Lyon on a Leash (12 page)

“What are your thoughts on finances?”

She looked across the table at him. His eyes were on the frayed edges of the paper napkin between his fingertips but she had his complete attention.

“I take care of them.” She threw the words out there to get his reaction.

His eyes grew cold as he gazed at her. “I work.”

“For me, yes.”

He sat straighter. “I have my own business.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Yes…yes I do.” His tongue ran across his lower lip. “Just as you went to college to fulfill your dreams, so did I. I love what I do and I can’t imagine not working on graphics jobs. The variety keeps me sharp.”

She appreciated the manner in which he stated his case. He didn’t give her an ultimatum; rather, he explained why it was important to him to continue in his field. She wasn’t done messing with him yet, though.

“Let me ask you this.”

He nodded.

“If I was a man, and you were my female sub, and I told you that I would take care of you, that I didn’t want you to work outside my home, would that be different?”

“Probably. But that doesn’t change the fact that in spite of being a man I love the work that I do. It makes me happy and more productive.”

“More productive?” She laughed. That was a good one. “Okay. You work at home, I work at the office, good?”

He nodded. “I’d like to help pay—”

“The mortgage, utilities, insurance, and car bills are paid automatically through the bank and I’m not changing that.”

“Mistress, I have to contribute something.”

“You will.” Her smirk changed into a full-blown grin at his obvious frustration.

“I mean to my living arrangements. Perhaps I can be responsible for buying all the food and cleaning supplies, since I’ll be doing the cooking and cleaning anyway.”

Her reluctance for him paying for anything in the house stemmed from not wanting to feel she owed him anything when they parted ways. But food was a consumable item.

“Okay, you can take over the groceries. But you’ll have to stop tripping when I pay for things sometimes when we’re together.”

He nodded. “I know. It just took me by surprise, that’s all. I paid most of my former Mistress’ bills with no problem. I don’t know any subs who don’t help the Dommes financially.” He paused as if he wanted to say something and then shook his head. “Just as long as you know I don’t mind helping out.”

“You have a retirement plan? Health insurance?” she asked.

“Yes on insurance. I have savings.”

Not good enough
. “I want you to put half of your money into an IRA or some type of retirement plan for later. That would make me happy.”

He looked at her with a healthy dose of skepticism.

“I’m serious. I want you to be in a better position financially. I need to know this relationship is positive on several levels.”

He nodded. “I understand.

“Good.”

He coughed and looked at his hands. “The only thing we haven’t discussed is sex. We’ve slept in the same suite for the past three nights and it has been interesting.”

Her brow rose. “Interesting how? You sleep in the living room and I’m in the bedroom.”

“We just never talked about it. It’s like its taboo or something.” He paused, looking at her. “Is it?”

Vera leaned back. “No, it’s not taboo. I just wanted to be sure we were compatible on the D/s front before we started that topic. Something tells me you might be addicting. I’m just protecting myself.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

Surprised he didn’t say more, she glanced at him sideways. “That’s it?”

He shrugged. “I told you I wanted to have sex with you eventually. You have control of that date.” He paused. “Your favorite color is blue. You don’t drink coffee, but you love herbal tea. You sleep on the right side of the bed and you prefer showers to long baths.
Scandal
is your favorite TV show and you hate reality programs. You’ve never watched daytime soap operas; you love jazz and oldies music. Golf is boring, swimming is better. You wear a size ten dress, size seven-and-a-half shoe and can’t sleep if there are any lights on.” He paused. “I just wondered why we never discussed your sexual likes and dislikes, that’s all.”

Her mouth snapped shut. “That was impressive. Somebody has been paying attention.”

He grinned.

“Okay. I like oral sex as an appetizer, penetration is my orgasmic tool of choice. Since we’ve both had physicals and are clean, no condoms. I’m on the pill. I prefer to ride, but can be ridden on occasion. I enjoy sucking cock but since I rough-handle it, I don’t do it that often.”

His eyes widened.

“I enjoy a little pain with my sex.
My sex
being the operative words. I give it and you take what I give. That can be anything I choose. You don’t come until I say so and that won’t be often.”

His smile slipped. Every morning when she’d walked through the living room on her way to the balcony, he’d been asleep with a massive hard-on. She’d wondered how he slept with that.

“I mix sex with play on occasion. So chances are there’ll be toys in bed with us whenever we play. That’s just to keep things spicy. Other than that, I can’t think of much else.” She hid her smile at his beleaguered look.

His sunny disposition from a moment ago had gone south.

Good. That way he’d be totally surprised with what she’d planned. After all, she still hadn’t unwrapped him.

That would change tonight.

Vera and Marcus stepped into their suite. Dinner with the Chertiers and the other Dommes had been relatively civil. Angel gave her submissive a tongue-lashing and he left before dinner was over. She was officially down three for three. None of the submissives she’d purchased at auction were interested in serving her past their twenty-four-hour auction commitment.

“I’m glad that’s done,” Vera said, kicking off her shoes. It had been a long day and her feet were screaming at her. She planned to rest a minute before talking with Marcus. They had to finalize a few things.

“Yeah, it was entertaining, to say the least.” He took both of their jackets and headed for the back. Would you like me to start your bath?” He stopped just short of the door leading to the bedroom.

“That would be great, thanks.”

He nodded and left the room.

After she finished her bath, Vera sat on the sofa, turned on her iPod, which sat in a small charger-speaker combo and closed her eyes. Soft jazz flooded the room. The soothing horns and keyboarding eased the knots of tension that had been building all day. Dealing with three other women with strong opinions presented a challenge on the best days. Throw in the fact they didn’t know one another’s hot buttons and things got heated real fast. No wonder Bree had said once was enough.

Her body jerked slightly as strong hands took hold of her ankle, flexing and twisting it from side to side.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered as the pads of his thumbs rotated into the sole of her foot.

She moaned in bliss. His hands and fingers massaged and stroked her foot and then her calf. Her head lolled on the back of the sofa as he took the other foot in hand. The combination of the soft, instrumental music and his warm hands working over her legs emptied her mind of all the garbage from her day.
Every woman should experience a man pampering her, at least once in her life
.

“Would you like me to massage your shoulders and back?” His voice rose slightly above the music, not loud enough to break the mood, which was a good thing. She wasn’t ready for him to stop.

Opening her eyes, she noticed his hair was damp and curled around his shoulder. She wondered about the texture. Soft, fine or coarse? “Massage.” Did she have to sound so needy?

With feline grace, he stood and extended his hand. A shiver of awareness flashed through her. They’d be taking things a lot further tonight. Ignoring his hand, she crossed her arms.

“Strip first.”

He blinked. A moment later, he pulled off his T-shirt, revealing a wide, muscular chest and ripped abs. Still watching her, he pulled down his sweats and kicked them off.

“That’s good for now.”

He stopped, leaving his boxers in place, but continued watching her for further instructions.

Her gaze roved over the sexy canvas of his form. The tapered waist, large biceps, and thick muscled thighs were a feast to behold. Extending her hand, she waited for his assistance. Standing in front of him, she took the tip of her finger and ran it across his nipple. The peak pebbled while the muscle beneath it jumped.
Nice. He’s responsive here
.

Taking her time, she touched his chest and stomach in search of his sensitive spots. He was ticklish around the ribs. That was good to know. His earlobes were definite hot spots, as was his neck. Although his body shuddered and he trembled during her explorations, he remained still, or as still as possible. She slid around to his back. There were eight round marks lining his back from the suction cups she had placed on him yesterday during play time in the Chertier’s dungeon. Gently, she traced a circle with her fingertip.

“Does this hurt?”

“No, ma’am. Even when you put the cups on, it felt like a relaxing deep-tissue massage.”

She smacked his ass. “What about this? Does it still bother you from the paddling?”

He chuckled. “No, ma’am. That felt good too.”

Pleased he was okay, she rubbed his back. One hand snaked down to his ass and palmed him. “You have a cute butt.”

He looked over his shoulder toward her. “Cute butt?”

“Yeah. It’s not too much, but it holds your pants up. Not flat.” She squeezed again. “Just right. Just enough.”

“Thank you?”

She snorted at his hesitation. “That’s always a good response.” They had been in the suite for three days together and she had just gotten around to feeling him up. “You asked about my sexual preferences at lunch today.”

His muscles tensed beneath her palm and then relaxed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Why? Are you horny?”

“I just…I want to please you in every way. Knowing what you like sexually is part of that.”

“Oh, well that’s good to know.” She grabbed his hard cock and squeezed. “I thought you wanted to get relief for this. It’s been hard every morning when I walk through here.” He grunted when she squeezed again. “I just wanted to be sure.” She opened her hand and strode around to face him.

There was a quarter-sized wet spot on his boxers from where she’d grasped him. Slowly, she took in his flushed skin, hardened cock, and frozen position. Despite everything going on inside him, he waited for her instructions.
Nice.

A tremor of excitement shot through her. Knowing this strong man, more than capable of taking what he wanted, submitted to her will made the blood sing in her veins. Exhilarated, she forced back a loud shout-out to the heavens to thank them for this moment in time. Instead, she bit her bottom lip and simply admired him.

Turning, she headed for the bedroom. “Time to finish my massage,” she called over her shoulder. As she entered, she glanced appreciatively around the room. He must have turned back the covers when he had come into the room earlier. The bed beckoned and she was more than ready to share it with him.

“Yes, ma’am.” It didn’t take him long to catch up.

Pleasure flooded her system as his strong hands kneaded her shoulders and neck. She leaned forward, dependent on him to keep her upright. “Ummm,” she moaned. Her leg buckled.

His arm whipped around her waist, catching her before she fell. He held her against him. “I think you need to lie down for this.”

“Yeah, lie down. Finish the massage.” She lifted her arms in the air. “Undress me.”

His brow rose, but he followed her directive without delay. She shrugged the rust-colored robe from her shoulders and stepped out of it. He bent to pick it up as she reached behind and unsnapped her bra. She looked over her shoulder to find his gaze glued to her backside. Her black, lacy boy shorts showed more than they hid.

She smiled and faced him. It took a moment for his eyes to meet hers. That glazed look from the dance floor was back. Knowing she had that effect on him set off a firestorm in her. A rush of desire and power swept through her so strongly she was sure she’d get whiplash.

Eyes on him, she pulled off her black bra and held the strap with her fingertips, waiting for him to remove it from her hand. It took him a moment to reach for her dangling piece of clothing.

Inwardly, she smiled. Things were going much better than she’d planned. She cupped her breasts and squeezed slightly.

His breath came out in small pants. His eyes darkened in fascination as they followed her hands. Next, her palms slid down her belly until they rested on top of her boy shorts.

He swallowed hard but continued staring, as though mesmerized by the sight. Vera slipped her thumb beneath the stretchy band and ran her thumb beneath it a few times.

“Marcus?” She called his name softly.