The Rules

by Becca Jameson

  “Why? You get to call me Amelia when I specifically told you my friends call me Amy. Besides, I’m well aware that you call me by my given name when you’re pissed at me.”

  He grinned. “Observant.”

  “Very.” I stood, set my wineglass on the table, and looked around for my clothes. They weren’t in sight. When had he moved them? I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped a foot. “I need to get home, Mr. Alexander. I have a lot to think about.”

  “You’ll get home plenty early, baby, but not yet. We aren’t done here.” He stood, reached for my arms, and tugged them from my chest. “Don’t ever cover yourself in front of me. I love your body. I want to see all of it.”

  “You’re very bossy.” That sounded absurd even to me.

  Cade laughed, tipping his head back. “You just now figured that out?” When he finished, he sobered and stepped closer. He cupped my breasts in both hands and stroked his thumbs over my nipples. “Exquisite.”

  I arched into him, reaching to grasp his forearms.

  “And so fucking responsive.”

  My vision glazed over.

  “Do you know what my favorite thing in the world is, baby?”

  I shook my head, concentrating on his fingers and the way they played me. He gently pinched and rolled my nipples until they ached.

  “The look on your face when you’re so aroused it hurts.”

  I lifted on tiptoes.

  “I saw that look for the first time Friday night before I’d ever touched you. I knew I wanted you immediately. You haven’t disappointed me since.”

  “It’s only been a few days.”

  He chuckled. “Is that a challenge?”

  I had no idea. “More of an observation.”

  Cade pinched harder.

  I moaned. His grip was too tight. It hurt. But not enough. Wetness flooded between my legs. “Are we going to have sex now, Sir?”

  “Nope. I told you I wouldn’t fuck you until you earned all three boxes on my kitchen table. I meant it.”

  My shoulders slumped. I pushed on his arms, trying to dislodge him. “If you aren’t going to finish this, please let me go.”

  Cade held my nipples tighter. He smirked. “Oh, baby, you have so much to learn. Taking you to the edge is going to be my favorite pastime.” He released me as he spoke and immediately grabbed my hips to set me back on the table. He kicked two chairs out of the way, making them roll a few feet from us.

  He gripped my face in both hands and met my gaze. “You owe me. I haven’t forgotten.”

  I swallowed. “Owe you what, Sir?”

  “A punishment.”

  I stiffened. “For what, Sir?”

  “For not showing up at lunch.” He leaned in closer. “I won’t tolerate disobedience in any way. When I tell you to do something, you’ll do it. To make sure you have that clear in your head, I will punish you.”

  “How?” My voice was faint this time.

  “Lie back again, Amelia.”

  Oh, shit. We were back to Amelia. I did as he said, lowering my back onto the cold surface of the table.

  Cade immediately spread my legs and tapped my clit, making me buck upward and moan.

  He thrust two fingers into my warmth and drew out the wetness to circle my now needy nub. I wondered how this was a punishment.

  Cade swiped his fingers over my clit and then speared me with them again. He repeated this several times until I was panting and gripping the top of the table with my flattened hands. Just as I reached the edge of sanity, his hands disappeared.

  I gasped. “Cade,” I cried.

  “What, baby?”

  “Please. Oh God. Why are you stopping?”

  “Punishment, baby.”

  My body sank. A whimper escaped my lips. My pussy froze. If it could have screamed, it would have. No. No no no no no.

  Cade gripped my thighs as my breathing finally slowed and pushed them wider. “You did a decent job shaving, baby. Take more care tomorrow until you get everything.”

  I couldn’t speak. His mundane request barely registered.

  I lay like that forever. Finally, I was able to breathe easier. The need hadn’t abated, but the urgency receded.

  And then without warning, Cade thrust his fingers into me again. He fucked my pussy as deep as he could reach and then removed his hand to pinch my clit.

  Shock. And then—oh, so fucking close. And then nothing.

  I moaned. “Cade. Oh, God. Cade. Don’t. I can’t…”

  “You can, baby. And you look so fucking sexy on the edge. I’m going to love training you to please me.”

  His words reached deep inside me. I wanted to please him so badly. I didn’t know if it was because he was a Dom—my Dom—or if it was because I needed release. Either way, I would do anything.

  “Let me suck you, Sir.” I lifted my head, my legs shaking. I’d never given a blow job in my life. But I wanted to. Suddenly, it seemed important. Maybe he would stop torturing me if I sucked his dick. How hard could it be?

  I wanted to see him. I wanted to taste him.

  Cade smiled and shook his head. “That’ll never work, baby. Don’t try it again unless you want to experience real denial.”

  I was stunned. “What will never work?”

  “Distracting me.” He held my gaze while he pressed his fingers inside me, slower this time. Deep. He held them there, stroking my front wall while my vision clouded and my legs shook.

  “Please,” I muttered as I let my head lie back on the table.

  His thumb landed on my clit and pressed hard.

  I held my breath, willing my body to tip over the edge.

  Cade’s hand disappeared. “And another thing,” he started, “don’t ever come without my permission. I saw you willing it to happen. Your orgasms are mine. I’ll give them out when I see fit. You won’t take them greedily. Are we clear?”

  “Yes, Sir,” I muttered softly, deflated. Exhausted. And so on fire.

  “I think you learned your lesson.” He leaned forward and kissed my pussy gently. “Love this pussy, baby. So fucking much it hurts. Can’t wait to bury my cock in here.” He tapped my lower lips, making me flinch and moan again.

  He chuckled. “So damn sensitive. It’s going to be so easy to punish you. It takes two seconds to bring you to the edge, and then I can walk away.”

  He released my legs and grabbed my hands, pulling me to sitting.

  I was shaky. I didn’t see how I was going to stand, let alone walk out of the office.

  Cade met my gaze. “I’m not going to torture you at work anymore this week. I don’t want you to worry every day that I might drag you into my office. I don’t like the idea of you working on the first floor, but I’ll respect your need to remain anonymous in the office, at least for the time being.”

  “Thank you, Sir.” A truce, of sorts.

  “I’ll send Arthur to pick you up at home tomorrow night at seven. Be ready.”

  “Okay, Sir.”

  “Good.” He smiled. “God, you’re precious.”

  I flushed. Again. For the millionth time.

  Chapter Seven

  I slept like a rock, again. Dragged myself to work, again. Completely unsure about my decision to continue this farce—again.

  Surprisingly, my day was perfectly normal. Mr. Alexander, as I preferred to think of him while in the office, didn’t bother me a single time. I never saw him. I wasn’t even sure he was in the building.

  Moriah said he left rave reviews about my work from the day before. I didn’t meet her gaze and praised God she didn’t ask me about what I’d done. I hadn’t considered inventing something before I arrived. She sent me to work on the fourth floor again. Margie said she was going to ask for me to be transferred to her department. Since she’d lost her temp, she needed the help. And my work was far superior to the temp’s.

  I was elated. All of this had come about in two weeks without any intervention from Cade.

  I was still uneasy abou
t working in his building, but I would do it for now and see how things went.

  I got home at six twenty and ran through the apartment like a crazy woman getting ready. I only had forty minutes. I showered, shaved—everything—and quickly blow-dried my hair. I had never been particularly fussy about my hair. It lay nicely without much effort, and people had always complimented me on it. A few minutes was all I needed to put on makeup.

  When Arthur arrived, I was ready at the door, small purse in hand, sexy black dress hugging my body. Cade hadn’t mentioned what I should wear, but I knew he abhorred panties and was a fan of my skirts. So I went with that and smiled as I opened the door.

  “Ma’am.” Arthur tipped his hat. “I’m Arthur.”

  I smiled at him. “Nice to meet you.” It felt incredibly peculiar having a driver pick me up.

  I closed and locked my door and followed him to a Mercedes Maybach. It was the most luxurious car I’d ever been in, and it impressed me that Cade had a driver and a limo at his service. The anonymity of the back seat kept me from having to engage in conversation. I was stressed and fidgety. I didn’t need to make small talk on top of that.

  When we arrived at Cade’s, Arthur opened my door and waited in the circle drive while I walked to the front of the house. He didn’t say anything, just tipped his hat again.

  I wondered if he would take me home later, and assumed that would have to be the case. Did Cade ever drive anywhere himself?

  Cade opened the front door before I could knock. “Hey, baby.” He took my hand. Well… Really, he gripped my forearm and let his fingers slide down to my hand as he tugged me inside.

  Already at that gesture I was putty again.

  He surprised me by flattening me against the door as soon as he shut it and kissed me. And God almighty could he kiss. He’d kissed me before, but never like that. His mouth was immediately insistent. He slanted to one side, his hands on my biceps, and slipped his tongue between my parted lips to devour me.

  I gave as good as I received, anxious to know his taste. Every sweep of his tongue was perfection. I melted into him. The only thing keeping me from pressing my body along his was the way he held onto my arms. Even that was heady. He held me firmly, an odd mixture of gentle pressure that didn’t reach the gray area of force, but was enough for me to know he was in control, not me.

  Yep. Putty.

  My brain cells scrambled when he released my lips to set his forehead against mine and smile.

  When he grabbed my hand again and pulled me deeper into the house, I was afraid I might fall over my own feet. I managed to make it to the kitchen where he lifted me onto a stool and situated me at the island.

  Even without words he was demanding. His every move had intention. He liked everything where he wanted it, when he wanted it, and that included me.

  Cade left me there to pad to the refrigerator. I took the opportunity to watch his ass again. I felt overdressed when it registered what he was wearing, and I squirmed. He spun back around, grinning and holding up one of the bottles of wine I’d purchased on Monday.

  “I may have overdressed,” I said.

  “Nope.” He grabbed the corkscrew and went to work. “I like you just like that. I’ll even let you keep the dress on for a while since you went to the effort and it’s damn sexy.”

  And just like that, my pussy dampened.

  Cade popped the cork and grabbed two glasses, which he filled, handing one to me. “See what you think.”

  I took a sip. It was even better than the last bottle he’d plied me with. And I knew what it cost. I’d bought it myself with his credit card.

  “Mmm,” I mumbled around the lip of the glass. “I know very little about wine, but you always manage to impress.” I smiled at him. This was the most normal we’d ever been. I liked it. The tension you could always cut with a knife wasn’t there, yet.

  He circled the island and lifted me off the stool. “Couch.” He nodded behind him as he tugged my hand again, walking backward.

  I loved his space. It was clean and perfect, but inviting. As I sat on his couch, I felt the urge to lean into the soft leather cushions and relax. Relax wasn’t in my vocabulary for the evening, though. Instead, I sat with my spine straight and my legs pressed together.

  I glanced at him to see if he would reprimand me.

  He chuckled. “You’re so uptight.”

  “I never know what to expect with you.”

  He reached for a lock of my hair and twisted it around his fingers. “Let’s straighten that out, shall we?”

  I took another fortifying sip of wine. It really was delicious.

  It occurred to me I hadn’t eaten. If I wasn’t careful, I would get light-headed fast. I wondered if he intended to feed me. I didn’t mean that literally, although the thought made me shiver.

  “Sometimes when we’re together, we’ll just be normal people.”

  I lifted both brows at him. We had never yet been normal.

  He laughed. I loved it when he laughed. I loved those dimples on his cheeks and the way his eyes scrunched up when he relaxed. He was so fine to look at normally, but when he laughed, he was a work of art.

  “Okay, I take total blame for not addressing much of anything with you before I stripped you and took control. That was rude. I apologize.”

  Cade Alexander apologized? Huh.

  “We can’t always be in the role. We’d be exhausted. Sometimes we need to just kick back and be normal.”

  “You can do that?” I teased.

  He laughed again and grabbed me around the neck to pull my face in. He laid a long, delicious kiss on me that fed me the flavor of the wine from his mouth. And then he released me. “I can, baby. I’ll be a perfect gentleman for the next two hours. Promise.”

  And then what?

  The doorbell rang, startling me.

  Cade didn’t flinch. He jumped up and padded to the door, bare feet, red T-shirt stretching across his back.

  I couldn’t see the entrance from my seat, so I was shocked when he came back into my line of view carrying a pizza. “Dinner.” He lifted it in the air to indicate the obvious.

  “Cade Alexander eats pizza?” I asked. This was so much more the real me. Feisty. Joking.

  Cade set the box on the coffee table and shocked me by bending to pull my shoes off. When he rose, he met my gaze. “I can be a regular guy. I love pizza. Now relax. Get comfortable. You look like you’re about to face an interrogation for a crime you know you committed.”

  I slid back on the couch, lifted my legs, and tucked them under me.

  “Good.” Cade opened the pizza box and grabbed a slice. “I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got supreme. Figured that way I could surely please you, and you could pick off what you don’t eat.” He handed me the first slice on a napkin.

  It smelled fantastic, and I was starving.

  I took a bite and then moaned at the flavor.

  “I do have one rule, though.”

  My eyes shot to his.

  “If you insist on moaning while you eat, I’ll insist on stripping you naked and having my way with you.” He looked at me pointedly. He wasn’t kidding.

  I managed to swallow that bite, but half of me wished he would do as he said. It would be difficult not to tempt him. So far, in my experience, being naked with him had not been a hardship.

  I watched as Cade took his own slice and devoured it in about three bites. “Eat, baby.” He nodded at my hands.

  I lifted my pizza to my mouth and took another bite. After I swallowed, I spoke. “Supreme is my favorite, by the way.”

  “Excellent. See? We have something in common.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  When we finished eating, Cade cleared away the mess, refilled our glasses, and leaned back against the couch. “Tell me about yourself.”

  “Not much to tell. You know most of it. I’m from LaGrange, about two hours south of here. I’m an only child. I had a normal childhood, went to college, then grad s
chool, and here I am.”

  “How many boyfriends have you had?”

  “Not many. Been too busy.”

  He let that line of questioning go. Thank God.

  “You?”

  “I’m from the suburbs north of here. Three sisters—Kirsten, Callie, and Katrina. All older.” He scrunched up his face. “They all think they’re my mother, even today. Six nieces and nephews, two apiece. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in.”

  How normal.

  “How many girlfriends have you had?”

  He laughed. “Touché.”

  “That’s what I thought. Good answer.”

  He leaned forward. “None that made me feel the way you did in about two seconds last Friday.” He reached for my head, wrapped his hand around my neck, and dragged me closer.

  I lost my balance and put out both hands to brace myself against his lap as he kissed me a third time. And just as quick, he let go, and I bounced back, putting that small distance between us again. My face flamed at his announcement. None that made me feel the way you did in about two seconds last Friday. I would never forget that as long as I lived.

  A phone rang, and Cade leaned back to pull his cell from his jeans pocket. He looked at me. “Sorry, baby. I need to take this.”

  “Okay.”

  Surprisingly he didn’t move. He leaned into the couch farther and lifted the cell to his ear. “Give me good news, Riley.” He listened for a few seconds. “Uh-huh… Okay… Well, stay on it… Thanks for the update.” He didn’t say goodbye. He just ended the call and turned back to me. “Sorry.”

  “No problem.”

  “I work all hours. You should know. Some of my people are on the west coast. Some are in other countries.”

  “Right. Of course.” I couldn’t imagine the stress. Although Cade did not seem stressed. When he worked, he worked, even if that work was a two-minute phone call. When he was done, he was done. Every bit of his attention reverted back to me.

  He watched my face for a few minutes, seeming to think about something. “I have to go away this weekend.”

  “Okay.”

  “Come with me?”

  I was shocked. Go with him? Away for the weekend?

  “A friend of mine is getting married. It’s his engagement party. I’d intended to go alone. But now, I have you.” He reached for my hair again. “Say yes.”