Corporate Cowboy (22 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Leaving Gage’s office, I hold my head up and work to keep my feelings in check. What I want to do is turn around and rush into his arms, and feel the strength of his body hold me close to his heart. I know that is the worst thing I can do, because I am not ready. Not really. I don’t think Gage is, either.

I give Chad a smile and small wave as I leave and head back to my office. He winks back. For the rest of the day I push into the work piling up on my desk, but all the while, I am processing and thinking about the things Gage said in the background.

My evening is simple, same as all of the others this week. I spend a little time researching BSDM and lifestyle relationships online. The more I learn, the more I begin to understand how Gage got involved and why—and how, in many ways, he was being protective of Amanda. By the time I head to bed, I lie there and think about Gage. He is not in Billings or at the ranch. He is hundreds of miles away in Phoenix. I wonder if perhaps he is lying in bed too, staring up at the ceiling as I am.

I pick up my phone from the nightstand and scroll to Gage’s number. I hesitate for a moment, and then push the button to make the call.

It rings twice. “Hello? Emma?”

“Hi, Gage.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes. I… I just thought I would call. I wondered if you were—”

“Lonely?”

“Well, maybe.”

“Emma, I’m lying in bed and all I can do is think of you and how much I want to be home.”

Tears sting my eyes. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, my Emma.”

“See you soon.” I pause for a moment. “Goodnight, Gage.”

I fall asleep with good thoughts. When I wake Friday morning, I know exactly where my head is, and where I want my life to go next.

****

The directions Chad gave me were easy enough to follow. After a morning of diligent work that cleared my desk, I gave myself the afternoon off and headed southwest out of Billings toward the
Branded Filly
ranch. I didn’t expect Gage to be there. According to Chad, if all went well with his meeting this morning, he would land a little after five o’clock this evening.

Plenty of time to accomplish what I want to accomplish.

This is my first venture out of Billings since I arrived, and I’m enjoying the rocky terrain and the endless miles of road. But as I pull into the ranch and follow the dirt road there, my stomach tenses up. When I slowly make my way toward the cluster buildings and the ranch house, and see them waiting on the porch, I nearly back out.

But I don’t.

I park and get out of my car, standing beside it, and look at the two people staring back at me.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Emma.”

The man takes the two steps down from the porch, tips his hat, smiles and extends his hand. I shake it. “Nice to meet you, Emma. I’m Cole, and this is Amanda.” He glances behind him.

I looked at the blonde standing on the porch. “We’ve met.” I force a smile and start up the porch steps.

Cole takes my elbow. “Let’s head inside where we can talk.”

****

We sit at a round, pedestal table in the kitchen, coffee cups in hand. “I just wanted to see you again, Amanda, and talk on my terms,” I say after a moment. “I was pretty much blindsided when you approached me in the park.”

She said nothing, just stared.

I turn to Cole. “Chad said you were a good man, Cole, Gage’s best friend, so I thought maybe it would be nice for you to be here too. I’m not here to question, validate anything, or get anyone’s approval. And I’m not here to accuse or point fingers.” I look at Amanda, still watching. “Gage and I talked, and he explained the past relationship between the two of you. I understand, so there is nothing you can do or say to drive me away.”

She still doesn’t speak.

“I love him.” I pause and watch her reaction. I also look to Cole and see a slight smile on his face. Then back to Amanda. “So I can understand why you love him too.”

Amanda takes a sip of her coffee then sets the cup down on the table. “I’m not in love with him, Emma. Not like you are. Mostly, I’m afraid of not having him to lean on, than anything else. I need Gage for a lot of reasons, and it scares the shit out of me thinking I’ll never have him in my life again. In that way, at least.”

I sigh and stare into my coffee, wait a minute, and then say, “It scares the shit out of me, knowing the kind of relationship the two of you have had, that I’ll never really have anything close to that.”

Cole clears his throat. I don’t look up. Amanda scoots her chair closer to mine. “Emma, you don’t want the rollercoaster kind of relationship we had. From what I can see, what you two have together is far bigger than anything Gage has ever had with me. I can see it in both of your eyes.”

I catch her gaze. “I wish I could be certain of that. I’m not jealous of you, Amanda. I want to make that clear. I just don’t have the kind of history with Gage the two of you have had.”

Amanda shakes her head. “You don’t need that kind of past, Emma. You have his future.” She pauses a moment and then adds, “You know, Gage has given me new hope. He released me, in a way, so I can move forward in my life. I’ll always be grateful for what we’ve had, rough as it was, but he’s encouraged me to make a new future for myself, too.”

Smiling, I reach out and grasp Amanda’s hand. “I hope so,” I tell her, and I mean it.

I knew, though, that in order to secure my own future with Gage, I might have to come face to face with his past. “Where was that video shot, Amanda?”

She looks at Cole, and I follow her gaze. The man looks like he’s just been put between a rock and hard place. He stands up and looks at me. “I think that’s something you need to discuss with Gage, Emma.”

I shake my head. “No. I want to know where it is now. I need to process some things before he gets back. I assure you, it’s all I’m going to ask of you.”

Cole studies me for a few minutes, then nods. “All right. I’ll show you. Amanda, why don’t you go on back home now.”

She agrees. “Probably a good idea.”

Amanda doesn’t look at me or say anything else, just slips her denim jacket off the back of her chair and heads out the door. I hear her truck start, and she’s gone.

“She’s still working out a lot of things.” Cole turns to me.

“Aren’t we all.” I look straight at him.

He grins. “Let me show you something.”

He leads me across the parking lot and into the barn. He unlocks a door just inside, and we step into the large, wood-paneled room as he flips on the light.

I glance about. “Wow. What happened?”

“Gage happened.”

“He made this mess?”

Cole nods. “Yep. Right after he found out Amanda had gotten to you, and you left him. He pretty much tore this place up and told me to have someone take everything away.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Not yet. I’ve not had the time to deal with it.”

“Then don’t.” I step further into the room and try to take in everything I see. Toppled furniture and equipment. Drawers and their contents scattered. Lots of black and brown leather, a sofa in one corner, and a bed in another. I glance at my watch. Three hours until Gage lands. I turn back to Cole. “Thanks for letting me in,” I tell him, “but you can leave now. Let Gage know where he can find me when he gets home.”

“Emma…”

“Please, Cole. Let me do this.”

He paused for a few minutes, studying me. “You’re sure about this?”

Nodding, I say, “I’m positive.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Emma!”

Gage dropped his luggage on the kitchen floor and shouted Emma’s name again as he walked through the house. He’d called Chad from the airport and learned she had headed to the ranch earlier in the day. He didn’t understand why, but that didn’t matter now. She was here, somewhere, and all he wanted to do was get his arms wrapped around her.

Cole rounded the corner and Gage stopped up short. “Where is Emma?”

“Slow down there, Gage. What makes you think she’s here?”

“Her goddamn car is parked outside, Cole. Now where is she?”

“Oh yeah. That,” Cole said. “She’s in the tack room.”

“What?” Gage paced the kitchen. “What in the hell?”

“Calm down, cowboy.” Cole stepped up to him. “Listen to me before you go all half-cocked out there. She called this morning. Chad gave her directions. She came out and talked with me and with Amanda.”

“
What?
”

“It’s okay. It’s all good. Breathe. By the way, I like her.”

Gage felt like his lungs were going to explode. “Why is she in the tack room?”

“I’m guessing that’s something you’ll need to ask her.”

Gage turned and headed for the door. His blood pressure was shooting sky high, and he didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to take this. His dick had been throbbing since he’d gotten off the plane, in anticipation of the
possibility
of seeing her. The mere idea she was at the ranch had caused him to think of all sorts of scenarios, and the only one he really wanted to entertain was the one where she was there because she wanted to be with him.

His chest hurt again. He hurried across the porch and the parking lot, and burst through the tack room door. It rocked shut behind him with a loud bang.

Emma looked up from where she was fiddling with some items in a cabinet. “Gage,” she said on a breath. She put down one of his toys in the drawer. “You’re back.”

“I am.” He looked around, still confused. “Who cleaned this up?”

Emma turned. “I did.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to spend time in this room and with all of these…things. In fact, I organized them for you.”

Gage looked around again. “I don’t understand.”

Emma stepped closer and took his hand. “Here’s the deal, Gage. We never got a chance to go over my lists. Remember? The hard limits list? The things I won’t do and the things that intrigue me?” She pointed to some items in a large plastic tub on the floor. “Well, those are things I won’t do. They have to go.”

Gage glanced to the pile. He saw his single tail, a bullwhip, a slave collar and chain, a couple of ball gags, and candles and wax. He looked back into her face. “All right,” he said. “I can live with that.”

She pulled out two drawers. “But I will do these.”

Gage stepped forward and looked into the drawers. He perused the assortment of leather cuffs, thigh restraints, and other bondage gear, along with the softer silk ropes, neckties and scarves. Then another drawer of vibrators and dildos and assorted insertable toys. He looked up and into her eyes. “Yes, ma’am. I can work with those.”

Emma smiled, closed those drawers, and pulled out a third and fourth. “And I am curious about these. They are not exactly off the list but perhaps open for discussion…and exploration. In time.” Gage flipped through some items in that drawer. Nipple and labia clamps, suction devices, and an assortment of Ben Wa balls, magnetic and not. Two soft floggers and a riding crop lay in the bottom drawer.

He nodded. “I can live with that, too.”

Emma gazed up at him. “All right. Follow me.” They move across the room and stop where the St. Andrew’s Cross had once stood. “I’m pretty sure this cross was attached to the wall at one time. I think you should fix it.”

Gage agreed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And over here, this saddle looks like it may have some use. I’m not quite sure how, but perhaps we can think of something.”

“I can fix that, too, Emma.”

Gage watched her as she glanced about the room. “I’m sure there are other things here I can learn about in time.”

He stepped closer. “Emma, what are you doing?”

She lifted her eyes to connect with his. “It’s simple, Gage. I am here for my weekend. My list of hard limits is over there on that table with the contract we signed. According to that piece of paper, at five o’clock this afternoon, I officially became your submissive for the weekend. I became yours, to do with as you please. My advice is that you take advantage of this weekend while you can, because also according to that contract, come Monday morning, I’ll be shipped back home to Charlotte.”

Gage swallowed. “No. Strike that.”

“Let’s see how the weekend goes.”

He didn’t want to think about anything but this weekend. “Emma, you don’t have to do this.”

“Gage, I want to do this. I want
you
to do this. And I want us both to know you can love me, and I can love you, and we can meet each other’s sexual needs in ways that work for both of us. That you can be dominant with me and not hurt me. I won’t break, Gage. Trust me.”

He wasn’t quite sure what to do next, so he just stood there.

“You love me?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Gage closed his eyes and reached for her. She fell into him and he held her close and tight. “I love you too, Emma.”

She nodded against his chest. “I believe we have some work to do though, Sir. I don’t want you to worry about my past. And I’m not going to worry about your past. I want you to be dominant with me. I want to be your submissive, Sir.”

He stood and watched as Emma unbuttoned each button of her shirt, let it slide off her arms, and laid it on the arm of the sofa. Her skirt came next. Her bra and shoes. No panties.

Then she did something that turned his nuts sideways. She knelt at his feet, sitting back on her heels, knees spread, and her palms facing upward on her thighs. She leaned forward slightly in an extremely submissive position, lowered her gaze and said, “I am here to please you, Sir.”

****

Gage let the moment sink in, closed his eyes, and then opened them again to see it wasn’t a dream. Emma was still there, on her knees, before him. Slowly, he reached down and touched her hair, gathering her long locks into his hands. Pulling her hair taut and wrapping it around his hands, he tugged her face upward.

“Sir, am I permitted to look at you?”

“Yes, Emma. I want to see your eyes.”

He yanked her locks again and she rose to her knees. “Undo my pants. Let my cock out.”

He kept playing with her hair; she jerked at his belt, undid his fly, and lowered his zipper. Her palms skimmed his hipbones and she pushed inside his underwear and pulled them and his pants down over his hips. “Sir, should I take them all the way off?”

Gage dropped her hair and stepped back. “Don’t move,” he said. He jogged back to the door, securely locked it, and on the way back kicked out of his boots. He pulled his pants off, unbuttoned his shirt, and removed it and his T-shirt in record time. Finally, he stood naked before her, and wound her hair around his hands again. “Open your mouth, Emma, because I’m going to fuck it.”

She sat with her mouth open, waiting, and Gage was sure it was one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever seen.

He pushed into her mouth and groaned. Her lips captured him, clamped down on him, and slid up and down his length. Her tongue twirled around his head and he jerked. “Fuck,” he hissed, and tightened the grip on her hair. “Don’t move because I’m not going to last.” He stroked in and out, then deeper. “But next time…will be…longer….”

The insides of her mouth were hot, slick velvet. The sensation in his balls churned and expanded. He’d done nothing for an entire week but think of fucking her, and now he was in her mouth—

“God…dammit!” he shouted and pulled her face closer. His orgasm was strong in coming, and he lurched, pulling himself out of her mouth. He grabbed his dick and stroked. “Don’t move, Emma,” he huffed out. Her mouth open, he continued to come, spilling out over her face, her lips, in her mouth….

“Fuuuuck…” he drawled, squeezing his eyes shut, his strokes slowing. Then he opened his eyes and dropped to his knees facing Emma. He reached for his pants and dragged them closer, finding his handkerchief in a pocket. His gaze played over Emma’s face as he carefully wiped his cum from her mouth, her cheeks, wherever it had landed. Her eyes never left his and when he was finished, she whispered, “Thank you, Sir.”

Something broke free inside his heart.

Gage leaned in and kissed her, tenderly fusing his mouth with hers like he never wanted to let her go. And he didn’t. “You’re welcome, Emma,” he whispered.

After a minute, he stood and grasped Emma’s hands. “Come with me,” he said. They walked to the cabinet and pulled out the top drawer of toys on the good list. “Pick out three things, Emma.”

She looked up at him, a wicked smile on her face. “Only three?”

“Yes, just three.”

“Okay.”

He stood patiently while she fiddled with the objects and then handed him a set of thigh restraints with side handcuffs. “You’re sure?”

She nodded. “I’m sure.”

Next, she handed him a couple of neckties.

“That’s two.”

Finally, she picked up a wand vibrator and handed that to him, as well. He arched a brow and smiled. “Excellent choices, Emma. Now, take all of these to the bed. I’m going to clean up a bit in the washroom, and then you can feel free to do the same. While you are waiting for me, sit pretty for me on the bed—you know how—and think about all of the things I am going to do to you.”

****

Gage left the washroom and went to the table across the room where Emma had left the contract and her hard limits list. He scanned the list, memorizing as much as he needed to right now, understanding what he could, and could not do, in this session. He was pleasantly surprised at a couple of things not on the list. He would still confirm though before going in those directions.

He dropped the list back on the table and started for the bed. Emma sat there, waiting. He stepped up beside her.

He stroked her hair, letting his fingers trail down a long spiral. He fingered the length and then dropped that finger to her shoulder. Trailing down her arm with a light touch, he moved to a breast and circled her nipple. He pinched it and she gasped a little.

“I like the way you sit, Emma. This is how I always want to see you waiting for me.” He put his hand on her upper back and pushed her forward a little. “Yes, there, like that.” He tipped her chin a little lower. Her hair hung down on either side of her face. Moving slightly in front of her now, he put a hand on each inner knee. “Spread the legs a little more, darling. Yes, there.” He repositioned her hands, centering them on each thigh. He fiddled with her fingers a little, tickling a palm. Then trailed a finger up her thigh and lightly grazed the outer lips of her pussy.

Breathing deep, he sighed. “That’s how I want to see my girl waiting for me.”

He backed away then and sat on the sofa, watching Emma. Waiting.

His heart grew full. She
was
his. And he was going to do everything in his power to keep her.

“Emma, if you’d like to use the washroom now, you may. Then come back to the bed and resume your position.”

“Yes, Sir.”

She pushed up and headed for the restroom. He watched her ass sashay back and forth until she closed the door behind her.

“Leave the door open, Emma.”

It opened again, and he heard her say, “As you wish, Sir.”

Then he waited, his heart quiet and still. Closing his eyes, he let his head drift back, savoring the moment. This was what he needed. Wanted. Had searched for. This.

He heard water running and stopping, then after a moment, Emma appeared again, moving back to the bed and returning to her waiting position.

He rose and went to her. “Good girl, Emma.” He stroked her hair away from her face, drawing it into a ponytail behind her back. “Sit up straight now, if you would.” He kept his voice an even tone, direct and intentional, and he hoped, nonthreatening. She followed his direction and was compliant as he picked up one hand from her thigh and drew it behind her back, then the other to meet it. “Hands behind your back now. That’s right. Keep them there.”

She had laid the toys she’d chosen out on the bed. There were three neckties, the wand vibrator, and the thigh/cuff restraints.

“May I ask why you chose neckties, Emma?” He picked up a tie and threaded it through his fingers, drawing it slowly out with this other hand.

“Neckties remind me of you, Sir. I quite like them on you.”

He grinned. “I see.”

He placed the tie around her neck, each end lying seductively over her breasts. Gage sat in front of her and studied her eyes. He lifted one end, folded it over the other, and tied a loose Windsor knot at her neck. “I like the way you look in my tie,” he told her, his gaze never straying from hers. He let the tie fall down between her breasts, his forefinger moving down to the tip where it hit her near her navel. His finger moved lower, toward the short patch of blond curls between her legs. Emma’s eyes closed at his slight touch there.