RequiredSurrender (9 page)

“I explained last night that you’d be kneeling at my feet
unless I specifically stated otherwise, don’t you remember?”

Now she recalled. “Yes.”

“Great. Let’s start now.”

She knew enough about the lifestyle, and him, not to
question this. Without a word she shifted to move off the couch.

“No, I want you to stand and strip down to your panties. You
can keep them on, but everything else including your bra I want off you.”

She hesitated until his intense gaze convinced her to do as
he said. She nodded and stood. The crackle of leather crinkling under his
weight as he sat made her shiver. She couldn’t help it. With their positions
reversed, this felt intimate, so personal after last night when they’d had
other people around them doing the same things. She was alone here. Alone and
awash with excitement. By the time she finished undressing and he directed her
to kneel at his feet, she was almost hyperventilating. He was a force, all
dressed to her nearly naked.

“Why are you shaking?”

She kept her eyes directed to the floor and quietly
answered, “Your attention is overwhelming.”

He leaned forward and tilted her chin with his index finger.
“Did you think about what I asked you last night? Do you have anything more to
tell me about Patel?”

“P-Patel?”

He nodded.

God he was handsome. She was sure most women would have said
he was despite the scar, but for her it was because of it. His hazel eyes were
enthralling and drew her right in deep. “How did you know his—?” She didn’t
finish that question and went about giving him an answer. “No. There’s nothing
more you need to know about him.”

“That’s not what I asked, sexy. Are you sure that’s the
answer you want to run with?”

She wasn’t sure about anything right about now so she
remained silent.

He gave her one last penetrating look before he dropped his
hand. The release acted as a cue and she immediately dropped her gaze. Grateful
because she didn’t want him to read the worry in her eyes.

“All right, let’s forget about that for now. Talk to me
about your decision to pursue this kind of relationship. With me.”

That one she could answer. “You winked at me.”

“And?”

She wanted to look up so bad, but looking down felt so good
that she took a deep breath instead and let it out slowly. “The night of the
grand opening at the resort you called me
mera pyar
.”

His voice rumbled low like distant thunder, “I thought you
hated it when I did that.”

She shook her head. “Then at Colin and Ethan’s wedding you
danced with me.”

“I did and as I recall it took me nearly the length of that
whole song to get you to stop trying to lead.”

“I eventually stopped though.”

“Why?”

“Because you didn’t. You wouldn’t let me lead no matter how
many times I purposely stepped on your toes.”

Hearing his chuckle, she flushed with pleasure until her
blush grew hotter when he said, “I would have put you over my knee had I known
you were doing it on purpose.”

That thought thrilled her. “Then later at the vineyard, at
the reception, you lifted me up onto the rock like all the other girls, for our
picture to be taken.”

“I remember, but what was so special about that?”

“You were the only guy there brave enough to treat me like
one of the girls. It was nice. Better than nice and…” She shrugged. How could
she put into words something so indefinable as belonging? “I know it’s going to
sound crazy, but I felt at ease.”

“That’s not crazy. I understand perfectly.”

His somber tone gave her the courage to put it all out
there. “That was when it happened. That night I started having dreams about
you.”

“What kind of dreams? Sexual?”

She wanted so badly to put her hand on his knee. To touch
him and feel the heat and power that radiated from him, but decided against it.
Not until she was done telling him this much of the truth. “Not at first. In
the beginning I would dream up scenarios where you’d take me places. Fun places
that I used to enjoy as a child.”

“Like where?”

“The candy store or the zoo. Then one night I imagined you
taking me to the fair where you played a game of bean-bag toss and you won me a
stuffed animal and for a long time that’s all I dreamed about until…”

“Yes?”

“Until you said no to me.”

The leather crunched as he sat back. “I didn’t say no to
you. I said no to Ethan, who said no to his wife. It was Colin, she said no to
you.”

“But I—”

“You should have asked me directly. I don’t like a woman who
hides.”

Her cheeks burned and she whispered, “I wasn’t hiding and I
didn’t make this decision without thinking it through first. Colin and I talked
about my problem at length. She was the one who mention exposure therapy, and
after I told her how I felt about you, she talked to Ethan about it. He told me
you’d say no.”

“So there wasn’t one Dom I tried to pair you with you would
have considered?”

“No.”

Ted didn’t want to explore how great that “no” sounded to
him. She said it with such conviction he couldn’t help the surge of male
satisfaction that swept through him. And as he looked down at her bowed head
and pink cheeks, that pleasure increased.

He knew why she’d been having those kinds of dreams. On some
subconscious level, she must have figured out that he was the type of man who
could connect with her inner child. A child who had to grow up too fast because
of one reckless bastard’s abuse.

“What kind of stuffed animal?”

“W-what?”

“What kind of creature do I win for you in your dreams?”

“A dragon. A rainbow-colored dragon that has big green
eyes.”

“Every time?”

“Yes.”

“Look at me.” When she did he came forward and rested his
elbows across his spread knees and clasped his hands together. “I think my
princess needs a dragon to slay the beasts that haunt her.”

She didn’t say anything to that, she just bent and rested
her forehead against the bridge of his hands. The ebony silk of her hair
rippled like water over her shoulders, leaving the fine expanse of her back
exposed to him. He let her hold her position this way for several moments.
Content to feel this kind of connection with her until she shifted forward in
an attempt to get closer to him.

“No, Jo, back as you were and straighten.” He waited until
she did as he told her, then he said, “I think I want to take you upstairs. Not
to my room, we’ll go to one of the spare rooms on the second floor and see if
we can ease some of your skittishness around me. But first, let’s talk about
last night.”

The flat of her palms rested on her thighs and he didn’t
miss how she rubbed the perspiration off them.

“Why weren’t you this nervous around me at the club?”

“There were other people doing the same things and…”

Hm. Falling in with a crowd was an important note to make.
“And?”

“I made a pact with myself before I went into the club to
meet you that my modesty would be left at the door.”

“Smart girl. That’s where it will always be left when you
come to me. Into my home, my car, my clubs or my office. You understand what
I’m saying?”

“Yes.”

The pulse at her throat picked up speed. He watched all the
telltale signs of her body. The little panted-out breaths, the ever-so-slight
tremble in her arms. She liked the idea of being commanded. “Let’s go upstairs
and see if we can make you more comfortable around me.”

He pulled her up with him, careful to keep some distance
between them. Not necessarily for her benefit alone. He was feeling the heavy
tension too. He couldn’t help but think what was going on behind those huge
eyes. Her erratic breathing captivated him. Reminding him of a prisoner of war
who knows they might fare far better on this side of the battle than the other,
but they’re not so naïve as to think the struggle was completely over.

“Up you go.” He had her ascend the stairs ahead, happy to
hang back just far enough to enjoy the view. “First door on the right.”

“I like this room.” She took in her surroundings better this
time, he noticed, than the first time he showed her. Probably because this time
it meant something to her. “It’s brighter than the other one and bigger I
think.”

Ted examined the three long rectangular windows that ran
floor to ceiling on the far wall and nodded. “It is.” He shut the door and made
sure to slide the lock so it noisily clicked into place.

As anticipated she spun around.

“Eyes down, sexy.”

She looked so adorable complying, he grinned. “Now what can
I do to help you relax?”

He walked around her. Eyeing her and no doubt increasing the
edginess inside of her.

“Fuck me.”

“Hm. Let’s address the first problem I have with this. It’s
your choice of words. They’re harsh and I’ve already told you my women do not
swear.” He continued circling.

“I want you to, ah, screw me?”

He stopped and tilted his head. Ignoring her
meant-to-be-funny uncertainty, he concentrated on the fact that underneath it,
she was serious. “Just like that? You have a gift to give and you’d give it to
me,” he snapped his fingers, “right now.”

“Yes.”

“Why?” He braced his hands on her shoulders and waited until
she settled down. “Why me?”

“You winked at me.”

This was the second time she’d said that. “It must have been
some wink.”

“It was.”

He actually felt her shiver at her own admission. “I winked
at you because you called me an arrogant bastard.”

She nodded.

“What was so special about the gesture?”

“It made me hot and tingly. It was… You were the first guy
to make me feel like a woman. Special. I want you to be my first everything. I
want—”

He didn’t let her finish. He spun her around and hauled her
up. “Don’t say it.”

“You to be my first love.”

He crushed her in his arms and let out a breath. “I told you
not to say it.”

“I had to.”

He held her close. “Why?”

“You’re my dragon, I know you are. I just know it.”

This was dangerous territory for him, because for the first
time in nearly five years his hand was easing off that emergency brake. Worse,
his foot wanted to pound the gas. He didn’t know her well enough to totally
move forward, but he knew her too well that he couldn’t hold back.

“I want you on your knees, princess. Let’s put you through
some paces and see how we both fare.”

She sank so beautifully he almost hoisted her back up. But
he couldn’t do that. He was the one with the knowledge and experience. He
needed to put his emotions aside and set up some perimeters for them.

“Back straight. We’re going to have to get you some hair
ties for this ebony silk. It’s beautiful but distracting. Eyes down, that’s
right,” he said as he circled her. “Now bring your arms up behind your head.
Very good. Breasts out. God, I love this.” He reached down and traced a finger
over the henna design on one breast. “I want you to keep these designs dark,
like they are now, understood? I like the illusion of being unable to tell
where that pretty nipple stops and the ink starts.”

She nodded and he reached under her chin and tilted it up.
“Say it, I would hear the words.”

“I promise to keep the design dark the way you like it.”

She was doing such an elegant job of positioning he crouched
down right in front of her. “Tell me what you’re thinking right now.”

“I’m…I would do anything you asked me to do.”

“Very good,” he trailed a finger across her breast until he
reached her nipple, then he pinched the hardened bud between his forefinger and
thumb and rolled. “Close your eyes.” Instantly she did and he smiled. “This
pleases me. Now I’m going to take your panties down. Not all the way, just
enough so I can look at you. Don’t move.”

He took his time slipping her tiny panties down her hips and
exposing that smooth-as-glass mound. Slowly, he pulled the lace lower and lower
still until it was positioned halfway between her sweeter-than-fuck flared hips
and bent knees.

He took a moment to study her and then leaned forward and
pressed the side of his jaw into hers. “Damn, I love the spread. Smooth and
fragrant. Beautiful.” He straightened. “Now bring your arms down. Like that.
Palms behind you. Grasp your ass cheeks. Perfect. Keep your eyes closed.”

He wanted her off balance and unsure. Unable to gauge where
his touch was going to land when it finally did. Gaining a fortifying breath,
he reached out and meant to start at her thigh, but his hand took a detour and
suddenly he was cupping the hottest, most drenched pussy he’d felt in a long,
long time.

Slipping eager fingers through her steam, he whispered, “Oh
princess, what are you trying to do to me?”

She shouldn’t have opened her eyes, because he’d told her to
keep them closed. She shouldn’t have spoken because she hadn’t been directed to
speak and yet she stared right up at him and in a husky voice that sent lust
rocketing through him, she said, “It’s my gift to give and I want to give it to
you.”

The fact that the gift she was talking about was creaming
his hand at the moment was not far from his every primal thought. Screw primal,
carnal was more like it. “Come closer on your knees and put your arms around
me.”

And when she did, all he could smell were apples. Fresh,
crisp and delicious apples. “Spread your knees wider,” he ordered, angling his
hand between her legs for a better feel. “That’s right.”

She was breathing hard. Shaking. Wanting more than his hand,
he knew.

He wasn’t going to give it to her, but he wanted to.

“Mmm…” He kissed her ear, her cheek and rubbed the side of
his face against hers as he worked his magic on her pussy. “You’re so wet. So,
so wet. I’ll have to get you off at least twice before we can go over your
schedule.”