Chapter Six
Drew smiled as he approached the one woman who managed to turn him upside down every time she glanced his way. He’d snuggled up to Audrey at the party the day before, but only to see how she would react. After their tryst in the corner, he had left her alone only to keep an eye on her from a distance.
Now she was on his turf — in his club.
Brad stood and shook his hand. “Hey, Drew. Good to see you.”
“You, too.” He tipped his head in silent communication, asking permission to speak to Mandy. With a quick nod, Brad gave it.
Drew reached out a hand and helped Mandy to her feet before he hugged her. “Nice to see you too, Mandy.”
After the pleasantries were finished, he finally turned his attention to Melissa and where she sat in stunned silence. He almost laughed at the expression of shock on her face when she’d turned to meet his gaze across the expanse of the club when he’d entered. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet before he brushed his lips across her cheek and whispered, “Little sub. I’m happy you’re here.”
She pushed against his chest and leaned back as she hissed, “I’m not your sub.”
With a soft chuckle, he replied, “Oh yes you are, and if you don’t want some other Dom trying to take you under his wing, I suggest you play the part.”
“What do you mean?”
He moved around her and took her seat before he pulled her into his lap and bound her hands together with one of his. “Let me explain the way things work here. You are either a Dom or a Sub. You, sweetness, are a Sub. I, on the other hand, am a Dom. A Sub chooses her Dom in most cases. Now, either you can choose to be my Sub or you can select someone else in this club, but I’ll warn you, most everyone here wouldn’t take the time to train you as I will.”
“Train me?” she whispered so low he almost missed it, but he smiled at her words.
“Yes little sub, train you, but first things first. Do not look a Dom directly in the eyes. Some of them take offense to a sub meeting their gaze. Every Dom or Dominatrix will be addressed as Sir or Madam in the case of the latter.”
She struggled to be release from his hold. “Let go, Drew.”
“I already owe you ten swats. Shall we make it twenty?” He brushed her ear with his lips. “I know where a riding crop can be located or a flogger, but I enjoy my hand on your bare ass.” She stilled in his arms. “You, little sub, need to learn who your Dom is.”
He lifted her from his lap and stood beside her before he took her hand and started for the stairs. Brad owned a suite here and he’d already told Drew he could use it anytime it wasn’t already in use, like now.
“Where are you taking me?”
Refusing to answer since she hadn’t addressed him correctly, he shot her a glance and continued down the hallway until they reached their destination. Fishing a small key from inside his pocket, he quickly unlocked the door, gently pushed her inside and shut it behind them.
“You will address me properly, little sub. Any time you address me, you will end the statement or question with, Sir.”
“Fuck you.”
A soft chuckle left his mouth and he shook his head. “Not until you beg me to.”
She grasped the doorknob and jerked but nothing happened. “Let me out of here.”
“Oh no. We have some things to work out between us and we aren’t going anywhere until we do.”
Her arms crossed over her breasts and she leaned against the still locked door.
He turned his back to her and walked toward the spanking bench strategically placed in the middle of the room. “Brad keeps this place well stocked with instruments of punishment.”
“Instruments of torture, you mean.”
“You enjoyed my hand on your ass, Liss. The slickness of your pussy when I did, gave away the thrill you felt. I’m sure you remember the consequences of lying to your Dom.”
She clamped her lips together tightly.
Reaching for the riding crop carefully displayed in the rack on the wall, he took it down and studied it with a keen eye and rolling it between his fingers. “Things such as this can be pleasant without leaving marks. A good Dom never marks his sub permanently. He or she only leaves a stinging red welt to remind a sub what she’s done wrong. The feeling can be very erotic.” He walked purposefully toward her and took her hand, stroking her thigh with the end of the crop. “Shall we see if you enjoy the crop or my hand more?”
“Neither.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t understand why my little sub is so upset.”
She jerked away from him and moved deeper into the room before she spun around, eyes blazing. “Shall we start from the beginning? You used me to get the key to my security system so the competition could steal our secrets.”
He took a chair next to the wall and let her rant.
“I let you fuck me, for God’s sake!”
“You enjoyed it.”
With hands planted on her hips and her hair caressing her shoulders in long waves, she looked fantastic. He’d seen her in her element at the office, taking down his brother-in-law and putting him in his place, but he knew exactly how much she liked a firm hand and his dick hardened in his pants.
I’m going to enjoy taming her immensely.
Her breath came out in a forced exhale and he smiled at her obvious frustration.
“You spanked me!”
“And you’re wet right now, just thinking about it.”
She shifted her stance and he knew he’d guessed correctly as he attempted to hide his smile behind his hand.
“I don’t believe you! Are you so full of yourself and your high and mighty attitude that you can’t see past your own wants?”
Coming to his feet, he moved toward her and her eyes widened with a slight bit of nervousness reflected in her gaze. Anger reverberated through him.
“Listen to me.” He pulled her hard against his chest, let his mouth hover over hers and bent her backwards so she was helpless against his strength. “I did what I had to do to protect Caroline, you know that.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I would do it again in a heartbeat for anyone I cared about, including you.”
Her eyes widened to almost round saucers.
“If I must pay for doing what I did, then so be it. The consequences are mine to take and I’ll do that willingly to protect those I love.”
He tapped the crop against his leg before he let it slide up the inside of her thigh.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“Right now I would like nothing more than to strip you down to bare skin, bend you over that bench behind you and make your ass glow red, but I won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because a Dom never takes his sub when he’s angry and right now, I’m so furious with you, I’m afraid I’d hurt you. You have to trust me, Liss, and from the words you said, you don’t.”
Releasing her quickly, she stumbled back but caught herself against the spanking bench. He leveled a frustrated stare on her before he turned around, threw the crop across the room and headed for the door. With a quick flick of his wrist, he unlocked it and left it hanging open as he moved toward the front entrance of the club.
He pushed the steel door open and let the hot July air caress his face as he stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. Grumbling under his breath, he headed for his truck and a stiff drink.
* * * *
Melissa watched him leave with a heavy heart.
Why did I say those things? I know he only did what he had to do for his sister.
She sighed and left the room. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Brad and Mandy sitting in the same spot, but now her cousin sat in her husband’s lap and his hand caressed her bare thigh.
“May I speak, Sir?”
“You may,” Brad answered and Melissa winced.
Is that what I really want with Drew?
“What happened up t
here?”
“Nothing, why?”
“He left in a pretty big hurry.”
“He left?”
“Yes.”
“I think I made a huge mess of this.” Melissa sat down heavily in the chair she’d been sitting in before.
“Maybe you two needs some time apart.”
Tears burned the back of her eyelids and she dropped her gaze to the carpet under their feet. “I guess.” The next moment, Mandy’s arms went around her shoulders and she felt a tear slip down her cheek.
“You have to trust him, Lissa.”
“I’m not sure I can. He’s done nothing but lie to me since I met him.”
“How has he lied to you?”
She looked up and Mandy with a gaping mouth. “You can’t be serious! You know he made me believe you sent him to my house.”
“But he never told you I sent him, did he?”
“Well, no.”
“Then he didn’t really lie to you. You let yourself believe I sent him.”
“He told me someone close to me sent him there to take me home and force me to relax. He lied to me, Mandy, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for that.”
Mandy hugged her tighter and whispered, “Oh, Lissa. Don’t turn your back on what you have in your heart or you’ll be miserable for the rest of your life.”
Brad moved to where they sat in the chair and grabbed one had of each of them before he tugged them to their feet. “I think we need to go. How about you, babe?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. Let’s go.”
The ride back to their house was made in silence. Melissa didn’t know what to think anymore and the feelings running through her at ninety miles an hour, only confused her.
I care about Drew, I really do. I hated not seeing him for all these weeks even though I’m the one who insisted I didn’t want to see him again and then to have him tumble back into my life like he did tonight? She shook her head. Love him? I don’t know if that’s what these feelings are or not since I’ve never been in love before. I know he’s the first man to ever take me over the edge and make me lose control during sex. When he turned me over his knee and spanked me, yeah, it made me hotter than hell. I can hardly contain myself when he takes control and forces me to hold back my climax until he commands me to cum.
“Can you trust him with your heart?” her brain asked silently in her head.
A shiver rolled down her arms and she rubbed them to calm the chills.
“You okay, Lissa?”
“Yeah. I just don’t understand these feelings.”
“Maybe you and Drew need to have a real heart-to-heart talk.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know what I would say to him.”
“How about, ‘I love you’?”
Brad shot a glance across the cab of his truck at her and she turned her gaze back out the window as they drove up to the front of his and Mandy’s house, saving her from replying to her cousin’s words.
I don’t love him. I can’t.
“Thanks for taking me with you tonight. It was…interesting.”
“Just let us know when you want to go again. We usually hit the club once a month or so, at least,” Brad said before he gave her a penetrating look and disappeared into the house, leaving her and Mandy standing on the porch.
“What are you going to do?” Mandy asked.
With a heavy rush of air from between her lips, Melissa sighed and closed her eyes. “I wish I knew, Mandy.”
“You know I’ll support you in whatever you decide, but for what it’s worth? I think Drew would be good for you.” Mandy kissed her cheek and then disappeared inside the house.
* * * *
Papers. Stacks and stacks of papers lay scattered across her desk and she had no real ambition to even see what any of them were.
“You need to get out of this funk, Melissa,” Andrea advised from across the conference room table.
“I appreciate the advice, but I’m fine.”
“No you aren’t. You haven’t been fine for a couple of months now. Are you sure you didn’t take on too much with this promotion?”
“Of course not!”
“Well then, maybe it’s something in your personal life.”
“I don’t have a personal life.”
“There’s your problem then. You need to balance the two. One without the other is bad for you.”
“What? Are you studying to be a shrink on the side?”
Andrea giggled. “Actually, yes. Well, sort of. I’m in school to be a therapist.”
“Great,” Melissa grumbled.
“I thought you were dating someone?”
“What ever gave you that idea?”
“A little birdie told me.”
“Mandy?”
Andrea’s shoulders lifted in a shrug before she went back to sorting the paperwork across the table.
“She needs to butt out.”
“She’s worried about you.”
“There’s nothing to be worried for. I’m fine.”
“Yeah right,” Andrea murmured. “What are your plans for this weekend?”
“Work.”
“Wrong answer, boss.”
“My thoughts exactly.” The low timbre of his voice sent shivers down her arms and when she turned around, she had to suck in a ragged breath in a vain attempt to calm her now racing heart.
“What are you doing here?”
God, he looks good. His worn jeans formed to his trim thighs and stretched across them, making her fingers itch uncontrollably to touch him.
“It’s five o’clock.”
“And?”
“Five o’clock on Friday and we are going away for the weekend.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” She turned to say something to Andrea and realized her secretary had discreetly disappeared out the door and shut it behind her.
Traitor.
With a sexy sway of his hips and a wicked grin, he moved closer and she took a nervous step back, coming up against the immoveable solid desk behind her.
One callused finger slipped along her cheek before his whole hand dove into the loose confines of her hair, tugging lightly until she tipped her head back, her lips parting slightly.
“Oh, yes you are.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you want me.”
“Yeah right.”
He chuckled softly before his absolutely sinful lips brushed against her cheek. “Why are your nipples begging for my touch then?”
“They’re not,” she whispered, hating the breathless quality to her voice.
“I could take you right here on your desk. Your secretary would keep everyone out.”
Her breath hitched at the idea of him fucking her silly on the desk behind her and possibly be caught by one of her employees.
Exhibitionism? No way!
“Bend you over the edge and warm your ass with my hand for avoiding me the last two weeks.”
A moan escaped her lips and she felt like slapping him when the wicked smile returned to his mouth.
“I wasn’t avoiding you. I didn’t want to see you, I told you that.”
“You were keeping your distance and it’s something I won’t tolerate from you anymore.” He nibbled the edges of her lips and then said, “We’re going to Flagstaff. My parents have a cabin up there not being used. We’ll be alone for two whole days and two whole nights. Just you and me, babe.” Her nipples puckered into hard nubs. “I’ve borrowed a couple of things from Brad’s little room.”
Holy shit!
“But…”
“You’re mine, Liss. It’s my job as your Dom to make sure you get what you need.”
“I don’t need anything. I don’t want anything.”
“Oh, yes you do, sweetheart, and we are going to spend the whole weekend discovering those needs and making sure we take
care of each one. You may not get what you want, but you’ll get what you need.”
* * * *
What the hell was I thinking to let him bring me up here?
The cabin was beautiful sitting back amongst the pine trees all by itself. Drew’s parents obviously had money if the size of the house said anything at all. The front had large windows facing the setting sun. The bright orange glow bathed the living room in soft light as he stepped behind her and pulled her back against his chest.
“What are you thinking?” he whispered as his lips brushed her hair.
“I’m trying to figure out how I let you convince me to come up here with you.”
A warm chuckle reverberated through his chest and she could feel it at her back. “Because you’re curious, babe.”
“Curious?”
“Yep. You want to know about some of those things you saw at the club. How the sting of the crop would feel against your ass. What it would be like to be stripped and handcuffed to the bed while your Dom licks that sweet pussy of yours until you’ve had so many orgasms, you can’t think straight anymore.”
The wet slide of his tongue on her neck had her toes curling against the soft carpet beneath their feet. Gathering her courage, she stepped out of his embrace and turned to face him.
“I can’t do this, Drew.”
“Do what?”
“I can’t only have a physical relationship. I thought I could, but I’ve realized I want more than that. I’m thirty-five years old and although I’ve never had children, gravity is taking its toll.”
“Is that what you think we have?”
“Isn’t it?”
He took a seat on the couch and stretched his arm across the back. “No. You’re a very beautiful woman. A very desirable woman and I care about you.”
“Whatever. You know, until right before I went to the club with Brad and Mandy, I didn’t even know how old you were.”
“What difference does it make?”
She walked to the sliding glass door and peered out, taking in the pine trees and the filtering sunlight as the sun tried to disappear behind the hills. “You’re only twenty-eight. I’m fucking seven years older than you. I was already in second grade when you were born.”
“I repeat, what the hell difference does it make, Liss? I want you —you want me.”
“Then we’re back to the physical thing. I can’t deny you know what buttons to push, but I want more.” Sliding her palms down her arms, she tried to calm the hair standing up on the surface. “You would never be happy tied to someone that much older than you. After awhile, you would regret…”
Professional Liaison [Between the Sheets] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 8