Perception

by Nicole Edwards

  She raised her eyebrow, a silent acknowledgement that she was listening.

  “He’s going to meet us at Devotion later.”

  Mercedes swallowed hard, but her gaze didn’t waver from Xander’s. She’d already given herself a pep talk earlier. This was a commitment she’d made, and now she had to deal with the fallout. A deal was a deal and worst case, if she couldn’t survive this first test, she’d easily let Xander know at the end of the night.

  For now, she was committed to the next few hours, no matter what was on the agenda. She had no idea how Shane was going to react to whatever Xander had planned for her at Devotion, but she couldn’t very well argue after she’d entered into this agreement with her eyes wide open.

  “You don’t care to know what he said?” Xander asked, an indiscernible tilt to his full lips the only sign that he was amused by her reaction.

  “Of course I care,” she said with a matching smile, trying to hide her reaction to his teasing.

  When Xander didn’t offer more details, Mercedes laughed. “Quit playing with me, X. Just tell me what he said.”

  “He said he’s looking forward to seeing us tonight.”

  “He didn’t ask any questions about why I wasn’t going to Kink? Or about why you and I were going to Devotion together?” Although the notion of their going out to various places together wasn’t completely absurd, Mercedes knew Shane was rather perceptive. Not to mention suspicious.

  “Of course he asked why,” Xander admitted, sitting back when Tony arrived to pour the wine.

  Mercedes tasted the rich red that Tony offered and then signaled her approval before turning her attention back to Xander.

  “And?”

  “I told him that I was taking you to dinner and then taking you to Devotion. I didn’t feel the need to explain my reasoning to him.”

  Mercedes knew his explanation hadn’t been accepted without more questions. Rather than push Xander, she sat back, waiting patiently.

  He laughed. A brilliant, rich sound that made her insides jump to attention. She loved when he laughed. It was such an amazing sound, probably because it was so rare. At least like that anyway.

  “I told him he’d be seeing a lot more of you tonight.”

  “You did not!” Mercedes gasped.

  Xander laughed again, which settled her somewhat. The man was incorrigible.

  “No, I didn’t. But you and I both know that it’s going to happen.”

  Mercedes wasn’t all that worried about Shane seeing more of her, as Xander put it. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen plenty of her before. When they played at Kink, the individual play rooms were all open to the public. The private rooms could be viewed if the participants chose so there were plenty of times Shane could’ve witnessed a scene between her and one of her subs.

  What she was worried about was what Xander had planned.

  “Are you going to use one of the main play rooms?” she asked, referring to the large glass rooms that were centered on the main floor.

  “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” he told her, another devious smirk teasing his lips.

  It was official, she was not going to survive the night.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “How’s your mom and dad?” Mercedes asked after Tony delivered their meals a short while later.

  They’d already made it through the salad course, shared another glass of wine and managed to talk about very little. Mercedes was nervous, there was no doubt about that. In a sadistic sort of way, Xander liked the idea of her being nervous. It meant she viewed this dinner as something more than two friends or two business associates enjoying a meal together.

  And this was definitely more than that.

  “They’re good. Right now they’re enjoying the sights in Columbus, Ohio.” At least that’s where they were when he’d talked to his mother early that morning.

  “Are they planning to head back here anytime soon?”

  Xander took a sip of his wine as he watched Mercedes. “Not if they have anything to say about it.”

  His parents, married for going on forty years, were retired and after plenty of discussions had decided they wanted to set out to see the world. Or more specifically, to tour any state within the US that they could physically drive to. Xander had bought them a recreational vehicle with all of the bells and whistles and he was pretty sure they hadn’t looked back since.

  That was three years ago.

  He talked to his mother every day to catch up on what they were doing or for her to grill him about what he was doing. Didn’t matter if the call lasted three minutes or thirty, he still made a point to talk to one or both of them every day.

  “Where are they off to next?”

  “As of this morning, they hadn’t decided. Either Michigan or Pennsylvania. I think they’re going to stay right where they are though for at least a week.”

  Mercedes looked up at him, concern in her eyes. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes,” he told her, cutting his steak. “At least that’s what my mother is claiming. My dad took a fall, but she assures me it isn’t anything to worry about. I told her I’d fly up to check on them, but she insisted that I not.” That conversation hadn’t gone over well, but when Xander had finally calmed down, he’d agreed. For now.

  Of course, at that point, Stella had changed the subject, wanting to know what Mercedes and Shane were up to since she’d apparently heard enough to suit her fancy about Xander’s day to day.

  Xander’s parents loved Mercedes. They had asked him more than once whether he was ever going to settle down with her and if he wasn’t, whether or not Shane was going to show better sense than he apparently had. He’d laughed, knowing what he did. Settling down wasn’t the issue. Neither was the notion of settling down with Mercedes.

  Xander knew that there were plenty of men and women who had relationship phobias or a constant need to push people away for whatever reason. Xander had none of those. He didn’t cringe at the prospect of getting married, settling down, having kids. It might happen one day. He was even fairly optimistic at thirty-five. He had a good childhood, he was close to his parents, and he didn’t feel the need to come up with some sort of reason he couldn’t get attached.

  What he did have a problem with was finding the right woman. They all seemed to take a keen interest in his bank account long before they showed much interest in him on something more than a sexual level. That’s usually about the time he would part ways.

  “Maybe you should surprise them,” Mercedes said, pulling him back to the conversation.

  “You mean fly up there?”

  “Sure, why not? I know you. You’re probably itching to go check on them.”

  There was no doubt that Mercedes knew him better than most people. Ever since his mother had informed him that his father fell, he’d been anxious to find out for himself just how his father was doing. However, since it wasn’t something he intended to do tonight, he decided to change the subject.

  Because he’d much rather talk about Mercedes, he said the first thing that came to his mind. “How’s your mother?”

  Mercedes looked up at him, gracefully laying her fork on her plate then dabbing at her mouth with a linen napkin before reaching for her wine glass. He saw the moment she attempted to shut down, and he immediately regretted the question. But rather than backtrack, he simply waited for her to answer.

  “She’s fine. Still in rehab.”

  It was the fourth drug rehab her mother had been in during the last two years. The woman was strung out, and she didn’t have any problems reaching out to Mercedes when she’d blown her last dollar on drugs. Mercedes, being the soft hearted woman she was, usually assisted financially, but he and Shane had finally managed to convince her it was time to stop enabling her mother.

  That hadn’t been a particularly exciting conversation, but they’d gotten through it after a heated screaming match. But, in the end, Mercedes had agreed with them and then somehow
convinced her mother to go into rehab. Unfortunately, her mother was using Mercedes’s money to pay for it, but, as far as Xander was concerned, it was better than Priscilla blowing it on coke.

  “Do you think this one is working?” he asked, encouraging her to open up a little more.

  “About as good as the last one,” she answered sharply.

  He had no doubt that Priscilla was only in rehab to ensure that Mercedes didn’t give up on her completely. He’d heard all the stories. She didn’t share with many people he knew, but she had opened up to him. And Shane.

  Priscilla Bryant had had a hard life. Married to a son of a bitch, she had taken the coward’s way out, staying with him so she wouldn’t have to get a job to support herself or her daughter. That was about the only good thing Mercedes’s father had done for either of them, she’d told them.

  For the last few years, Priscilla had jumped from job to job, mostly cleaning services that paid little more than minimum wage. But once she got tired of going to work, she just didn’t. And then she’d call Mercedes, ask for money, and Mercedes would grudgingly give it to her, knowing there was no way her mother would ever pay her back.

  Xander knew Mercedes was not fond of talking about her family. If at all possible, she preferred not to talk about her mother. She absolutely hated to talk about her deadbeat father who’d disappeared from her life just a few months before Mercedes graduated from high school. According to her, she was happy he’d left. To hear Mercedes tell the story, the abusive bastard had stuck around long enough so that he wouldn’t have to pay child support to Mercedes’s mother and not a moment longer.

  “How about we move on to a lighter subject?” Mercedes requested, picking up her knife and fork and pinning Xander with a look that told him she was not at all interested in the subject.

  Fine. He knew when to back off, just like he knew when to push back. For now, he’d let her have her way.

  Two hours later, Xander led Mercedes out of the restaurant and to the waiting limo. They’d taken their time through dinner, and once the conversation had detoured to business, it seemed as though Mercedes’s tension level had receded a few notches.

  Holding her hand while she climbed inside, he glanced over at Carson. “We’re going to Devotion. No interruptions. And I don’t care how long it takes us to get there. If we arrive before I give you the go ahead, continue to drive until I tell you.”

  “Yes, sir,” Carson responded, his face showing absolutely no emotion.

  The man had worked as Xander’s personal driver for not quite eight years. He knew exactly what to expect. He was paid well for his discretion and had never once interfered or questioned Xander’s instruction. It was the main reason he was still on the payroll.

  Xander climbed into the limo and allowed Carson to shut the door behind him. Reining himself in, Xander waited until the limo had approached highway speeds before he turned his full attention to Mercedes.

  “Take off your shoes and come here.”

  Mercedes glanced over at him, clearly startled by his request. To her credit, she didn’t question him, rather turned to face him slightly.

  “On my lap,” he instructed when it was clear he hadn’t been detailed enough.

  Mercedes’s perfectly groomed eyebrow cocked skeptically, but she didn’t argue. He watched as she slipped her shoes off, leaving them on the floor of the car before moving in front of him.

  He glided his hands up the outside of her thighs, relishing the warmth of her bare skin as he slid his hands beneath the short, billowy skirt, pulling her toward him so that she could straddle his legs. She clearly understood what he wanted because she slowly eased atop him, her knees on each side of his thighs.

  “Much better,” he told her, caressing her cheek as he just stared back at her. “I like you close.”

  “I like being close,” she admitted, startling them both with her unguarded response.

  He studied her momentarily, taking his time as he continued to caress her smooth cheek with one hand, while sliding his other hand higher and higher on her thigh, but never giving in to the temptation to take it further. Not just yet.

  “You’re committed to this?” he asked finally, despite the fact that it wasn’t so much a question as it was an acknowledgement.

  “I am,” she told him without reservation. “For tonight.”

  “And what about tomorrow?” he questioned, not exactly thrilled with her response. They had five days, and he did not like the idea of her backing out after one night.

  “Let’s take it one day at a time.”

  “I’m not going to go easy on you because you’re threatening me,” he informed her. “In fact, you might find yourself punished.”

  “It’s not a threat,” she assured him softly, her hand coming up to rest on his cheek, mirroring the way he was touching her.

  God he loved her touch. Loved the feel of her delicate fingers on his skin. He wanted her to touch him. Everywhere.

  Rather than force the issue, he let it drop.

  “Do you have any idea how much I’ve wanted you? Or for how long I’ve wanted you?” he asked, not expecting a response.

  “No,” she whispered, her head tilting slightly as she leaned her cheek into his palm. “Tell me.”

  “How about I show you.”

  Letting his finger slide down her cheek, he trailed his hands along each side of her neck, over her collarbone until he reached the swell of her breasts. The turquoise mini dress she wore was beautiful, he had to admit. It accentuated her curves, but more importantly, he loved that it was strapless. And short. Did he mention he liked that it was short because it showed off her magnificent legs?

  The woman had killer legs.

  If he’d had the chance to request her to wear something, it would’ve been exactly this.

  Reaching around behind her, he deftly unhooked the tiny hook and lowered the thin zipper down her spine until the dress fell free to reveal her breasts.

  She’d gone without a bra tonight and that realization made his dick harder than he thought possible.

  Glancing up, he noticed she was watching him, so he continued on his quest to get personally acquainted with every inch of her. Dropping his head, he focused his attention on her left breast, making a wide circle with his tongue around her areola. He took his time, tasting her, teasing her, inhaling her sweet, sexy scent. Intermittently, he would glance up, wanting to see the expression on her face.

  He moved on to tease her other breast, offering the same attention before leaning back and looking up at her.

  “Don’t stop,” she whispered, her fingers sliding into the hair at his nape. “Please don’t stop.”

  “Didn’t plan to,” he assured her as he leaned in again, this time focusing his attention on her nipples, using his tongue and teeth to tease them into tight buds.

  Sliding his hand into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, he pulled out a small box and once he was satisfied with how her nipples stood erect, he pulled back and looked at her again. Holding up the box, he waited for her to open it.

  She offered him a small smile as she reached up and flipped open the lid to reveal a set of crystal nipple clamps he’d ordered just for her. It was amazing how fast things could be delivered when money was no object.

  Mercedes lifted the chain made of stunning rose gold from the box, holding the clamps in each of her hands. They were going to be so fucking pretty on her.

  Unable to resist, Xander leaned forward again, sucking her right nipple into his mouth, this time more aggressively, firmly teasing with his tongue until Mercedes was writhing on his lap. When her head fell back, he released her, making quick work of the clamp and settling it into place as she gasped.

  He tightened the tension on the clamp, going slowly until she was wiggling against him, her other hand threatening to drop the other clamp.

  “Don’t let it go,” he warned her as he continued to admire the jewelry now in place.

  Gripping her wa
ist, Xander once again tormented her other nipple, lingering longer than he intended when she began to moan in earnest. Once he was satisfied, he pulled back and just as diligently attached the other clamp, tightening that one, as well. A small crystal dangled from each clamp while the chain looped down between her breasts.

  “Beautiful,” he said as he admired her puckered nipples. “Do they hurt?”

  “A little,” she admitted, her breaths ragged and choppy.

  “Have you ever had your nipples clamped?”

  “Not by a man, no,” she told him.

  Xander cocked his eyebrow, waiting for her to explain.

  “I own a pair because I wanted to know what they felt like. I happen to like them.” She grinned.

  “I happen to like them as well.” Quite a bit.

  With his hands on her hips, he pulled her closer, nestling the hard length of his erection between her thighs, wishing like hell he could bury himself inside of her right then.

  He would’ve too if it hadn’t been for the fact that the first time he took her, it damn sure wouldn’t be in the backseat of a limo. No, he was reserving his first feel of her pussy sheathing him for later that night. It was a damn good thing he had an endless supply of patience because Mercedes had the potential to push him to the breaking point.

  Unable to keep from enjoying how pretty her nipples looked with the rose colored gold dangling from them, he admired her a while longer, reaching into his pocket once again and retrieving a much smaller box.

  “More?” she asked, her chest rising and falling as though she were anticipating his next step.

  This one was going to take a little finesse on his part, he knew. The nipple clamps were one thing because they were for her pleasure as well as his. The next thing he wanted to give her was more than that. It was a symbol.

  One he fully expected her to balk at.

  ~*~*~*~

  The weight of the nipple clamps was making her crazy. The sensation was both tantalizing and a little painful, all at the same time, but the pain was a good one. An erotic one that heightened her awareness and left her hungry for more.