by Measha Stone
"When you are ready. Not a moment before. This isn't unlike most relationships. Just because you won't have the majority of the say doesn't mean that we just get naked and jump each other's bones."
"Oh." The disappointment in her voice didn't go unnoticed. "What about play? What if we don't, you know, play well together?" The worry crept back into her voice.
"We won't know until we do it, but again, not until you're ready. We need to go over our boundaries, our limits and all that. If we play and we don't like it, we talk it over."
"We can't play at the club. People will know." She gasped. "People are going to think I got the job because I'm fucking the owner."
"No, they won't." He stood and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. She smelled so good, so delectable. "How about you pack a few outfits and come back with me to my place."
"A few outfits? You said…"
"Until that elevator is fixed, you aren't staying here. I'll call your landlord in the morning."
"I can do it."
"Yes, you can. But I want to. That's just me taking care of you, not me taking over. Got it?" He kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose, until his lips hovered over her lips. "Got it?" he asked again and pressed his lips to hers before she could finish her answer.
"Okay," she whispered when released her. He grinned at the dazed expression her face.
"Okay what?" he asked, toying with her. She looked confused.
"Sir?" He gave a quick laugh and shook his head.
"No, you don't have to call me that. I meant okay, you'll get your stuff or okay you got it?"
"Oh," her face flushed. "Okay to both I guess." She walked to the closet and pushed the mirror door to the side. A creaking sound was the only warning the door gave before it popped out of the rails and began to fall out of the tracks and onto Alyssa. Alex caught the offending door before it made contact, but not before Alyssa shrieked and huddled onto the floor with her hands over her head.
Alex managed to get the door out of the bottom track and rest it against the wall. "I take that back. You aren't living here at all. Pack a few things for now, and I'll have the rest moved for you when we find you a better place." Alyssa didn't say a word, only nodded and went about packing a bag. He noticed her closet wasn't very full, and she managed to pack almost all of her clothes into the one bag.
"I already paid for three month's rent." She told him as she slid her feet back into her sandals. "It was the only way the guy would give me the apartment because I didn't have a job yet. I couldn't afford the hotel and come up with first and last month on another place."
Alex took the bag out of her hand. "Don't worry about it." He placed his hand on her back to get her going toward the door. He wanted out of there before something else decided to fall down on them. He was still trembling on the inside at the idea of that closet door falling on top of her if he hadn't been there to catch it. "Ah, no." He shook his head with a grin when she pressed the button to call the elevator. "Stairs." He gave her a gentle push to the stairwell.
He followed her down the stairs, enjoying the sway of her hips as she made her way down the three flights. The view down her sundress didn't upset him either, but he did his best to keep his eyes somewhere else. Not because he felt like being a gentleman, but because if he didn't they wouldn't make it to his apartment before she was naked.
Chapter Thirteen
Alyssa stood in the massive bathroom that was the guest bath, attached to one of the two guest rooms, staring at herself in the mirror. She'd agreed to stay with him for a few days on the condition that she slept in her own room. Had her own key. And could come and go as she pleased. He'd consented rather easily, which both pleased and worried her. She wasn't exactly sure where they were headed, but she didn't want him to cave into her every whim simply because he thought she'd bolt at the first sign of his authority.
The last several weeks had been hard for her—to see him nearly every night and want to do more than give a curt smile or generic greeting. Throwing him into the friend zone had been a knee jerk reaction, a way to deal with what she didn't know how to deal with. Could she attempt a real relationship? Would it even be possible between them? What would Paul say?
Alex had taken the news of his father's near adulterous behavior with much more grace than she had expected. Given what she knew about him from Paul’s stories, she knew he looked up to his father through a superhero lens, and she didn't want to be responsible for cracking it.
She knew she'd been acting the brat, giving him silly responses regarding things outside the club. The night he wanted to take her home, and she threw in his face that she walked home from his apartment, she knew he was angry. The dilation of his pupils and the flexing of his hands had been more than enough evidence of that fact. If she had been his, if he had possessed her at that moment, there was no doubt that he would have taken her to task. Would he have spanked her? Lectured her? Yelled? She wasn't exactly sure what his methods were, but she did know that deep down she wanted to learn them, from them.
"You're an idiot." She told her mirrored self. A knock on the door startled her and effectively stopped her lecture.
"Alyssa, you okay?" His voice seeped through the door. There was concern there, no impatience for the amount of time she'd been hiding from him since they'd arrived at his apartment, just concern.
"I'm fine." She pulled the door open to find him standing in a pair of cotton pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. All of it worked for him.
The bottoms hung loosely from his trim waist, the shirt was worn, his muscular shoulders showcased well in it. Through the thin material of the shirt she could make out the outline of his abs. Her fingers itched to slide up his belly, to feel the muscular strength of him beneath her touch. It was her turn to flex her hands to keep from touching.
Her own outfit was just as casual. She'd thrown on an old t-shirt and a well-worn pair of sweats, but she doubted she looked anything like him. Though his eyes said differently as they swept over her body and then met her gaze again. His lips were parted as though he was going to say something, but instead he reached out to grab her hand, linking their fingers together.
She followed him silently to the living room that housed the large television she'd eyed the first time she'd been in his apartment. "I thought a movie might be relaxing." He directed her to the large couch as he picked up a remote from the glass-topped coffee table.
"Not some action flick." She groaned, pulling her knees up to her chin. He looked over his shoulder at her with a wicked grin.
"Well, it's sure as hell not some chick flick." He pressed a few buttons on the remote and the screen went black. She laughed when the opening music of The Goonies began to play in surround sound. "You like?" He took his seat next to her on the couch.
"I love. One of my favorites." She laughed again. "It has everything. Romance, action and the Coreys!" She leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him. She could nearly hear his heart beating. And god did he smell good! Warm and spicy. Masculine. She nuzzled closer to him, if that were even possible.
They watched the movie in silence, and halfway through Alyssa dozed off. She woke in his arms being carried back to her room. It had been a long day and a stressful night. She didn't fight him, but rather sighed happily as he brought her to her bed and laid her on top. "I have to set my alarm." She commented softly as she reached for her phone that he'd plugged in for her to charge overnight.
"I got it, what time?" he asked, picking up the phone.
"Five. I picked up the breakfast shift." She yawned and leaned back against the plush pillows. She'd never felt anything so soft and inviting before.
He looked down at her with another concerned look. "I'm not sure you should be working at the diner and the club. Those are seriously long days."
"You work two jobs." She said, pushing herself up to lean back on her elbows.
He tapped o
n the phone. "That's different."
"In what way is that different? You put in more hours at the advertising office than I do at the diner, and then you put in the same amount of time at the club at night. You go from one job right to the next. And it's not like your job is easy. You're not just carrying food all day. Your job like means something." His eyes darkened with her comment, and she wondered what she'd said wrong.
"It's different because it's me." He leaned down and placed his hands on either side of her body, putting his face close enough to kiss. "It's different because you have a very physical job, and I don't want you overdoing it."
"You said you wouldn't micromanage." She breathed out. His left brow raised half an inch.
"I haven't said you can't keep your jobs." She wet her lips.
"But you don't want me to."
"I don't want you to over exert yourself." He explained. "You don't need two jobs. But I'm not going to forbid it." He kissed the tip of her nose with an annoyingly chaste kiss. "For now." He added before placing his mouth over hers and claiming her once again. The familiar current ran through her as he deepened the kiss, his tongue brushing over her bottom lip demanding entrance. His hands never left the bed, but he guided her to the pillow. Her body responded to his touches, to his authoritative kiss, easily.
The bed dipped as he lifted one knee onto it and then the next, effectively pinning her to the bed with his body. Her hands found their way to the edge of his t-shirt and slid beneath it, running upward and over his tight muscles. He may have looked slender clothed, but she could feel the rippling of his abs as she moved toward his chest.
He groaned into her mouth and tore away from her, staring down at her with an intensity that only fueled her want for him. "What is it?" she questioned when he remained silent.
"Stand up." He pushed off of her and off the bed. Not sure what she'd done wrong, she took her time getting to her feet. "Take off your clothes." He ordered, his voice was low and firm, but his eyes were soft, his lips parted as his heavy breaths came and went.
She reached for the hem of her shirt, avoiding his gaze as she did so. It wasn't that she was shy when it came to her body, or that she was ashamed of it, that made her hesitate. It was that he was staring at her with such warmth, such hunger she wanted to make the moment last. No man had looked at her in such a way before. Oh, they'd looked at her with lust, a heavy erection waving in her direction as she undressed, but they'd never looked as though they would burst in two if they didn't have her beneath them soon. Alex didn't hide his want very well, it wasn't just his hardness that she'd felt when he laid on top of her, or that she could see clearly now standing before her in his loose pajama bottoms. It was the sensuality in his voice, the deep coloring of his eyes, and the way he rubbed his fingers together at his sides.
The shirt slid to the ground, pooling next to her. "Pants, too."
She hooked her fingers into the elastic of the sweats and pushed them to her ankles, stepping out of each leg and dropping them on top of the shirt. She slid her feet shoulder length apart, and folded her arms behind her grasping her elbows, straightening her chest which effectively pushed her breasts out.
He closed the gap between them in two strides. "As much as I think this stance suits you, I didn't ask for it." He reached behind her and pulled her hands back to her sides. Her cheeks burned as he rubbed her arms and looked down at her. "Your breasts are larger than I thought." He cupped one breast and ran his finger over the taught peak. The sensation ran through her as though he had touched her with an electric current. "I know you've had other dominants, but I don't care about what their wants were. Don't try to control this, don't try to anticipate what I want—not yet." His hands framed her face as he spoke, giving her light pecks on her cheeks and lips.
"Okay," she whispered. The smile he gave at her response warmed her. Everywhere. Small wrinkles appeared around his eyes, and a shallow dimple popped up on his right cheek. His lips covered hers in another intense kiss. She moved her hands to his waist and gripped the waistband of his pants. More to hold herself up than to get into them, but the effect was the same. He growled and backed her up until the backs of her thighs bumped the bed.
"On the bed." He nudged her with his pelvis. She giggled into his mouth as he claimed her again just before she fell backward onto the mattress her knees bent, feet resting flat on the bed tucked up against her ass.
"Put your head on the pillows," he directed as he climbed onto the bed, still fully clothed. She wanted to see him, to touch his bare skin. "Now open your legs." He tapped her knees with his fingertips. Swallowing hard, she peeled her legs apart and exposed her most intimate flesh to him. He licked his lips.
His hands traveled from her knees, sliding delicately down her thighs, until he reached the area that craved his touch more than any other part of her. Not sure what to do with her hands, she kept them at her sides, watching him carefully as he dug his nails into her flesh and dragged them back up her thighs. "Ah." She moaned, fighting the urge to snap her legs shut. She saw his grin of approval and pleasure, and she took a deep breath to ready herself for the trip back down. A tender dragging of his nails downward led to the deep scratch back up to her knees and again she sucked in her breath sharply. The pain wasn't intense, but uncomfortable enough to elicit a grimace when he made the third round.
When he made his way back to her knees he leaned forward and kissed her inner thigh. A trail of kisses followed, down the path his nails had taken until he reached the now wet and waiting flesh. He settled himself on the bed, and hovered over her pussy, breathing heavily on her.
"Alex." She whimpered. She wanted his touch, his tongue, his heat.
"Yes, Alyssa?" He asked placing a chaste kiss directly above her clitoris. Enough pressure to drive her deeper into her arousal with none of the relief.
"Please." She moved her hands then, to reach for him.
"Hands at your sides," he directed in an even tone. How could he think so rationally at that moment? Didn't he understand the insane pleasure he'd just thrust upon her? And now he denied her his touch!
"Okay, but please." She arched her hips upward, not caring about the wanton way she was begging him. It had been so long since she'd been wanted, touched, that she didn't think she'd last much longer.
"Please what, Alyssa?" he asked with a playful tone.
"Alex." She groaned.
"Tell me what you want."
"You."
"You'll have to be more specific. I'm already here." He grinned up at her. She wanted to slap him and kiss him at the same time.
"I want you to touch me." She breathed out, closing her eyes. She hated vocalizing her needs, her wants. She just wanted him to do it, to please her and him at the same time. To take what he wanted.
"Here?" He gave a small peck to her thigh. She shook her head in response. "No? How about here?" He kissed her belly and again she shook her head, this time biting her lip. "Oh. I think I know." The smile was evident in his voice as he slowly lowered his mouth down to where she desired him most. She sucked in her breath as his tongue sunk between her folds, and his lips wrapped around her, suckling her lightly. A hiss escaped her lips, as one finger gradually entered her. "Is that what you wanted?" Another lick across her swollen clit and she gasped.
"Yes," she breathed.
"See, you just needed to ask." He grinned up at her and once again placed his mouth over her, taking his time to lick every inch of her as he inserted a second finger into her pussy. The intensity of the sensations built within her. Each touch adding another log to the already white hot fire within her. She wanted more.
"You, Alex. I want you." She groaned as he released her clit from between his teeth. He gave her an impish grin as he slid off the bed and began to remove his clothes. "Wait. Can I?" she asked. He dropped his hands to his sides and crooked his finger at her.
She threw her legs over the side of the bed and hopped onto the floor. Her fingers grabbed the hem of his shirt and
she pulled upward, standing up on her toes to finish pulling it over his head. Once the shirt was off of his body and crumbled in her hands she was able to get her fill of his torso. The muscles she felt beneath her fingers earlier were displayed openly now, a beautiful set of hard abs, leading up to a well-toned chest. Arms and shoulders broad enough to bare the weight of the world. "My pants, Alyssa." His playful whisper interrupted her stare. She dropped his shirt next to the pile of her own clothing, and hooked her fingers into his waistband.
Finding it easier to do the task on her knees, she moved to kneel in front of him as she glided his pajama pants down to his feet where he stepped out of them. Adding the pants to the pile of clothes she returned her attention to his body. His cock stood hard, unyielding in front of her nose. Without thought, she licked her lips and reached for him. Her hand wrapped around the thick base of him. He was hot beneath her fingers as she began to stroke him, hard long strokes. The sound of his own hiss of pleasure gave her the courage to continue as she opened her mouth, and took him inside. He tasted manly, salty. Wonderful.
"Ah, fuck, Alyssa." His hands dove into her hair and his pelvis began to rock, pushing his cock into her mouth further. Relaxing her throat, she took in as much of his length as her body would accommodate. Her fingers remained firm around his shaft, but she let him control the thrusts.
Her tongue danced around his head, lapping at the moisture that dripped from it. Although her head ached from his tight grip on her hair, she said nothing. It felt too wonderful to mention it, or to try to alleviate the pressure. Wanting to push herself further, she reached between her legs to find her own excitement. Two fingers played with her clit, rubbing with the rhythm of his own strokes. "No." He growled at her, stilling his movements but not removing his cock from her mouth. "Don't touch yourself unless I've given you permission. Not even when you're with me." He did pull away then, and put out his hand to help her stand. Would he punish her? She hadn't known that was something he cared about.