by Wane, BJ
He chuckled. “If by ‘see you’ you mean fuck you in ways you’ve never been taken before, then yes. C’mon, Mia,” he coaxed, nibbling on her lips. “What have you got to lose? Let’s set the tongues to wagging with an open, torrid affair, one where you agree to my control,” he sank his teeth into her lower lip and drew her gasp, “whenever,” he licked over the throbbing flesh, “wherever I say.”
All it took was that searing look in his penetrating eyes and her quick, hot response to the stinging pleasure of his touch to set her heart to pounding with excitement. Why fight that when she could finally admit she didn’t want to? Maybe she would even grow to like him a little if he continued to gift her with such mind-boggling experiences as tonight.
Mia shrugged, feigning indifference even though she was sure he could feel her body vibrating with titillation as she recalled the shocked, hypocritical look of disapproval on Peter’s face when they’d been in the diner. No, she didn’t want to continue letting him rule her life and keep her from pleasures he’d never shown her.
“Okay, Chief, you’re on. I’ll agree to giving you control, but for sex only. I won’t be a doormat for you, or any man.” Looking back, she realized that was exactly what she’d been during her marriage, and just what her husband had wanted.
“Deal.” He kissed her, swift and hard before rolling off the bed and hauling her up next to him with a swat on her butt that sent tingles racing down to her core. “I like the way you’re not afraid to give back as good as you get, and the way you submit to my demands.”
“I feel I have to tell you,” she said as she picked up her thong from the floor. “I still can’t say I like you. No offense, just being honest.” She didn’t care for the way his eyes lit with amusement at her bold statement. Snatching her clothes out of his outstretched hand, she snapped, “What?”
“Sweetheart.” He nodded toward the rumpled bed. “If that’s the way you ‘don’t like’ me, I’ll take it.”
Her lips quirked with suppressed laughter. He could do that—irritate her one second and make her want to giggle like a schoolgirl the next. Zipping up the skirt, she defended her actions that contradicted her statement. “That was just sex. It doesn’t mean anything. Right?” Mia couldn’t fathom why she held her breath so tight her chest squeezed as she waited for him to confirm that explanation.
She should have known he wouldn’t make it that easy for her. Instead of addressing her comment, he took her elbow and led her back to the stairs. “You have to get back, remember?”
Huffing an exasperated breath, she ignored the tight clutch around her heart. Since she didn’t care much for him, it was just as well he hadn’t claimed to have feelings for her in return, at least, that’s what she convinced herself of as they returned to Whitetail and Nolan left her at her door with a deep kiss that stirred her up all over again. Suppressed hormones and a need to sate my long overdue horniness. That’s all it is. That had to be the reason her dreams continued to wake her shivering and aching for more of his painful stimulation just hours after climaxing beneath him.
“I’m turning into an insatiable hussy,” Mia grumbled, rolling out of bed an hour later than usual the next morning. As she moved, she discovered how sore she was in a new way, a good way, she decided. It had been a long time since a man had been inside her. Her lips curved as she padded into the bathroom, stripped and looked at herself in the mirror. Compared to Nolan, her ex had definitely been lacking in more than size.
Signs of the previous night’s debauchery decorated her skin from the slight pink whisker burn along her neck and breasts to a small bruise dotting her right buttock. A thrill tickled her senses from the proof of Nolan’s possession, the uncharacteristic desire to show off the markings startling her. He seemed to have tapped into a side of Mia she’d never known existed, a side she liked.
The sudden rap on her door had her reaching for a robe as she heard Dee call out, “Hey, Mia, open up. You can’t still be sleeping.”
“Even if I was,” she announced upon opening the door, “I wouldn’t be now. Why are you here so early?”
“Early? You were supposed to host coffee and donuts after church with me this morning. I had to cover for you. Why… holy shit!” Grabbing the sides of her robe, Dee spread it open without embarrassment. “Oh, wow, girlfriend. I want details, every raunchy second.”
“Stop that.” Mia laughed, yanking her robe closed and tightening the belt before turning to the coffee maker. “I had sex. Isn’t that what you and Trish have been pushing me to do?”
“Well, yeah, but give, woman. Who? And just how wild did it get to leave you looking so freaking satisfied?”
Whirling, Mia grinned ear to ear. “I do? Cool. Oh, and it was Chief MacGregor.”
Dee thrust a fist into the air with a whoop. “So, the rumors are true. I knew it!”
“Not until last night and… holy hell, Dee, the man is… good,” she sighed.
“With that body and those eyes, he had to be. Tell me,” Dee insisted, taking the mug Mia set in front of her on the kitchen counter. “Are the rumors of him being into kink true?”
Mia almost burned herself when her hand jerked, sloshing the hot coffee. She’d hoped to keep that part of her affair quiet. “Where’d you hear that?”
Her friend waved an airy hand, her face revealing unconcern over the trivial details. “I don’t know. Maybe from Annie at the beauty shop. She’s good friends with Daphne who went out with him a few times. Who knows and who cares?”
“I… look, yes, he’s into a few things that are… new to me. But I don’t want that bandied around. I mean it, or I won’t tell you anything. I’m a businesswoman and need to keep up appearances if I intend to make a go of this place.”
“I hear you. The bane of small towns and close-knit townsfolk. We get bored. You know you can trust me. Even though I’d hoped you were doing the nasty, I didn’t let on this morning when people asked about you. I lied and said you weren’t feeling well.”
“Thanks, and I’m sorry I left you hanging. I was so tired when I got in, I forgot to set the alarm.” She slid onto a stool next to Dee and sipped the coffee before telling her best friend what she wanted to know.
“Oh, wow, just… wow,” Dee sighed, fanning herself. “It really was… I mean, you honestly liked… when he… I mean, even when he…”
“Yes, it really was, and yes, I honestly liked it, even when he…” Mia paused, wiggled her brows and grinned.
Shaking her head, Dee murmured, “If I wasn’t so frigging happy with Bob, I’d hate you right now.”
“I’m glad you are and that you don’t. Now, go away. I have work to do.”
Chapter 7
Mia emptied another bag of potting soil in Clifton Birmingham’s garden along the side of his sprawling ranch house. Picking up her rake, she smoothed out the rich, dark earth around each Red Yucca plant until it lay evenly dispersed. The tall, red-bloomed flower stalks would do well along this side and would require little in the way of maintenance. Like they had been doing for the past two weeks, her thoughts strayed to Nolan. I’m having an affair. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around that fact, or reconcile with the way she continued to respond to his every command, to both his painful and soothing touches with equal fervor and each time he took her. Whenever the sensations threatened to overwhelm her, or her chest grew tight and warm from a glance or a few words, she reminded herself she didn’t like him.
“He’s arrogant, bossy, irritating and… sexy as hell.” Leaning her forehead on the top of the rake handle, she tried to get her act together and her mind back on the job. As much as she enjoyed wallowing in lust with the town’s police chief, and yes, the envious looks that came their way whenever they were seen together by an eligible resident, or ineligible, she couldn’t let it interfere with her work.
As soon as she closed at 2:00, she’d driven out here with two hours’ worth of planting to accomplish and didn’t have time to get distracted. Not by the way Nol
an had strapped her down on the spanking bench in his playroom last night and fucked her from behind after inserting a butt plug and applying his belt four times across her cheeks, or the way she’d gone off like a firecracker. And not by his focused attention on her when he took her for a prime rib dinner at the steakhouse despite the obvious flirtations of the hostess, their waitress and an ex-girlfriend who’d insisted on stopping by their table and keeping her well-manicured hand on his shoulder the entire ten minutes she’d babbled on. And that was just two of the ten evenings they’d spent together in the last seventeen days.
After picking up the empty bags and her tools, she strolled toward the front of the house where she’d parked in the circle drive, wondering if she should continue to let this odd but satisfying relationship wear itself out or if she should worry about where it might, or might not lead. She wasn’t in the market for another husband, and even if her interest in going that route were piqued again, it certainly wouldn’t be with a man she didn’t like, let alone love. Yet, every time she imagined doing the same things with someone else that Nolan had coerced her into, she turned cold.
No, best to let this relationship run its course; it had to burn out sooner or later. The hidden slutty side of her she’d never known she possessed would slither away soon—once, she was convinced, she’d made up for lost time and all those less than satisfying nights with Peter.
Striding toward her truck, Mia noticed a hedge of evergreen shrubs in need of pruning. She may as well earn brownie points with her best customer by taking care of it while she was here even though that row of greenery wasn’t one she’d planted. Tossing her things in the back of the truck, she realized she hadn’t brought pruning shears. Thinking she might find one in the gardening shed she’d seen behind the large horse barn that housed Clifton’s prized thoroughbreds, she set off across the lawn. In her opinion, it was an odd location for the shed, but even stranger was finding the door locked. Disappointed, she pivoted to return to the truck and stopped cold when she came face to face with the same creepy man she’d danced with at the Raging Bull and then seen leaving the seedier dive, County Line, with Barry a few weeks ago.
“What the hell are you doing snooping around back here?” he growled, his menacing tone matching the cold look in his black eyes.
Surprise sent her stumbling back a step as she stuttered, “I-I’m not snooping. I thought I’d find a pair of pruning shears in the shed.”
“Isn’t it your job to bring the tools you need?” he sneered, leaning with aggressive intent toward her.
Two other younger men came around the corner, and Mia breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized them as hands who tended the horses. Both had been courteous and friendly to her before and their presence helped to ease back the fear this man’s sudden, threatening appearance instigated. Refusing to let the jerk intimidate her further, even if he did scare her, she looked him in the eye and stated, “I answer to Mr. Birmingham, not you. Step aside, please. I’m done here.”
He saw the other two men and moved out of her way, but his ominous scowl never slipped as he said, “There are no gardening tools in this shed. Mr. Birmingham keeps veterinary supplies inside that could get stolen, so there’s no need for you to come back here again.”
Ignoring that comment, Mia rushed by him, waved to the two younger guys and breathed easier when she reached her truck just as Clifton emerged from the house. His gaze swung from her to the jerk who’d followed her, and he frowned in displeasure at whatever he saw on his employee’s face. At least she wasn’t the only one put off by the guy’s behavior.
“Sanchez. Aren’t you supposed to be working in the tack room?” Clifton asked.
“I heard your gardener here trying to get into the shed. Thought I’d best let her know you keep the ketamine under lock and key. Wouldn’t want the kids working here thinking to have a little fun with that popular drug.”
Mia didn’t understand the humor lacing the creep’s tone but was ready to be done with the man. “Sorry, Clifton. I forgot my shears and went looking for a pair. I’ll tend your evergreen hedge next time I come out, or have the guys do it. Do you want to see what I did this afternoon?”
Clifton jogged down the steps, a smile softening his craggy features. “I just looked out there. Good work, as usual.” He reached over and squeezed her shoulder as he instructed above her head, “Get back to work, Sanchez.”
A cold shiver rippled under Mia’s skin at Sanchez’s thundercloud expression before he turned away and she wondered why Clifton put up with such blatant rudeness from an employee. Right or wrong to feel this way, the man’s looks turned her stomach into a greasy knot of dread she couldn’t ignore.
Clifton waited until Sanchez was out of earshot before his gaze turned apologetic. “I’m sorry if he was rude to you. Since rumor has it you’re close to our new police chief, I’m sure MacGregor’s mentioned the recent drug problem that’s plagued the surrounding counties. I can’t be too careful when I keep a strong anesthetic on site.”
She hadn’t heard about the recent drug traffic from Nolan, but news of a young overdose victim had been circulating around Whitetail, and being the mother of two boys the same age, she understood why Clifton kept the drugs locked up. But she still didn’t appreciate Sanchez’s aggressive, rude behavior, and worried anew about seeing him with Barry, despite her employee’s explanation they’d just been leaving the bar at the same time. Something about the man screamed trouble and gave her the willies.
“No, I understand. We should be getting the last of your order with the fall plants in next week and finish your landscaping the following week. I’ll talk to you then.” Mia slid behind the wheel, anxious to get going.
Clifton nodded and shut the door for her. “Sounds good.”
With a wave, she pulled away without glancing back. She didn’t know why she thought she’d just dodged a bullet, but the jittery nerves hopping around inside her insisted she had. Shaking her head at her overblown response to an upsetting encounter, she tried to put the incident out of her mind as she reached the nursery, her thoughts shifting to Clifton’s comment about the rumors of her and Nolan’s affair. Before the divorce and her recent discovery of all she’d been missing out on, being the subject of such gossip would have appalled her. Now, as she spotted Nolan pulling in behind her, a giddy sense of excitement filled her at being linked with the town’s bad boy turned chief law enforcer.
Watching him unfold his tall frame from the vehicle, tip his Stetson lower and saunter toward her with that loose-limbed stride that set her heart racing, was it any wonder Mia ended up agreeing to his terms? All of a sudden, she wanted him with an undeniable fervor, her pussy swelling from the way his cobalt gaze swept her sweat-streaked, dirt-smudged legs and arms and lit with pleasure despite her disheveled appearance. She needed a quick shower and then a round of fast, hot sweaty sex. God, she really had turned into a hussy.
* * *
“Are you done for the day?” Nolan hauled Mia against him, the dirt smudge on her face a sign she’d been working.
“Yes, thank goodness.” She leaned against him with a sigh, a rare gesture on her part and one that hinted her day had not gone well.
“C’mon. I picked up fried chicken. Let’s go inside and you can tell me what you’re not happy about.”
She pulled back with a frown then turned away to mutter, “How do you do that?”
Grabbing the takeout box off the car seat, he asked, “Do what?” while taking her hand with his free one.
“Nothing. That smells good. The diner?”
“I couldn’t pass up fried chicken Wednesday. Bridget said to tell you hello. She was there with her family.” He released her hand to take the key from her at the top of the stairs.
“Don’t you love the perks of small-town living?” she returned, her face reflecting dry amusement at them being linked together. He couldn’t tell if that pleased her or not.
“Doesn’t bother me. I happen to like
you.”
She flushed but instead of responding to that statement, said, “I need to take a quick shower. There’s a pitcher of sun tea in the refrigerator.”
Setting the chicken down on the kitchen counter, he eyed her with his best Dom look. “I like you disheveled and sweaty. Now, tell me what upset you today.”
Placing her hands on her hips, Mia glared at him from the other side of the counter. “I agreed to let you call the shots for sex, Nolan. That doesn’t mean revealing my every thought.”
Annoyance tightened his gut as he returned her glare. He had no complaints about her willingness to submit to his sexual demands; in fact, her eager acceptance of everything he’d introduced her to and the way she responded so beautifully to his commands continued to both surprise and please him. What he found difficult to accept was her constant refusal to share any other part of herself. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted, which was something he hadn’t planned on or been aiming for. Unlike her, however, he was open to expanding their relationship beyond just a sexual one.
It took Nolan only a moment to decide to use her willingness to indulge the one aspect of their relationship to push for more. As he came around the counter, she must have read the intent on his face because she held up a hand and took a step back to ward off his approach. As if either would deter him.
“Oh, no.” She shook her head but the gleam of interest in her green eyes said yes. “I told you I need to shower.”
“I know.” She turned to flee down the hall, but he moved faster and pinned her against the wall with the press of his body. With one hand sliding around to the front of her shorts, he whispered in her ear, “You can’t shower dressed, now can you?”
A low groan spilled out of her mouth before she replied with a catch in her voice, “I guess not.”
“You know, sweetheart.” Nolan shoved her shorts down and then whipped her tee shirt over her head. “I can’t be an effective Dom if you’re not open with me.” Her bra came off next and he filled his hands with the soft fullness of her breasts. “If something occurred to upset you and then I did something to trigger that memory, that could prove detrimental to us both.” He tweaked her nipples before sliding his palms down her quivering abdomen until he reached her thighs. Cupping the inside of each, he pushed, urging them apart. “So, when I ask about your day, or inquire about what seems to be bothering you, it is part of our sexual relationship, and I don’t appreciate your attitude.”