Harnessed (12 page)

Elise smiled at the realization she could give him both a break and a reward.

He was panting when she slowed him to a walk before what was a small cottage. His chest heaved beneath her and she could smell his perspiration. She pointed to a large stump before the cottage, its surface slashed from the cutting of firewood. It was the right height for a mounting block. She guided him to it and dismounted with ease.

She ran her fingertips across his face, watching how he closed his eyes with pleasure at her touch. Could he possibly find her as attractive as she found him? Even harnessed with a bit between his teeth, constrained to comparative silence, she found his presence powerful and thrilling. “You need a drink,” she said. “My good boy. Let me see what I can find for you.”

She tethered the reins to an iron ring mounted on the exterior wall of the cottage, a ring that might have been meant for that very purpose, then surveyed the building. The thatched roof had fallen in at one end, but the stone chimney stood tall at the other. She pushed open the door and peered into the shadowed interior. It looked as if birds had nested in the eaves, and she heard some chirping as she made her way toward the fireplace. As she’d hoped, there were several large pots.

There had to be some source of fresh water.

She took a pot and returned to the courtyard. At the far side was a hand pump. She set down the pot beneath it and tried the handle. It moved with more ease than she’d expected, as if it had been used recently, but would still take some effort. The hair prickled on the back of her neck with the realization that her pony was watching her, his breath still quick and his hair damp.

Elise decided to give him something to look at. She untied the lace knotted at her throat and hung it from the shrubbery beside the hand pump. Her hat and veil were next, followed by her jacket. She was wearing only a sheer blouse beneath the jacket, one that revealed more of her corset than it hid. She glanced back at him and smiled, knowing her nipples would show through the sheer cloth, feeling that a lock of her hair had slipped free to dangle against her neck. “This won’t take a moment, boy,” she whispered, liking how his gaze heated.

He stared at her as she worked the hand pump, his gaze so hungry that Elise felt incredibly powerful and feminine. The water gushed forth suddenly, filling the pot and splashing all over her. She laughed that the water was clean and cold, then carried the bucket to him. She smiled at him as she unfastened his bridle and removed the bit, liking the heat that emanated from his skin. She lifted the bucket and their gazes locked as he bent to lap at its contents. His gaze seemed to simmer, the heat in his perusal making Elise feel desired and hot. Again, she was struck by his intensity, how slowly he blinked, how deeply he looked.

Could he see her secrets?

She tipped the bucket so he could drink from the side, and the air around them seemed to sizzle a bit more with every passing moment. He was flushed, his eyes glittering, his gaze roving over her as if he’d memorize the sight of her.

As if he’d eat her alive.

Elise wanted that with a ferocity that surprised her.

When he was done, Elise set aside the bucket and caught his face in his hands. “Time for a reward, my good boy,” she murmured, letting him see how much she wanted him.

Then she kissed him.

Slowly, deeply, possessively. Elise had never claimed a man with a kiss, she put her heart into the attempt this time. She cajoled him with her tongue and her teeth, kissing him with increasing hunger. He responded immediately, opening his mouth to her, giving and demanding with as much ardor as she. She could have given everything to him, but this was her chance to discover the thrill of being in control. She felt the balance of power shift between them, noticed that his natural inclination was to command, and knew she’d want to explore that another day. When his passion compelled her to take a step back, she took two, broke the kiss and stopped him with a hand on his chest.

To her delight, he halted right there. He didn’t push past the small barrier of her hand, and he didn’t force himself upon her. There was no doubt that he wanted her, given the fire in his eyes and the size of his cock, but he let her stop him with a fingertip.

“My reward to you,” she said, trying to keep her tone stern even as her heart melted. “And my rules.”

He inhaled as if to regain control of himself and lowered his gaze in submission. Elise followed his gaze and knew she had to touch him.

“This must be chafing,” she said, and began to remove the leather sheath that held his cock captive. He caught his breath and stepped backward, but was constrained by the reins still tethered to the iron ring.

“My lady!” he protested, and even though she loved the consternation in his rich voice, Elise would take command. She pinched one of the welts she’d put on his flesh, pinched it hard, then straightened and put the bit back between his teeth. She fastened the harness with decisive gestures, reminding him with pure physicality he was hers for the taking.

She saw in his eyes how he fought that truth, and knew the moment he accepted it.

Then she unfastened the sheath with slow gestures, casting it aside before she dropped to her knees and took that magnificent erection in her mouth.

He moaned as if the sound were being torn from his soul, and Elise had only just begun.

* * *

The lady would kill him.

Yet Josh didn’t think he’d regret a thing. His lady understood what he needed and how he craved the reminder of his subordination and his role. She kept his own nature from spoiling the scene, and did it in a way that made his passion double and double again.

He could barely look at her yet couldn’t keep himself from doing so. Her dark hair was coiled up, just one long tendril hanging loose on her fair neck. Her breasts were beautiful, the nipples dark and hard and visible through the wet sheer cloth of her blouse. Her lips were red and her mouth encircled his cock, her gloved hands caressing his thighs and balls in way that would drive him crazy. He wanted to last. He wanted this moment to stretch through forever, but with every touch of her tongue and her fingertips, he was sure he was going to explode.

He wanted her desperately, but there was nothing he could do about it. The progress of the scene was up to her. He was her captive, her harnessed pony, her helpless possession. The reality made something dissolve in his mind, some last barrier of resistance that couldn’t hold out against his raw need to please this lady.

He wasn’t sure whether he was allowed to come. He wasn’t sure he could stop himself from coming. He wasn’t sure it was up to him. His heart was thundering, his entire body taunt with need, when she abruptly lifted her mouth from him. She licked her lips as he stared down in fascination, and he realized he was trembling.

She stood and unfastened the reins from the iron ring, casting them over his back. She walked away and he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to follow, then feared she meant to leave him there.

But she pulled herself up to sit on the stump as he watched, incredulous, fascinated and brimming with desire. She parted her skirts and lifted her knees, baring the sight of her puss to his view as she braced her heels on the stump and leaned back on her elbows. Her sex was red and slick, the labia swollen with her own desire. She was smiling at him, that alluring heat in her eyes, her cheeks flushed, and her nipples taut. Josh was sure he’d never seen a woman so enticing in his life.

“Take me,” she said softly. It could have been either a command or an invitation, but either way, Josh wouldn’t give her a chance to change her mind.

Chapter Five

Storm was amazing.

Huge and hard yet gentle. Elise was sure she’d never been taken so perfectly before. Even harnessed, he commanded her response. Even larger and stronger than her, he was tender and ensured that she reached her pleasure first.

She thought her mind would explode when the orgasm ripped through her body. She was crushed between his magnificent body and the rough stump, surrounded by velvet and lace and the leather of his harness, feeling both the bridle and his lips against her ear and throat. She had one hand tangled in his hair and the other digging into his back as he drove deep inside her, dragging his hardness against her clitoris with every stroke, destroying her with pleasure. Their gazes locked as he tormented her, and she loved how he watched her, drawing out her arousal as long as possible, then grinding his hips in the exact moment that he could send her to the moon.

She heard herself cry out and felt her body convulse around him, locking her knees around his waist as the first wave sent fire through her body. He drove deep and groaned with his own release, panting as he leaned his forehead against her shoulder.

They stayed like that for long moments as Elise felt her pulse return to normal. It seemed exactly right to be with him like this, and she stroked the back of his neck without realizing she did so. She wanted this again and again and again. She wanted to bring him here every day, and do this as many times as possible.

But wouldn’t it change? Wouldn’t it be less the next time? Wouldn’t she just be watching something precious erode? She couldn’t help but think of Tyler. That had started with promise, too, but had changed so quickly. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

Was everything destined to fall apart?

Was happily-ever-after just a lie?

If so, maybe she should hold this moment close and not hope for more. If so, she should treasure what good she’d had, and not risk seeing it turn to shit. If so, she should let this man return to his own fantasy. She should face the reality that she wasn’t away from Tyler yet.

She was startled when she felt his warm lips on her cheek. Then she realized he was kissing away her tears, removing them from her face with his mouth and swallowing them. He watched her with such compassion in his eyes that Elise cried a little more.

“He wasn’t always like this,” she whispered.

He kissed the corner of her mouth, his caress so sweet Elise caught her breath. There was such compassion and understanding in his eyes that Elise had the urge to confide in him. Her hands shook as she unfastened the bridle and removed the bit. She dropped it and caught his face in her hands again, welcoming the sweet passion of his kiss.

“Tell me,” he whispered in her ear and to her surprise, Elise did.

* * *

He wasn’t always like that.

What a load of shit.

Josh knew violence when he saw it, and a lack of empathy too. Golden Boy had always been the same way, but he could believe he had hidden his truth long enough to catch Elise. It ripped Josh’s guts out that she should have fallen prey to that kind of loser, and he wished he could help her.

In the real world, he could have helped her in a dozen different ways.

On Windswept, though, he was captive and helpless, just a human pony at the whim of others. His captivity frustrated him in that moment, and yet, he could listen.

Maybe that was what she really needed.

He’d already broken the rules by speaking those two words to her, and he knew she had every right to discipline him herself or report him to Baxter. Josh wouldn’t make that mistake again. Instead he kissed her, trying to encourage her to tell her story without using words. She returned his embrace sweetly, her trust making his heart clench.

When the truth began to fall from her luscious lips, he felt triumphant.

“No one notices me,” she began, an admission that Josh found hard to believe. “I stay in the background, behind the scenes. It was always my girlfriends that were asked out, not me.” She swallowed and Josh kissed the sweet curve of her throat, bending to take one nipple in his mouth. “Until Tyler. He noticed me right away.”

So, he’d made her feel special.

Josh could make her feel more special. He suckled her, drawing her nipple to a taut peak, teasing her and caressing her. He could lose himself in this woman. He sensed both her caution, because she’d been hurt, and her need for freedom. He’d help her to explore her passion, however he could, and maybe feed her confidence. He didn’t imagine for a moment that he’d have many more chances—none after this week, maybe none after this day—so he’d make this one count.

“It was like an old movie. I saw him at the bar, on the other side of the dance floor, and he looked at me as if he couldn’t look away. He never looked at my friends or the other women around.” She swallowed. “Only me. He came right to me and asked me to dance, then he never danced with anyone else. He was so hot, my girlfriends were all jealous, but he never looked at them.”

He’d targeted her, then. He’d sensed a weakness he could exploit. Josh hated Tyler then with a force that surprised him.

“I felt special. I felt chosen. And when he told me what pleased him, it was easy to surrender to his command.”

He’d chosen himself a submissive and trained her, easing her into a state of subjugation. Josh could easily imagine how much she’d want to please this lover she didn’t think she deserved. He could easily imagine how Tyler had planned his domination.

But it wasn’t reciprocal.

He met her gaze, letting her see his question.

“It changed. Slowly at first, nothing I could really put a finger on or protest against. It just felt wrong.” She frowned, her consternation rising. Josh didn’t know if it was his caress or her memories that agitated her. “We’d moved in together and he encouraged me to work from the apartment as a freelancer. He said my sister didn’t like him, and that she’d only turn me against him. He punished me when I spoke to her, said it was defiance, and that I’d talked to her because I wanted to be disciplined.” A tear slipped from the corner of her eye. “But I missed her. It was the same with all my friends. I worked from home and only had him to talk to, like a captive. The game wasn’t so sexy as a reality.”