by Renee Rose
He crooked a finger. “Come here, principessa.”
“But I brought you a drink,” she wheedled.
The corner of his lips kicked up and he reached for her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “I appreciate that, doll, I really do. But when I make a rule, I expect it to be followed. You’ve earned another spanking.”
Her eyes dilated, telling him her excitement matched his own.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have time to administer it. So your punishment will have to wait until later.”
Relief and disappointment warred on her face.
He smiled. “I’m going to take a quick shower. I can drop you at your place on the way to my meet-up so you can get your things, and then we’ll go pick up your car.”
She looked adorable in his too big T-shirt worn over her too-tight dress. He couldn’t help but reach for her, sliding the fabric up and down over the curve of her hips. She arched her breasts up and affected a flirtatious tone. “You’re bossy.”
He slapped her ass. “Get used to it, principessa.”
She flushed and licked her lower lip.
In a half-second he was all over her, yanking her soft form against his body and claiming that lush mouth. Her hands came to his shoulders and she opened to him, kissing him back, leaning into him.
He broke away and bit back a curse. “I’m going to be late if I don’t stop touching you, little girl.” Picking up her coffee, he handed it to her. “Wait here. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Ten minutes later he wove through traffic as Summer stole glances at him from under her long, dark lashes. A thread of tension emanated from her.
“Second thoughts?”
She tucked her hair behind her ear. “About what?”
“Being under my thumb?”
She flushed, a smile curving her lips. “I guess I was just wondering if that’s what we’re still doing.”
He stopped at a light and turned to give her his full attention. Or rather, to demand her full attention. “Yeah, that’s what we’re doing. I gotta figure out what to do about your dad, though.”
She worried her lower lip with her teeth. “I don’t think we should say anything. About anything. Okay?”
The light changed and he hit the gas. He wasn’t sure he liked her suggestion. Did it mean she didn’t think this thing would last? Well, why would she, anyway? Just because he’d proposed an insane scheme designed to keep her as his own didn’t mean she was wearing his engagement ring or anything.
Yet.
* * *
Gio sat at an outdoor table at Rubino’s with two coffee mugs in front of him. He stood up when Carlo got out of the car, his eyes darting to the gun holster across his chest and up and down the street.
The idiot ought to know if Carlo was going to whack him, he wouldn’t do it in front of Rubino’s.
Gio licked his lips. “Hey boss.”
Carlo gave him a slight nod and slid into the seat across from where he’d been sitting. “This for me?” he asked, palming the ceramic mug.
“Yeah. Caffe latte.” Gio sat down, looking as if the chair might bite him. “The way you like it.”
He didn’t touch the drink. Poison wasn’t really the way of La Famiglia, but he didn’t rule it out. “Appreciate it. So listen, Gio. Who was that guy you brought last night?”
Gio spread his hands, launching into what was obviously a rehearsed story. “Listen, Carlo. I’m sorry. I thought it was okay to bring someone, but obviously I shoulda checked with you first. I fucked up. I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Gio looked momentarily confused. “The guy? He goes to my gym. We were talking one day and he mentions how he likes to go to Vegas for high-roller games. I thought he’d be a good addition. I’m sorry.”
Carlo relaxed, although he didn’t let Gio see it. The kid’s story sounded true. Still, he was going to sweat him for being a coglione. “The guy looked like a cop to me.”
“A cop?” Gio’s look of confusion turned to one of alarm. He held his palms out, as if to ward away Carlo’s anger. “Oh hey, I didn’t know anything about that. He told me he works in real estate. Some kinda developer, I think. I thought he had money. Thought he’d be good for the game. But if he’s a cop…” Gio’s eyes took on a slightly crazed look, desperation mixing with ruthlessness. “I’ll take care of him, man. It’s my mistake, I’ll do it.”
Carlo gave a sharp shake of his head. “You’ll do nothing. First of all, we don’t kill cops. Second, I’ll handle it. Capisce? You’ll do nothing.”
“Are you sure? Because—”
“What did I say?”
Gio backed down immediately at Carlo’s sharp tone. “I got it, boss. I do nothing.”
“And yeah, you don’t bring a guest without checking with me first. In the future.”
Gio exhaled, as if he hadn’t been sure he had a future. “I’m really sorry, boss.”
Carlo nodded. “I know. We’re okay, Gio.”
Surprise flitted across the younger man’s face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. But Jesus, get your head out of your ass. Men at the gym are not your friends.”
Gio bobbed his head. “Right, right. I’m sorry. I fucked up. Big time.”
Carlo stood up.
“Thanks, Carlo. I appreciate your, uh, understanding.”
He let that one go without acknowledgment, walking to his car and getting in. One question answered. Now to ID the cop and find out what he wanted.
* * *
After Summer showered and dressed, she called Maggie to come over and visit while she packed.
“We went to Toronto’s last night,” Maggie said, naming the bar/lounge where their friends often went to listen to live bands and hang out. Summer hadn’t been there often since she broke up with John, because it took a lot of getting psyched up in case he was there. The last time she’d gone, she’d spent three hours picking out the perfect outfit and primping, only to show up to a totally dead night, with none of their friends there.
“Did John go?” She tried to keep her voice sounding neutral, but Maggie pursed her lips.
“Actually yes.”
She waited for Maggie to say more, but her friend walked to the kitchen to help herself to a glass of water.
“And?”
“What do you want to hear, Summer?” She sounded exasperated.
“What?”
“Well, here you are, getting packed for your sex therapy with a totally hot guy, who you claim you just had the world’s best sex with and you’re asking about him?”
Her face grew warm and something tightened in her gut. “Well, it’s not like I care or anything. I’m just curious. It’s not that weird.”
“I’m just saying that I don’t think you’re over him. So maybe you’d better put the brakes on the new relationship before you screw things up.”
The knot in her stomach twisted tighter. Maggie may be right, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to give up this thing with Carlo. Still, her relationship with John was like a scab she couldn’t stop picking. “Was he with someone?”
Maggie rolled her eyes and huffed, but didn’t answer.
“He was, wasn’t he?”
“So?”
“Who?”
Maggie appeared reluctant to answer. “Someone I’d never seen before. She looked like you, actually. Her name is Shelly.”
She couldn’t decide whether to be flattered or pissed that he picked someone who looked like her. Did it mean he really had thought she was pretty, despite all the criticism? Or just that he had a type? Did he pick apart Shelly the way he’d pointed out all her flaws?
She experienced a stab of jealousy—not for Shelly, but for her old life, when she’d hung out at Toronto’s with friends and had a boyfriend (even if he was a dick). Instead, last night she’d been hiding from a freaking stalker at a nightclub with no friends worth keeping.
Of course the ending to the night hadn’t been all
bad. She’d had Carlo’s hot hands and lips and tongue all over her body. So maybe it had been worth it. And she sure as hell wouldn’t have wanted to be at Toronto’s, watching John waltz in with a new girl on his arm.
She turned to her closet and started pulling out clothes. “I don’t even know how long to pack for,” she complained, getting a little manic as she tossed clothes from her closet into a suitcase. “I mean, is this like, a week-long thing? Or just for the weekend? Or…?”
Okay, she admitted she wanted it to be a forever thing, but that couldn’t be what Carlo had in mind. Because who would invite someone to move in permanently after having sex one time?
Everything about this situation was just plain bizarre, including her own reaction to having her ass blistered by a hot and kinky alpha male. It was on the tip of her tongue to confess the kinky part to Maggie, but every time she started to say something, she bit it back.
Maggie was a feminist, after all. What would she think about Carlo’s assertion that he would be her keeper? Plus, Maggie might think Summer’s acceptance of all this was related to her damaged self-esteem. How could she explain the way her body turned to molten liquid every time he started bossing her around?
“Just bring enough for the rest of the weekend. It would be weird to assume any longer, and besides, you can always come back and get more stuff Monday, if you decide to stay, but Summer—” she leveled her with a concerned-friend look—“this is all going too fast.”
Summer’s gut clenched because Maggie was right. She was being impulsive and crazy. To assume anything long-term would come out of this thing with Carlo was laughable. “I’m just having fun. I promise.” She crossed her heart with her forefinger. “I deserve some hot sex right now.”
Maggie’s smile was sympathetic. “You do.”
“Do you?” Carlo’s deep voice startled them both and she shrieked and whirled around. His green eyes glittered, and while his expression was inscrutable, there was a dark, dangerous air to him.
Had he heard what she’d been saying? Well, it wasn’t untrue. Her face grew warm. “Don’t I?” she asked, reaching for coy.
One corner of his lips lifted into a lopsided smirk. “That depends. Are you in the habit of keeping your door unlocked so strange men can walk in at will?”
Her face grew even warmer at being scolded in front of Maggie, but her friend simply grinned and looked from one to the other as if fascinated by their exchange.
“You’re not a strange man.”
He leaned in the doorway, his broad shoulders and tall frame as elegant in jeans and a T-shirt as it was in a fine Italian suit. “I could be.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you’re here to protect me, then.”
“Hi Maggie,” Carlo said, moving in to give her a cheek kiss, his European habit of greeting.
“Hi Carlo.” Maggie waggled her eyebrows in Summer’s direction when Carlo couldn’t see.
She grinned back like an idiot.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to it, then. Call me later, Summer,” Maggie called as she headed for the door.
“See you.”
Carlo stalked toward her, his eyes dark with intent.
She stood rooted to the spot, excitement sparking in every cell.
Carlo bent and tossed her over his shoulder.
She shrieked and pounded on his back, giggling. “What are you doing?”
“I believe I owe you a punishment, principessa.”
Her breath hitched and her bottom tingled. She kicked her feet in a show of resistance, but her giggles gave her away.
As smooth as if it had been choreographed, Carlo dropped her to her feet, sat on her sofa and pulled her across his lap.
Yummy.
She definitely preferred the lap to being bent over the sofa again.
Carlo peppered her bottom with smacks. They were hard enough to sting, even through her jeans, but light enough to leave her needy for more. She lifted her ass to him. He continued to warm it with quick spanks, then he lifted her to stand between his knees.
“Pull down your pants.”
She flushed, glancing toward the door. Maggie could walk back in any second.
He jerked his head in that direction, guessing her thoughts. “Go lock it.”
“Thanks.” She exhaled and darted over to turn the lock. When she returned, her heartbeat kicked up speed.
Carlo reached for the waistband of her jean shorts and tugged her forward, unbuttoning the shorts himself. Hooking his thumbs in the elastic of her panties, he pulled both down to her thighs.
It was a humiliating position—way more humiliating than having her dress lifted up, or her skirt taken off. Standing with her panties lowered truly invoked “naughty girl” feelings. Embarrassed, she actually dived over his lap, eager to hide her face in the cushions.
He ran his warm hand over her bare bottom, caressing her curves.
She shivered.
“So first, I’m going to spank you for leaving without permission this morning.” He began to smack her ass again, harder this time.
She squeezed her cheeks together and wriggled under the onslaught.
“You might have thought I was kidding, but I wasn’t. I’m completely serious. Until I’m sure you’re back on track, I need to know where you are at every moment. You don’t run to Starbucks, you don’t go to the grocery, you don’t take a walk without first asking my permission.”
“That’s... ridiculous,” she panted, the pain starting to register now. Heat had built on the surface of her ass, tingling.
He slapped even harder. “You may think it’s ridiculous, but it’s a rule you’re going to follow or there will be consequences.”
She wasn’t sure she minded his consequences all that much. Well, she would if they were like that first whipping. Except even that experience seemed hot now that it was over.
“Do you understand me?”
“Oof. Yeah, I understand.”
He slapped the back of her thigh, which made her yelp. “That is not the proper answer.”
Her brain had muddled with dealing with the pain, so it took four more slaps before she yelped, “Yes, sir! Yes, sir, I understand!”
He stopped spanking and ran his palm over her blazing cheeks. “Good girl. And now I want to have a talk about what you were doing at The Candy Store.”
She started to push herself up, but he pushed her back over his knees and gave her several hard slaps. “This is what I call an over-the-knee discussion. You’re bared to me in a humbling position so I can correct you immediately if I don’t think you’re being honest.” He brushed a finger between her legs.
Her pussy immediately plumped open, dripping wet for him.
“If you answer me well, I will reward you. If you fail to satisfy, your little red bottom is going to be even more sore. Capisce?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why did you want to strip?”
Her pussy pulsed between her legs, needy for more of his touch. “It makes—I mean, made—me feel sexy.” She had to admit, being over his knee, where she didn’t have to look him in the eye and could hide her face made it safer sharing her feelings.
She expected him to scoff at her answer, or at least discount the reason as unimportant, but he said nothing at all. He stroked her burning ass, tickling her inner thighs with his fingertips, but scrupulously avoiding her pussy.
“And I miss performing.”
Again, no snort that stripping was a far cry from dancing professionally.
“It built my confidence.”
When she didn’t add anything more, his fingers burrowed into her hair and he leaned over, speaking into her ear. “Thank you, cara, for explaining it to me.”
“Do I get a reward now?” She shoved her thighs open as far as she could with the restriction of her shorts and panties at her thighs.
His finger brushed the outer lips of her sex again, making her inner thighs quiver. “Not yet, amore mio.” Another brush.
<
br /> She gnashed her teeth, her clit aching for his touch.
To her dismay, he pulled up her panties and shorts and helped her up to straddle his lap. Cupping both her breasts, he kneaded one as he applied his teeth to her nipple through the layers of her thin T-shirt and bra.
She yelped.
“Do you feel sexy now?”
She flushed and looked down at the places their bodies conjoined, suddenly shy about looking him in the face.
He put a finger under her chin and lifted it. “Do you?”
“Yes,” she said softly. “You make me feel sexy.”
He looked genuinely pleased. “Good.” He squeezed her ass possessively. “My job will be to make sure you always know how hot you are. Yours will be to obey. Do you think you can do that?”
* * *
Summer wore a just-fucked look even though she hadn’t gotten off yet. It made him want to throw her onto the floor and ravish her in every way imaginable.
Her tongue darted out and licked her lower lip. “I don’t know.”
He smiled at her honesty. “If you fail, I’ll punish you. But I think you might enjoy your discipline as much as I like giving it, so that won’t be so bad.”
A pretty pink stained her cheeks.
“I won’t let you fall, principessa. I’ll always catch you. I may spank you until your little bottom is red and sore, but you’ll be perfectly safe with me. Can you believe that?”
She lowered her eyes. “Yes.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you need reassurance, if you need some sugar, even if it’s in the middle of a punishment, you can always ask for it.”
She flushed an even darker shade of pink and rubbed an invisible spot on her shorts. “What if I change my mind?”
“About what?”
She lifted one delicate shoulder. “About any of it.”
“Are you asking me for a safe word?”
“Yeah, I guess”
He brushed her jaw with his knuckles. “Bambina, I would know you were struggling long before you used a safe word. I’m going to pay attention to you. But if you want out at any point, just say that.”