by HELEN HARDT
“Wh-What’s stopping you?”
I wince. Did I really just say those words?
If he dropped his pants right now and jammed into me, I’d have it coming.
“You are,” he says. “You’re not ready. But you will be. Hold still now.”
A few seconds pass, and—
“Oh!”
He probes me with slick fingers. Lube. Like he used the last time with the butt plug. It feels nice and silky.
“I’m going to put the plug in you,” he says. “You’ll wear it during dinner. It will help for later.”
I nod.
The stainless steel is warm this time. He must have warmed it in his hands. That was sweet of him. It probes my tight rim.
“Relax,” Braden says. “Breathe in, and then out.”
I comply, and as my breath flows out of my nose and mouth, he inserts the plug.
Nicely done. I hardly even felt it this time. Clearly, I’m ready for tonight.
He pulls me up and away from the counter and toward him. “Do you know what it’s going to do to me, knowing you’re wearing that plug while we eat dinner?”
“The same thing it did to you during your meeting while I was with Eugenie in New York?”
“Oh, you have no idea.” His voice has a rasp to it. It’s fucking hot. “That day, all I could think of was you sitting at Susanne Corporate with your sweet little ass filled. Filled with the plug I put there. You didn’t know yet, but I did, where we were going that evening. I was hard all day. All fucking day, Skye.”
“So was I.” I let out an embarrassed giggle. “I mean, I was turned on all day, during my meeting and all.”
“I know. That was my plan. I want you turned on while we eat our dinner.” He takes my hand and leads it to his erection, huge and magnificent beneath his jeans. “I’m hard as a rock already. So ready to stuff my cock inside that tight little asshole of yours.”
A soft moan echoes from my throat.
“But first, we eat. Don’t eat too much. I want you to have energy, but not to feel full. I don’t want you uncomfortable in any way tonight.”
“All right. It smells divine. What are we having?”
“Something simple. Lasagna. We’ll each eat a small portion, and there will be plenty of leftovers if we’re hungry afterward.” He lowers his eyelids slightly. “You’ll be hungry, Skye. You’re going to use a lot of energy tonight.”
I nod hesitantly. “Whatever you want, Braden. I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Marilyn makes excellent lasagna.”
“I’m sure Marilyn makes excellent everything.”
He leads me to the dining room, where the table has already been set. Two glasses of red wine sit beside the plates, and the lasagna is covered. An Italian loaf with olive oil for dipping, and a small green salad.
That’s it.
And it’s perfect.
Braden pulls out my chair, and I sit, very aware of my nudity and even more aware of the pressure of the plug in my ass. My nipples are hard and turgid, and they don’t escape his gaze. Are you going to get undressed?
The words don’t make it past my lips, though.
This isn’t about what I want.
Except that it kind of is.
Both Braden and Rosa taught me that. I have power in this relationship as well. Right now, I’m exercising my power to not speak. To not ask Braden whether he’s planning to shed his clothes. Because ultimately it doesn’t matter. Ultimately, we’re going to end up in the bedroom where he’ll take my anal virginity.
How we get there isn’t up for debate, and I’m okay with that.
Braden sits across from me and serves me a small square of the lasagna. The salad has already been plated, and a slice of bread sits on my bread dish. Then he serves himself.
This is a casual meal. Normally we’d eat our salad first, but tonight it’s all served together. I smile. He’s doing this for me. To make me comfortable. Even though I’m naked, he’s making this casual for me.
“Dig in,” he says from across the table.
I begin with a forkful of salad. It’s dressed with a honey-vinaigrette that sparks my tastebuds. Nicely done, Marilyn. I pull off a piece of my bread and dip it in the olive oil. More deliciousness and again my tastebuds react to a tang. The olive oil has been infused with something spicy, most likely cayenne or jalapeño with a touch of garlic.
And then the lasagna. The sauce is acidic with a hot spiciness due again to hot pepper. Something I wasn’t expecting. This evening’s meal seems to have a theme. Spicy.
Just like what’s coming in the bedroom.
Braden was right about only eating small portions. Too much spiciness could cause gastric distress, which would put a major damper on the evening. Yet the tang of the food will also enhance what’s to come.
He thinks of everything.
Braden raises his glass of wine. “To discovery.”
I pick my glass up and clink it against his. “To discovery.” Then I take a sip. The wine perfectly complements the meal, as usual. Its acidity and lusty spiciness is perfect.
“What wine is this?” I ask.
“It’s a Brunello di Montepulciano from Italy, made from the Sangiovese grape.”
“It’s wonderful. So juicy and spicy. Perfect with this meal.”
He nods and takes another sip. “Eat slowly. We’ll only have one glass of wine, as well.”
“Okay.”
I’m so ready. So compliant. I think he could tell me to do anything right now and I’d do it.
Submission is a wonderful feeling. To give myself over to another person I trust… Never in a million years would I have thought I’d find it so rewarding.
I take dainty bites of my food. I finish all of my salad, most of my bread, and half of my lasagna.
I pat my lips with my napkin and then rest it on the side of my plate.
Braden meets my gaze, his eyes heavy-lidded. “Are you ready, Skye?”
“Yes, Braden. I’m ready.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
My eyes pop into circles when I enter Braden’s bedroom.
Candlelight emits a soft glow, and something occurs to me. I’ve never before seen a candle anywhere in Braden’s place. Never. In fact, at our first dinner in New York, he asked the waiter to take the candle away from the table.
I never gave it a thought, but it makes perfect sense to me now, knowing how fire devastated his family.
This is for me. He’s given me candlelight, to make the mood romantic.
And if it’s possible, I fall in love with him even more.
He cups my cheek. “I was ready to take your ass that night at the club, but in retrospect, I’m glad it didn’t happen there.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.” He thumbs my lower lip.
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? This is where we should engage in that intimate act for the first time. That’s not to say we won’t do it at the club, too, but for the first time, we should be here, in an environment where you’re the most comfortable. Where you feel safe.”
“I always feel safe with you, Braden.”
“I know. I guess I’m not explaining what I mean very well. Let me be blunt. I changed my mind. I want to do it here. In my bedroom. I want to be here because this is something intensely personal to me. Personal and private, and I want us to be alone.”
“But Christopher and the rest of the staff—”
“Aren’t here. I sent them all away for the weekend. They’ll be back tomorrow evening.”
“Who will drive me home, then?”
“No one. You’re not going home this weekend, Skye. You’re staying here. With me.”
I smile. “That sounds good.”
“I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to make this
good for you in a way I couldn’t at the club. You’ll be pampered.”
I warm all over, and in the candlelight, my breasts glow. Braden takes notice, dropping his gaze and groaning from his chest. The low growl seems to flow from him and into me, lodging between my legs. I’m quivering. Naked and quivering, my ass ready to open up, drop the plug, and take all Braden can give me.
I’m so ready. I don’t want to wait any longer.
But this is Braden’s dance. We’re both moving, but he’s in the lead.
And I’m good with that.
“I’ve waited a long time for this,” he says, “and we’re going to do it right.”
Being here means something to him. Here, in his bedroom in Boston, where he doesn’t do things he may participate in at the club.
I simply nod. “Whatever you want is what I want.”
The low growl hums from his chest into me once more.
“I’m going to bind you to the headboard as we’ve done before, face up.”
“Face up?”
“Oh, yes. Face up. I want to look into your warm brown eyes when I take that ass.”
“But…I just assumed…”
“That I’d take you from behind? That was my plan at the club, but this will be much more intimate. Plus, you’ll get to watch. I want you fully engrossed in the experience.”
“Using all my senses tonight?”
“Yes, every last one. This is something I don’t ever want you to forget, Skye.”
I smile. “I’ll never forget anything we do together.”
His lips quirk upward. “You definitely won’t forget this. Lie down on the bed.”
I obey, nudging the plug in my ass. I can’t stop a soft giggle.
Braden walks to his wardrobe and pulls out the leather cuffs that he used on me once before. He places them around each of my wrists and then secures them to the rungs of the headboard, giving me only a slight amount of slack. I clamp my fists around the leather rope securing the cuffs to the headboard.
“Okay?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Good. You’re not going to be able to touch me, and that’s how I want it. You need to focus all your other senses on what I’m doing to you. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent.” He slides his tongue over his lower lip, just enough to be really sensual. “You look delectable, Skye. Better than the most glorious feast. You’re the only feast I want tonight. A feast for my eyes, my ears, my lips and tongue, my nose.” He inhales. “You’re wet. I can smell your musk already. It’s the sweetest perfume.”
I lift my hips instinctively, his words igniting me. I’m so ready for this. So ready for him.
“Easy,” he says. “I’m as anxious as you are, but I’m going to enjoy every morsel of my feast first. Beginning with those luscious tits of yours.”
My nipples strain forward, as if they heard his words. They’re tight and puckered and ready for his lips, tongue, and teeth.
Braden removes his shirt, and I suck in a breath, intoxicated as always by his shoulders, chest, and abs. He’s even more striking by candlelight.
Candlelight.
Hot wax.
The idea intrigues me. Would he do it if I asked? He doesn’t like anything to do with fire, but it’s not a hard limit.
Quickly I banish the thought. Tonight is about something else. Something Braden and I have both been looking forward to. He’s gone to such trouble to make this good for me, and I intend to enjoy every second.
He peels off his jeans and boxer briefs, and out juts his cock, illuminated by the soft glow of the candles. He’s ready, all right. As ready as I am. But I’ve seen that look in his eyes before. He won’t be rushed.
He joins me on the bed and kisses my lips softly, like a butterfly’s wings. I part my lips, hoping for more, but he trails them over my cheek and down the side of my neck, giving me goose bumps. I know where he’s headed, and my nipples are more than ready. Finally, he gets to the tops of my breasts, licking and kissing the rosy flesh. I quake beneath him, my nipples poised and ready. He strokes my breasts with his warm tongue, and just when I’m about to yell at him to suck on my nipple, he finally closes his lips around one.
“Oh, God,” I moan.
It’s so good. So damned good. I’m ready to spread my legs and let him plunder me.
“Shh…” he says against my nipple. “No more talking.”
I nod, though he can’t see my head. No more talking. Braden doesn’t like me to talk when we’re making love. Except for that one time in the hotel in Liberty when he suspended his rules.
I loved that experience with him, and I hope we have it again.
But the truth?
I’m thrilled when he makes demands of me. More than thrilled. Captivated. Something in me craves his dominance, craves to obey him. Making love isn’t set in stone. It’s unique to each couple, and Braden and I have our own tastes.
I find all of it thrilling.
He sucks on one nipple while pinching the other in a discordant rhythm that I can’t pinpoint. Just when I think I might expire on the spot if he doesn’t suck harder, he seems to read my mind. He sucks harder, pinches harder, and flaming darts shoot straight to my clit. The anal plug seems to enhance every spark that blasts into me, making everything more vibrant and more beautiful.
Still pinching one nipple, Braden lets the other drop from his lips as he kisses the underside of my breast and then the top of my abdomen. The sensation makes me sizzle. Though my nipple misses his mouth, my flesh quivers at his every touch. He’s getting closer. Closer and closer to tonight’s prize.
And I can’t wait.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Braden’s lips and tongue are on a quest, but he’s taking the scenic route. He meanders along, kissing and sucking at every centimeter of my flesh as I undulate beneath him, trying to guide him to his destination.
He’s going slowly. Making me crave him even more. My ass is pulsating along with my clit. It’s an odd sensation. A very pleasant sensation. Anal sex. The forbidden. The taboo.
Funny, how I still think of it in those terms. Pretty much everything Braden and I do together is considered taboo to most. To me? It’s intimacy with the man I love, and it’s completely normal. I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
Our souls linked, and our hearts followed.
And right now his lips are following a path we both want.
Finally he kisses the top of my pubic bone, a groan emanating from his throat. “I’m going to miss this sweet cunt tonight, baby.”
I sigh at his words. He’s never used “cunt” before, and the dirtiness of it makes me hotter.
“I’ll take good care of that in the morning, but for now…” He pushes my thighs forward and gently eases the anal plug out of me. “Gorgeous. Dilated and perfect.”
I moan and instinctively pull against my bindings. God, if I could only touch him. His warm flesh, his silky hair, his hard cock.
But I can’t. I’m bound for his pleasure.
And for my own.
He traces my hole with his finger, his breath catching. Then he squeezes a bit of lube into his palm before rubbing it over me.
The lube is warm. He warmed it in his hand.
For me.
“I’m going to take you now, Skye. This is mine. Only mine.”
The head of his cock nudges against me.
“Relax,” he says, his voice dark. “It may hurt at first, and you have permission to speak if it gets to be too much.”
I nod, but I already know I won’t stop him, even if the pain is unbearable. I want to do this for him.
For us.
I breathe. In. Out. In. Out. I stay very aware of my breathing as I wait for him to enter me .
Then I gasp as he brea
ches my tight rim. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. The sharp pain knifes through me.
I can tell him to stop. I can end this now.
But I don’t.
I let out a breath, forcing my muscles to relax.
“That’s it,” he says. “I’m going to go all the way in now.”
I nod, and he thrusts swiftly. He’s completely embedded in me, and I’m so full. So, so full.
Yes, the pain is still there, but I don’t mind it anymore. In fact, I welcome it. This is the ultimate show of trust between Braden and me. I love it.
“I’m going to pull out now,” he says.
A whimper leaves my throat, but soon I find out he doesn’t mean pull all the way out. He just pulls out to the tip and then slowly pushes back in.
And I’m full again. Complete in a new way—a way that links Braden and me even more profoundly than we were before.
A sheen of perspiration glistens on his forehead. He’s working hard. Holding himself back. He wants to fuck me. He wants to fuck me hard.
I long to open my mouth and tell him to do it, but I’m forbidden to speak.
“Your pussy is glistening, Skye.” He grips my hips but then slides one hand over my center and dips a finger inside. “So wet.” Then he slides his fingers over my clit.
I gasp, my whole body quivering.
“I love how you respond to me. So wet, so pink and pretty. Your ass feels so good around my cock. I’m going to fuck you now. And I’m not going to be able to go slowly.”
I nod once more, and he plunges inside me.
So invasive. He’s touching a part of me that no one’s ever touched before, and though I feel pain, I also feel pleasure. Intense pleasure coming from the pain, but also from the closeness. From the intimacy and trust.
Braden continues to work my clit as he fucks me, and a new sensation envelops me.
Forbidden. Taboo. Like the fruit that tempted Eve. It’s the darkness of the act. The darkness along with the trust and intimacy. I welcome the pain. I welcome the pleasure.
I become the pain.
I become the pleasure.
Braden’s stimulation of my clit rolls me toward the peak. A climax is on the horizon. A new kind of climax.