by Regina Cole
Pinkened strips of skin painted his legs, little gifts from the paddle he’d so thoughtfully purchased for them to use. He was hard, and she’d done that. She’d cuffed him to the bed, spanked him, and was now thinking of other ways to bend him to her will.
God, this had been such a good idea.
“I don’t like that look on your face.”
“What look?” She dialed the evil grin up to eleven. “I would think that this look would get you excited.”
“It does. I just didn’t know how diabolical you could be, madam. I’ll remember that next time you ask me to tie you up.”
Oh, she dearly hoped he would. Putting the paddle down, she walked across the room to kneel by his side. Not touching him, just close enough that she could feel his body heat.
“You look hungry.”
“If I do, it’s because you made me that way.”
She traced a fingernail over his chest, reveling in the way his skin felt to her fingertip. He was so beautiful, his muscles firm, his skin smooth, that delicious trail of hair on his belly pointing down to, well, to one of her most favorite parts of him, actually. She followed it down, grasping his cock and gently stroking it.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Chandler groaned, pulling at the cuffs. The Velcro complained, but it held.
“Good,” Eliza said, bending down to press a kiss to the swollen head of him. His cock twitched in her grip, becoming harder. As much as she’d like to suck him off, well, that just wouldn’t be fair. He was supposed to be doing what she wanted now, right? She pulled off her panties and tossed them aside. Now she was as naked as he was.
Straddling his chest, Eliza looked down at her temporary slave. He was beautiful, so strong, and he was all hers.
“How long do you think you can hold out?”
The question was a little presumptuous, but Eliza didn’t call him on it. She just smiled and scooted her hips higher on his chest. She was straddling his pecs now. “Longer than you can, I’ll bet.”
He arched a brow as she scooted a little higher. Her knees rested on the bed above his biceps now. She was almost straddling his throat. “Are you sure about that? God, Liza, you smell amazing.”
She drew her legs together a bit in surprise, which only served to trap his head between them. He closed his eyes and groaned in bliss.
“Smell me? Do I stink?”
“Oh God, no. You smell like a woman. All sweet and mysterious. I bet you taste just as good.”
Well, that was a convenient segue. She’d have to reward him for being so clever. She grinned. And then she raised up on her knees, moving the last inch or two so that her body was positioned directly above his mouth.
“You may have a taste.”
Her pronouncement acted like a starting pistol. She gripped the headboard of the bed, trying to keep a hold on reality. But his mouth was working her body so intimately. His lips were moving on her most tender skin, his tongue tracing a path from her clit to the entrance of her body. He delicately probed her opening, and she lowered her hips to give him better penetration.
“You taste better than amazing.”
His words were muffled, but she didn’t care. For the moment she let herself feel everything he was doing to her. The cuffs kept him from holding her hips, grabbing her ass like she’d love for him to do, but he more than made up for it with the exploration of his mouth. Flicking, sucking, nipping, loving her, he started a rhythm that drove her wild. Tension built in her lower belly, and her hips swiveled against him. It was so good, but it wasn’t enough. He was stoking her fires so hot, making her want his cock. She wanted to ride him. He was right; he’d lasted longer than she did.
“I can’t wait anymore.”
She fell to the side, scrambling to realign their bodies. His cock jutted straight to the ceiling, thick, hard, and proud. It was begging for her body, the tip shiny with precum. Throwing one leg over him, she began to sink down onto his hardness.
“Wait,” he croaked, jerking to one side to prevent entry. “Condom.”
She almost screamed in frustration, but she knew he was right. Hitting the floor at a dead run, she made it across to the desk in record time. One last condom was left from the stash she’d brought. Tearing the package open with her teeth, she fumbled the lubricated latex circle.
Slow down. Breathe. Her inner mantra helped her to slow the crazy pace and actually put the condom on correctly. Chandler tried so hard to stay still, but she couldn’t help but stroke his cock as the condom covered him.
“You like that?”
“God, yes.” Chandler’s hips lifted to her grasp.
“Then you’ll really like this.”
She turned away from him and straddled him. Bracing herself on his muscled thighs, she lowered her body onto him. He entered her slowly, stretching her, filling her body with his hard heat. For a moment she stayed still, just feeling him. They fit together like puzzle pieces, made for one another. But then she began to move.
“Your ass is so beautiful from this angle. I want to touch it, I want to grab it, spank it. Eliza, let me touch your ass, please.”
Her movements became more frantic. He was asking her permission, and that made her want him even more. He twisted beneath her, his cock nudging higher inside her.
“Please, baby, this is torture. I want to touch your body.”
She could come that way, but she’d rather look into his eyes as she did. So, without letting him withdraw, she slowly turned with him inside her. They moaned together, a long, low, wanting sound.
“You want to touch me?” She ripped the Velcro as she spoke. His eyes glowed while she released him, first his hands, then leaning back to reach his ankles. Once he was free, his hands ravaged her.
They were everywhere, on her breasts, down her belly, across her back, cupping her ass, gripping and squeezing and holding her tight. She let him. As fun as it had been to be in charge, now she just wanted to enjoy the fires she’d built within him. She wanted him to take her, to fuck her, to slap her ass and fill her with cum. As wild as he wanted, that was what she needed.
“Fuck me.” He obeyed her command instantly.
Gripping her hips, Chandler slammed his cock into her, deep and hard. Eliza screamed as her walls stretched, the agonizing fullness within her sending a throb throughout her body.
She fell onto his chest, pressing her breasts against him, her body screaming all over for his touch. He took her, rolling her over and pulling one of her legs up to his shoulder. The penetration was so deep she bit his shoulder to keep from screaming again. He went wild for her, stroking deeply, filling her over and over and sending her body to places she’d only dreamed of.
“Are you going to come for me, baby? I want to feel your walls squeeze around me while you scream. I want to pump and pump until I fill you with cum, your beautiful breasts crushed against me. Come for me, Liza. Come now.”
He reached between them and pressed against her clit, and she was gone. Light burst behind her eyes, her movements jerky and erratic as her insides pulsed with pleasure. Only a second later Chandler stiffened inside her, then groaned as his orgasm burst from him, filling her with heat.
He let her leg descend slowly, and then he left her body. But he pulled her close into his side, and they held one another for a long while.
Eliza closed her eyes and breathed in. It smelled like them. It smelled like home.
How was she really going to let this end?
He’d known it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear.
The afternoon was winding down on one of the best days he could ever remember. They’d woken up late thanks to their late-night fun, then a leisurely brunch turned into a mission. Eliza had confessed that she’d been reinventing herself on this trip, and she wanted to do something daring. What could be more daring than parasailing? So he’d taken her, and she’d adored it.
Then, after they ate ice cream cones on the beach, he surprised her with a sunset dinn
er cruise he’d reserved a couple of days ago. As he’d predicted, she loved that, too. Standing on the bow of the boat, his arms around her, Chandler decided he’d waited long enough to make his move.
“Liza.” He bent down and propped his chin on her shoulder. She leaned her head close to his and he closed his eyes for a moment. If this didn’t work, he was going to hang on to this memory for a long damn time.
He hoped it worked.
“What is it?”
“I wanted to talk to you before tomorrow.”
She pulled back a little to get a better look at his face. “Why do you sound serious all of a sudden?”
He forced a smile as he threaded his fingers through hers and stood by her side. She relaxed a bit and leaned on the railing in front of her.
“I don’t mean to sound serious. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about and I want to make sure I talk to you about it before we leave paradise.”
Her expression got somber then. “Oh. Well, whatever it is, go ahead.” She closed her eyes like she was facing a firing squad. He wanted to be offended, but he couldn’t. She was too cute with her face scrunched up, waiting for the blow to fall.
Squeezing her hand, he spoke.
“These last few days have been amazing for me. Since Andrea, I haven’t really had a lot of luck in the relationship department. Well, I hadn’t really been trying, to tell the truth. And I wasn’t really planning to try. But in the airport, when I saw you, and then had the seat next to you? I don’t know that I believed in fate before, but it seems to me like things were working out that way for a reason.”
Her hand was cold in his. Trying really hard not to read too much into that, he kept talking.
“I’ll admit it, I wanted in your pants first. And I don’t apologize for that. You’re an incredibly sexy woman, and the reality of being with you was even better than I’d imagined it would be. At first, all I wanted was a fun fling over this vacation. But the more I get to know you, well, I’ve told you that before. And it’s still true.”
Eliza wasn’t saying anything. She was staring forward into the ocean, the wind whipping strands of her hair across her cheek. He wished she’d look at him, give him some clue as to how she was receiving his words. But she stayed still and silent.
He surged forward. There was no turning back at this point.
“I like you, Eliza. I like you a lot. And now that this trip is almost over, I want to tell you that. I think if we gave this a shot, then maybe—”
“Chandler, I don’t know.” Eliza pulled her hand away from his, an uncertain look in her eyes.
“Don’t be so afraid. I’m not pledging my undying love to you here.”
She shot him a look and tightened her arms over her middle.
He sighed and raked a hand through his hair, but the sea breeze whipped it instantly back into tangles. “I don’t know you well enough for that yet. But what I am saying is that I have feelings for you, feelings that I think could grow if we gave each other some time. And that’s all I’m asking for. Hell, I don’t even know what state you’re from! I just want the bare minimum here. Just a promise from you that we can keep in touch, and maybe see where this thing goes. If you’re even interested.”
“Ohio.”
His gaze flew to her. “Excuse me?”
Eliza dropped her hands to her sides, a shy smile on her face. “Ohio. That’s where I live. A little town called Appledale, in southwestern Ohio. It’s a suburb of Cincinnati.”
For some reason, the simple answer she gave him lifted the weight that had taken up residence in his chest. Just a bit, anyway. Now it was like trying to breathe through chocolate pudding instead of solid lead.
“Oh.” He nodded. “Cincinnati is only about a nine-hour drive from the Banks, you know. Or just a two-hour flight?”
“Then one of us might have to visit the other soon.”
“Maybe so.”
He put an arm around her waist and together they looked out at the water. It was enough. For now, just the promise of a future in which he and Eliza were still communicating was enough.
Life did go on, after all.
“You know, my parents always travel for the holidays.”
He shot her a sideways glance, trying not to betray the eagerness in his face. “Oh yeah? Holidays are kind of awkward for me. I usually eat at my aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving, but Christmases are on my own.”
A cool breeze played up then, and Eliza shivered. Chafing her arm with his hand, Chandler held her close to keep the chill away.
She looked up at him, one of her hands holding his at her waist, the other holding her hair back from her face. “It would be a shame if both of us were alone for Christmas, wouldn’t it? I mean, as acquaintances. Friends. Or, well, whatever it is we are.”
Success! He kept his smile small. This was a big deal for her, for them. The chance to move forward was fragile, and at any moment he could push her too far. There was still something in her past that was hard for her to move beyond, but he knew he could help her if she’d trust him enough to share. But maybe he’d been wrong before. Maybe he could help her more by knowing what had gone on before she shared the knowledge with him.
Was it wrong for him to look into her past if it was to help her heal, to move forward? He wasn’t convinced, but it was definitely worth considering. He put the idea on the back burner for the moment, though.
“It would be a shame for such a beautiful woman to be alone on Christmas. If you’d let me, I’d love to come up to Ohio and visit you. Spend a few frosty evenings in your company.”
He waited, holding her close. One heartbeat. Two . . .
With a smile, she said three simple words that made him incredibly happy.
“I’d like that.”
20
Eliza’s suitcase wheels clacked over the tiled floor of the resort lobby. She’d just turned in her room keys and now she and Chandler were waiting for the shuttle to the airport.
“It seems like forever ago that we got here,” Chandler observed, adjusting the sunglasses he’d perched atop his head. Eliza was trying really hard not to stare at him. He looked too attractive like that.
“I don’t know. To me, it seems like just yesterday.”
And it did. The time had flown by. She’d been so frightened, so timid when she’d gotten off this shuttle. And now? Eliza shook her head as she walked to the same van that had driven her here. Now there was something inside her other than the fear, other than the doubt that had filled her before. And she had Chandler to thank for that.
Handsome jerk. He’d ruined all her plans.
“Did you have a nice time?” The shuttle driver was all smiles again, and Eliza couldn’t help returning the expression as she handed her suitcase to him to be loaded into the back of the van.
“The best time,” she agreed. “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
“You will have to come again. We are here all the time!” The shuttle driver laughed, and took Chandler’s bag.
“We will,” Chandler said, and laced his fingers through hers. Eliza’s heart gave that funny little tug it had started over the past few days whenever Chandler touched her. It was a disconcerting feeling, one that she was getting dangerously attached to.
A few other passengers were using the same shuttle, so she and Chandler climbed into the back row of the van. Conversations and laughter floated around them, but they didn’t really speak. Eliza just leaned into Chandler’s side, and he traced patterns on her palm with his finger.
It was enough. There was so much inside her that she just couldn’t voice it all.
The ride was over much too quickly. Of course, it could have lasted three weeks and still been too short for her. She didn’t know how to do this. How could she say good-bye to someone who’d been there while she changed? She wasn’t the same Eliza. Chandler knew this Eliza; he liked this Eliza. What if no one else did?
They got their suitcases
and Eliza gave the driver a larger tip than she’d intended to. Just because he’d driven a bit slower than the rest of the surrounding traffic, she felt like she owed him.
“So where’s your layover?” Chandler said as they moved toward the security checkpoint.
“I’m in LAX again. You?”
“Dallas,” Chandler said, his chin falling slightly. “I guess it was too much to ask to have the same flight out of here again.”
“Yeah.” Eliza blinked hard. Was something in her eye? Damn dry air in airports. Making up her mind to get some eye drops inside the terminal, she began the process of prepping her bags for the security checkpoint. The line was blessedly short, but she didn’t feel all that grateful. Even in the security line she was being robbed of extra time with him.
“I never asked you,” Chandler said as they moved their gray tubs toward the conveyer belt. “Did your tablet make it okay?”
Eliza laughed at the memory. It was a little less embarrassing now. “I haven’t even turned it on since I’ve been here.”
“If it’s broken, let me know and I’ll replace it.”
Eliza glared at his back as he stepped onto the yellow footprints of the scanning booth. “I dropped it, not you.”
“I still feel bad.” He moved on, but Eliza just stood there and looked at him.
“Step forward, please.” The TSA agent looked both bored and pissed that he’d had to speak to Eliza.
“Sorry.” She stood on the mark and held her arms above her head. Chandler caught her eye, looked directly at her chest, and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Her cheeks heated, but she couldn’t move, or risk the wrath of the TSA.
“Step through.”
Once they’d both been cleared by Security, they stopped by the bank of monitors that held all the flight numbers and gates.
“What’s your flight number?”
Eliza checked her boarding pass. “1328.”