‘Who was that?’
She tried to smile. ‘My step-brother. He’s… a little bit of a control freak.’
Theo had the feeling that she wasn’t telling him the whole story but studying her, he knew if he pressed her at this moment, she would clam up. There was plenty of time, he decided. She would tell him what she needed to when she needed to and when she did, he would do everything in his powerful to make things right for her.
It was then Theo Storm realised that he’d fallen for this tiny, beautiful mystery of a woman. It took his breath away. She took his breath away.
He stroked the back of his hand down her face. ‘Jessie…would you spend the day with me?’
She hesitated, gazing up at him, the looked away. ‘I would honestly love to but I have to get back to my apartment.’
Theo swallowed his disappointment. ‘Your step-brother?’
She made a disgusted noise. ‘Regardless of what Jules thinks, I’m not at his beck and call. No, I have someone at home I have to care for.’
‘Kid?’
She smiled, shaking her head, amused at the worried look on his face. ‘Dog.’
His expression cleared and he smiled. ‘Please don’t judge me for that. But hey, look, I’ll drive you home. We can still hang out, right?’
Jess smiled but glanced around her surroundings. Her tiny studio was a world away from this place. Theo saw her expression and took her in his arms.
‘Whatever it is that concerns you, please don’t give it another thought. All this is just window dressing. Really, it’s the company’s apartment really. I just use it when I stay in the city. I have a much, much smaller home out on Bainbridge Island.’
Jess nodded. That explained the lack of home comforts, she thought, but still… her place was clean, tidy and as comfortable as she could afford to make it but…
Theo kissed her forehead. ‘Jessie, you could live in a cardboard box with a tin can for a shower and I’d still want to hang out with you.’
She kept her expression blank and said in a monotone. ‘I actually live under a bridge.’
Theo pretended to consider then held out his hand. ‘Well, it’s been good to meet you but this is goodbye.’ He smiled before he reached the end of the sentence and Jess giggled, punching his arm. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her until her head swam. Theo gave a deep sigh and rested his head on the top of hers. ‘Could your dog wait a half hour?’
She giggled and extracted herself, tugging him to his feet. ‘Come on, Casanova, take me home.’
Back in her apartment, Theo had greeted her German Shepard, Stan, like an old friend and was, even now, play-wrestling with the dog on the floor of her tiny studio. She watched them both, grinning widely as they played like puppies. An overexcited Stan backed into the small table holding her some of her books and knocked them over. Theo stopped and both he and the dog looked so guilty that she burst out laughing.
She tugged Theo to his feet and moved to pick her books up. He helped her, reading through the titles as he did, commenting. ‘Loved this. And this. Couldn’t get to grips with this, though,’ he said, holding up a book by the latest literary phenomenon, ‘How about you?’
She shook her head. ‘Turgid. I’ve tried twice now and just…nope.’
Theo smiled and sat down on the sofa bed that took up a great deal of the room. He looked around the small living area, dominated by books and art prints, paper, soft pastels and watercolors in small tubes spread across the table, pencil sketches Jess had been toying around with. He picked up a couple and studied them. Jess watched him nervously. He smiled at her.
‘These are incredibly good. Do you sell your art?’
She shook her head. ‘I just play around, really. My work is mostly in art restoration; not that I’ve been working on anything big, just a few minor pieces at the university. But no, to answer your question, I’m not nearly good enough to sell.’ She patted Stan as she spoke, suddenly shy.
‘I disagree,’ Theo said softly and she flushed.
‘Thank you.’
He took her in his arms. ‘And I love your place. Reminds me of mine on Bainbridge.’
Jess looked askance, disbelieving. ‘Uh-huh okay.’
Theo laughed. ‘I will take you there and you’ll see what I mean. You and Stan. There’s a good-sized garden he can run around to his heart’s content – and he’ll have a pal. I have an English Cocker spaniel. She’s called Monty.’
‘She’s called Monty?’
‘Blame my four-year-old nephew.’ It was the first time he’d mentioned any of his family and Jess wanted to ask him more but then he kissed her, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her down onto the sofa and she forgot everything else.
This time she didn’t stop his hands as they slid under her dress but just as he began to slide two fingers in and out of her, her gasps of pleasure brought a bout of barking from Stan which made them both collapse into laughter but when he’d calmed down, they tried again Instantly the dog started barking. Jess sighed.
‘Moment’s over,’ she giggled as Theo defeated, sat up, shaking his head in mock disgust. Stan, unrepentant, and triumphant went to curl up in his basket, a huge doggy grin on his face. Theo swept a finger down Jess’s cheek.
‘So, you know how I was telling you about my place on Bainbridge… yeah, the bedrooms have doors.’ He pretended to scowl at Stan, which made Jess giggle again. She wrapped her arms around him.
‘Well, Mr Billionaire, if you have fancy things like doors, how can I resist?’
He caught her lips with his, kissing her until her head spun. ‘And when we get there, Miss Wood, I’m going to begin your education in love-making the Storm way…’
She moaned with pleasure as he kissed her throat and Theo chuckled. ‘The sooner we get to my place and I’m inside you the better as far as I’m concerned…’
She gave a breathless laugh. ‘You are a machine, Theodore Storm…’
He sat in the car parked across the street from her apartment and watched her leave with a tall guy he didn’t recognise. Jealousy, rage curled in his gut as Julién Gachet watched his step-sister, his Jessica, as she talked and laughed with this stranger. When the man bent his head to kiss her, Jules’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Whore. She knew what happened when she dared to defy him, betray him. Jessica had belonged to him the moment that his father had introduced him to her and her mother, back when Jessie was a kid, just a teenager. Jules always got what he wanted and he had wanted her from the start. Her frightened eyes when he crept into her room at night and put a hand over her mouth. Shhh shhh, little Jess…
Now, watching her kiss this other man, this stranger, this bastard, her glorious body against his, Jules’s anger consumed him. She would be reminded, he decided, reminded who she belonged to, who owned every cell in her beautiful body.
And if she would not fall in line, then she would have to die…
Play With Me Part Two
Theo watched her from the door. Christ, she was so beautiful, he couldn’t get enough of just looking at her. There were the times when her hair brushed his arm, or she’d reach up for something and her t-shirt would ride up, revealing a long expanse of her soft belly. His cock would harden and it would all that he could do to stop himself taking her there and then.
Now, though - and he grinned to himself - the other patrons of the coffee house where Jess Wood worked might object to the live sex show.
‘Hey again.’ Her voice broke through his reverie and he realised he had been blocking the door of the coffee shop. He stepped aside to let an elderly couple in. They smiled and nodded their thanks.
Jess smiled at him from behind the counter. She was already fixing his coffee the way she knew he liked it – Americano with an extra shot.
‘Hello to you, beautiful. Thank you.’ He leaned over the counter to kiss her as she slid the cup over to him. He took a sip, the hot liquid burning his tongue. He enjoyed the quick wash of pain. He put t
he cup down. ‘As always, perfect.’ He smiled. ‘How are you today?’
‘Much the same as yesterday,’ she grinned. ‘Can I persuade you to try a muffin today?’ She always asked and he always politely refused. He liked the fact she was trying to make a joke between them, it felt strangely intimate, even if it was just about baked goods. It was their ‘thing’. Theo chuckled at the thought and told her.
‘Funny,’ she murmured and leaned over to whisper in his ear,’ I thought our thing was fucking each other senseless.’
Theo laughed, caught her mouth with his. ‘You shouldn’t say stuff like that when we’re not alone.’
Jess glanced up at the clock on the wall. Ten of seven. The coffee house would close at seven and then they could go back to his place or her place and get very, very naked.
Theo was watching her, a knowing look in his eyes. For a long moment, their eyes locked, a silent communication.
‘You have no idea what I’m going to do to you tonight, Jessica.’ Theo’s voice was low, steady and he watched as her cheeks grew pink, her eyes wide and excited.
Ten minutes later, she locked the door and pulled down the shades. Theo stood in the middle of the room, watching her. She lowered the shades on all of the windows and turned off all the lamps so that only the glow from the coffee machines lit the room.
‘Stay where you are,’ Theo ordered as she started to move toward him. She did as she was told, smiling, her eyes soft with desire as he stalked around slowly. He circled her once then nodded toward her.
‘Take your shirt off – slowly. Then your bra.’
She pulled the shirt over her head, unhook her bra, dropping them both to the floor, and stood waiting, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. Theo moved to face her, tracing the shape of her lips with the pad of his thumb then running it gently down her body, between her breasts, over her stomach until it rested in her navel. Jess was trembling now and Theo grinned as he saw the arousal in her eyes. His hand drifted down under her denim skirt, brushing her inner thigh. He was gratified at her sharp intake of breath but took his hand away, moving to unbuckle his belt and removed it. He pulled her hands behind her back and bound them with the leather, his lips against her soft throat.
‘Jessie,’ he murmured, ‘If you want me to stop…’
‘No,’ she interrupted him and he chuckled, straightening so he could into her eyes.
‘Let me finish, beautiful,’ he said gently, his clear green eyes locked onto hers. ‘We are going to do some things you might find…. challenging. I’ll promise you two things – I will not hurt you unless you want me to…and if you say stop, we stop. No questions, no guilt. I want you to enjoy what I’m going to do to you.’
She nodded, breathless and he stood back for a moment, admiring her in the soft light, then pulled his own shirt off and dropped to his knees in front of her. Sliding her skirt down, he buried his face in her belly as his fingers wound around the sides of her panties and pulled them down. Jess gave a small moan as Theo’s tongue traced down the midline of her belly and dipped into the hollow of her sex. His tongue lashed around her clit, priming it, the bud hardening and becoming so sensitive that Jess thought that she might explode. Theo gently parted her legs and then his tongue was deep inside her, exploring, tasting. Jess gasped, wanting desperately to touch him but unable to, her bound hands straining against the leather. She heard him chuckle and he stood, kissing her deeply, sliding his hands around her waist to link his fingers into hers. His eyes burned with an intensity that thrilled and scared her in equal measure.
‘Jessica,’ he murmured, rubbing his nose gently against hers, ‘I’m going to fuck you now.’
She barely had time to respond before he swept her onto one of the tables and pressed her body down with his own, her tied hands digging into the small of her back as Theo’s fingers parted the soft lips of her sex and his cock, so thick, so long, thrust into her. Theo hitched her legs around his hips as he fucked her, his strokes rough and deep, almost violent with his desire for her.
Jess lost herself into the delirium of being so expertly screwed by this gorgeous, virile man, not wanting it to ever end. She gasped his name and was rewarded by his triumphant smile.
‘Are you mine?’ He asked and his green eyes seemed darker, more otherworldly than ever as she nodded, breathlessly. ‘Good, because I am yours, my beautiful Jessie…’
The simple declaration made her heart swell and she bucked against him, straining to take him deeper, deeper, and deeper. Theo was merciless, smiling at her gasps of pleasure and pain. She came so hard she thought she might die, lights exploding in her vision, her body liquefying and when, a moment later, Theo pulled out from her and came on her belly, she realised that she could die in this moment and not care.
Theo wasn’t done with her and lifting her to her feet. He pressed her against the wall and took her from behind, his still diamond-hard cock thrusting deep into the slick wetness of her cunt. The wall was cold against her breasts and belly, providing some relief from the inferno raging on her skin. Theo’s lips were at her ear.
‘Do you like to be fucked hard, Jessie?’
‘Yes…’
Say it.’
‘I want to be fucked hard, Theo.’
‘Call me Mr Storm.’
‘Mr Storm, fuck me hard, please…’ she shuddered as an orgasm ripped through her, the pressure of his cock inside her overwhelming. Theo chuckled and pulled out, parting her buttocks and pushing into her ass. Jess groaned, letting her head drop back against his shoulder. His fingers were on her belly, stroking a pattern around her navel that was driving her crazy. She really was his, she realised, all his, forever…
Later, when they’d reluctantly dressed and calmed down, he drove her back to her apartment and they shared a beer on the little balcony overlooking the Seattle streets. Theo sat against the wall, with Jess settled between his legs, his arm wrapped around her, pulling her back against his chest. He was such a huge man, tall and wide, that Jess always felt tiny but safe with him. He nuzzled into her hair, pressing his lips against her temple.
‘You’re quiet,’ he said and although his tone was without reproach, she could sense he was probing her. She waited, a small smile playing around her mouth.
‘Are you okay with what we did?’ He asked finally and she grinned, turning her head so she could kiss him.
‘Very. Very, very okay.’ She studied the relief in his eyes. ‘In fact… if you want to do… more, I would be open to it.’
His surprise was mixed with desire. ‘I’m glad. I want to experience every pleasure with you, Jessie.’
She loved the way he said her name, so tenderly, so intimately. ‘Is there anything you really don’t want to try?’ he continued, stroking a finger down her cheek.
Jess looked away from him and took a long swig of beer before answering. ‘Nothing with knives.’ She hated the way her voice broke when she said it and she felt Theo’s arm tighten around her. When he spoke, there was a note of anger in his voice.
‘I would never… Jessie?’
Dammit. Hot tears started to pour down her cheeks. Oh dammit. She didn’t want to think about what Jules had done to her and she really didn’t want to talk about, not with Theo. She didn’t want any second of her time with him spoiled by her past.
‘Jessica?’
No. No. She couldn’t do this. She pushed away from him and scrambled to her feet, stepping back into the apartment. Theo followed her, his handsome face creased with concern.
‘Was it something I said?’
She shook her head not trusting herself to speak. Theo came to her and pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. She buried her head in his chest, breathing in his clean smell, fresh laundry and man. Theo’s hand stroked her hair gently.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
She looked up at him. ‘No. I’m sorry…please, let’s change the subject.’
His eyes were still troubled but he nodded. They stood ther
e for a long minute in silence then Theo kissed the top of her head.
‘I’ll never let anyone hurt you, Jessie.’
And in that moment, she desperately wanted to believe him.
Freshman year. Jess had saved every last penny from her job at the coffee house to get a small studio apartment in St Anne’s, not wanting to take anything more from Jules than she had to. Her tuition was covered by the provision in her step-father’s will but Jules still held the purse strings. She hated it but worse was the thought of hundreds of dollars of student debt hanging over her forever. Now, though, she thought she’d found a way out. A scholarship. Well, she reminded herself, a possible scholarship. The company offering it had strict guidelines on who could apply for it – only those students with the most pressing need. Trouble was, her family name was well known in Seattle and her step-brother Jules was known to be one of the richest men in the city. Just because she got nothing from him other than her tuition wouldn’t be enough to convince the board she needed that funding – mostly to escape him. Jules had done interviews lately in his position as a handsome eligible millionaire, raving about his ‘close relationship’ with his step-sister. The interviews had made Jess sick to her stomach. If they only knew…
All which meant she couldn’t plead poverty to the board – unless Jules publicly and notably cut her off.
He was coming over later to discuss it with her – had even been genial about the idea over the phone. She would frame it as a bonus for him. He would save the few hundred thousand dollars that her degree and her masters would cost. She told herself that would be enough.
It wasn’t. Of course, it wasn’t.
Filthy Commitments: A Submissives’ Secrets Novel Page 105