Bonds of Trust

by Lynda Aicher

  Just like her pussy had. A taste that still sat on his tongue, teasing him with the lingering flavors.

  “I want to touch you,” she said softly, her grip loosening on the bar.

  “No,” he barked and watched her fingers tighten once again. “Trust me.”

  His dick was hard and aching where it rested between the juncture of her thighs. Directly against her hot, wet pussy. So close to what they both wanted, but not quite there. It was a tease, another touch that tested his control while depriving her. He moved his hips and let his erection slide up and down against her wetness. She moaned, her hips arching in an attempt to increase the touch.

  He stopped. “No, Cali.”

  She stilled, her chest heaving under his.

  “Trust me.”

  She licked her lips and nodded.

  Damn, she was incredible. She had all the instincts and desires to be an incredible sub.

  It was tempting, very tempting, to want so much more with her.

  He clenched his teeth and reminded himself that this was just a Scene. One night. That was all. He had no claim to her. But for the first time ever, that thought angered him.

  He nipped her shoulder, his teeth nibbling a trail up her neck to her ear. “Trust me to fuck you better than you’ve ever been fucked. To give you everything you’ve ever wanted out of sex. And then more.” His low murmur of words sent off a shiver that he felt go through her entire body. She was so ready for him.

  “Yes,” she panted, turning her head to kiss his jaw. Her lips were soft, butterfly light against his rough skin. “Just do it soon.”

  He swallowed a chuckle. A perfect sub, she was not. But then, he’d had plenty of ‘perfect subs’ and they all paled in comparison to Cali. A sharp thrust of his hips brought the whimper he sought from her. But it also cost him another thread of his control. He had to have her soon.

  He inhaled and let her musky scent infuse him. He licked the shell of her ear before moving to her lips. Her tongue met his stroke for stroke, her passionate response raising his own until he almost forgot it was a Scene.

  Forgot where he was.

  He positioned his hips, kept her tongue entangled and her mind distracted until he was poised and ready at her entrance. He yanked his mouth from hers and looked at her. Her lips were red, swollen and parted—waiting. Her chest heaved with deep, heavy breaths, her hands clenched tightly to the bar over her head.

  The site nearly sucked the breath out of him.

  At that moment he wanted to see her eyes. To fully see her expression as he entered her.

  Fuck.

  Not giving himself time to think or give in to the foreign feeling, he arched his back and thrust his hips, impaling his rock hard cock into her waiting flesh.

  The groans echoing in the room was equal parts his and hers. She felt even better than he had imagined. Her hot warmth encased him and he gritted his teeth to hold still, to let her absorb the feeling.

  To make her beg for more.

  Sweat beaded on his neck and trailed in rivers down his back from the struggle to withhold the instinct to move. She squirmed under him, hips flexing against his.

  Then finally, he got what he wanted.

  “Jake, please,” Cali gasped. “Fuck me.”

  Would he ever.

  * * *

  He felt like heaven. Damn. It was amazing to have a dick in her once again. Actual warm, heated flesh. Not a toy. Not a battery-operated anything.

  But a man.

  Yes. She rejoiced at that sensation alone. He was big, and she felt so incredibly, wonderfully full. Mentally, she almost came when he entered her. The realization that her seven-year dry spell was over was enough to make her convulse in release. But she didn’t want it to end so soon.

  No. She wanted this to last for as long as possible. He had no idea how truly important the night was for her. Monumental in so many ways, it felt like the very foundation of her life was being ripped open and redrawn.

  “Move, Jake,” she begged. “God, please, please move.”

  Her body was crawling with the need for more. That empty, undefined sensation that there was something much bigger and better just out of reach and she wanted it. Now.

  “Patience, Cali,” Jake gritted out. With a control that boarded on maddening, Jake slowly drew his cock out then pushed it back in.

  Her muscles rippled around his hardened flesh, sending waves of tingling awareness through her entire body.

  “More.” She wiggled under him, trying to feel more, get him to move more.

  He stopped. Damn it. “Who’s in control here?”

  He was, of course. She was ready to curse at him, the expletive poised on the tip of her tongue and prepared to exit. But she bit it back, retaining her control.

  He pulled out, exiting her body. No.

  “Fuck you,” she panted, unable to stop herself now. “You’re in control. Complete control, so just fuck me.” She wouldn’t cry, she swore to herself as she squeezed her eyes closed. The blindfold was suddenly a huge blessing. He didn’t need to see how his actions affected her.

  She would not be that vulnerable again for anyone.

  “Easy, Cali,” he breathed into her ear. “I’ll give you what you want.”

  Her heart raced, her emotions a riot of mixed information vacillating between what her mind said and her body felt.

  “Focus. Stop thinking and feel.” His mouth closed around a nipple, giving it a hard bite then teasing it until she cried out in a mix of pleasure and pain. “Have I let you down yet?”

  “No,” she consented.

  Immediately his cock reentered her, driving all the way in with one hard plunge.

  “Yes,” she cried out, aching for movement. But she stayed quiet when she longed to beg. Held in her frustration and felt her desire rise, the contained words just one more thing bursting to break free. The combination did exactly as Jake had said.

  It made her want it all. Made her feel ready to explode.

  He scooped his arms under her, cupping around her back and lifting her torso against his. Her arms and legs ached to encircle him. To hold him tight and not let him go. He fastened his mouth on the sensitive juncture between her neck and shoulder and finally—finally—he moved. A slow, steady pace of thrusts that made her body sing.

  Her head dropped back and she reveled in the pleasure. A moan grew from the depths of her chest and was released on a long, low exhale. His mouth found her nipple once again, the hot, wet moisture and following bite firing straight to her pussy.

  “Jake,” she cried. His name was the only coherent thought she could make. Everything else was focused on how she felt. Exactly as he’d wanted. The rustling of the sheets as they moved, the low rasp that came from Jake with each drive, the hot, slick wetness of their bodies as they rubbed together. Every sound, every touch added to the swirling feeling of combustion igniting within her.

  A deep, guttural grunt echoed in her ear as Jake increased the pace, his rhythm becoming harder, more urgent. “Cali,” he groaned. The hint of desperation in the single word eased into her like a small river of hope.

  The deep, musky smell of sex and sweat and Jake surrounded her—them. She was so close, her body tingled everywhere, even her toes. She could feel the build, the rising crest like a wave slowly climbing to a height and holding right before it broke and crashed upon the rocks below.

  And again, as if he could read her mind, he read her body. Suddenly his hand was there, in between them, his finger rubbing over her aching and swollen clit, pressing hard with the thrust of his cock.

  “Come for me, Cali.”

  Instantly she flew. Her mind completely blanked behind the darkness as every nerve and cell in her body spasmed and convulsed into another mind-shattering orgasm.

  Vaguely she recognized that sound was coming from her mouth, but it was a mix of incoherent words, whimpers and probably curses. Then she felt him tense, along with a series of quick hard drives that ended in a de
ep, guttural moan of his own.

  Cali was lost in the moment.

  She writhed against him, sweat making them sleek and smooth where they rubbed each other. The muscles on his back bunched and strained through his release, the ripple of movement running against her palms in an erratic rhythm.

  Slowly her muscles relaxed, her mind returning to conscious thought as she struggled to once again catch her breath. Their heavy pants mingled in the air, and then the blindfold was gone. She blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light and come into focus.

  What she saw stole the breath she was desperately trying to regain.

  Jake was watching her with an intensity that crossed into intimate. The chiseled angles of his face were relaxed. His eyes searched hers, looking for something she was incapable of comprehending. Sweat soaked the ends of his hair and one lone bead of moisture ran a lazy trail down the side of his face.

  “You let go,” he stated quietly, but a lazy curl of his lips softened the curt statement.

  It was only then she realized her arms circled his shoulders. His skin was hot and smooth under her hands.

  “Sorry,” she whispered, the moment too intimate to break with noise.

  He gave a low chuckle. “A perfect sub, you’re not.”

  She shrugged, unable to define if his comment was a reprimand or a praise. “I’ve never been one before. I have no idea what a perfect sub is,” she told him honestly. “But I liked everything you did.” She licked her lips, her hands running lazy circles over his back. “Thank you.”

  His gaze held hers, his mouth thinning briefly before he shifted, pulled out and rolled away, deftly removing the condom and disposing of it. She shivered, a reflex to the sudden absence of his heat. He stood and efficiently moved to undo the cuffs and release her ankles, tenderly stroking and rubbing her feet and legs to restart the circulation.

  The second she was free, Cali curled to her side and tried to process all she was feeling. All that had happened. She blinked hard, forcing back the sudden threat of tears. Where were they coming from?

  His chest pressed against her back before his arm circled her, tugging her against him. He tucked his arm under her head then forced her to relax against it until she was completely encompassed within his warmth. She felt almost cocooned in safety.

  Which only pushed the tears closer to the surface.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured against her ear, his leg lifting to drape over hers. “The crash is normal. You’ve experienced a lot. Don’t be ashamed of the tears. Of what you feel. I’ve got you.”

  Yeah, he did. And that scared her even more than every act she’d committed since entering The Den. She wanted nothing more than to lay there protected in his arms. To fall asleep and wake up with him still surrounding her.

  But this was a Scene.

  That was it.

  A short time of mutual interaction. Nothing more.

  “I have to go,” Cali mumbled as she pushed against his hold, struggling to sit. To get away.

  He let her go and pushed up on an elbow to watch as she scrambled around the room for her clothing.

  “There’s a bathroom over there,” he said, pointing to a door.

  She gratefully took his offered escape and rushed to the safety of the small room. The second the door closed, she collapsed against it and dropped to the floor, burying her head in her hands. Oh God, what had she been thinking? She wasn’t built for this. Nothing in her background had prepared her for how she would feel after. She’d been so focused on the event, she’d never stopped to think of the aftermath.

  It wasn’t shame she was feeling. No. She’d done nothing to feel shameful about. In fact, the entire Scene had been more intimate and normal than she’d anticipated.

  What she felt was longing. For everything she couldn’t have with that man in the room behind her. Jake.

  After so many years of being physically starved for that emotional connection with a man, her body and mind were screaming to stay there with him. To let him touch her. Protect her.

  She had to get out of there before she lost it completely.

  Pushing to her feet, she quickly redressed. A passing glance in the mirror over the sink made her cringe and halt. Her hair was a mess, her face flushed, her lips red and swollen, her eyes dark and hungry. She looked like she’d been thoroughly fucked.

  And she had.

  Crap. Doing what she could with her fingers, she tamed her hair down and then dampened a washcloth to press over her heated cheeks and neck. Calling it good, she braced herself to reenter the room.

  To face Jake.

  She’d act cool. Normal.

  As if the entire evening hadn’t rocked her world and left her floundering at the bottom of an emotional hole she had no idea how to get out of.

  * * *

  Jake got dressed, his clothes feeling itchy and uncomfortable as he waited. It took every ounce of willpower to keep still. He didn’t pace over a sub—a woman he’d met only hours ago. He was always concerned that they were fine after a Scene, that they’d gotten what they desired, but he definitely didn’t worry about them.

  Worrying meant attachment.

  Cali had come to the club seeking a Dom, searching for an experience, and he’d given her that. Simple as that.

  Fuck. It wasn’t that simple and he knew it.

  Everything about her was different. Something he’d sensed when he’d met her. Even Seth had picked up on it.

  Shit. Seth.

  Realization smacked him hard between the eyes. Jake had been set up by his business partner. It all made sense now.

  Anger rode front and center on his emotions. That asshole. Seth had been way too cagy, dodging Jake’s questions and practically pushing the second interview with Cali on Jake. That bastard had done it on purpose.

  If Seth was hoping Jake would form an attachment with a sub and stay, it wasn’t going to work.

  The low click of the door opening brought his attention back to her. Cali. He hardened his resolve and refused to play into the vulnerable look she was struggling rather poorly to cover. She lifted her chin and gave him a quick nod.

  “Thank you,” she said, her voice level and strong. “I’ll be going now.”

  She moved toward the door but he stepped in front of her, stopping her quick exit. Damn, what was he doing?

  “Are you okay?” he found himself asking. He was only finishing the Scene, he tried to tell himself. Making sure she left safe, sound and unhurt.

  “I’m fine,” she reassured him, her attention focused on the floor.

  Every inflection of her body told him she wasn’t. But that wasn’t his problem. Physically, she was unharmed. And she was refusing his comfort. His job as a Dom was done.

  But his honor as a man wasn’t.

  He tilted her chin up in a now familiar move until her gaze met his. “Cali, I know you’re not telling me the truth.”

  She stiffened, eyes going wide before she recovered and thinned her lips against whatever she’d been about to say.

  “I can’t force you to talk to me,” he said, his tone crisp but gentle. “But don’t leave here feeling bad or ashamed of anything that took place. Everything that happened between us was open and consensual. No shame.”

  She nibbled her lip and slowly nodded. It was almost like she was afraid to speak. Afraid to let out whatever she was keeping so tight inside.

  And that was her choice. Whether he liked it or not.

  “Thank you for giving me your trust tonight. I hope you got what you came for.” Jake stepped back and forced himself to open the door. “I’ll see you out.”

  “That’s okay,” she rushed to say. “I can find the way.” Cali hurried by him, brisk strides that bordered on a run, but she was too controlled to do so. She was halfway down the hall before she stopped and turned back. Her eyes were dark, her face displaying the vulnerability she struggled to hide. “Thank you, Jake,” she said so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. “The night
was beautiful. Everything I wanted.” Then she turned and disappeared down the stairs.

  Out of his life.

  Every instinct told him she wouldn’t be back. She’d had her night and now she was gone.

  Fuck. Why did that make him feel so empty?

  And why the hell did he care what she did?

  Damn it. He hated feeling like this. Doubt and uncertainty were not his game. He’d trashed those emotions long ago, learning the hard way that anything that left you feeling helpless and vulnerable also left you exposed.

  He quickly picked apart the evening, dissecting each step, every interaction until he came to one resounding conclusion.

  Seth was a dead man.

  Chapter Seven

  Cali stumbled up the stairs in her condo. Just a few more feet. Another step. That was all. She crossed the hallway, staggered into her bedroom and finally let her knees buckle. Collapsing onto the edge of her bed, her body sagged as all the strength and focus that had taken her from the club and allowed her to drive home dissipated.

  She stared numbly at the beige carpet, not really seeing it. Her hand shook as she raised it to brush her hair behind her ear and let go of an equally quavering breath. Fisting her tangled curls, she tightened the hold until the tug of pain on her scalp forced her to double over in a silent shudder of emotion.

  She’d done it. She’d gone to a sex club and had erotic sex with a stranger. Sex that had been more intimate and personal than she ever had with her ex-husband.

  Peter. Just the thought of him made her groan. She didn’t want to think about him. Not now.

  Not when she felt so good after being with Jake.

  Cali rocked where she sat, moving in the soothing motion as the tension invaded her muscles. She couldn’t lie to herself; she’d loved every moment with Jake. Wanted more of what he gave her, of how he’d made her feel.

  Her nipples tingled just thinking of his deep voice as he’d commanded her to trust him. To submit to his desires. Giving over control to him had been so easy. Almost too easy.

  With Peter, asking for anything sexually had only led to guilt because she knew she wouldn’t get it. It had always resulted in disappointment and frustration for both of them. Ultimately, he made her feel ashamed of her desires.