much longer. Taking his weight on his arms so as not to crush her, he increased his rhythm, feeling the ripples of her pleasure intensify once more. Those same ripples pulsated along his dick, his balls drew up, and an orgasm that cracked his spine forced every last drop of semen from his balls.
Almost drained of strength, he eased onto his side and took Beth with him. He held her while she calmed down, reluctant to let her go until he knew that she was settling. When his softening shaft slipped free, he was both surprised and gratified by the little grunt of complaint that she gave in response.
Beth, his beloved Beth, blew his mind. He thought of the woman he’d known a few days ago—his very proper, tightly controlled executive assistant—and looked at the sated, sensual female lying limply in his arms. The love he felt for her saturated every cell in his body—beyond any doubt, he’d go to hell and back to keep her in his life.
It was a sobering thought, but Alex knew, more surely than he knew that the sun would rise tomorrow, that his life would be worth nothing without her. He stroked her hair, lifting it away from her face and neck so that he could place a gentle kiss on that sensitive spot at the top of her shoulder.
Having taken a brief moment to remove the condom, he drew the sheets over her and slid in beside her. With gentle hands, he coaxed her to him, to warm her with his body and shelter her in his embrace. Although she was still in a post-orgasmic haze, she snuggled into him, her cheek pressed to his chest, her arm lying across his waist. He barely heard her sigh of contentment.
“Beth?” His voice was little more than a whisper. “Are you all right?”
He felt what he thought was a nod; it must have been a nod, because she nestled closer to him, a reaction so different from that of the last woman he’d made love to in this bed.
“Love, I know you want to go to sleep, but there’s something I need to know. How do you feel?”
She looked up at him with a drowsy smile. Her hand lifted from his chest to touch his face. “Safe. Protected. Loved. Like I could spend the rest of my life just like this. If I could bottle this moment, Alex, I’d keep it forever.”
Her kiss was sweet and gentle. Her words brought warmth to his heart and reason to his life. What she said next made him feel cared for in a way that had been missing all his life, until the moment when Beth had walked into that life.
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