Command (13 page)

“So fucking sexy.” His smile made her glad of her bravery.

Surprising her more, he continued to stroke her, tweak her clit, enter her with long, slow strokes.

Now the anticipation was killing her.

He fingered her faster and faster, the way she wanted him to fuck her, making her toss her head, forget about anything but the here and now.

Then he gently smacked her.

She rolled her head to one side, but remained in the position he’d specified.

He went back to those long strokes that only stoked her need. Then he upped the stakes, moving faster before pulling out and spanking her again with his fingertips.

“Damn,” she said. Yes, it stung, but the sensation only lasted a moment before it fractured into pleasure that made her wetter.

She began to anticipate his motions then, so he mixed it up. Fast. Fast. Slow. Quick spank. Fast. “My God. I’m going to come.”

“Not yet. Hold onto it,” he said.
“Wait.”

Did he have any idea what he was asking for? “But…”

He continued the torture, giving her a decidedly hard slap. She squirmed, desperate to squeeze her legs together and escape, but he’d commanded her to remain in place, and she wanted to please him. Then, just as fast, the pain morphed and she was left panting.

“Your reaction was exactly what I was hoping for.”

Her pussy was wet, slick, hot, burning with pain, and her clit throbbed. “I’ve got to come,” she insisted.

Grant responded with his body, changing the rhythm, giving her a dozen gentle pats, then wetting his finger and sliding it across her clit.

“I’m going insane.”

He increased the tempo. Spanking her harder, quicker.

“The pain…” She tossed her head from side to side as she tried to escape it and, simultaneously, seek it.

He plunged two fingers deep inside and squeezed her mound, making her arch, making her scream.

“Come now, Aria.”

He increased his grip, and almost lifted her from the couch.

The orgasm ripped her apart. She was gasping, panting, and thought was obliterated. It wasn’t until later—she wasn’t sure how long—that she realized he was sitting and that she was on his lap.

He had a hand dug into her hair, his palm supporting the base of her head.

“Holy hell.” She drew a shuddering, steadying breath. “That was hot.”

“You can thank me at any time.”

She wiggled away from him a bit. “Is that part of it, too?”

“Appreciation?” He shrugged. “Sure.”

She noticed he was still fully dressed, in command of the situation and her. Before today, she might have protested that, but she’d never had a man spend the evening doing things to her, for her.

“But I don’t require it,” he added, then gave her a cheeky grin. “As long as you come, I have everything I need. It’s a bonus if I make you scream.”

She clenched her buttocks. “In that case, my body told you thank you.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It did.”

Aria snuggled against his chest and rested her cheek on the soft cotton of his T-shirt. His breadth and strength were reassuring. “I had no idea I would like something like that.”

“Well, we’ll have to give it a go your way next time. I think you wanted me to fuck you ragged.”

Chapter Five

Impossible.

No matter what she tried, Aria couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t just the strange bed in a new city. She traveled frequently enough that she was accustomed to going straight to sleep, no matter the circumstances.

But she’d never experienced circumstances like these.

She lifted her head and squished and punched the pillow into a different shape, hoping that would help. It didn’t.

No matter what she did, she couldn’t escape the memory of what she and Grant had shared two hours ago.

After he’d toyed with her and brought her to dizzying climaxes, he’d told her that was enough for their first night. She’d been shocked that they hadn’t had actual sex. It felt odd to her that he hadn’t received anything out of the experience.

Instead he’d helped her to put her skirt and sweater back on. Then he’d grabbed her boots and undergarments and walked her to her bedroom.

At the doorway, he’d pressed a kiss to her forehead, returned the rest of her clothes then wished her a goodnight.

He hadn’t suggested they sleep in the same bed and truthfully, she wasn’t ready for that, anyway. Having separate rooms would help her keep boundaries around their relationship—or so she told herself.

Feeling hot, she tossed back the comforter then pulled the sheet around her shoulders.

A few minutes later, she realized that wasn’t helping, either.

Giving up the internal struggle, she allowed herself to replay the scene for at least the tenth time. Aria had never felt that exposed during sex before. He’d communicated with her the entire time, and he’d demanded her participation.

The spanks on her pussy had hurt, but that had only intensified the pleasure. She hadn’t expected to like his introduction to BDSM, and in fact, she’d been convinced she’d only do it so that they could have sex normal, old-fashioned, man-on-top, jackknifing-like-rabbits sex. That she knew what to do with. She could have intercourse without forming an attachment to a man. But this…?

It was like going to a restaurant and stealing a bite of an unknown food from someone else’s plate only to discover a new favorite. Now that she’d had a taste, she wanted other experiences.

Wondering if they’d play again and what they’d do was driving her mad. More, she couldn’t escape the constant throbbing in her pussy.

With a huge, frustrated sigh, she tossed back the sheet and climbed from the bed. After grabbing a robe from the closet, she walked to the window and opened the blackout panel without turning on any lights.

It took a second for her vision to adjust. From here, she could only see a few winking lights that indicated where other homes were. She noticed that snow still fell, more gently now.

Being near the window cooled off her overheated body, and she decided to try to sleep one more time.

Half an hour later, she admitted defeat. Sleep was still a long way off and she needed a distraction.

Aria turned on the lamp sitting on the nightstand then grabbed her computer. She curled up on the chaise longue and breezed through the lighter-than-normal number of emails. Obviously, David, her second-in-command, was managing without her, no doubt because Julien had encouraged him to do so.

She opened a book, but when it couldn’t keep her interest, she moved on to a game of solitaire. The slow pace allowed her mind to keep chugging along, putting memories together with fantasies and causing anticipation to curl through her.

This wasn’t working.

She slammed the lid closed on her computer.

This kind of restlessness only happened when she couldn’t settle her mind. Exercise tended to be the only thing that helped. Since Grant had a world-class facility in the house, she decided to avail herself of it. She changed into a pair of yoga pants, tennis shoes and an athletic top then left the bedroom.

When she opened the bedroom door, the hologram of the dog was lying in front of it, almost as if he were protecting her. She realized Grant must have set it up that way to make her feel more secure. The fact he’d thought of her before he’d gone to bed made her heart melt a bit.

She couldn’t help but glance down the hallway, half hoping he was still awake, that he’d see her and invite her to join him.

His door was shut, and she didn’t see a ribbon of light shining beneath it.

She continued down the hall and realized that Molly was illuminating the way as she went. Motion sensors. Clever. Grant thought of everything.

Aria entered the workout space.

Except for the gentle sounds from the pool and hot tub, the place was silent. She wasn’t sure whether that was soothing or annoying. “Molly, can I get something on the television? A classic movie. Or one of those cooking shows.”
Yeah.
“Make it something about food.” Maybe she could learn something while sleep evaded her. “Volume low.”

She programmed the treadmill for half an hour then started at a casual pace. Once her body loosened up and the male television host sat down in front of a hamburger that was bigger than his head, Aria ramped up the speed until she was running.

To starve oxygen from her overthinking brain, she went through the program a trainer had taught her, running flat out for one minute, then walking for two. When she was particularly stressed, this always helped. She’d used the technique to cope when she was trying to outpace the emotional hurt after she’d run from her upcoming wedding.

By the time she was done, her chest was heaving, but she was still picturing Grant standing over her, arms folded as he promised to fuck her. “Damn it.”

After wiping off the sweat with a towel, she told Molly to turn off the television and she walked toward the pool area. She considered a swim, but it was really one of her least favorite forms of exercise. And she hated the initial shock of diving into cool water. As far as she was concerned, the only time to be in a pool was when the weather was gorgeous and she could sit on an underwater stool while a handsome bartender served up a cocktail. Bonus if he stuck an umbrella in it.

The hot tub, though, was an entirely different matter.

Aria glanced around before removing her clothes and dropping them in a pile.

She dipped her toe in the water to test the temperature. Since she could see the steam rising from it, she figured it was perfect.

As she expected, the tub was fabulous, and it had subtle curves to support her body. She sank in a bit at a time as her body adjusted to the heat. Eventually, her shoulders were covered.

During the day, the view would no doubt be spectacular. Right now, it just seemed as if the night stretched forever.

Even though sleep evaded her, she was tired from the trip, the long day, the pseudo-fucking. She allowed her eyes to drift closed while she performed some shoulder rolls to release tension.

The peace surrounded her, soothing her. More than ever, she understood why Grant had chosen this spot for a retreat and to heal.

“Am I intruding?”

Heart thundering, she opened her eyes. Grant stood there, wearing a pair of swim trunks. The first view of his nearly naked body didn’t disappoint. Even in the dim light, she saw the definition of his biceps, the flatness of his stomach. God, did he have a six-pack? Or was her imagination supplying wished-for details?

His legs were powerful, thighs massive.

Because the trunks were loose-fitting, it was difficult to see whether or not his dick was hard.

Regardless, he unnerved her.

Without conscious thought, she wrapped her arms around herself. Then she realized how ridiculous that notion was. He’d seen her naked, and he’d exposed her more than any other man ever had. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you when I got up,” she said.

He shook his head. “I wasn’t asleep. Mind if I join you?”

“I’ve been in here a while, so I was leaving anyway,” she said. Lied. To cover her sudden bout of nerves, she gave a half smile. “It’s all yours.”

“Stay?”

“I…”

He descended the two steps into the tub and sat down across from her. “How are you doing? Everything okay?”

“Strange bed,” she hedged. “I was having a difficult time unwinding.” At least that was the truth.

“Are you sore?” He paused. “Anything you need to talk about?”

In the past, she had always pretended things were okay, even if they weren’t. Somehow, she’d become a master of evasion, something else she wasn’t proud of.

She knew her time at Grant’s home was limited. They’d made significant progress yesterday, and with the two of them working together, they’d nail down the idea of the virtual assistant. Then Bonds could put an entire team on it to work out the nuances of the artificial intelligence. There were details, certainly, but the gist of the idea was already there.

So if she was ever going to experiment with being bold, now—when there was little emotional risk in a relationship that was naturally short-lived—was the time.

“My pussy is a little tender.” Aria uncrossed her arms. “But I was tossing and turning, replaying our scene.” Then she admitted the truth, “I was wondering if there’d be a next time.”

“Were you hoping there would be?”

Since he’d shown up, the temperature seemed to have increased. She scooped damp hair back from her neck and piled it atop her head, even though it wasn’t likely to stay. “I was.”

“Was my way okay with you?”

She wriggled around and felt her hair tumble down. “Evidenced by the number of orgasms, yes. I still wanted to have sex, but when you left me alone, I was confused.” She looked at him through the steam that rose from the water. “I wondered why.”

“Are you wondering if I find you desirable?”

“Honestly? No.” She met his gaze. Even if she had doubts, the desire in his eyes would banish them. “I felt your dick through your pants.” For her, that comment definitely counted as bold.

He grinned. “Constant hazard when you’re around.”

“So?” she prompted.

“I’m learning about you, watching your reactions. You’re learning about me, my instructions. You’re figuring out whether you want to submit to me—and you’re probably considering what that might mean. I want to give you experience, but not too fast. Remember the portrait?”

“How did I know you were going to say that?”

“Patience.” The smile he gave her was quick, real, disarming. “Foreplay. BDSM and sex are closely intertwined, but they can exist side-by-side. I don’t have to fuck everyone I spank.”

“This woman, you do. I have rules, too.”

Humidity made his hair curl a bit, and that entrancing lock of blond fell across his forehead. “You may not want to have sex with every guy who ties you up. If you’re at a club, you may want to try out a different Dom, male or female.”

That idea of being with someone at a club was outside her current thinking. And that she might let a female dominate her? “Do you love messing with my paradigms?”