by Cathryn Cade
He smiled hesitantly, revealing his gold-capped teeth, one missing on the left side, and the same cheek creases as Jake’s, only deeper. He nodded at Carlie, his gaze going back and forth between her and Jake.
“Hey, sonny,” he said in a cigarette-roughened voice. “Come up to see you. Didn’t know you’d have company.”
And although he had conflicted feelings about his father, who had spent a lifetime being irresponsible, and choosing his vices and his slut of a wife when he should have dumped all that to take his son far away from it, Jake didn’t show this. Instead, he walked forward and put out his arms, giving his father a hug, then a clap on the back. “S’all right, Dad. Good to see you. Got someone for you to meet.”
He turned and held out his hand for Carlie. He froze, drinking in the look in her eyes. They were soft, the blue luminous with emotion, and she was smiling at him with such sweetness he wanted to freeze that look and carry it with him for eternity. He didn’t know what he’d done to put that look there, but please God he didn’t do anything to chase it away.
“C’mere, baby,” he said. It was a command but fuck if it didn’t feel more like a plea.
She came right to him, and warm, possessive pride swelled in his chest as his arm slid around her, pulling her against his side. Damn, she was something special, and she was his, at least for now. He hadn’t had a proud moment like this since he was commissioned in the Marines.
“Carlie, my dad, Ray Stone. Dad, this is Carlie.”
“Hi,” she said sweetly. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Stone.”
Jake’s father laughed and squeezed her hand before letting it go. “Hell, honey, nobody calls me Mr. Stone. I’m Ray.”
“Ray,” she agreed and leaned into Jake’s side, her arm around his waist.
Ray Stone clocked this and then rocked back on his heels, shaking his head. “Damn, son. Got yourself a keeper.”
Jake’s arm tightened on her waist. “I know, Dad.”
She looked up at him, surprised now and pleased, but he had no time to process this because Ray Stone was speaking again.
“I, uh, got someone for you to meet too, sonny.” He turned back toward the porch. “Charlene, you wanna come out and meet my boy?”
Jake stiffened. Shit. Ray had brought one of his barfly girlfriends here, today?
Then he blinked in pure astonishment, as a small, chesty woman with short blonde hair and freckles, wearing a plaid blouse and denim capris, stepped off the porch and walked to meet them. She wore little makeup and no jewelry, with canvas flats on her feet. She was completely unlike any of Ray’s former women.
“This here’s Charlene,” Ray said proudly. “Charlene, this is my boy, Jake, and his lady. Carlie.”
Charlene nodded at both Jake and Carlie and smiled, comfortable in her own skin. They exchanged greetings, and Charlene looked around. “You have a real nice place here, Jake.”
“Thanks.” It was then he remembered he was the host. “C’mon in, everyone. We’ll have some coffee.”
Inside his living room, Ray pointed out that he and Charlene had been driving for a while, and Jake pointed the way to the main bathroom. Charlene headed that way. Carlie offered to start the coffee.
Jake nodded, told her everything was out on the counter and turned to his father. Ray watched Carlie walk into the kitchen. He was smiling.
“She’s a real classy girl,” he said quietly. “You done good, sonny.” His gaze cut to Jake. “I can tell, the way you look at her, the way she looks at you, this is gonna last.”
Jake’s chest tightened at this. “We’re just getting started,” was all he said. “Ah, Charlene’s nice.”
Ray nodded. “She is. Don’t put up with any shit, though, I’ll tell you. Keeps me walkin’ the line.”
“Thought you two were quits.”
Ray’s cheeks reddened. “First time in a long time, sonny, I realized that I do not want to screw this one up. Went back, apologized for being an asshole. She took me back, on condition I go off on her again, I don’t come back.”
Jake thought about this. It seemed he and his father had both screwed up and been forgiven. Wasn’t that a fuckin’ trip. He and his old man, at the same stage in their respective romances.
“Know what you mean,” he said wryly. “Been learning how to apologize too.”
His father ducked his head and stared at his foot, scuffing the pattern in the carpet with his motorcycle boot. “Sonny…” He shook his head and Jake waited, frowning.
“What, Ray? Spit it out.”
“Just wanna say, your mama… She was hard on us both. Occurred to me lately, watchin’ Charlene with her boy, that I shoulda just taken you and split. Got you away from her.”
Jake shook his head. “Dad, appreciate the thought. But thinkin’ back, that probably wouldn’t have worked. If she’d called the cops on you, your next stint in jail you would’ve had noncustodial kidnapping charges to deal with too.”
Ray’s jaw tightened. “You’re right. She was just bitch enough to do it.” He looked at Jake. “Just to say, though, don’t you let what you saw with me and your mama screw up what you got with Carlie. It don’t have to be like that, all scratchin’ and clawin’.”
“I know. Carlie does too. She comes from class. She’ll also give me hell if I fuck up with her.” Or at least so he hoped, because he wasn’t altogether sure he would always know when he fucked up. He just knew he didn’t want to lose her again.
Ray poked him with an elbow, his eyes twinkling. “Lucky for us, we got what it takes to get ’em purrin’, eh?”
Jake winced. He did not need the image of Charlene and his father purring or anything else.
“Let’s go get a cup of coffee,” he said.
Charlene had to get back to take the afternoon shift at her bar, so after a visit that included two cups of coffee and a brief tour of Jake’s house and yard, Carlie found herself standing with Jake on his porch to wave them off.
“That was nice,” she said when the old truck had roared away, Jake’s street once again quiet. She looked up at him. “You okay?”
He nodded. “Yup. I’m good. Think my dad’s finally found a woman who can keep him out of trouble.”
Then he turned, his other arm sliding around Carlie as he brought her against him. He looked down at her. “You gonna keep me out of trouble?” he asked in a low voice that said he did not mean it.
She shook her head, giving him a teasing look. “Nope. You’re in charge, Sergeant.”
His gaze heated, his hand cupping her ass and squeezing. “That’s right. Glad you remember that. Think I’m ready to show you some of the trouble I got in mind for you.”
She shivered and then frowned. “Dinner with my folks. Can’t get in too much trouble.”
“We’ve got time.”
She shivered as she remembered some of things he’d promised her would happen next time she was restrained. “But the club’s closed on Sundays.”
Jake’s brows went up. “You think I got nothin’ here at my house?”
Her eyes widened with excitement and nerves, and it was his turn to smile wickedly. “My baby likes that idea. She’s hot, she’s sweet, and she’s ready.”
He stepped back, her hand in his, and led her inside and through the quiet house to his bedroom. At the foot of the king-size bed, he turned to her. His face was serious now, his gaze weighted with portent.
“Never brought a woman here before,” he told her. “You’re the first. The only.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She stared up at him, her free hand on his chest for support. “I am?”
He nodded. “And there’s somethin’ you need to know. We do this, here and now…it means somethin’ to me. Lot more than just a scene at the club. Means we’re together. So if you don’t want that, don’t trust me enough to really be with me, you need to tell me now.”
Happiness and fear swelled in equal proportions. But then sweet certainty settled in her, and she smoothed her hand up
his chest to cup the wide, smooth, warm angle of his jaw. “I want this. I want you, Jake. And I trust you.”
His eyes blazed. “Good. Then come here.”
He kissed her, hard and deep, then lifted his head, both of them breathing hard. “You gonna be a good girl?”
Her pussy clenched at the hard note in his deep voice, the utter command in his silver gaze. “Yes, Jake.”
He nodded. “Good. Then strip for me.”
He watched as she drew her T-shirt and tank over her head in one motion, and shook her hair back. With his gaze on her, she unzipped her shorts and shimmied out of them.
“Pretty in pink,” he muttered. “Those are nice, though I’d love to see you in a thong again. If I buy you some more, you gonna wear ’em for me?”
“Maybe,” she said daringly.
His gaze narrowed. “Now that’s not my good sub talkin’.” He shook his head slowly. “Wasn’t plannin’ to do this today, but you leave me no choice.”
Alarm tightened her skin into goose bumps. “What? I was only teasing, Jake.”
He lifted his brows at her, and then reached down to grab the hem of his shirt and pull it up, over his head. He tossed it aside and walked over to open a drawer in the large bureau by one wall, then sauntered back to sit on the bench seat of the chest at the end of the bed. He patted his thigh.
“You should know better than to tease your dom, baby. Now come here and take your punishment, and then we can get to the good stuff. Gonna eat your pussy before I fuck you.”
Carlie frowned at him indignantly. “Jake. I don’t—” she began, then bit her lip as he gave her a hard look, his brows coming together. She’d only meant to flirt a little.
But now she’d aroused Jake’s dominant side to full bore, and if she wanted Jake—which she did, desperately—she was going to have to do as he said.
She walked to him.
“Take off your panties,” he commanded quietly. She pushed them down and stepped out of them, standing before him in only her pink lacy bra, her skin so hot she felt as if she might burst into flames there before him.
He held up his hand, and she gasped as she saw what he held. A small silvery object, smooth and flared at one end, and a bottle of lube. “Promised you something in your ass next time I spanked you,” he said. “Didn’t I?”
“Yes, Jake,” she whispered. Her ass tightened in protest. Then she frowned at him. “Wait, wait. Yellow. If you’ve never brought a woman here, why do you have that?”
“Fair question. Deserves the truth. Because I knew I wanted you here and that I wanted to be ready. So I’ve been doing some shoppin’.”
She stared. “You went shopping for that?” She tried to imagine him picking it out and paying for it.
His eyes twinkled. “Internet, baby. There’s some reputable sites online. A dom can find anything he wants. Lotta women shop there too, from the selection of vibrators.” He raised his brows at her. “Any more questions?”
Carlie wanted to ask what else he had in that drawer. Or maybe not. She shook her head.
“Then come here, and let me put it in you. Then we’ll get your punishment out of the way.”
Slowly, part of her longing to whirl and dash from the room, and part of her trembling with a strange excitement, Carlie knelt on the bench beside him and then lay over his lap. The cool air and his heated gaze caressed her naked ass, presented for him.
“Up a little more, baby.” He cupped her hips with his hands, warm and calloused, and showed her exactly where he wanted her, with her thighs over his, her knees barely touching the bench and braced on her elbows, her hair falling around her face.
“Can’t believe I’m doing this,” she muttered.
The bastard laughed, his warm hand caressing her bare ass and squeezing the fullness of one cheek. “You know why, sub. Because you need it. Need to know who’s in charge, and that I’m gonna take care of everything.”
He stroked down into the crevice between her ass cheeks, his fingertips delving teasingly into her wetness. He traced her opening and then stopped.
“Now ask me sweet, baby.”
“Ask you what?” For mercy?
He smacked her, just hard enough to sting. “You know what for. Ask.”
She groaned, even as her pussy clenched with excitement. Then she gave in to his stronger will and to her own need. “Please, um, put that thing in me.”
“It’s an acorn,” he said helpfully. “Small one, ’cause I don’t wanna hurt you…too much. Bought it just for you, baby. So ask me for your acorn.”
She hung her head, pressing her forehead into the smooth wood of the bench, hiding her hot face, even though she couldn’t hide from her dom. “Please put my acorn in me.”
He smacked her again, in a different spot, and harder. “Where, sub?”
“In my ass.” She was going to kill him, slowly, for this. And she was never letting him fuck her again.
She jerked as cool lube drizzled between her cheeks. Then he stroked it over the tight ring of muscle, and heat twined through her from his touch on the sensitive, forbidden place. This was so much naughtier here than it had been at the club. It was broad daylight, and this was his home, his bedroom, not a place that had been built and decorated for kink.
“All right,” he said, one hand flat on the small of her back, warm and soothing. “Here it comes, baby. Press back against it, that’s right. Good girl.”
Pressure, discomfort until she did as he said and pressed back, letting the body of the acorn inside. Then it popped past the ring of muscle and it was in, the flared head keeping it in place. She wriggled, adjusting to the stretch and the tingle the intrusion sent through her pussy.
Jake stroked her over her upturned ass and down her thighs. “Damn, that’s pretty, baby. Gonna be even prettier when your ass is nice and pink.”
He pressed down more firmly on her back and then smacked her hard with his other hand. Carlie jerked and let out a squeak of shock. It stung, and when her muscles tightened, her ass clenched around the acorn. She felt too full there, but her pussy felt empty.
“That’s right,” he said. “Keeps you from tightening up. Makes you feel every one.”
He spanked her again, again and again, in a new spot each time. None of the smacks were very painful, but they came in quick, stinging succession. With each one, the acorn sent sensation rocketing through her until Carlie felt as if she were going to implode—bad or good, she wasn’t even sure.
Fire built under her skin and in her pussy until she was whimpering. “Jake, stop—please. I can’t—I need—”
She clutched at his leg, hard and dusted with hair. He grunted as her short nails dug into his skin and bent sideways, leaning on his elbow to brush her hair aside and peer into her face. “You ready to come, baby?”
How had he known? She cast him a wild look and found his gaze waiting, full of such knowing tenderness that tears filled her eyes. She nodded, biting her lip.
“All right.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and stroked between her ass cheeks, thrusting his fingers into her pussy. As his forearm and wrist brushed her stinging bottom, and his calloused fingers delved into her pussy, she whimpered.
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “I’ll give you what you need, baby.”
He pressed the acorn with the heel of his hand as he stroked deeper in her pussy, this time with three fingers. The pressure, combined with his insistent stroking, was irritating and delicious at the same time.
“Jake,” she whimpered.
He found her G-spot, and Carlie pushed up into his touch. “That’s it,” he urged. “Fuck yourself on my fingers, baby, while the acorn fucks your sweet ass.”
“Jake. Oh my God. Jake.” She came, her body spasming as she rode his fingers into a hard, sweet orgasm that left her lying over his lap, limp with pleasure.
“Hold on,” he said. “Let me get this out.” He used a tissue to deal with the acorn, lifted her up in his arms and moved her to the bed, turn
ing her onto her back, her head on the pillows. “Now you can thank me,” he said, pressing a hard, swift kiss to her mouth.
“Thank you, Jake.”
“You’re welcome, baby.”
Carlie dragged her heavy eyes opened as he opened the front fastener of her bra, and stripped it off her. She smiled at him, enjoying his gaze on her bare breasts and the caress he gave each one.
Then he lifted her hands over her head on the pillows. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Not what I’m doing,” he said. “What you’re gonna do for me.” He placed her hands on the heavy, smooth crossbar of the spindle headboard. “Hang on there, and don’t move your hands. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded, curving her hands round the smooth wood. That was easy. “Yes, Jake.”
He gave her a look that sent a shiver of nerves over her skin. “Good. ’Course if you don’t, I have rope and cuffs. I can tie you up if needed.”
“You do?” He had a lot of supplies in that drawer of his.
He stood to unfasten his shorts, revealing his erect cock in all its splendor. “Baby, this is me. ’Course I do.” He looked her over. “You sure you can hang on by yourself?”
She nodded quickly.
“Good.” Then he knelt on the bed, put his hands on her knees and pushed her knees gently but firmly apart. Far apart and back, so that she was completely open and bared to him.
He sat back on his knees, his gaze dropping as he palmed his cock, stroking himself. Carlie realized with horror that he was admiring all that the pose revealed, which was pretty much everything. She made a small sound of protest, her knees moving inward. His gaze flew to hers, his eyes narrowed.
“Told you not to move. Guess I’ll have to tie you up.”
“No, I’ll be good,” she promised instantly. “I will.”
He considered this, head cocked to one side. “Whatever I want?”
Oh dear. “Yes, Jake.” And somehow, saying the words aloud relaxed her, made her realize she wanted to please him, wanted him to have what he wanted from her. She smiled at him. “Whatever you want.”