by Zoey Parker
I went to the bathroom. It was time to get ready for bed, instead of just jumping in bed like I had the night before, and I also wanted to be fresh in case Gunner wanted some action when he returned.
After all, that was why he was keeping me around, regardless of what he wanted to say.
###
Gunner
After hanging out with guys, I sort of wanted Sierra to be gone when I made it home. I knew that if I found her there, it would only serve to complicate my life. I had been all work for so long, I didn’t know how to handle someone trying to move into my life the way she was. Besides, I knew the only reason she was really there probably had something to do with the diamond. It would have been best for both of us if she was gone.
Unfortunately, I had no way of knowing until I was in the house and back upstairs.
I came home and parked my old bike in the garage. I trudged upstairs and walked to my room. I opened the door to find the shape of her body under my sheets.
Despite how much I had been hoping she would have left while I was at the meeting, I was relieved to find that she was still there.
I walked into the room quietly and went straight to my closet to get out of my biker clothes. I opened the door and turned on the light, careful not to hold the door too wide. I didn’t want the light to wake her.
I tried not to laugh when I saw the clothes Dario had purchased for her hanging in front of my t-shirts in the closet. That was too funny.
“You are moving in, aren’t you?” I asked her clothes in a low voice.
I shrugged off my vest and hung it up. I pulled off my boots and put them back in place on the floor, and I threw my sweaty shirt and jeans in the dirty clothes hamper. I stood naked in front of my mirror and considered whether or not to put on any clothes. I was pretty sure she was sleeping naked under the sheets, so I didn’t bother putting anything on, just in case she decided she wanted some action when I slid under the covers with her.
When I walked out of the closet and cut off the light, another light caught my attention, flashing on the nightstand. Her phone sat there next to her purse, and it was plugged into the wall. Apparently, she had found her charger.
I knew I had told her to ask Dario to get her one if she still needed it, and I wasn’t sure how I knew it, but I just knew that was her own charger, despite what she had told me in the office when I caught her snooping.
“What did you find while I was gone?” I asked her while I stood over her sleeping body. I was glad she wasn’t awake to tell me.
I slid carefully into the bed. The game wasn’t over yet between us. From what I could tell, we were tied, but the rules were already starting to change, and things were getting more complicated just because she had stayed the night. I knew she was going to agree to stay longer, and I knew that as much as the sex did it for her, that wasn’t going to be the only reason she was staying.
For some stupid ass reason, I didn’t care.
I put an arm around her thin waist and pulled her to me. She moaned in her sleep and pressed her naked body against mine. I knew that in the morning we would resume our game, but for now, she was just Sierra, the beautiful redhead who challenged me physically and intellectually, who turned me on with no limits, and who didn’t seem to have any problems allowing herself to be vulnerable in my presence.
I held her close. I accepted her vulnerability, regardless of where things would go from there. I got the feeling that no matter who had sent her, part of her needed me.
And I figured I could at least admit to myself that part of me needed her. I closed my eyes slowly, making sure she was still asleep before I let myself drift off.
Chapter Twelve
Sierra
“I guess you know by now I’m planning on taking you up on your offer to stay here with you,” I told Gunner in bed on the morning after our second night together. We lay in bed with our naked bodies pressed against each other. His arm was around my waist and I had my fingers intertwined with his on my stomach. His arms and hands were so large compared to mine. I really liked the way it felt to have my hand on top of his.
“Good,” he said smoothly in my ear. “For how long?”
“As long as you’ll have me,” I told him.
“That could be for a while,” he teased. “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“You’ll run me off eventually,” I answered him, and I knew he would. Once I completed my job, I would find a way to either run off before he noticed or get him to run me off before he could realize it had been me.
He sighed. “We’ll see.”
I knew he didn’t believe me. He didn’t have any reason to. He didn’t know who I really was, and so far things had been pretty good between us, so there was no reason to pretend we could see the future. Besides, it was one of those silly things people always said at the beginning of every relationship. It was the same argument every time. Except I wasn’t saying it out of low self-esteem or because I was trying to get more attention from him. I was saying it because I knew it to be true. This thing we were doing had an expiration date on it.
“Well, if you’re going to stay, we’re going to need to set up some rules,” he said, and he slid his hand down between my legs, stopping as his fingers slid down over my slit.
“What kind of rules?” I asked.
“Sexual rules. You’re going to need to know how to behave if you’re going to stay with me,” he said with his lips just over my neck. He kissed me as his fingers slid along my lips.
“Is that so?” I asked. I grabbed his hand and pulled it back up to my stomach. I was going to need to know more about these rules before I let anything go on this morning.
“Well, first, if you’re going to stay, you have to agree that your body belongs to me,” he said. Then he kissed my bare shoulder.
“What does that mean?” I asked playfully.
“It means that you agree I can have you any time I want you, and any way I want you,” he explained.
“What if I don’t want it the way you do?” I figured that was the logical question that needed to be asked next.
“Well, that’s the second rule. If you don’t want to consent to behavior, or if you’re unsure, we have safe words,” he answered in a patient tone.
“Safe words,” I repeated. My blood turned to ice. He was serious.
“Yep, and I believe in keeping them simple. So, if everything’s good, it’s green. I don’t expect to actually use that one, but I might ask you if everything is green or whatever to make sure we’re good. If we need to slow down, or if you’re unsure, use yellow. It’s not a definite no, but it means we’re being careful. And if it’s a no, that’s red. You tell me red, we stop what we’re doing,” he explained to me.
“Green, yellow, and red, huh?” I laughed. He was actually serious about it. What had I gotten myself into?
“What do you think?” I felt his weight shift behind me as he sat up to check on me.
“I think I’m going to be using safe words,” I told him, taking a deep, shaky breath. I couldn’t deny that all of this was something new to me, and it was making me nervous to agree to it all. “Is there a third rule?”
He was quiet for a moment, and I started to think he was trying to come up with the third rule.
“You can’t make it up right now.” I laughed.
“No, I’m not making it up. I’m trying to decide if I really want to tell you what it is,” he said cautiously.
“Well, how am I supposed to obey the rule if I don’t know it, Gunner?” I teased.
“Okay. The third rule is that as long as we’re doing this, it’s just us,” he said.
“Of course it is.” I gave his hand a squeeze. “I’m not that kind of girl,” I told him. It struck me as a little odd that he would make that one of his rules.
“What I mean to say is that as long as we’re doing this, you are mine and mine alone. Out of respect for you, I will not bring anyone else into this situation witho
ut getting the literal green light from you. Also, if you want to try anything we’ve done with someone else, I want you to talk to me first. But, if we are expecting this to only last for so long, then I don’t expect either of those situations to happen.”
“Great. Me either,” I told him. What bothered me was that he sounded troubled by his third rule. Were there other rules beyond that?
“Good. Now that we agree, it’s time to get up. If we don’t get up now, we’re never getting out of bed today,” he said suddenly. He kissed me and pulled his hand away as he slid out of bed.
His motions felt sudden as well, and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I felt like things were already starting to get more complicated than they needed to be, and that was fine, as long as I knew what was going on and could keep my eye on the prize. In fact, if it got more complicated for him, it would be more likely that he wouldn’t see what I was up to.
But it wasn’t getting complicated just for him.
Chapter Thirteen
Gunner
As the days rolled by, Sierra and I discovered just how well our bodies were matched. The sex was amazing. She surprised me with how willing she was to do anything I presented and with how well she went along with it. It was almost enough to make me forget that all of this started with my suspicion that she was up to something by seeking me out at the bar.
I was beginning to think that she had sought me out simply because she had heard about the way I liked to have sex and the way I liked to control women. She was someone who definitely needed to be controlled in bed. It allowed her to let go of herself and let her pleasure overtake her.
Every time we had sex, I could feel the moment she released control over her body to give in to the moment and the sensation. Her body would suddenly relax beneath me, or on top of me. But that relaxation would soon be replaced with a different kind of tension. It wasn’t stress. It was the building ecstasy in her body that caused her to tense up after the need to control was wiped away by pleasure. That was a very different tension.
It also seemed like the more of her I had, the more of her I wanted. I couldn’t keep my hands or eyes off of her. I went to sleep wanting her. I dreamed about her. I woke up wanting her. I wanted her again immediately after I had her.
I lay in bed in the morning, staring at her and wondering what it was about her that made me want her like a drug. I ran a hand down her delicate arm, down her side to her hips. My fingers drifted down the side of her leg.
Sierra seemed so delicate and innocent in her sleep, but she was anything but delicate or innocent. Her looks were deceiving. She was a strong woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. The how seemed to involve sex, or some use of her body. She knew she was seductive, and she had no trouble using that to get her way.
Maybe that was what made her crave submission so much, I mused. She was used to getting what she wanted and having to have control over the situation. I offered her the opportunity to let go of all of that.
At least that was what I told myself while I lay naked next to her in the bed. She was such a challenge. I still didn’t know much about her other than the way we seemed to work together, but I didn’t mind. I figured I would learn more about her as we went along.
Sierra was a mystery, and just as I unraveled her body in bed, I was going to unravel her past in time.
I wasn’t sure of what I would find when I started to unravel her, though, and I was a little worried about that. I knew we all had pasts. I knew I sure as hell had my own, and I was pretty sure hers had never been that bad, but still, I wondered.
I wondered why she had sought me out. I amused myself with the thought that it was because she knew someone else I had slept with, and they had told her about what I liked in bed, so she wanted to see for herself. I didn’t think that was the real reason, though. She was too much of a professional to seek me out just for pleasure.
I wondered what she did for a living. She didn’t seem to be worried about money, but, then again, she was also living off of me while she stayed at the house. Still, she didn’t seem too terribly impressed by the money I had, unlike some of the women I picked up at the bars where the MC used to gather. She seemed more impressed by my generosity than my wealth, which told me she was used to wealth.
No, she was definitely comfortable being around wealthy people. That wasn’t much of a stretch for her.
I looked at the gently sloping curves of her body outlined by the sheets on my bed, and it was no wonder why she was so accustomed to wealth. Men had probably given her everything she wanted all her life. She certainly knew how to use her looks to her advantage, and I was sure she had been honing her skills for a long time.
I didn’t mind. I knew she was working her magic on me. I knew she was using her body and her sex to get in deep with me, and knowing that gave me the upper hand, or I supposed it did. She didn’t have to try hard.
Sierra stirred in her sleep and mumbled something through her sleeping lips. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I placed my hand gently on her shoulder, and she settled down. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what she was dreaming. What could have possibly troubled such a beautiful face? I certainly couldn’t imagine anyone trying to do anything to harm or upset her. She made it too easy to go along with what she did.
Besides, I had seen the effect it had on her whenever I took control over her in bed or when I taunted her when we weren’t sleeping together. She seemed to enjoy it. That couldn’t have been the kind of thing that bothered her in her sleep.
There was something dark in her history, I was sure. It seemed like fewer and fewer people were able to get by without some sort of darkness trailing them. I ran a hand gently over her hair to comfort her.
I found myself wanting to protect her when we weren’t challenging each other to battles of our wits. I found myself unable to concentrate on anything else for long now that she had become a somewhat permanent fixture in my life.
I also wondered how long this would last. Like the Sun Stone in my cellar, Sierra seemed like the kind of person who rarely stayed in one place for very long. She didn’t seem like the type to let dust settle on her life.
I knew it was best to enjoy every day we spent together because there weren’t many that were promised. Once she had her fill of me, she would be on her way, and oh God, how I wanted to fill her with myself.
No matter what, my mind always drifted back to the beautiful body lying naked next to me. Her feminine, almost feline curves begged me to touch them, to trace them with my fingertips and lips. I wanted to taste her skin. I wanted to taste her breath again when we kissed. I wanted to bury my face between her delicious legs again and taste her.
Even just lying next to her, it was hard to keep my hands off of her. I wanted her constantly. I stroked her arm absently as I marveled over the way my silk sheets conformed to her shape so perfectly. I could see the swell of her breasts, the way the underside curved perfectly for my hands. The sheets draped gently over her flat stomach. They hugged her thighs and traced the way she slept with her legs curled in her sleep.
I watched the sheets heave with her chest as she breathed slowly and deeply in her sleep. The motion of her rising and lowering breasts was hypnotic. The sound was soothing and restful. Just listening to her was as good as closing my own eyes and sleeping.
I felt the warmth of her body against mine under the covers. She wasn’t more than a couple of inches away from me all night as we had slept. Her smooth back had pressed against me several times throughout the morning, waking me with longing.
I sighed as I stared down at her. As I gently stroked her body, I felt myself growing excited. I felt my desire for her stirring between my legs. I pressed myself between the soft, round cheeks of her ass and slid my hardening sex along the tender folds of flesh between her legs, urging myself to get even harder for her.
Of all the things we had done, I had yet to wake her up with sex. I had yet to slide myself into her while
she was sleeping to wake her. She was so warm against me that I actually considered it.
I longed to tie her up in her sleep and wake her as I took her again for my own. I wanted to command and control her body at all times. I wanted to exert my power over her and show her that she was mine, that when I had asked if she was going to stay, I had been fully prepared to make her stay and make her want to stay out of sexual desire.
She was mine. She had agreed. Her body had been turned over to me, and she knew what to say if I crossed any lines. I considered all of this as my erection grew harder, as my desire heightened.
If I wanted to wake her by penetrating her, she had given me permission to do so already. She had agreed to let me use her delectable body any way I saw fit.