“It was my pleasure.”
“It was too much money.”
“Not in the least,” he countered. “Every time you wear it, you’ll remember this day. And it’ll be tied to memories of me.”
Her breath hitched.
“You’ll remember New Mexico. You’ll remember your first taste of submission. More than anything, this is a symbol of that.”
“That’s a lot of symbolism in one bracelet.”
“It is,” he said. “That’s why I wanted you to have it.”
Even if he hadn’t bought her a remembrance, she would never forget him. “I appreciate the thought.” Aria leaned into him, wrapped her arm around his neck and kissed him. “I love it.”
“Just be glad it didn’t have a Kokopelli on it,” he replied, slapping her hard on the ass.
She yelped and giggled, enjoying their interaction.
He tucked her arm into the crook of his elbow and guided her back across the street to a sidewalk. Since she’d been in New Mexico, the days had started to lengthen slightly. But it was still dark early, and one by one, people were drifting away from the plaza, toward the few restaurants. Stores were starting to turn off lights and lock doors and the Native Americans began to put away their wares.
“Dinner?” he offered.
They wandered into a small restaurant that specialized in seafood.
“Seems odd,” she said, “in the heart of the Southwest.”
He nodded agreement as he accepted a menu. There’d been numerous awards posted in the window, so they’d agreed to give it a try.
It wasn’t just ordinary seafood, she realized as she took her first bite. The fiery, spicy-sweet prawns served with chile polenta were exquisite, as was the wine the waiter had suggested to accompany the meal. “I’ll admit, I was a skeptic,” she said. “When you live on the coast, it’s hard to believe anyone else can do fish well, but this was incredible.”
And so was the Wicked Mexican Chile Chocolate Cake served with a side of cappuccino ice cream.
“Fabuloso!” she exclaimed.
“Again proving you are fluent in dessert,” he said, before taking a drink of strong piñon coffee.
After dinner, they wandered around the darkened plaza to work off some calories before settling in for the thirty-five minute trip back to Los Alamos.
They barely made it before the grocery store closed for the evening.
As they wound their way back up the mountain, she fell silent. Their day had been exquisite, and she’d always cherish her bracelet. But all-too-soon the visit would be over, and the time with Grant would become nothing more than a memory. His gift had been tied with a bittersweet ribbon.
“You’re quiet,” he observed, sliding her a glance across the darkened compartment.
“Carb coma, I think,” she hedged.
“I’ve got a remedy.”
“Do you?” Aria shook off the sudden melancholy.
Inside, Shadow was waiting, and Molly turned on the lights as they went toward the kitchen. “I’m getting used to this welcoming committee,” Aria admitted.
“We’ll get your apartment set up. You can be our beta tester.”
“I love the idea. Does Shadow come in any other breeds?”
“I’d never thought of it,” he said as he put the milk away. “What’s wrong with…whatever he is. A Labrador, I think.”
“Nothing. But we had a cocker spaniel when I was growing up, and I’ve always wanted another.”
“I’ll consider it. Now, for tonight…”
Work projects were suddenly shoved to the side. “Yes?” she asked.
“Go to my bedroom, take the duffel bag out of the closet, lay out the toys on the bed, then kneel on the floor with the blindfold on and wait for me.”
She forced out a breath. When he’d mentioned a blindfold on a previous occasion, she’d told him she wasn’t sure about it. She knew that saying the word yellow would get her out of anything she didn’t want to do, but in the last day or so, she’d also decided to try as many new experiences as she could. As he’d said, she hadn’t known she’d like having her pussy spanked until she’d experienced it.
“Oh, and Aria?” He folded his arms across his chest in that formidable, Dom-like way that melted her resolve. “I want you naked.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Of course, Sir.”
It amazed her how much that one word changed her mindset, helping her slip from a day of work and an enjoyable afternoon out to a woman who craved her man’s touch.
She started down the hall. Then, realizing he was watching, she exaggerated her movements. If he was going to accuse her of sashaying, she was going to behave in a way that would find her guilty as charged.
The sound of his guttural groan was all the reward she needed.
With a saucy grin, she stopped at the entrance to his room, turned back toward him and blew him a kiss.
“You’ve just earned your first ever punishment,” he warned her.
Good.
Excitement and nerves collided, winding her tight. She entered his closet for the first time. The space was enormous, big enough for two or more people to peacefully coexist. His stuff barely took up a quarter of the space. She did notice, however, a pair of athletic shoes in a cubby. The neon color was so bright she was afraid it would blind her. She remembered seeing a picture of Grant, Julien, Reece and Kennedy all wearing them. It was hard to believe that four such accomplished men would put such garish shoes on their feet before going out in public.
Worrying that Grant might come into the room and find her not ready for him, she found the duffel on top of a shelf and pulled it down.
Her mouth dried as she took out each item and laid it on the bedspread. Cuffs. Two different blindfolds, one with lace trim, another made from leather. There was a paddle, a flogger made with stringy pieces of rubber, and an egg-shaped vibrator.
As she considered the toys, any doubts about Julien’s motivation were erased. All along, he’d been trying to set them up. She hated people meddling in her life, but there was no doubt that the time away had been worth it. She had more energy. She’d been more creatively challenged than she had in years, and Grant had shown her that there were men out there who were worth waiting for. Ending her engagement had been difficult, but now she was convinced she’d made the right—the only—decision.
She undressed, but she decided to leave the bracelet on. It seemed fitting.
Then she considered the blindfolds. The choice was easy. Leather. The scent of it, the feel of it, the way it would fit against her face. No doubt he’d like that one.
Exhaling to settle in, she knelt.
BDSM was part ritual, she realized as she put the blindfold over her eyes. The instructions, the touches, the verbiage…it created its own intimacy and relationship.
Being unable to see made her hearing keener, and she listened for his movements. She was reminded of the portrait on the easel. Originally she’d suggested that he had it there as a warning to potential subs. But now she thought of it as so much more. She related to the woman in the picture—her trust, her resolve, her transcendence.
Eventually, inevitably, Aria heard him.
Her heart did a slow thud.
She shook her head back, letting her hair fall down her back, and she placed her hands on the back of her neck, still waiting.
As he came closer, she thrust out her breasts, spread her knees farther apart and waited. Patience may not have been one of her greatest virtues, but she was learning.
His footsteps stopped. She inhaled, smelling the leather blindfold then…him. Even though she couldn’t see, she squeezed her eyes shut, savoring the anticipation.
“Stunning,” he said softly. “I’d imagined what you might look like, but I’m not brilliant enough to have filled in all these details. Your breasts are gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“And how’s the blindfold?”
“I’m okay with
it.”
“I mentioned you’d earned your first punishment,” he said.
But she wasn’t worried. There was no anger in his voice, only the thrum of desire on his vocal cords. “Yes, Sir.”
“No fear?”
“None,” she admitted. Then, thinking, she asked, “Should there be?”
“Perhaps.”
His response made her stomach plummet.
“I like the choice of blindfolds,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“What shall I spank you with, subbie?”
“Your”—she bit back her instinctive response—“choice, Sir.”
“I wonder what you might have said if you hadn’t remembered the correct response?”
He moved behind her, and it was all she could do not to twist him to follow him. Ridiculous, she knew, given the fact she couldn’t see anyway.
“I might have said, your hand, Sir, but I’d never be so bold.”
“What did you put on the bed?”
“A paddle, Sir. A leather one.” Either way, she wished he’d get on with it. She was a bundle of excited nerves.
“Stand,” he told her.
He put his hands around her waist to help her up.
“You couldn’t be any more perfect,” he said.
She dropped her hands to her sides and waited.
He obviously sat on the bed, and he drew her over his knee. Desperately, she put out one hand, trying to touch the floor with her fingers.
“I’ve got you,” he said, clamping a strong arm around her. “And if you don’t struggle, you won’t fall.”
She was very much aware of her precarious position with her naked butt upturned over his lap. But it was hot and sexy at the same time, made more so by the scratch of his denim jeans on her soft skin. The fact he was fully dressed while she was completely naked added a sense of vulnerability.
“Is your pussy already wet?”
“Yes,” she whispered, horrified.
“Just from the anticipation?”
She nodded.
“Then I wonder what you’ll be like in a few minutes when I’ve punished you for your submissive sass?”
His words, the harsh tone, made her squirm. “Why don’t you find out?” Quickly, she added, “Sir,” knowing it was too little and much too late.
He laughed. “Goading me?”
“You’re killing me,” she admitted. “I need you, Sir.”
“And now you can wait.”
She flailed her legs in mute protest.
He jostled her, sliding her from his knee, setting her upright and holding onto her until she found her footing. “Damn it,” she protested.
“We’ll start over,” he said.
Other than clenching her back teeth, she didn’t show any further frustration.
“Better,” he said. “I’m adding the nipple balls.”
Aria reminded herself that she’d endured them before. As long as he talked, touched, reassured, she could tolerate anything.
“Put your hands on your hips.”
Once she’d complied, he gently squeezed each nipple until they were aroused then attached the balls.
She was almost dizzy with arousal.
“Fuck. They do make you even more gorgeous. Now, would you like to behave like a perfect submissive, or shall I clamp your cunt, too?”
“Ah… I’ve learned my lesson, Sir.”
“Back over my knee then,” he said, helping her back into position.
This time, she kept her mouth closed.
He stroked her ass with his fingers.
In silent entreaty, she spread her legs to give him better access to her pussy, desperate for a single touch.
He ignored her.
She bit her upper lip to keep her mouth shut.
Before she was completely ready, he blazed his open palm on her ass. She arched her back and gasped. That had damn well hurt.
But the pain vanished immediately and she never considered asking him to slow down or stop. She wanted this.
His words from the first day replayed in her head. Live dangerously.
He gave her at least another half dozen swats, on her ass, on her thighs, moving quickly, not letting her absorb one before going onto the next.
It sparked a fury of arousal.
Only then did he stroke her pussy, quickly, harshly, shoving her to the edge with no relief.
“Punishment,” he reminded her.
And it wasn’t enough.
The next spank made her go stiff. He’d placed it just beneath her buttocks, and it had been harsher than the previous ones. He’d apparently moved on to the paddle, and its pain was different, more like the flogger, but broader, more concentrated.
It sounded different, too. Louder and hollower. She loved it.
Aria tossed her head from side to side, letting him know how much she approved. “Yes,” she whispered, but wasn’t sure she’d said it aloud.
He moved at a measured pace, working his way up with each strike. She no longer noticed the pain in her nipples, just the throbbing sensation on her butt.
Grant held onto her, keeping her in place, making her aware of his masculine power.
Damn. On so many levels, Grant got to her. Maybe Julien had been right when he’d said that Simon was the wrong kind of man for her.
She heard the echo of something thudding against the hardwood floor, and she realized he was fingering her pussy, fucking her with his fingers.
Then he moved her onto her back and she heard him unfasten his belt buckle, then the sound of his zipper. Even though she was blindfolded, she was aware of him taking a minute to roll on a condom.
He pulled her into position, her legs spread, knees draped over the edge of the mattress.
“You’re wet,” he said.
And he was hard. He impaled her in a single thrust.
The pain from the spanking, the bite from the nipple balls, the fury of his thrust combined to shove her headlong into a shuddering climax.
She bucked against him, and his hands were everywhere—on her clit, her breasts, prolonging the torment and driving her forward again as his cock swelled with arousal.
He pinched an already abused nipple and she surged forward.
“I… I…”
“Come,” he urged.
The word and his own orgasm were enough to make her shatter again.
By slow measures, reality returned, and she became aware that he’d taken off the balls.
“Close your eyes,” he told her before removing the blindfold.
She blinked several times to let her eyesight adjust to the light in the room. It was then she saw he hadn’t even managed to get all the way undressed.
He sat next to her and pulled her against him.
“How was your first punishment?”
“Anything but incentive to behave,” she confessed.
“As I thought. In that case, no more punishments for you. I’ll only do something like that if you’re very, very good.”
“Very, very good?”
“Extraordinarily so.”
She settled her head on his shoulder. “I liked that.”
“Yeah. You may be ready for more.”
More? There was more? “In that case, I’ll be extraordinarily good,” she promised.
* * * *
“What do you think?” Aria asked.
The video on the screen faded. This time, instead of a soothing landscape, the Bonds logo was displayed. Despite the fact it wasn’t 3D, it seemed to float above the wall.
Grant tapped his index fingers together. “It’s astounding. But is it enough?”
In the three weeks that she’d been at his house, their original idea had taken shape. The underlying concept was solid, but there were still hundreds of unknowns. The success of Project Molly depended on Julien’s ability to make deals happen, either by acquiring companies or working out agreements with them. And mostly, it rested on Julien’s interest. Bottom line, i
f he didn’t like it, it didn’t get developed.
This presentation was their only chance.
And given the fact Julien had become very interested in movies, he might scoff at this effort—or maybe not. He’d always liked being the star.
With help from their labs, they’d created a CGI image of Julien and added the sound.
Molly had spoken for herself during key parts. And they’d had Julien’s own theme music play at the beginning.
Still…
“What can we do different? Better?”
She slid from her stool and paced to the window, something she had done regularly since the day he’d fucked her up against it. She still hadn’t ventured onto either deck, but he hadn’t given up on that.
“Honestly?” she asked. “I think we’re there. We’ve gone through the objections.”
In fact, during some clandestine video conferences, they’d run it past a few of their senior engineers. They’d added several dozen more concerns.
Bottom line, no one thought it was insurmountable.
He studied her.
“The video is solid. It’s not Hollywood, but it’s not bad.”
And it was a sight better than endless slide shows.
The trouble was, the closer they were to the end of the project, the closer she was to returning home. Other than the fact that, greedily, Grant wanted to keep her, there was no reason for to stay.
Having her here had been natural, and more, he enjoyed her company. And the sex? Beyond anything he could have imagined.
He wasn’t able to fool himself, though. Good sex enhanced a relationship. It wasn’t the basis for one.
“You have to be the one to introduce it to him.”
“We can do it together.”
“He’s looking to you,” she reminded him.
That had been their biggest source of discontent during the past few weeks. The more she and Julien pressed Grant to take a bigger role, the more he protested. He liked his life. He had never agreed to be anything other than an engineer. Being cofounder hadn’t come with expectations of him taking a stage.
He reminded her of it again.
“Oh, please. Look at you when we’re in a scene. That’s a stage. You create the whole thing, set it up, script it.”
At that, he grinned. “You give me too much credit. It’s mostly extemporaneous.”
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