“I know,” Derek murmured, stroking her hair softly. Gently he manoeuvred her to her couch and pulled her into his lap. She curled up into a tight ball in his arms, and he just held and rocked her, stroking her hair. His murmurings were nothing she could make out, but she took comfort from the droning hum in his chest under her ear.
Eventually, the storm of her grief subsided into numbness again, and she just huddled there, clinging to his chest. She released the fistful of fabric and smoothed it over his chest with her hand, and suddenly she became aware of the flat slabs of muscle underneath. Her hand stroked slowly over the pectoral muscles and strummed over the tiny hard nipple standing at attention through the fabric, leaving him groaning at the sensation.
Awareness kindled in her womb, and when she shifted on his lap, she felt his hardened cock underneath her. She knew of one way to banish numbness… and she was sitting on it. “I’m not made of glass,” she murmured, turning her head to kiss his neck right behind his ear.
“Damn it, that’s not what I think,” Derek growled. He moved to stand up, but Ariel’s hand shot out and grabbed a handful of his shoulder-length blonde hair, jerking his head back roughly to expose more of his throat to her mouth. He grunted as her teeth grazed over his Adam’s apple, and that old smile of satisfaction stretched across her lips.
Normally, she felt powerful when she dominated a man.
Normally, she felt in control.
Tonight, she felt.
Still holding his head at that cruel angle, she shifted until she was astride his lap and ground down on his trapped erection. His hands came down to grip her hips and direct the movements, but she smacked the back of his hand. “Hands off,” she growled. You get what I give you, and nothing else,” she said.
“You remember I’m a Dominant too, right. I don’t take orders from my lovers; I give them.”
“You will take orders from me,” Ariel whispered by his ear, and to punctuate it, she nipped his ear. He shivered, and his cock lurched under her.
“Yeah… no,” he surged to his feet and Ariel could feel the swoop in her stomach. It was the most natural thing in the world to wrap her legs around his waist, but she nipped his ear harder in punishment for taking such liberties.
“Ow! Stop that!” Instead of dropping her, as she’d expected, he captured her lips and crashed against the wall, crushing her between it and his hard body. He stole the breath from her lungs with his kiss and ground up against her clit, finally breaking from her mouth to trail kisses down her neck.
Just as she lowered her feet to the ground, he gave her one last heated look before he dropped to his knees before her and worked at the button on her jeans.
“Oh, now you have the right idea,” she purred.
“I’m full of bright ideas.” He tugged her jeans and panties down over her hips and helped her to step out of them. The second she was free of the denim, he lifted one of her legs to drape over his shoulder and devoured her so that she had to hold on to his head for balance.
When last had a sub gone down on her with such enthusiasm? She normally kept her subs on a tight leash, and directed them in every little thing they did. With Derek, it was as if he were grabbing what he could before she snatched this treat away.
Her orgasm washed over her with almost no warning, ripping through her body and escaping in a cry of release. Her cry had barely finished echoing through her empty house when Derek stood, and after a brief fumble at his fly, impaled her in one hard thrust. She opened her mouth to protest, but instead he just sealed her mouth with his lips and Ariel could taste her own essence on his tongue.
“Fuck; you feel like heaven,” he gasped when he broke from their kiss.
“Don’t you dare come yet,” Ariel rasped in his ear. She felt that delicious tension building again, and grabbed another fistful of his hair so that she could look him in the eye.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Derek grunted; “ladies first.” He reached down between them and pressed a thumb to her clit, and her orgasm lashed through her even harder than before. Derek rammed into her a final time, his cock pulsing inside her.
His heavy breaths ruffled the fine hairs in her neck, and some of the strands of her hair caught on the stubble on his cheeks. They stood in her living room, caught up against the wall, him with his pants around his ankles, and her with no pants at all.
She didn’t fuck Dominants.
Fuck!
Ariel pushed Derek away and straightened her blouse, then stooped to pick up her jeans. “I think it’s time you went home,” she said coolly, but inside she was shaking. She stepped into her jeans; she hadn’t bothered to find her panties first, and felt them bunched up against her thigh inside the jeans.
“Excuse me, what?” Derek stared at her. “Just like that?”
“This was a mistake,” Ariel said, unable to meet his eyes.
“A mistake? The only mistake was that I didn’t use a condom, but other than that, there was no mistake.”
Ariel snorted. “I’m the owner of a BDSM club; I know how birth control works. You have nothing to worry about.”
“And I’m clean; thank you for asking,” Derek muttered. He buttoned his jeans and ran a hand through his hair. “This was not a mistake,” his expression softened. “Ari –”
“Thank you, it was most enjoyable,” she said, opening the front door and not looking at him. “It also can’t happen again.”
She could feel his eyes on her for a hard moment before he sighed and stepped around her to exit her home. He turned to face her, and the flood light from the parking lot lit him from behind, rendering him in silhouette, his hair a golden halo.
His voice was hoarse and he cleared it before trying again. “Lock the door behind me,” he said. He was obviously going to wait until she did, so she closed the door and turned the lock. A moment later she heard his footsteps on the asphalt outside, and she walked to her couch on leaden feet.
All at once the events of the night crashed down on her until she thought she was going to drown from the weight of it.
Her phone pinged with an incoming text.
DEREK: You should get a dog. A big, scary one like an Alsatian or a Rottweiler. I don’t like that you’re walking home in the dark every night, or coming home to an empty house. It’s not safe.
23:33
She bristled at the instruction, but softened at the idea that he worried for her safety. It was something her brothers would say. Her phone pinged again, and the message threatened to undo her completely.
DEREK: He’s going to be okay.
23:34
Don’t call him back, she told herself. Be strong! Don’t ask him to stay! She battled with herself, her lower lip trembling, and a minute later she heard the diesel Hilux start and drive away.
~*~
Derek was still reeling when he entered the waiting room to the ICU.
Ariel may have put on the Ice Queen mask when she kicked him out of her house, but Derek could not forget her abandon when he’d buried his face in her pussy, or her unguarded passion when she came apart on his cock. Derek’s heart clenched when he remembered Ariel clinging to him in the throes of grief, seeking comfort from him.
Gabriel was still sitting where he’d left him, elbows braced on his knees but facing the door to the ICU. “Any news?” Derek asked.
“They can’t save his leg,” Gabriel sighed. He sat up and rubbed his face in an effort to be more alert. “Hardly seems to matter when you consider he might not make it at all.”
“He’ll be okay,” Derek said, echoing what he’d told Ariel.
“Ariel make it home alright?” Gabriel asked.
“Safe and sound; walked her to the door myself.”
Gabriel nodded and returned to staring at the magazines stacked on the coffee table. Derek didn’t know Michael’s younger brother all that well; Michael had confided to Derek that Gabriel didn’t approve of BDSM, or his siblings’ involvement in it. That Michael had come out as bise
xual had caused a two year estrangement, and Derek knew it hurt Michael that his brother couldn’t accept him the way he was.
Ariel, for her part, had sided with Michael in the family feud.
Ariel.
The damn woman was infuriating!
“Go home, man,” Derek said. “It’s past midnight; I’m sure your wife is worried about you. You’re not doing anyone any favours staring at last year’s Cosmopolitan. I’ll call you if anything changes.”
Gabriel rubbed his eyes. “I’ve lost so much time already.” He exhaled a shuddery breath.
“Drive safely; you’re tired and it’s late.”
“Yes, Mom,” Gabriel said, but Derek saw a small smile.
“Go on,” Derek smiled.
Gabriel heaved himself to his feet, and Derek stood as well. He patted his pockets, checking for wallet, keys and cell phone, then offered his hand to Derek. “It was good to meet you, Derek,” Gabriel said solemnly. “I’m glad Michael has you for a friend.”
“I’m honoured to be his friend,” Derek shook Gabriel’s hand, then not letting go, pulled him in for a tight hug. “Now go rest, so you can give him a hard time tomorrow.”
“I will, thanks,” Gabriel pulled away and walked away, shoulders drooping with exhaustion.
Alone at last, Derek returned to his brooding.
He shouldn’t have slept with Ariel. His best friend’s sister. He’d been charged with taking care of her, and instead he’d taken advantage.
Yet, having had one taste, he was addicted. Every moment of their encounter had been burned into his mind, and if he lived to be a hundred, he’d never forget the sounds of her cries of ecstasy, or the taste of her tears on her lips as he’d kissed her. The softness that had come over her expression when she’d surrendered to him had spoken directly to his soul, but her panicked retreat from the intimacy they’d shared had left him reeling with rejection.
He wanted to murder the man who’d caused her to fear being vulnerable with men.
She’d retreated behind the walls she’d erected; if Derek wasn’t careful, she’d slam the door too. He needed to approach this the way he approached the horses he rescued – with patience. No matter how long it took, to win her trust would be worth it, but if he fucked this up, he’d lose his chance at making her his.
And as if the stakes weren’t high enough, he’d lose Michael’s friendship too if he hurt his little sister.
So patience, Derek. The risks are great, but the rewards are worth it.
Also by Marilize Roos:
Short Stories
Nicked
While We Wait
Historical: The Lords of Good Hope
Benedict
Darien
Quinn
Paul
Coming Soon:
Kevin
Baxter
Contemporary BDSM: Club Angelus
Coming soon:
Ariel
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Marilize
Michael Page 27