Defensive Zone

by Catherine Gayle

  Good luck with that died on my tongue as I watched him set the bottle on the coffee table and then dry his palm on the fabric covering his thigh, his long, strong fingers spreading out and reminding me how they’d felt inside me. Good Lord, did I ever want that man’s hands on me in every possible way.

  He wanted ground rules? I might have a few of my own.

  Let the negotiations begin.

  “FIRST THINGS FIRST,” I said, doing my damnedest to stay calm, at least externally, even though I was anything but calm on the inside. Dani Weber did things to me that I didn’t know how to handle. Even though I had been in the scene for several years now, I’d never really considered myself to be a true dominant. I liked to spank women, but that was about the end of it. But the more time I spent around Dani, the more I itched to teach her to submit.

  And it would have to be me teaching her. That much had become clear to me while we were at Leather & Lace. Every time I noticed someone’s eye falling on her, a nasty case of jealousy had bubbled up inside me, as ridiculous as that was. Why the fuck should I be envious of some other man checking her out? I didn’t want anything to do with the girl, even though she drove me to the very edge of sanity and threatened to push me over. But here I was, not only willingly allowing her to drive me off that ledge, but I’d as good as given her the keys.

  I couldn’t allow her to learn just how much she undid me. I’d regret giving her that much power, because she’d take it and run with it. Even now, she was determined to try my patience. She crossed her legs, giving me a view of her thigh, and hitched up a brow.

  Not in question, though. This was yet another challenge, like she was daring me to try to rein her in. Brat didn’t even come close to describing her. Calling her that was a disservice to all the true brats out there.

  And fuck if my dick didn’t twitch at the thought of dragging her over my knee even now and whaling on her perfect, plump ass. It was absolutely going to happen, but we had to sort some things out first.

  “Rules,” I said to remind both of us.

  “Yeah, you already mentioned them. But I told you I don’t do rules.”

  “You will if you want this to happen.”

  She glowered, her lips in a perfect pout that caused images to flash through my mind of better, more productive ways to use that mouth. Down, boy. It wasn’t time for that yet.

  “This can’t become any sort of real relationship,” I said, doing my best to ignore my traitorous appendage. “We can’t go out on dates no matter what sort of ideas you have about hooking up your friend, and we damn sure won’t be getting married. So if that’s what you’re looking for, you should go ahead and look elsewhere.”

  “I’m not looking for happy ever after,” she said, rolling her eyes again. “I’m twenty freaking years old. I just want a good time.”

  Twenty. Christ. I’d known she was young, but twenty? What the hell was I doing? I mean, yeah, she was legal—technically—but she might as well still be in diapers. Yet another reason Webs telling me to stay the hell away from her was a perfectly reasonable response for a father.

  But we’d already come this far…

  “Good,” I said, “because that’s all I can give you. Because here’s the thing. Your father cannot find out about whatever this is between us. Not for as long as I’m playing here, okay?”

  “Oh, good grief.” She uncrossed her legs and shifted them before re-crossing them in the other direction, making me practically salivate. “Dad’s all bark and no bite. Besides, he just needs to butt the hell out of my love life. He’s not going to—”

  “This isn’t up for discussion or debate,” I cut in. “Look, if my place on the team wasn’t already on the line—”

  She held up a hand, stopping me. And she truly looked confused. “Wait, what do you mean? Jens still has a concussion, right, so he’s not going to be playing for a while. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “Shows what you know,” I muttered beneath my breath. But then I met her gaze and decided I might as well lay it all out there. I didn’t owe Dani any explanations, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t stop them from pouring out of my mouth. Besides, maybe if she truly understood how precarious things were, she’d make more of an effort to follow my rules. “There are a lot of young defensemen in the system who’re ready for their time in the spotlight. Jim made it pretty obvious today that he’s looking for reasons to ship some of us older guys out. I don’t want to give him or any of the coaches a reason to look my direction when the time comes for them to make a move, okay?”

  “But they can’t trade you!” Shock and what might even have been a hint of outrage vibrated out of her.

  “I don’t want to go anywhere, but they can absolutely trade me if they decide that’s what’s best for the team. I don’t get a say in it. I don’t have a no-trade clause of any sort. And my contract is up this year, so I’m the easiest guy on the blue line to deal if that’s what they decide they want to do. I’m younger than most of them, still right in my prime. I’m trade bait, make no mistake about it. Okay? So not a word of this”—I waved an arm, indicating the pair of us—“can reach your father’s ears.”

  She pouted again, but at least she didn’t act like she was going to argue with me over it anymore. She wrapped her arms in front of her in a move that made her seem younger than she was. “So that means you can’t ever come over to my place, because Jamie and Katie would start asking questions, or they might say something to Dad without realizing it would be a problem. We’ll always have to come here. Or your club.”

  “We’re not going back to the club.” That tumbled out of me before I’d even thought about it. But yeah. No. It wasn’t happening. Too many guys had stared too hard at Dani already, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t want anyone but me looking at her that way. I didn’t want anyone in that club thinking she was available for whatever they might have in mind.

  She wasn’t available. For any of it.

  Not that I wanted to analyze my reaction just yet. Yeah, moving on.

  Dani’s eyes were wide in question.

  “Too many people could recognize you. Not happening.” Seemed like a decent enough excuse that didn’t touch on my envy issues.

  Besides, whatever happened between us should be private. Just between the two of us. Hell, she was only twenty. Too damned young and innocent for…for a lot of things. Things I’d already exposed her to. But I was going to have to brush that from my mind or I’d never be able to go through with what we were planning. That might be the better idea, of course, but for some reason, I wasn’t listening to that part of my brain tonight.

  “Fine,” Dani bit off. “So we’re not a couple, we only fool around here, and lips stay zipped around Dad. Got it. Now, can we get naked please? Because I’ve been a very naughty girl.” She ran a hand up her thigh, dragging her skirt with it, to emphasize her point.

  If only she actually believed that. Not that her lack of conviction did a damn thing for preventing my dick from responding. I pitched a tent in my pants, and I was almost positive I was drooling.

  With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes so I could focus, swallowing hard. “You have been. In more ways than you’re even aware of. But there’s more we have to talk about.”

  “Oh good grief, are you being serious right now?”

  Only as serious as a heart attack. “You need a safe word.”

  “Yes? Oh God? Harder? Do me, baby?”

  Further proof that she had no idea what she was getting into, and I should just stop things right now. Before I was in too deep. This was a bad idea from the get-go, and I should’ve listened to my gut from the start. I shook my head. “I think maybe you should just go home.”

  Yet again, Dani rolled her eyes. “Lighten up already, hmm? I know what a freaking safe word is, okay? I’m just giving you a hard time because you make it too damn easy to jerk on your chain.”

  Well, that was about to change, whether she was ready for it or not.

&n
bsp; Hell, it was changing whether I was ready for it or not, too.

  “All right,” I said, determined to regain control of this situation. “So your safe word is red. You say red, and everything stops. If you don’t want me to stop but you just need me to slow down or lighten up some, give you a minute to adjust, say yellow. Green means everything’s good to go.”

  “Street lights, hmm? How original. But I guess this means I can’t call you Big Red, then, can I?”

  “Everything’s a fucking joke to you, isn’t it?”

  She lifted a brow in response. Another freaking challenge, unless I was seriously misreading her. “Are we done with your rules?” she drawled.

  “Yeah. Done.” Not that I got the sense she had any intention of following them. And judging by what a brat she was determined to be, I wasn’t sure a single spanking would be enough to convince her to do things my way.

  “Good.” And without further warning, Dani stood up, stripped off her top, tossed it to the floor, and fixed her hands on the waistband of her skirt. She undid the button and zipper before letting the material slip down to pool at her feet.

  My tongue got thick at the sight of her luscious curves. Some women were too thin, but not Dani, and especially not where it mattered. She had hips you could really dig your hands into, plenty of cushion in the ass, and a set of tits so mouthwatering and perky I thought they could only exist in my dreams. Brain function went out the window at the picture she presented me with, her lacy pink bra and matching panties not leaving much to the imagination. A different head wanted to be in control now.

  She crooked a finger at me. “You’ve got a green light. Let’s do this.”

  I might very well be signing my own ticket out of Portland, but I didn’t let that stop me. Without giving myself another moment to second-guess myself, I crossed over, closing the distance between us. In my mind, I heard Jim Sutter’s pen as he signed off on the paperwork to send my ass to Timbuktu with Webs glowering in the background even as I reached for Dani.

  Maybe I’d end up in hell for this, but at least I could enjoy myself on the way.

  FINALLY—FINALLY—CODY’S hands were on me. He grabbed me by the hips and hauled me up against him, his mouth descending on mine like there was nothing he needed in that moment more than to feast on me.

  My arms were trapped between us, but I didn’t care. If there was anywhere I’d ever want to be trapped, it was in his arms.

  Opening for him was automatic on my part. He delved inside with his tongue and teeth, and I squirmed to get closer because the heat—dear God, the heat between us—was almost unbearable, just like I knew it would be. But I was almost naked, and he was still fully clothed in that freaking Mr. Rogers getup, and that just wasn’t going to cut it for me. I sucked on his tongue and worked at all the damn buttons going up his front, needing the sensation of his skin against mine.

  He growled and his fingers dug into my flesh as my fingers landed on his bow tie. I tried to rip the thing off, but it wasn’t a clip-on. Seriously? It was an honest-to-God bow tie, and he knew how to tie it? Dad couldn’t even tie a regular tie on his own. Mom tied them for him, and he packed them ready to go, so all he had to do was slip one over his head and tug on the end to tighten it, but Cody knew how to tie a freaking bow tie, of all things. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but that turned me on even more than I already was.

  He bit down on my lower lip and picked me up by the thighs, dragging a gasp from my lips as I tore through the knot and whipped the fabric free. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on for dear life. He broke off the kiss, but his lips and tongue and teeth started on a path down my jaw and neck to my shoulder. I tossed my head back, reveling in the way he nibbled then soothed all over the raging inferno that was my flesh.

  “Fuck, you make me lose my mind,” he ground out, carrying me over to the couch. He sat, adjusting me so I was straddling him. This was better. I could get my hands on him so much easier now.

  “So stop thinking.” Thinking was seriously overrated. Especially when it came to doing the nasty. I went back to work on stripping him down, because fuck, did I ever want to taste the salt of his skin.

  But he put one of those big hands over mine, stopping my frenetic efforts to get him naked. I looked up into his eyes, near-black with the same sort of hunger that was eating me alive.

  “Why are you stopping me?” I demanded. “I want you naked.”

  “I’ll get there. But I owe you a spanking first.”

  Oh. Yeah, he did. And damn if I didn’t feel a rush of moisture pooling between my legs at the thought.

  Still, now that it was really about to happen, my heart felt like it was going to pound its way out of my chest from the nerves. Because what if it actually hurt? A bit of pain was good, like when Cody nipped my skin with his teeth or when he’d pinched my nipples that day when he’d fingered me to completion against the door. But I wasn’t so sure how I’d feel about more pain than that. It seemed counterintuitive when it came to pleasure.

  I’d all but begged him to spank me, though. Hell, I’d even told him he was going to do it or else, and I wouldn’t accept him telling me no again. So I supposed it was only fair that I had to go through with it now.

  I bit down on my lower lip, trying to keep from showing him how nervous I suddenly felt. It just wouldn’t do for me to be wishy-washy over this now. Besides, I desperately wanted what was going to come after the spanking.

  Cody. Naked. Fucking me.

  Yep, I wanted that more than I wanted my next breath.

  So I tried to school my face into a seductive mask to hide my anxiety, and I batted my eyes up at him. “I’ve been a really bad girl, haven’t I?”

  “You’re scared shitless, aren’t you?” He let out a chuckle when I scowled at him, which pressed his hard-as-nails dick further against my belly. It pulsed with heat, which calmed me down some, but only slightly. Because it meant he wanted me as much as I wanted him, but he was getting off on my discomfort, damn him.

  “I want this,” I said, but even I recognized the pouty, whiny sound in my tone.

  “You’ve made that much clear. But you’re still scared.”

  I started to roll my eyes and look away because I couldn’t stand the knowing way he was staring through me, but he stopped me with a strong hand on my jaw, holding me in his gaze. The way he was looking at me was completely transfixing. I wanted to drown in his eyes. I wanted it so much that I tried to jerk my head away, desperate for a moment to get my mask back in place, but he wouldn’t let me.

  “Eyes on me, Dani.” His voice was firm, brooking no nonsense, but also calm and completely in control. He ran his other hand up and down my back in soothing strokes that compelled me to do as he said. “It’s okay to be scared or nervous. But it’s not okay to try to hide what you’re feeling from me. Got that?”

  “When have I ever tried to hide anything from you?” I shot back. I’d been as up front and open with him about what I wanted as was possible. For months. There weren’t many women in this world who saw what they wanted and just freaking went for it, but I did.

  I always had, and I always would. That was something I’d learned, being the youngest in my family. Nothing was just handed to you in this world. You had to go out and claim it.

  Well, I wanted him, and I’d been doing my damnedest to claim him. He was the one who’d been trying to lie about dating that Jasinda chick. He’d tried to pretend he didn’t want me just as much as I wanted him. He was full of shit in this case, not me.

  But that hand still wouldn’t allow me to budge, and his gaze still held mine trapped. “This isn’t just sex, Dani. This is different. When I spank you, I need your complete and total honesty. That’s why you’ve got safe words, but it goes beyond that. There has to be a level of trust between us, because it’s about an exchange of power. You’re putting your safety in my hands. It goes so far beyond just being physical.”

  Yeah, he was definitely full of shit. This w
as purely physical, even if he believed every word of what he’d just said, and based on the earnest expression drawing his brows together, he really did believe that. Maybe for him it was a spiritual experience or something, but for me, this was just about sex.

  Still, he didn’t act like he was going to get on with it if I didn’t give him what he wanted, so I nodded. “I get it. I’ll be honest with you. Red, yellow, green…I’ve got it.”

  He scowled, staring through me for a long minute. So long I thought he was going to shove me off his lap and take me home. But finally, he let out a grumbly sort of sound and nudged me to stand.

  Just like that, my libido came back on board. Anxiety, too, of course, but my libido was determined to win out.

  Cody straightened the legs of his pants and adjusted his junk, drawing my eye to the glorious boner threatening to rip a hole in the fabric. But before I could do more than lick my lips at the thought of sucking him off, he had his hands on my hips again, shifting me to the side.

  “Put yourself over my knees,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument.

  The combination of nerves and lust made it so that there was no blood flow getting to my brain since it was all traveling south to my pussy, and I didn’t have a clue what he meant. I blinked at him a couple of times in confusion. “Over your knees?”

  “Like this.” He gently tugged on my left arm, lowering me so that my midsection draped across his thighs and my ass was up higher than my head. My feet barely reached the floor because his legs were so long. Then he shifted me slightly, raising one knee even higher than the other, which raised my butt and left my legs dangling. I felt like I was going to fall forward, so I put my hands down to stop myself from falling, and Cody let out an approving sort of sound. “They call me Professor OTK, remember? Over the knee.”

  But his words didn’t exactly register, because now all the blood was rushing to my head. I felt more exposed than I ever had in my life. Yeah, I still had my bra and thong on, but that thong wasn’t doing much to hide anything from him. Positioned like this, I had no doubt he could see the evidence of my arousal.