Seducing the Boss (The Pulse Series)

by Mari Carr

  Sara bit her lip when he returned to the bed. He’d told her he wanted to tie her up, and she had agreed.

  “Still want to try this?” Ordinarily he would establish a safe word with his lover, but Sara wasn’t some woman he’d picked up for a one-night stand.

  She nodded. “I do. I really do.”

  “If it’s too much, just tell me to stop, and I’ll untie you. Okay?”

  “Okay.” She gave him a sweet smile that made him want to make this even better for her. She was giving him her trust and her body.

  He crawled on the bed beside her and reached for her hands. Looping one of the strips of cotton around her wrists, he bound them together. The knot was tight, but he took care to make sure he wasn’t cutting off her circulation. He lifted her hands above her and secured them to the headboard with another piece of the shirt.

  Kellan paused, giving her a second to test the bondage, to decide if she was comfortable with it.

  She sighed, the sound one of pure delight.

  He assumed the role of captor. “You’re mine, Sara. I will do whatever I want to you.”

  Sara’s eyes darkened with a need that was almost palpable. “I never dreamed…” She paused, then revised her words, “I never thought I’d…”

  He kissed her on the cheek. “Say it.”

  “Is it wrong for me to want this fantasy? I mean, I’m not the sort of woman who lets a guy tie her up, take control. I’m too independent, too opinionated for my own good sometimes.”

  He shook his head. “I wouldn’t say that. You stand up for what you believe in. You’re brave, intelligent, and a loyal friend. Those are all good qualities. You don’t lose those just because you let me do dirty things to you in the bedroom.”

  “I want this so bad.”

  Kellan reached for two more strips of cotton and looped them around her knees. Her furrowed brow told him she was confused by his actions, but she didn’t call him on it or ask him what the hell he was doing.

  When he lifted her right leg, securing the tie to the corner of the headboard, she figured it out quickly.

  “Oh. Shit.”

  “Is that a stop?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. But I’m glad I didn’t ask you to teach me how to swim when we were kids. Something tells me you would have just pushed me into the deep end.”

  “Sara?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You might want to hold your breath.”

  Her laugh was more air than sound, and it quickly morphed into a gasp when he secured the other tie to the opposite side, which lifted her ass a couple of inches off the mattress. The position left her completely exposed, his to take however he chose.

  “Ready to play your part?” he asked.

  Kellan bent lower, licking. She enjoyed it when he’d gone down on her before. He wanted to put her back in that frame of mind.

  “Oh, God. Yeah,” she whispered.

  He rubbed her clit for a few seconds before taking it between his forefinger and thumb and squeezing.

  Sara’s hips rose even more from the bed. “Please.”

  He continued to play with her, stimulating her until she was panting, so close. Then he pulled his hand away.

  “Wait. Don’t stop.”

  He placed a quick, sharp slap on her ass. The action startled her, and she jerked.

  “You’re not calling the shots, Sara. I am. You belong to me, remember? If you protest again, I’ll find another T-shirt to gag you with.”

  She shivered in response to his threat, but he knew her well enough to tell it wasn’t fear driving the reaction. Kellan was tempted to follow through, but this was her first experience with bondage and role-play. He wanted her to be able to tell him what she liked, what she didn’t like, and to be able to call it to a halt if it became too much for her.

  Kellan bent over her body, tucking his waist between her outstretched legs, while his face hovered above her breasts. He hadn’t paid enough attention to them tonight. Time to rectify that situation.

  He cupped one of her breasts in his hand as he wrapped his lips around the hard nipple and sucked.

  His body kept her pressed to the mattress despite the sudden jerk of her hips. He drew on her nipple harder, waiting for that mew of pleasure he’d discovered tonight. He loved her sex sounds.

  Once he paid proper homage to her right breast, he moved his attention to the left. He sucked, nipped, and squeezed as Sara squirmed beneath him.

  “Please.” The word came out in a gasping breath. Her role-playing skills needed practice. Lucky for her, he intended to give her plenty of opportunities to hone them this weekend. He wondered how she’d feel about playing Princess Leia to his Han Solo.

  He took his time toying with her breasts before he shifted lower. He stroked her opening with his tongue, keeping the touch too light to offer her the push she needed.

  Despite his threat to gag her, Sara continued to demand, to plead for more. He thrust his tongue inside her as he kept a firm grip on her thighs. Sara fought violently to move, to force him deeper, but he held her still, refusing to give in.

  “God. Fuck me, Kellan!” she yelled. “Do it now, or I swear to God—”

  Kellan didn’t give her a chance to finish her threat. He moved quickly, covering her body once more with his, and the head of his cock rested right there—at the threshold.

  “Beg me, Sara. Beg me to fuck you.”

  “Please.” Her voice was hoarse from her cries, and he couldn’t resist her one second longer.

  He thrust inside with one hard, deep motion.

  Sara’s head flew back as she screamed. Her inner muscles clenched as he withdrew until only the head remained. He forced himself to stay there until she offered him the words he wanted to hear.

  “More,” she demanded. “God, more. All of it.”

  His willpower gone, he slammed back in, enjoying the way her back arched. She tugged hard against her bindings, but the knots held.

  “So good,” she said as he continued to thrust. He took her roughly, feeling a strange need to make this night memorable. Something she’d never forget. Never regret.

  For several minutes, the only sounds in the room were of their bodies slapping together and their mingled moans.

  Sara was the first to succumb, her body trembling as she came.

  Kellan’s jaw clenched as he fought against the desire to give in to his own climax. Sucking in deep gasps of air, he held motionless for a full minute as she rode out the wave.

  She had only just begun to come down when he lost complete control. Over and over, he pounded inside her as Sara urged him on, still demanding more. He gave her everything she asked for and then some.

  When his balls constricted almost painfully, he gave in. Stroking her clit with his thumb, he pushed Sara back into the abyss within seconds. And this time, he joined her there.

  Kellan remained inside her, buried deep, struggling to regain his wits.

  What the fuck was that?

  He was no stranger to sex, or even mind-blowing climaxes, but that…holy shit. That was an entirely different drug. And he was already addicted.

  “Okay?” he whispered.

  She nodded. “I can’t believe we did that.”

  He grinned. “Regrets already?”

  Kellan had meant his words as a joke, but clearly Sara feared she’d upset him. She shook her head quickly. “No. Not at all. I’m never going to regret that.”

  Neither was he.

  He felt as if he should give those words back to her, but they got jammed in his throat. Confusion, and maybe a little bit of fear, kept him quiet.

  Instead, they simply lay there, both of them working to catch their breath.

  After several minutes, he withdrew slowly, enjoying the way Sara shuddered, the feeling of her muscles clenching as if to hold him inside. He reached up to untie her. Once she was free, he rubbed her shoulders, making sure she didn’t suffer any lingering pain from the bondage.

 
Sara was so still and quiet, he thought she’d drifted off to sleep, so he rose from the bed.

  “Where are you going?” she whispered.

  “I just need to clean up. I’ll be right back.” He discarded the condom in the bathroom and splashed some water on his face before returning to the bedroom. Sara was curled up, sound asleep, her face pressed against his pillow.

  The sight of her there should have brought him to his senses, should have evoked some sense of panic, right?

  He recalled the conversation he’d had with Josh just before he left the bar tonight.

  “She’s leaving with you? Is she too drunk to drive herself home?” Josh had asked.

  “She’s not drunk, asshole, and stop looking at her like that. You’re going to scare her off.”

  “Call me in the morning. I’m going to need a status report.”

  Kellan had scowled and disregarded the request. “Fuck off. I don’t kiss and tell.”

  “The fuck you don’t.”

  “You okay to get yourself home?”

  Josh had glanced over his shoulder at the blonde, the two of them pretending she wasn’t hanging on their every word. “Yeah. I’m good.”

  Kellan had started to walk away, but Josh had stopped him with a hand on his arm. “You sure about this, man? I mean, it’s Sara.”

  Until that moment, there hadn’t been an ounce of doubt in Kellan’s mind that he and Sara would come home, have some fun between the sheets and life would return to normal on Monday.

  Now, as the night replayed in his mind, he remembered the way Sara came apart in his arms in the bathroom. How sweet her kisses tasted. The sadness in her eyes at the table as she asked him what was wrong with her.

  This weekend would be about that. About wiping that look away for good. By the time she left his bedroom, Sara would be armed with the confidence and knowledge to find a man worthy of her.

  He climbed beneath the covers, sighing contentedly, exhaustion coming to claim him fast. He glanced over to where Sara lay next to him. Everything about tonight—with her—had been a surprise. A fun, unexpected gift.

  Kellan smiled as his eyes drifted closed, Sara’s face the last thing he saw.

  …

  When Kellan awoke, the first thing he noticed was that his bed was empty. The second was the smell of bacon drifting down the hall. He rose and threw on a pair of sweats before venturing toward the kitchen.

  He paused at the doorway, grinning as Sara stood in front of the stove cooking breakfast in one of his T-shirts. Her hair was mussed in a well-fucked way. She’d obviously made no effort to fix it or her makeup. Most of his lovers would rather die than let him see their morning-after hair.

  “Good morning,” he said as he entered the room. “Breakfast?”

  She flashed him a friendly grin that quickly morphed into a look of disapproval. “There was no food in your refrigerator.”

  He shrugged casually. “I don’t cook, so I eat out.”

  “Every meal?”

  Kellan nodded. He worked long hours at the hospital. It wasn’t unusual for him to take all three meals in either the cafeteria or at one of the local restaurants surrounding the campus. The majority of his meals were consumed at Score, simply because it was the closest and had the best food. Though as administrator of the facility it pained him to admit it, the hospital’s cafeteria left a lot to be desired.

  “That’s insane. And maybe not entirely healthy.”

  He chuckled at her disbelief. “It’s practical and convenient. Though, I’ll admit I’m curious. Where did you find that food?” On the counter was a pound of bacon, a loaf of freshly baked bread, and a dozen eggs.

  “I called the market down the street and asked if they delivered.”

  “There’s a market near here?” he joked.

  “I’ll write down the number for you in case you ever get a wild hair and decide to fend for yourself. I ordered enough food to get us through the rest of today. In addition to this, I got some sandwich meat, salad fixings, and a couple of juicy steaks you’re going to grill for dinner.”

  Grilling was the one thing he was a master of when it came to preparing meals. However, he didn’t bother except when he had company.

  “Sounds good.” Kellan struggled to keep up with her plans. There was something frighteningly domestic about the whole thing. Her making breakfast, their discussing dinner plans.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “About the only thing I could find around here was wine. I put a bottle of white in the fridge for me. I hope that’s okay. I know you like red better.”

  “White is fine,” he replied, trying to decide if he liked or hated what was going on here. Sex was one thing, but this?

  She gestured behind her with the spatula. “Coffee is ready if you want some.”

  One weekend.

  He repeated the time limit in his head. After all, he was the one who’d extended the invitation, and it wasn’t like he was anywhere near finished doing all the stuff he wanted to do with her in the bedroom. So, they’d play house for two days, fuck each other senseless, and then return to business as usual on Monday.

  Kellan poured himself a cup of coffee as she dished the scrambled eggs and bacon onto the plates. Then she buttered the toast and added it to the mountain of food. It looked and smelled delicious, and he tried to remember what was so bad about this sort of thing anyway. Playing house wasn’t the end of the world; it was just a bonus. Besides, home cooked meals were few and far between in his world.

  She carried the plates as he grabbed their coffee cups and they sat down together. That was when he realized the sun was still too low in the sky.

  “What time is it?” he asked.

  She glanced at the clock. “Late. Eight thirty.”

  He frowned. “Eight thirty is late? Good God. It’s the weekend.”

  Sara ignored him as she scooped up some eggs. “We were in bed well before nine last night.”

  “I think that ‘early to bed’ argument is null and void if you weren’t actually asleep.”

  Kellan enjoyed Sara’s blush at his reminder of exactly what they’d been doing in bed.

  “Whatever. Stop complaining and eat,” she said.

  Kellan popped a piece of bacon into his mouth, then a scoop of the eggs. The food was delicious. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d eaten a hot breakfast at this table. His morning routine lately consisted of swinging through the Starbucks drive-thru for a large coffee and sometimes a pastry on the way to work.

  They ate in companionable silence as Kellan considered paying a visit to the market one day next week to load up the cupboards. How long would it take him to fry up an egg and a couple pieces of bacon each morning?

  Then he considered Sara’s attire. “You said the market delivered the food?”

  She nodded as she finished the last bite of her toast.

  “And you answered the door wearing that?”

  Sara glanced down. “This T-shirt hangs to mid-thigh. I sure as hell wasn’t putting the dress and heels back on just to grab a bag of groceries from some pimply-faced teenaged boy.”

  Kellan leaned back in his chair. “A boy.”

  Sara snickered. “Jealous?” Her words were meant as a tease. He knew that, but there was something about the idea of Sara answering the door half-dressed that bothered him.

  “What’s under the shirt?”

  Her amusement turned to confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Bra? Panties?”

  “I left my panties at the restaurant. You know that.”

  “And the bra?” he repeated.

  She pointed toward the front of the house. “Still on the living room floor. But it’s not like I’m so well endowed I need it. I’m perfectly decent in this shirt.”

  “When you’re in my house, you belong to me.”

  Her frown wasn’t unexpected, and Kellan instantly regretted the comment.

  “Excuse me?”

  He grasped quickly for a save.
“You’re my prisoner, remember?”

  Mercifully, she accepted this words at face value, her expression letting him know how much she’d enjoyed that role.

  “Am I going to be your captive all weekend?”

  He nodded, and they continued eating as Kellan tried to get a handle on his emotions. He was all over the fucking place this morning.

  Sara was seeking a vanilla existence—the type of lifestyle that made him shudder. Marriage, kids, a house, and a minivan. His happy ending looked a hell of a lot different. She was messing up his head with all this domestic stuff.

  Sex. He needed to guide them back to safer waters. “Unless there’s another fantasy you want to play out.”

  “Seriously?” Her face lit up, and he was struck once more by the ignorance of the men she’d dated in the past. How had they not seen this playful, sexy side of her?

  “What happened between you and David?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why did you break up?”

  She gave him the side-eye, obviously surprised by his abrupt about face as far as conversations went. “Talk about a buzzkill.”

  He casually shrugged, trying to play off his question. The truth was, the more time he spent with her, the less he could understand why any guy would dump her. “You never really said. Just gave me that bullshit about the two of you growing apart.”

  “What makes you think that’s bullshit?”

  “Isn’t it?”

  She grimaced. “Yeah. It is. I guess I should have seen the writing on the wall with him right from the beginning. I mean the sex was always lukewarm, but we were such good friends. We had a ton of things in common, we never fought, we had a good time together. It was easy to be with him. No work at all.”

  His questions about her breakup with David weren’t new. She always just said they drifted apart, and he’d let that answer ride, partly because he didn’t want to pry, and partly because breaking up felt like the natural ending to all relationships. At least to him.

  “That lifestyle sounds like hell on earth to me, but it seems a lot like what you’ve always wanted, Scrubs.”

  “I’d be pissed off about that observation if it weren’t also true. Kill me if I ever get into another relationship like that, all right?”