by Eden Bradley
Ryan had seen her at her worst, right when her parents were on the verge of a divorce they barely managed to avoid. She’d been out of control and her parents were too busy trying to kill each other to notice. If it hadn’t been for her Aunt Nicole stepping in and setting her straight, she’d probably be barefoot and pregnant right now. The thought of any of those assholes being the father of her child made her want to say a prayer of thanks that she’d been spared that horror and puke, all at the same time.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. She’d been awake all night, switching between joy and fear, happiness and sorrow. She’d talked herself out of coming here at least a hundred times, reminding herself that she could not afford a relationship right now, but the temptation to see Ryan again was too great to resist. It was like he’d woven some spell around her that made her crave his presence. Her practical mind tried one last time to tell her that she was about to make a huge mistake, but the thought of turning around and driving out the gate sent her into something close to panic.
She jerked the car door open and mentally crossed that invisible line between a client and a date.
After getting out her bag and locking the doors, she made her way up the stone walk to the front door. Today she’d opted for denim shorts that flattered her round butt and a tight red shirt with a scooped neck that showcased her cleavage. She’d tugged the neckline lower than she normally would and had to admit that she had a very nice rack. Her pulse ramped up the closer she got to the entrance, and when Ryan opened the door wearing a pair of white bathing trunks with black stripes going up the side and a tight black t-shirt, she almost went into cardiac arrest. He looked her up and down, then smiled with such warmth that she immediately relaxed. Well, maybe not relaxed, but at least her muscles stopped trying to lock up.
“Emma, you look beautiful.”
She tried to pretend that the heat on her cheeks was just the late summer sun, but she was pretty sure he could see her blush. “Thank you.”
He held the door open so she could walk into his spacious, bright foyer. Pausing at the threshold, she let out a soft sigh. The front door had a direct line of sight to the big picture windows at the back of the house that looked out on Lake St. Clair. A double staircase led to the second level and an enormous chandelier sparkled overhead. She abandoned the view when Ryan went to his knees before her.
She almost dropped her bag as he lowered himself to her cute sandals and kissed the sensitive line of her ankle. “I missed you.”
The words spilled from her mouth before she could catch them. “I missed you, too.”
His smile knocked her off her feet, but when he pulled a long strand of pearls from his pocket she felt like she’d entered the Twilight Zone.
Then he did something that flipped the switch on her hormones, flooding her with the need to have him inside of her. It had been far too long since she’d had a good fucking and she knew Ryan would deliver in bed. And in the dungeon. And probably anywhere else. So, when he wrapped the strand of pearls around his hands, effectively shacking his wrists together, and looked up at her through his sinfully long lashes, she swore she had mini-orgasm that dampened the swollen folds of her sex.
“How may I serve you, Mistress?”
Unable to resist, she stroked her fingertips over his face, letting him feel in her touch the pleasure she found in his actions. Being a Domme was a wonderful experience, giving her the tools and permissions needed to get into a man’s soul. She wasn’t content just being some girl who spanked a guy. She wanted to be their goddess, and goddesses didn’t hold back on what they desired.
“Take the pearls off, handsome. I want your hands on me, but put the pearls in your pocket. We might have fun with them later.”
His “Yes Ma’am,” bordered on gleeful, and she had to hide a smile as he unwound the pearls and carefully slid them into his pocket. They were beautiful, of obvious high quality with a creamy luster that brought to mind candlelight. She planned on doing something very naughty with them if Ryan was a good boy.
He stood again and took her bag from her, setting it to the floor at her feet. Instead of speaking, he looked at the ground long enough that she wondered what the hell was going on. Then he took her hands in his and took a deep breath.
“Emma, there’s something you need to know about me before we go any further. You may not want to be here with me after what I have to say, but I don’t want to deceive you.”
He looked so worried when his gaze met hers that the protective instinct that made up the core of who she was flared to life. She wanted to take away his sadness because…well, because he was hers. As crazy as that sounded, she knew he belonged to her in a way no man had before. It was an irrational, stupid, and dangerous thought, but it was true.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to try to be as honest with him as he was being with her. “What do I need to know? That you used to have terrible taste in music? That you played in your high school marching band and had braces your freshman year? That you kissed me one night and saved me from myself?”
His jaw dropped the slightest bit and his expression of shock was so obvious it was almost comical. “You knew?”
She nodded. “I figured it out yesterday. I’m going to assume the last name you used on your application was fake? And the background check was falsified as well?”
A flush of heat stained his cheeks. “Yes. Well, sort of. It’s my mom’s maiden name and I swear I’d pass any background check. The information I put down about myself was true.”
“But you managed to set up an entirely false identity that fooled Kiss of Blue? I’m impressed.” She had to hide a smile at the obvious relief in his expression. “You certainly have grown up since high school. I’m pissed that you would lie to me, but I have to admit that I would never have taken you on as a client if I knew who you were. Well, actually, I might have if I’d gotten a look at you. But that’s beside the point. My question is, how did you know I worked at Kiss of Blue? I don’t buy it was random fate that you just happened to pick that particular dungeon.”
The warmth of his hands soothed her as he gently stroked her arms. “I saw you at a holiday party last winter. You were there with some guy so I didn’t want to intrude, but the moment I saw you in that shimmering peach gown with your hair swept up off your neck, I nearly lost it. You have the most perfect breasts and I’m being totally serious when I say the sight of them all pushed up by your dress into creamy mounds…I just about had a heart attack. I almost had another when I saw you kiss some dickhead.”
Amusement flared through her at his possessive tone but she kept her voice stern. Or at least tried to. The sight of him frowning at her was cute in a really odd way. Like being snarled at by a T-Rex. “That must have been Ben. I dated him for a couple weeks but it was nothing serious. However, that doesn’t explain how you knew where I worked.”
“I’m a computer security expert, Emma. There isn’t much information that I can’t get my hands on. I had to know if you were married, if I could find a place in your life. I didn’t want to intrude on any relationship that you might have built in our years apart, but as soon as I saw you I knew I had to at least try to reconnect with you. I’m old enough to realize that sometimes in life you have to go after what you want, to think outside the box.”
She tried to jerk her hands from his grasp, but he gripped onto her wrists. Anger tightened her lips and she had to clench her hands to keep from choking him. “Think outside the box!? What the hell? Stalker much? You should have just called me. That is a big fucking invasion of my privacy.”
“I didn’t look at anything personal, I promise. All I did was check to see if you were married and where you worked.”
“And what did you do when you found out where I worked? Did you decide to meet me there so you could get laid?” A flush covered his high cheekbones and she narrowed her gaze while he hesitated. “I want the truth. You owe me that much.”
“No, that wa
sn’t it at all. Hell, I wanted to run into you on the street or something cheesy like that, but I was afraid that you’d blow me off. I wanted to meet you at your work so I could show you the pleasure that I could offer you, so that you’d give me a chance.” He ran his hands over his head, the muscles of his arms bulging nicely with the move. “I trained with a Domme so when I finally got up the courage to schedule a session with you I wouldn’t disappoint you.”
Frowning, she took a step away from him and crossed her arms. “So you’re not really submissive? This is just some act?”
“What? No. Damn, I’m fucking this up. “
He began to pace and she tried to keep from being distracted by the way his body flexed as he moved. Unlike most men his legs were just as developed as his upper body and she really, really wanted to touch him. Well, touch him and beat his ass for his deception. The thought of another woman caressing him, making him submit, had jealousy rising through Emma even though she knew she was a hypocrite. What he’d done once, she’d done dozens of times since she’d graduated college and had to turn her passion into her profession. Her gut tightened as she wondered how the hell she would ever have a relationship while working at Kiss of Blue. Before Ryan, she’d managed to keep her home life and work life strictly separate, and she never told the men she dated what she did. Now she didn’t have a choice or a chance for that to happen, and she didn’t like that loss of control.
“Emma, I’ve always loved a strong woman. I don’t know if it was before I kissed you or after, but having a woman show me exactly what she wants, how to please her, gets me off. I love to please. I like being used as many times as she wants until she drains me dry or I pass out. It brings me a satisfaction that…well it just makes me feel complete. But with you that need to please goes deeper, way deeper.”
His voice lowered to a deep bass note on the last word, and her body perked up at the masculine rumble. Give him ten minutes alone with her and she was as horny as a nympho on her first day out of sex rehab. She was stronger than this; she would not be ruled by her hormones. He was an invasive asshole who’d crossed the line.
Yet she couldn’t move even an inch away from him.
“Deeper how?”
“The connection I felt with you last night is the real deal, not some kinky bullshit. I know you felt it just like I did, the desire that went beyond just ourselves to each other. Your pleasure was my pleasure and it always will be.” He strode towards her again and gently took her hand. “I swear I had only the best of intentions, Emma. Please give me a chance.”
She blew out a long breath, confused and more than a little overwhelmed. Her mind flipped between wanting to stay and needing to go until a tension headache threatened. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, pissed and sad that things had spiraled out of her control so quickly. All the hot daydreams she’d had about Ryan would go unfulfilled, but it was really better this way. He was utterly addictive, and she could not let him into her life in the way she wanted.
“I should go.”
“No, please stay. I swear I won’t try anything, but I really would love to spend the day with you doing vanilla stuff.”
A smile quirked her lips before she could stop it. “Vanilla stuff, huh?”
“Please, Emma, give me a chance. That’s all I’m asking for. Just give me tonight.”
She looked down and stroked her hand over the full sleeve tattoo on his right arm, tracing her fingertips over a tattoo of fierce looking man dressed in Middle Eastern finery and brandishing a sword. “Are you going to tell me a story so that I’ll let you live another night?”
“If that is your wish.”
Throwing caution to the wind, she let her heart open just the tiniest bit and looked up into his amazing dark eyes. “So, what does one do on a vanilla date?”
“Did you bring your bathing suit?”
“Yep.”
He picked up her bag. “Do you get seasick?”
“Nope.”
This time his grin was definitely mischievous and she could see the relief in his relaxed stance. “Come on, I have a surprise. It’s my favorite way to chill out and I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
Curious, she held his hand as he led her through his house, giving her brief glimpses of a well-decorated home that she barely paid attention to. Her gaze was focused on Ryan in a way she was sure was embarrassingly besotted-looking. Right now her heart was aflutter while her mind was pissed at the emotional pain she was setting herself up for. She wanted to pretend, to forget, just for a little while, that they were anything but a guy and a girl on a date without the complications of her life.
Ryan stroked her hand with his thumb, sending tingles of pleasure through her blood. “With your permission, I’d like to focus on you today. I’d like for us to have some fun and spend some time together just hanging out. Beyond whatever might or might not be happening between us, we were friends once and I’d like us to be friends again.”
The only kind of friend she wanted to be with him was the kind with benefits. Scratching her nails lightly over the side of his head, her mind filled with all kinds of very adult, very dirty, very naughty fun. Her arousal woke with a vengeance and she shifted. Damn. Before she left her apartment, she’d brought herself to orgasm three times in an effort to cool the fire that now simmered through her blood.
He took them out into the backyard where she spotted an open motorized raft floating close to shore that was big enough to seat four people. Glancing at her bag in his hand, she arched a brow.
“Ummm, shouldn’t I go into the house to change?”
“Don’t worry, I have a place for you to change.”
She gave him a dubious look. “Really…”
“Yes, really. Trust me, Emma. You won’t be disappointed.”
“So what are we doing first?”
“Going for a ride.”
After seating her in the boat, he expertly pushed them off shore and slid over the side in a display of tanned male skin and muscles that made her weak. She watched him as he started the outboard motor, once again caught up in the flex and strain of his big body as he worked. This part of Ryan’s property was on the shore of Lake St. Clair in a small cove surrounded by trees. The water here was beautiful and she watched minnows swim around them before they were in deeper water. Taking in the beauty of the lake she smiled, then laughed when Ryan tossed a life jacket at her.
“Suit up.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. If anything happened to you it would kill me, so please put it on before I have a nervous breakdown.”
“You’re insane.”
“And your point is?”
She giggled at the effortless banter between them, raising her voice so he could hear her over the increasing wind as he piloted them out of the alcove and onto the lake. Her hair whipped around her face and she smiled as she tried to hold it back. “I know why you’re bald now. Having long hair in wind like this is not good.”
“We’re almost there. I’ll brush out every tangle for you, Mistress.”
“Almost where?”
“My yacht.”
He pointed and she turned to the right. Her jaw dropped at the sight of a massive, three level, ginormous white boat. No, not a boat, a yacht. Like the kind Jay-Z or James Bond would own.
Holy shit.
“That’s my Mazu.”
“Your what?”
“The yacht, her name is Mazu, after a Chinese water goddess who protects sailors.”
The closer they got the more apparent it became that the “boat” was bigger than anything she’d ever been on, other than a cruise ship. She’d grown up on the western side of the state on the shores of Lake Michigan and had been around boats her whole life so she had a good idea at what it would cost to own a vessel like this and be able to maintain it and afford fuel for it. Big money…big…big money. Every inch of the vessel gleamed and shone, making it look like a picture used to sell boats or vacations to exotic destin
ations.
“Fuck me. That’s not a yacht; it’s a fucking ship.”
She hoped he didn’t hear her over the wind and tried to take a deep breath. Okay, so Ryan was loaded, like crazy drug lord loaded. But she couldn’t see him doing anything illegal so his computer skills must be top notch. They were close enough now that she could see people in some kind of white uniform waiting for them on the little deck on the back of the yacht. When they pulled up Emma tried to still her nerves as a handsome older man helped her out of the raft.
“Welcome Ms. Simonov. My name is Charlie and I’m the captain of the Mazu. We’re glad to have you aboard.”
He led her to the steps where a young woman waited at the top with a silver tray holding what looked like towels. After Emma took the stairs, she smiled at the clean-cut brunette.
“Hello, Ms. Simonov. Can I offer you a fresh towel?”
The faint scent of lemons drifted up from the towels and she took one with a smile, wiping down her hands. “Thank you.”
Ryan came up behind her and gave her a casual caress along her arm, ending with their fingers twining together as they held hands. His smile lit her up inside and out as he studied her. “See, I told you that you could trust me.”
“That remains to be seen, but I admit I wasn’t expecting anything like this. You have a beautiful ship.”
“Emma, if you’d like, I can show you around or we can just go inside and relax. I’m here for your pleasure.”
She flushed and darted a glance at the girl still holding the tray of towels. She must have been taught during her crew training how to remain impassive because she stared off into the distance as if Emma and Ryan weren’t there.