Second Touch (Emma's Arabian Nights, #2) (7 page)

The possessive growl in her voice should have embarrassed her, but she meant every word she said.

Instead of laughing, Ryan answered in an equally growly tone, “As if I could belong to anyone else. I’ve been yours since our first kiss.”

Her cheeks heated and she marveled that, she, the woman who’d done just about every kinky thing one person could do to another, was blushing over one man’s devotion. “I…thank you.”

“Do you want me to meet you there or pick you up?”

Looking around her modest apartment she felt embarrassment at Ryan seeing where she lived compared to his mansion. Then again, he probably already knew where she lived because of his cyberstalking. He probably knew exactly how little money she had in her bank account as well, and she had to admit she liked the idea of her nosy neighbors watching her walk out of the building with Ryan. They were always trying to set her up with their brothers, or cousins, or friends.

“You can pick me up at my place. I’m assuming you know the address?”

He cleared his throat. “Why do you say that?”

“Oh, please, Ryan. Save the innocent act for someone who hasn’t been a victim of your cyberstalking.”

“What?”

“When you researched me and found out where I worked? I’m sure you also got my home address.”

For a few moments he didn’t say anything, then sighed. “I have your address.”

She grinned. “That’s what I thought. See you tomorrow night at seven?”

“Sounds good to me. What should I wear?”

“Hmmmm….” The mental image of Ryan in a variety of bondage gear spilled through her head like watching a porn on fast forward. “Do you own any leather pants?”

“Of course.” He chuckled. “I have a pair that unzips on either side for easy removal if you’d like.”

“Oh yes, wear those.” She clenched her thighs at the thought of slowly unzipping Ryan out of his clothes, revealing his muscular legs one delicious inch at a time. Moira would lose her fucking mind and Emma did love teasing her friend.

“I’ll see you then. And, Emma?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for calling me. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. And I just want you to know that making love with you was one of the best experiences of my life.”

“I-” She wanted to confess that making love with him had been the best sex of her life, but held back. “Thank you.”

“See you tomorrow, Mistress.”

“Bye, Ryan.”

Ryan took a deep breath as he screwed up his courage to knock on the nondescript door to Emma’s apartment. He wore a long black trench coat in order to conceal the black mesh shirt he wore with his black leather pants that zipped up the side, just like he’d promised. The doors of the apartments were rather thin and he could hear music with a heavy bass line coming from inside Emma’s apartment, along with the voices of her neighbors as he’d passed other doors. God forgive him for being judgmental, but she really did live in a shitty apartment complex.

He wanted to get her out of here, to make it so she didn’t have to Domme anymore, so she could go back to school and be happy, but she would never take his money. Justan had been right, Emma would dump his ass if he tried to give her what she would view as charity. But the memory of her breaking down in tears last night, sobbing like her world was falling apart, had torn his own soul in two. He made a very rash decision he hoped he wouldn’t regret, and he prayed Emma would never find out.

One way or another, by the end of the night her world was going to change forever.

A door opened down the hall, and he quickly knocked on Emma’s door. He hoped whoever was walking past him didn’t see him standing and staring like an idiot. The music turned down inside and a few moments later Emma opened the door with a shy smile. Tonight she wore a pretty white silk halter dress with her hair swept up in curls. Shimmering powder with a hint of sparkle covered her flawless skin and his heart gave a hard thud as he looked into her beautiful sky blue eyes and saw the nervousness bordering on fear in her gaze.

The need to touch her filled him and he was unable to stop himself as he reached out and took her delicate hand in his. “Hi, Emma.”

Her smile grew wider and she gave his hand a small squeeze before leading him into her apartment. Various oriental rugs were strewn about the tiny living room area and an undersized brown leather sofa strewn with jewel tone pillows occupied most of the space. A small kitchen with faded countertops and scratched cabinets stood to his right and to the left a short hallway led to what he assumed was her bathroom and bedroom. Pictures of her family filled the walls and he took a few steps forward to look at one of a younger Emma and her sisters with their arms thrown around each other, beaming at the camera. Memories hit him hard of Emma in high school as he examined her carefree smile.

He wanted to make her smile like that again.

“Your hair’s growing back.”

He ran his hand over his head. “Yeah, looks more like a military buzz cut now.”

Cocking her head to the side, she examined him, then smiled. “I like it.”

“Thanks. You look spectacular.”

“Thank you.” She blushed then cleared her throat. “If you give me a moment I’ll grab my stuff.”

Turning, he arched a brow and raked her ridiculously hot body with his gaze. “Are we still going to the party?”

“Yes, is that okay?”

She stiffened and he shook his head with a grin. “I was hoping we were. I just didn’t know if that was a date dress or a party dress. Either way you look amazing.”

Rolling her eyes, she then moved to the closet off the entrance to her apartment and grinned. “Sometimes I like the leather, the latex, the corsets and all that stuff, but other times I wish to be more…mobile. While corsets are lovely, they do restrict my movements.”

A stray curl brushed over the tiny knob of her spine at the base of her neck and the urge to kiss her there filled him. “Emma, you could wear a muumuu and it would be sexy.”

She slipped on her tan leather jacket and laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far but I appreciate the sentiment.”

He moved forward and brushed her hands away, buttoning her jacket and taking in what he hoped wasn’t an obvious inhalation of her sweet and spicy scent. “Any ground rules you want to go over before we get there?”

The mantle of authority seemed to fall over her and he suddenly found himself standing before his Mistress. Blood rushed to his cock as she examined him from beneath her lashes and he had to resist the urge to fidget. “I will respect your hard limits, but I want to know what you want out of our evening.”

“To make you happy.” He smiled when she frowned at him. “I mean it, Emma. This isn’t about me. Well, it isn’t only about me. I’m not a client, I’m more interested in your pleasure than mine.”

She immediately stiffened and he wanted to kick himself in the ass for bringing her work up. God, she’d been so upset, so hurt last night after her clients had left while he watched her from his computer, filled with impotent rage that he couldn’t be there to comfort her. He wished he could somehow let her know that he hadn’t been pissed off watching her top that couple, that he didn’t think she was a whore or any of those terrible things she’d said about herself. If anything watching her instruct Adam and Jenny was one of the most erotic sights of his life. But there was no fucking way he could tell her that without revealing that he was indeed a cyberstalker and that he’d invaded her privacy in a way that made him deeply ashamed of himself.

Especially when he watched her spill her heart to Moira.

God, he was such a prick.

“Hey, no sad eyes.” He cupped her chin and when she looked at him it wasn’t sadness, but anger filling her gaze. “Why are you pissed at me?”

“Nothing.”

She tried to move away but he caught her wrist. “Talk to me, please. Let me know what’s bothering you and maybe I can apologize or you can beat my ass until you’re satisfied.”

Huffing out a breath, she weakly jerked at his hold. “I know you’re not my client, Ryan, and it pisses me off that you would even say that.”

“Why?”

“Because…because it makes me feel cheap.”

Baffled, he stared at her. “I make you feel cheap?”

“No…yes…well, no.” Her gaze dropped to his chest. “I’m having a hard time dealing with what we have, okay? I’m trying very hard to be honest with you, but I’m not used to talking about this kind of stuff. You’re uncharted territory for me.”

“How so?”

She looked up and her frustration was obvious in the tight muscles around her mouth and the little crease between her eyebrows. “I’ve only seriously dated one submissive and our relationship wasn’t what you would call healthy by any stretch of the imagination. And before you ask, no, it’s not any of your business, okay?”

He wanted to argue with her, but now wasn’t the time to push. Hell, he had his own baggage, including a crazy ex-girlfriend, Beth, he’d had served with a restraining order. His ex and all her drama was one of the reasons he’d left California, but he didn’t want to tell Emma that, so he could kind of understand where she was coming from. He sure as shit didn’t want to talk about Beth.

“Okay, but you’re uncharted territory for me as well. I mean how often does a guy get a chance to be with the woman of his dreams? I’m so afraid of fucking this up, of doing something that will piss you off, and losing you.” He pulled her into a hug and gently stroked her back, loving how she relaxed against him. “We’ll just take it one day at a time. I’m not going to lie, I want you long term, not just for a roll in the hay.”

“A roll in the hay?” She snorted but snuggled closer and his heart melted as he held her. “Are you sure you want to go to this party with me? We could stay here tonight instead.”

“While the thought of having you all to myself is more than tempting, I want to see my bad ass Mistress in action.” His cock twitched and she must have noticed because her hips pressed closer to him. “The thought of watching you, of other people watching us, it’s hot as fuck.”

“Are you sure? Sometimes the fantasy is much better than the reality.” She pulled back enough so she could look up at him. “Can you honestly say that watching me touch someone else in a sexual manner wouldn’t make you angry? Possessive?”

“Depends on the situation.” The mental image of Emma fucking Jenny while she pegged her husband ran through his mind in a ball tightening wave of lust. “I would like you to talk to me before you pick out a partner to play with, but I’d just kind of like to play this by ear, no pressure. Hell, if you just want to put me through my paces in front of your friends I’m more than game for that.”

“Why? Why does the thought of me dominating someone else turn you on?”

“I don’t know. I mean, yeah, the thought of you with another woman is unbearably hot, like I’m about to fucking come in my pants thinking about it, but I’m not sure if I could deal with you topping another guy, unless his wife or Mistress was there. I guess I don’t like the thought of you playing with someone that could possibly take you away from me.”

She smiled and her eyes brightened, “I understand what you’re saying, but Ryan, trust me when I say there isn’t a man on earth who can compete with you.”

His male pride surged and he couldn’t help giving her a cocky grin. “Damn straight.”

Rolling her eyes, she stepped forward so he could cuddle her against his chest. “What about another Mistress playing with us?”

Though she tried to keep her tone light, only an idiot would miss the faint hint of tension in her voice that was a clear warning. As if that wasn’t a hint enough, the way her muscles tensed and she grew stiff against him let him know about her displeasure at the idea. He wasn’t surprised about her jealousy, she didn’t strike him as the kind of woman that would share him with someone she viewed as a threat to their relationship. As if he would be so easily lured away from her. He wanted to shake her for even doubting his devotion to her for a moment, but that wasn’t the way to handle Emma.

He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her pink frosted lips, the slight taste of lipstick lingering on his mouth. “I don’t want another Mistress touching me. If you want another female submissive to help me serve you, I’ll make that sacrifice, but not another Mistress. I belong to you.”

Her pleased smile made him feel ten feet tall, then she stepped out of his arms. “Oh, that’s right. I have something for you. Hold on.”

With a mouthwatering sway in her step she went down the hall into one of the rooms and returned a few moments later with a shiny black gift box. “For you.”

He took it from her and couldn’t help his pleased smile when he opened it and found a pair of black leather, spiked wrist cuffs with rings where chains could be attached. A little engraved silver plaque was secured in the middle of each cuff and when he read it pride resonated through his soul at the sight of
‘Mistress Emma’s Property’
. Emotion filled him, and to his surprise, he found himself actually choking up. Fuck, he’d known about the emotions involved in BDSM, knew in theory about the power plays and all of that, but he never thought the sight of Emma’s public claim on him would affect him this deeply.

Overcome by emotion, he dropped to his knees and rubbed his face against the feminine curve of her stomach, placing a gentle kiss on each of her hips. She sighed, then tenderly stroked his head and he closed his eyes. As he rested against her softness, he felt the connection between them deepen. He was surprised in a way about the intensity of his own emotions, but this physical proof that she wanted him, wanted to own him, made him feel at once proud and humbled. Proud because he’d earned her trust enough to have her claim him, humbled because the act of Emma placing her trust in him was a priceless gift. It was an odd dichotomy that he couldn’t explain, even to himself, but that was how he felt.

On a more primal level, those wrist cuffs were not only her physical claim on him, but his on her as well. He
belonged
to her, in a way that no one else did. While he was new to the BDSM scene he was aware enough of the dynamics to know that the exchange of power was a double-edged sword. As much as he craved a public mark of her ownership, she needed to mark him, to let other Dommes know that he was off limits. When he looked up at her, the soft, sensual smile on her lips made his cock ache, and the erotic, possessive fire in her striking eyes seared him to the bone.