Ready to get started, he returned to her front, and she ran her hand down the braid, making him smile. “Surprised I can do such a thing?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh. “Very.”
He’d learned the skill from spending so much time with Grey’s sister, Riley, over the years. She’d always begged him to paint her nails and do all types of girly things. Something he’d never been able to refuse her. But now he only thought of one woman as he dragged his thumb across Joss’s bottom lip, realizing how much he liked surprising her. Most of all, he liked seeing her smile.
With those gorgeous, heated eyes of hers on him, she sucked the tip of his thumb into her mouth before he released her, moving back to the tray again. He reached for the dark red-and-black cuffs with the soft inner lining. “Tonight, I’d prefer silence,” he told her, stroking the softness of the skin on her inner arms then placing one cuff around her wrist and fastening the buckle. “The only words I want to hear from that pretty little mouth are ‘Yes, sir’ or our established safeword if something feels wrong. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Using gentle fingers and slow movements, drawing the moment out, he attached the other cuff, nice and tight, and then slid his fingers into the O-rings. “Come up now.” While she rose, he examined her nipples, finding them taut. He doubted that was due to coldness in the room and assumed he’d find her cunt drenched.
Most women didn’t become aroused by the anticipation of being taken, and he was only too glad that Joss reveled in these quiet, intimate moments as he did. While he kept his fingers tucked into the rings, his cock throbbed as he led her to the fireplace. Right above the mantle, he’d placed a D-ring, keeping it hidden from visitors who would never understand his sexual preferences.
While he clipped both of her wrists to the D-ring, she stayed perfectly silent. Even as he adjusted her arms straight above her head, keeping her face protected, she never made a single comment. He liked that about her. Most women talked when told not to. And the silence both calmed and warmed him, oddly more comfortable than any silence before.
Done with binding her, he stepped back, admiring his work. Her skin, her curves, her round bottom, all glowing with the beautiful warm hue of the candles, was a sight he’d not soon forget. He dragged his fingernails down her spine until he reached her ass, where he squeezed each cheek, warming her up.
She moaned, and he smiled, speaking only to ensure she felt safe. “I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as you bound like this, sugar.”
Again, she moaned, and the desire within confirmed her comfort.
Pleased by her reaction to how he’d placed her, he ran his hand over her warm bottom before he reached for the flogger. He stepped in behind her and dragged the leather tails across her creamy, smooth back, showing her what he intended to treat her to tonight.
She wiggled her bottom, and he liked how willing she was, especially never having experienced a flogging before. That show of trust weaved around him, getting right down deep inside. He put a little distance between them, gazing over her glowing flesh, then he flicked the leather out gently, introducing her to the idea and the sensation. Her harsh breath spread out into the air when he slid his hand over where he’d struck, letting her know that his safe touch would always follow. Again, he took a step back, putting some space between them, then he tested her. Each flick of the leathers came a little bit harder until he saw her flinch, noticed the level at which she felt pain.
Now armed with the knowledge he needed to understand her, his canvas to paint, he found the rhythm of the music. Using a figure-eight pattern, he began flogging her, never going too hard, warming up the flesh that he liked seeing turn a pinkish hue.
As the minutes drew on and her moans deepened, he let himself become lost in the dance between them, connecting with her on levels that fulfilled him. A good flogging often felt like a massage, and he sensed her relax, could see the moment when she went into that quiet space of her mind where thoughts and worries didn’t exist and even time stopped.
He let her stay there for a while, allowing her to enjoy the relief that a flogging brought, and even enjoyed the reprieve himself. Over and over again, he shifted back and forth on his heels sending the flogger out to her. Thud…thud…thud…the leather met her flesh, while the hypnotic music released all his tension as he danced with the flogger, setting them both free.
When her upper back and bottom had turned a pretty pink, he lowered the flogger. While he could’ve continued, as he enjoyed being connected to her this way, the relaxation didn’t fulfill the intensity he craved to create. Before he moved on, he tucked the flogger under his arm and closed the distance between them, stroking her back. She startled and gasped, and he smiled. Apparently, she’d gone in deep. There was something very special in how easily she trusted him. Something he wanted to taste again and again.
He leaned in and placed his lips against her warm shoulder while he removed her panties. Feeling her quivering beneath his mouth, he slid his tongue from one shoulder to the other while he reached around and stroked her nipples. Both were erect in firm points. Curious now, he slid one hand down to the junction between her thighs and he groaned at what he discovered. A soaking wet pussy.
To show her how aroused she truly was, he slid his fingers across her drenched slit then gathered up her juices, circling her opening. She moaned, dropping her head back against his shoulder, and he rewarded her with a firm stroke of her engorged clit. Her body responded beautifully, instantly quivering, eager to blow.
He wasn’t ready, not nearly done with her, and again, stepped back. Even with the space between them, the air felt charged, fueled with intensity. He waited, leaving her standing there to wonder what he planned to do before he sent the flogger hard onto her ass. He dragged the tails through his hand then sent it out to her again.
And again.
And again.
He never let up, he never stopped. Not until he reached that level where she’d earlier responded to pain. She moaned loudly and arched, and he heard her plea for more.
The music sped up, the strings of the violins being played faster and faster, and his flogging naturally followed along. Her skin flushed deeper now, a perfect shade of red on her bottom. The glow of the candles warmed the color of her skin. His canvas turning out far better than he’d imagined, his cock strained painfully to blow. The dance continued, his heart rate increased, his chest rose and fell with his heavy breaths. Only when he noticed her quivering legs did he stop. He stepped in behind her and cupped her neck, feeling her hammering pulse beneath his fingers. He slid his touch down her chest, delighted by the dampness of her sweaty flesh before he moved his hand around the warmth of her bottom. The heat against his palm brought urgency.
Though, again, he needed more. His soul wanted to claim her.
He knew he couldn’t be gentle when he dropped the flogger onto the tray and grabbed the condom. Not with this beauty bound and hot and ready for him to own. He returned to her back and opened his jeans, letting them fall to his knees. Glancing over her glowing flesh, he sheathed himself in the condom. He grabbed the base of his cock, spread her cheeks, feeling the warmth of her bottom and entered her slick heat in one swift stroke, right to the hilt.
She gasped and rose on her tiptoes. He grabbed her waist, holding her to him, as he began pumping his hips. In and out, his hard cock thrust into her, straining to blow, and her inner walls clamped against him, wildly begging for a release. Skin slapped against skin. His pelvis slapping her warm bottom that he’d awakened over and over again until he felt her early quivers.
Her climax arrived with such intensity that it threatened to overtake him with little warning. Again, she rose on her tiptoes, her inner muscles squeezing his cock hard enough to make him cross-eyed. She went silent for a long moment before her scream of release blasted across him, drawing up his balls. And when she exploded, he slammed forward, roaring his release.
Time got away from him as
he rested his head against her neck, catching his breath. Only when her soft whisper broke the silence did his senses return to him. Even then, it took him a minute to make out the words she’d whispered. “Thank you, sir.”
Something changed in him then. Something in her voice sounded so very meaningful. Something that made him not want to hear those words, said in that husky tone, from anyone else.
Something that screamed mine.
* * *
Once Joss could properly walk again, she went in search of food. Apparently, orgasms forced the body to refuel. When all she found was protein and vegetables in Maddox’s fridge, she suggested going out. Of course, she’d expected his refusal, but she’d been armed and ready to win.
Twenty minutes later, she watched him slide into the booth across from her in the quiet pizzeria downtown, and she couldn’t help but smile. She’d never seen anyone look quite as uncomfortable and miserable all at the same time.
“This feels like a date,” Maddox grumbled, putting a voice to his unhappiness. “I’m still trying to figure out how in the hell you got me here.”
She fought a laugh, passing him a menu. Perhaps some women would back down in the face of a growly man, but she’d grown up around cops. She’d been around strong personalities her entire life. “No, this isn’t a date,” she said, hoping to show him where her mind was at, which wasn’t on relationship goals. “This is us getting the best pizza in Seattle because I’m starving and you had nothing to eat at your house.” She grabbed the menu, giving it a once-over. “Besides, it can’t be a date because I know it’s not a date.” She lowered the menu and looked at him, finding his intense eyes fixated on her. “You know, just because we’re friends-with-benefits doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends and get to know each other a little bit better. Sometimes, friends have dinner together.”
He snorted, not seeming overly thrilled about being here, but finally heaved a long sigh and glanced at his menu. “I’m not sure I agree with you, but somehow, you possess powers to coerce me that I have no shields against.”
She grinned behind her menu, proud she’d gotten him to do the unthinkable. Dear God, going for pizza wasn’t a marriage proposal. Obviously, he hadn’t had many female friends over the years. Which only told her how much she didn’t know about Maddox. Something she intended to change tonight.
Before she could dig a bit deeper into the complex mind of Maddox Hunt, the pretty blonde waitress came over. Her top, a little too tight, the V in her shirt, a little too low, and her skinny jeans looked painted on.
“What can I get ya?” she asked Maddox, holding onto her pen and notepad.
“Iced tea for me,” Joss told the waitress loudly, watching the chick now openly ogling Maddox. She shook her head and glanced at the man of the hour, asking, “How about a medium pizza with all the toppings?”
He nodded. “A pint, too.”
“Perfect,” the waitress practically purred at him, gathering their menus in a way that put her cleavage far too close to Maddox’s face. “I’ll be back with those drinks shortly.”
When the waitress leaned away, Joss frowned at her, but she noticed his eyes were on her, not on the waitress’s girls. Glad for that, and as the waitress took off to fetch their orders, Joss set her focus on Maddox, intent to peel back his complicated layers. In a non-threating, non-pushy way, of course. “So,” she said, lacing her fingers together on top of the table. “Tell me more about your family.”
“Why?” He leaned back against the booth’s shiny red cushion and folded his arms.
“Uh, because I want to know more about you?” she scoffed, shaking her head at him. “Is that really so weird or so terrible?”
He regarded her a minute, obviously deciding if he wanted to allow this to happen. Apparently, he did, since he answered, “I’m an only child and pretty much on my own. I have an uncle who lives in Vancouver. I think I saw him maybe three times growing up, and haven’t seen him in the last ten years at all.”
“And what about your parents?” she asked.
“There was only my father and me.”
The waitress returned with their drinks then, and Joss ignored Ms. Googly Eyes, keeping the focus right where she wanted it. On Maddox. When the waitress left the table again, Joss asked, “You didn’t have a mom growing up?”
“No.”
She noted the tension around his eyes, even if she could tell he fought hard not to react to the question. Now, wondering if she should leave this type of questioning alone, she pulled her drink closer to her and held the straw, taking a sip of her iced tea. Once she’d swallowed the cool, sweet tea, she decided to press on. “Feel free to tell me to stuff it, but do you mind telling me what happened to her?”
Maddox took hold of his frosty beer glass, and before taking a sip, he replied, “She left when I was four and never came back.” Then he downed a quarter of his beer.
Joss bristled, disbelieving of what she heard. To leave your child? How could a mother do that? There had to be more to the story. “Why did she leave? Did your parent’s divorce or something?”
He regarded her again and then sighed, lowering his glass to the table. “My father never told me why.”
“Really?” That made no sense. “Your father never shared with you why your mother just picked up and left and never came back?”
“We’re men,” was his dry explanation as he wiped the frothy beer off his lips. “We don’t sit around and talk like you and I are doing now. Which only reminds me why I don’t go for dinner with women, by the way.”
She chuckled, not deterred. “Oh, come on, it’s not so bad.”
He arched that left brow at her. “Discussing the past only leads to memories of things you can’t change, so why even go there?” He had a point, so she stayed silent as he continued. “Besides, my father hated her. Why would I bring her up?”
Interesting. She took a sip of her drink again, studying him. Maddox was tough and brooding, all muscles and confidence, not a hint of sadness about what had happened to him during his younger years. He also didn’t pity himself or have any serious emotional scars she could see. Regardless of the childhood he’d been handed by having a shitty mother, he’d created a pretty damn good life for himself.
Though realizing that also made her conclude something else. “I guess I can see now why you hate commitment.”
His left eyebrow arched again. “How is what I told you related at all to commitment?”
“Of course, it’s related,” she said, waiting for a couple to stride by their table before adding, “Being in a committed relationship isn’t important to you because you’ve never seen what happens when two people choose to love each other forever.”
She paused, watching his reaction to what she’d said.
His jaw muscles clenched twice, telling her the subject was a touchy one. “I take it you have seen that?” he asked.
She sighed, glad she hadn’t overstepped, and circled the straw in her glass around an ice cube. “Yup, I have those parents. They’re still grossly in love, even after twenty-eight years of marriage.”
Maddox didn’t respond to that, but she wondered if he would have if the pizza hadn’t come at that moment. The waitress again went out of her way to get Maddox to notice her chest when she placed the pizza near him. Joss didn’t mind one bit that Maddox stared down at the pizza, unmoving, even if she wondered what lay so heavily on his mind.
To keep things light, Joss rubbed her hands together. “See, this is so much better than broccoli and chicken.” She reached for a piece of pizza, placing it on a plate and sliding that one to Maddox before taking a piece for herself, ready to dig in. Cheese, bread, meat, and grease…and a huge orgasm earlier—life had never been better. Even now, she noticed how her bottom still felt warm. She never would’ve believed that a flogging could feel so relaxing, and she didn’t know if it was the orgasm alone, but she felt lit up inside.
She took a big bite of the pizza, moaning when the
grease hit her lips, figuring they’d eat in silence, though Maddox surprised her.
“It didn’t matter, you know.”
She glanced up at him through her lashes, swallowing her pizza. His soft eyes were fixated on her face. “What didn’t matter?” she asked.
“Not having a mother,” he said, reaching for two more pieces of pizza and placing them onto his plate. Apparently, the one piece she’d given him wasn’t sufficient. And that didn’t surprise Joss. The man surely had a large appetite. He lifted his pizza to his mouth, and before taking a big bite said, “My father was enough.”
She wasn’t sure a mother’s love could ever be replaced, but she wasn’t going to tell Maddox that. It all began to make sense to her, though. Maddox didn’t want a girlfriend because he didn’t know what he was missing. He’d never had it, and he hadn’t witnessed a good relationship as a child. Heck, she understood the need to protect oneself. He left women before they could leave him. She got it. “Does your dad live here in Seattle?” she asked.
“Yeah, he does.”
She swallowed her bite, waiting for him to say more. When he didn’t, she asked, “He didn’t remarry at all?”
“No.”
“Is there a reason for that?”
“Never asked him.”
Ever the more curious. “Hmmm…”
Maddox paused with the pizza halfway to his lips, and the side of his mouth curved. “And what exactly does that ‘hmmm’ mean?”
“Oh, nothing really.” She reached for her straw and took a sip of her drink before replying. “Just figuring you out is all.”
“Perfect,” he said, grabbing his napkin and wiping his face. “So now we can reach the point where you think you can fix whatever is wrong with me and somehow correct the fact that I don’t want to be in a committed relationship.”
She noted the dry tone of his voice, even the irritation in it. “Well,” she said in a light voice, hoping he’d truly hear her, “from the way I see it, you’re honorable, straightforward, hardworking, caring toward other’s needs, and strong. I’m not exactly sure what needs fixing.”
Heartbreaker (Filthy Dirty Love #1) Page 10