by Anthology
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face as I traced my nose along the curve of her ear. “I still could do you better.”
*****
M
“Aaarrrrgggghhhh!” I roared for the thousandth time since that fucking piece of gorgeous shit had pressed his perfect body and even more flawless dick against me a week ago. Since he’d broken down the wall I didn’t know needed reinforcing.
Each night I’d held my breath until the room was full and the girls were on display. But one by one, they’d been picked and I’d stayed standing, alone, at the front of the room. I was grateful and furious all at once. What was worse was I didn’t know if it was at him, at the lack of him, or at myself for being a weak fool.
“M, we have a job to do.” Trixie eyed me as she cleaned the dirt out of her nails with a small switchblade.
“I know,” I said gruffly, shifting my focus from my memories to the barely clad woman I was glad to call my friend in front of me. I crumpled my brow as I watched her. “Why do you have a switchblade?” I added as I cocked my head, the latex bunny ears crowning tonight's mask made my head twist all the more dramatically.
“Why not?” Her wicked smile lit her eyes in the seedy dark of my office.
“You keep that on you?”
“You don’t want to know where.” The look accompanying Trixie’s words had me seeing screws fall loose one by one behind her brightly burning eyes. “By the way, this dark Playboy Bunny thing works for you.”
“The psychopath thing works for you,” I shot back as I ran my fingers along my thick ears then adjusted where the latex laid across my cheekbones.
“I know.” Her teeth looked like they’d been sharpened into fang points when she smiled a truly unholy smile back at me.
Without further pretense, she jumped off her perch on my desk and sauntered out toward tonight’s guests. The switchblade had disappeared. I stood and adjusted my skimpy, skintight teddy and slid into my Louboutins as I followed her out.
I’d given my speech, enticed every man in the room, elicited drool and daydreams, when the door clicked open and my mystery man, golden eyes, dark tousled hair, and chiseled chest leaned in. I had to swallow a few times before I could manage, “Just how far will you fall down the rabbit hole tonight gentleman?”
They started to pick their companions for the evening but I could only stay fixed on him. He seemed to look anywhere but at me as he came in and found a seat. Evaluating, studying, dissecting even. I hated myself a little for being disappointed, for wanting that piercing gaze to devour me instead of his surroundings.
One by one, the men in front of me disappeared, my girls tugging them by ties or belts or even just by the balls back to rooms. Soon enough, it was he and I alone in the ever-shrinking room, aside from Nicolette. It wasn’t until the air in the room went thick that his eyes found mine.
“Sir?” she questioned from beside me, reminding me to gulp in air. “Which girl did you want? Or what else can we do for you?”
He smirked and said nothing, simply undressing me with his blazing gaze.
“Go attend to the girls. I’ll take care of this one,” I commanded, or tried to anyway, with my voice snagging in my throat.
Heels clacked out behind us, leaving only silence in their wake. When a door shut in the distance, I only shifted to cross my arms in front of my barely covered chest. He smirked and let his molten eyes rove over my body, slow and steady.
“You know I’d love nothing more than for you to take care of me.” He leaned onto his hand, his long finger tapping at his temple while he bit his thumb. I swore horns grew out of his far too attractive head. I let my disgust curl my lip. “Oh come on.” He stood and stepped toward me. “You had fun.” He unabashedly reached between my thighs. “I saw,” he murmured just before I shoved with all my might against his chest.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” I screeched.
“Why?” He grabbed into my thigh and pulled me back as if I’d barely touched him. “Because you like it? Because for a minute you’re not a brothel owner, you’re just a woman surrendering to lust?”
His grip had gotten so tight, his lips so close, I couldn’t help but bow toward him. My mind went blank and my throat dry.
“I don’t own this brothel,” I stuttered; it was the only thing I could manage.
“That’s why you submit to such a short leash.”
“I may not own this place but I’m no one’s leashed pet,” I spat.
“You’d love being mine.” Once again his warm breath danced on my skin, and the hauntingly familiar scent assaulted not just my senses but my heart. “Let me show you,” he whispered even softer, beckoning to me. “Let me leash you.”
Something about his voice, the way it called to the depths of me—or maybe it was his body and the way it spoke a primal language with mine—swept through me like a dangerous breeze. My lungs expanded fully for what felt like the first time in years. And God, did it feel fucking good.
I’d never admit it out loud, but he was right. I just wanted to swim in the golden light of his eyes and drink in the sweet wine that seemed to drip from his lips. I wanted to feel him in me. And moreover, in control of me. He made my heart jackknife. And when it skipped a beat, I lost control of myself completely and sagged into him.
“Good girl.” He wrapped his hands around me and palmed my ass with big full hands. I went weak at the knees. “Now show me where you keep the collars.”
*****
Shep
Without another word, she turned in my arms, letting me keep contact with her caramel skin where it peeked out of the fabric scraps she called a costume. She probably thought I was keeping my hands on her to show her who was boss tonight, to remind her what she was submitting to, but really, I needed an anchor. My insides where going batshit insane, the want, and the anticipation were almost overpowering.
She led me back through the halls, back to the room from the other night. For a moment, she puffed up her chest, no doubt recalling who’d been in charge that night. I reached between her thighs again and squeezed.
“I want you. I want every inch of you. I want to possess you…” I sighed. “But I will not touch you again unless you want it. I will not fuck you unless you want me deep inside. And I certainly will not leash you unless you crave it.” I let my hand fall away and she sagged in front of me.
For a moment, I was lost in the curve of her neck, where her long hair parted and fell, exposing her gorgeous skin. The beautiful flesh and her innocent gesture was so precious, so familiar, that it was my sixteen year old hand reaching out to stroke it. It was Gracie, not M, yielding to me and shuddering beneath my touch.
But then she stepped away and opened the drawer. I didn’t dare breathe as she turned back toward me and reached out with a leather collar and delicate silver leash. With the slowest, steadiest hands I could manage, I took them from her and watched as her beautiful blue eyes fell to the floor while she reached back to pull her long locks from her neck.
My hands gripped the leather, letting it creak as the stiff shape flexed in my hand. For a second, I felt guilty. Guilty that I’d pushed her, guilty that I was in this room at all, guilty that even after this, after this submission, I’d actually break her.
Remember why you’re there Agent Finley…
Oh fuck, how far had I fallen? I almost dropped the collar when the words filtered into my mind..
“Please,” she whispered. “Please don’t make me beg. Please don’t make me say it.”
That plea, those words, snapped me back. I needed her. As selfish and fucked up as it made me, she was my siren song. A small dark place inside me even thought she’d fill the hole that Gracie left when she disappeared into the night.
It was with hope and no small amount of lust that I latched the collar around her throat.
She went to fold to her knees but I yanked lightly on the silver chain and she righted herself. Her eyes burned into mine.
&nbs
p; “You might be mine to control but I’m no client for you to service.” I reached for the fabric, barely clinging to her shoulder, and pulled it down along her arm. I reached for her other strap and started on it too, but my eyes went back to hers, hidden as they were behind her mask. “I told you that I’d fulfill your fantasies.”
I held her gaze even as I pushed the fabric wrapped around her down to her ankles. The devilish curves of her body called to me, but I told myself over and over not to look down, not to pull myself from the frosty blue pools staring from beneath the smoky eyelids, behind the dark, mysterious mask. Making her understand suddenly seemed so important.
“I told you I’d do you better,” I murmured as I wrapped the length of silver around my hand and pulled her closer.
Her lips were so close to mine, the leash I held taut, but it still surprised me when she lunged the last inch between us and snatched up my lips with hers.
Fucking fireworks. Everywhere. The bright shimmering kind that slowly fell to earth in a glittery blanket. That’s what her kiss felt like. I was lit up from somewhere deep and dormant inside me, and goddamn, did it feel good.
I didn’t hesitate to kiss her back. Hard. I held her to me with the leash, giving her no choice but to keep weaving her lips against mine. But it wasn’t enough. The warmth of her naked flesh, the hammer of her heart, sway of her breasts. The taste of her, the way our tongues tumbled, they were going to burn me to ash. I grabbed her face with my other hand, desperate to cradle her or consume her, I wasn’t sure which.
When her tentative hands reached out for me, when she touched me, some sort of storybook wave of magic shot through me. I actually shivered, pulling on the chain all the harder. This time not to keep her close, but to cut into my palm, to remind me this was all real.
M gasping wildly for air was the only thing that stopped me from swallowing her whole. I pulled back just enough to stare deeply again. Something was even more bewitching about those eyes but I couldn’t place it. Pure desire wouldn’t let me.
“Undress me. Please,” I begged. “I want to feel your skin against mine. I want to devour your body.”
*****
M
My fingers trembled as I reached out for him, for his shirt. I was hungry, desperate even, but that wasn’t what had me shaking like a leaf. That look, those kisses, they hit me deep. Deeper than anything, maybe even Shep.
I hated that.
But I couldn’t fight it any more than I could fight the need to breathe. I took a deep breath and started working on his shirt, revealing God’s gift to abs with every single button. The second I pushed his shirt off his shoulders, he used the leash to pull me flush against his body.
I hated that too.
A collar and a chain were the epitome of surrender. Or better yet, my utter lack of control. I’d been in charge of every sexual situation I’d been in since sixteen—I’d been the one to choose to sell my services for money, I’d been the one standing proud in a room, going to the highest bidder, I’d been the one collaring men—but here I was, handing over everything, handing over me, and this mystery man was seizing it.
That I couldn’t hate. For the simple reason that my very bones sagged with relief. Like they’d been waiting a lifetime for this moment. Maybe even for him.
“Take off my pants then kiss me everywhere.”
I couldn’t help but cave, my hands moving toward his belt all on their own. I let my head roll back as my fingers deftly worked on his clothes, knowing he would hold me tight. As soon as he was naked, our skin enveloped each other’s, and there was nothing but want between us. He bent toward my neck, kissing all along the leather, above and below. I surrendered, letting him take more of my weight in his hand.
We kissed until my lips went raw, every inch of my skin equally abused by his hands. I twisted to start kissing down his body, letting my hands slide down his sculpted chest. I got to his belly button after quickly trailing down the center valley of his stomach before he used the leash again, this time to pull me back up.
“Every inch,” he murmured.
“Fuck you,” I whispered back, my dark lips angled against his scruffy chin.
He jerked on the chain, pulling my lips back on to him.
“Soon enough.” He leaned back, stretching out his gloriously stubbled throat beneath me. “Soon enough,” he repeated, shuddering underneath my lips.
And it was that, that tiny way his body faltered, that had me doing exactly what he asked. Every inch, every sculpted plain, the smattering of chest hair, and then the dangerous V of his hips. I crouched down as I moved along one ridge to the taut skin next his gorgeous dick. It twitched, tempting me to kiss all nine or so inches there too.
I let my hands roll up his legs then grabbed onto the thick base of that delightful cock and squeezed. His knees quaked as he let out a primal groan, and I was reminded of the lesson I’d learned day one in the brothel. I might be the one collared on my knees, but I was in control. He couldn’t hurt me like this. No one could ever hurt me again. Except maybe my throat when I swallowed him down deep.
My lips wrapped around his dick, and it was my turn to quiver at the velvety hardness in my mouth. I teased the tip of him with big open mouth kisses and flicks of my tongue until he yanked on the leash. My knees fell forward, crashing to the wooden floor, and I all but impaled myself on him. I gasped but I couldn’t get a full breath. He held me tight enough that I couldn’t slide off him.
“If you can press your nose to my belly button, you can stop.” His golden eyes glittered where they watched me.
I nodded as best I could, keeping my gaze locked on his as I pushed the limits of my throat. I moved as far down as I could but couldn’t quite get there on his sizable length. My throat seized around him, and he used the leash to pull me off, only to jerk on it the second I gulped in a breath, bringing me back to sucking a moment later. I let my tongue roll on him, my throat contracted, my hands massaged his balls and inner thighs. Tears pooled at the corners of my eyes but I didn’t stop. I didn’t stop staring into those gorgeous eyes either.
There was something so right about this. About us. The sight of him above me, his gaze—hell, even his taste—spurred me on. I breathed in as deeply as I could manage, let my eyes flutter shut, taking in his heady scent of pine and smoke and swallowed.
The second my nose hit his hips, he swore, then used the leash to pull me off. The silver chain dropped from his hand and snapped down between my breasts. His hands appeared under my shoulders and pulled. A moment later, the plush fabrics of the bedding kissed my skin as he all but threw me down. Satin at my back and silken skin at my front barely registered before he slammed into me.
I cried out.
He wove his hands into mine and used his grip to pull my hands to my collar. Together we held on tight to the leather as he thrust into me again. Over and over. I wrapped my legs around his waist and snaked them down his legs. Our bodies moved in perfect synchronization, like he knew every dip and curve of mine as if it was his own. Like maybe he always had.
We could have been fucking for five minutes or five hours, I didn’t know. I was lost to the feel of it. Of him. I was tingling, and I didn’t think it was from the mild lack of oxygen from the collar. Maybe the electrifying gaze that kept sweeping over me, maybe the roll of perfectly practiced hips. But when the fabulous orgasm hit me, I knew it lasted longer than most.
My insides unhinged, my stomach was a jumbled and balled mess. My hands couldn’t have hung on if it weren’t for his. And when he shot into me, my breathing went ragged, my chest slammed into his. But just for a moment. As soon as cum stopped pouring into me, he sat back. He wrapped his hand around my ankle and propped one of my legs up on his shoulder as he slid out. I felt his jizz slide out of me and down my backside.
“God, you’re perfect,” he said as his finger skated around in the mingled orgasm between my thighs.
“Far from it.” My answer just tumbled out.
He twisted and kissed at my ankle then grabbed at the leash and pulled me up to look at him. But then he skated a single finger down my leg, through my cum covered pussy, and up my body.
“Perfect,” he said again and with a snarly finality this time.
I looked away, grateful that the mask hid the rosy flush of my cheeks. He moved to lie down next to me, still exerting a little control by using the leash to keep me in place.
“God M, it’s been a long time since I felt like this.” He tangled up tighter on me.
“It’s been a long time since I felt anything at all,” the whispered confession barely slipped out.
“Is that why you do this?”
And this time the words didn’t vomit out. This time I wanted to say them. I wanted to let someone in. The same unyielding force that had sent me to the drawer to grab the collar was convincing me to speak.
“I met the love of my life when I was twelve. He's still this missing part of me.”
“And he’s okay with this?” He stiffened.
“I was sixteen when my step father…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish that sentence. My profession, my life steeped in control and darkness had been a way of both embracing and shoving that memory away. “Well he did all the things that you expect a slimy fuck to do. And I couldn’t decide if the actual memory of his hands on me, or the look that the boy I loved would give me when I told him was worse.”
“He would have been furious.” The way my mystery man’s fingers curled into me sure said he was.
“He would have pitied me. He would have seen me as broken. And I couldn’t stomach that. I couldn’t see my own thoughts reflected back in his eyes.” I smiled despite myself. “Shep had such a soft, beautiful heart.”
He jerked beside me, his golden gaze suddenly above me, taking me in with a tangled fury and mystified calm.