Stare Me Down (Stare Down) (25 page)

She pointed sideways to the ride but kept looking at him. “This isn’t an appropriate time?”

“No. You know what’s going to happen. You’ve spent the last fifteen minutes making sure it was going to happen. Get on.”

She inhaled deep and then exhaled. “Fine.” After she stepped on the platform and grabbed onto a rail she asked, “Do you want me to bend over it?”

“In a minute. Right now just hang on and take a ride for me.”

He grabbed hold of the end of the bar and pulled back and then pushed forward so the platform spun at a rapid rate. After one quick turn she was dizzy, but it kept on going. The wind whipped her hair and the storm-darkened landscape whirled by in a blur.

“Don’t close your eyes,” he called. “You’ll get dizzier.”

“I’m already dizzy.” She tried to focus in on one thing to help her stay grounded, but that didn’t work. Her head was spinning as fast as the merry-go-round.

“All right. Hang on tight. I’m going to slow you down and when I do you’re going to be tipsy.”

“I’ll be fine.” Of course she wasn’t. She nearly fell sideways when he stopped the darn thing. Fortunately he caught her in time.

“Easy there, tiger. Now let’s bend you over the bar.”

She gasped because she felt like she was falling, even though she knew she wasn’t. “I’m going to fall.”

“Just hang on to these.” She was bent over the squared-off bar, and he helped to place her hands on either side of it, but she still teetered. Then he undid her pants and pulled them down, and she wasn’t teetering anymore. She was totally focused and very quiet.

“Ah, I see now I have your attention.”

Before she could answer he‌—‌well, rubbed would be the wrong way to describe it…‌chaffed, maybe?—her bottom with the palms of his hands. The caress was hard and got her hot, not in a good way, and made her itchy. Again not good, so she tried to move.

“No squirming.”

The first smack with the flat of his hand was shocking. Strangely more shocking than the belt had been to her. Probably because he’d talked to her that night in the maze and now he didn’t. He was strict. To the point. A little heavy-handed, to her way of thinking. This wasn’t fun. This was…‌the punishment she’d pushed him into administering. Taking the time to compare this to the experience she had in the maze, she now knew the difference between erotic play and corporal discipline. Both affected her physically and stung, but the latter touched her on an emotional level that stung worse. After he was done, he helped her to stand and pull up her pants. He didn’t say anything to her. Not one word as he handed her back into the car. She thought the short ride to her house was bad, but bad didn’t compare to how awful she felt when he walked her to the door, fit her cap on backward and said goodnight. No kiss. No hug. No smile. Just polite reserve that hurt her more deeply than any spanking could.

She didn’t even hesitate. She walked right to her bedroom and undressed. Once she was under the misted spray of the shower, she closed her eyes and ignored the heat of her ass. Because unlike the first time, this time there was nothing to relish about it and it had very little to do with the physical aspect of things. Despite her best efforts, Ramsey Taylor had found a way to connect with her emotionally. Maybe his methods borderline on the bizarre, but there was no denying her response to them. Why else would she have texted him the second she was dried off.

Have a good night.

She waited nearly an hour to see if he’d respond, and he didn’t. Suddenly she was thinking all kinds of things. She never should have agreed to explore things with him. She was out of her element and even when she was in her element, she wasn’t in the same league with a man like him. Why did he make the offer that night in the restaurant? And why did he bring up loyalty? Was it true he was playing at an exchange? She thought about Dan’s comments this afternoon at the ice cream shop.
It’s nice Aries has a normal gal for a change.
Oh, she knew Aries was tired of the word, but she had to ask herself, why would he want such an ordinary woman when he lived such an extraordinary life?

Ramsey Taylor is using you. He’s going to leave you just like Walter…

She couldn’t bear something like that. Not now that he’d touched places inside her that no one else had. Not her parents or Walter, and what had she felt like when they abandoned her? God, she didn’t want to think about that.

The second he gets what he wants he’ll leave you.

Maggie’s words rang with stark clarity, but then she recalled what Aries had said. Maggie liked to feel power over her. The irony of this coming from a man like him didn’t escape her. And the longer she waited for a return text that didn’t come, the worse she felt. Her disappointment turned into a physical ache, manifesting in her stomach and seeping into her heart. If she was ever given to cry, she probably would have done so tonight. But then, she didn’t have any tears left. Her parent’s colossal fights and her father’s cutting words to her had wasted a lifetime of them years ago.

With a huge sigh, she settled in to fall asleep and hugged her pillow, wishing to God their day together had ended better.

Chapter Fifteen

Aries signed the last document and handed it to Shar. “That takes care of that.”

“Consider it sent.”

When she was gone, he fell back in his chair and rocked. Whoever wanted to beat him out of that unit certainly played hardball. And the next time he put a kick-out clause in a contract, he was going to make sure he gave himself more time to respond.

He picked up his phone and read Jaxx’s text. She’d sent it hours ago, and he’d decided not to respond to it. She needed time to think, and so did he. He wasn’t used to dealing with an insecure woman. Normally he steered clear of them. Too much work, but with Jaxx it was different. What he’d told her tonight was true. She shined when she was with him because he set the boundaries. There was no second-guessing for her to do. No doubting. Was this what she needed from him?

What about what you need from her?

He sat back, steepled his fingers together and tapped them against his lips while he thought. He’d have to be careful introducing her to his needs, and he wouldn’t be doing it at all if he couldn’t break through this block she had that she wasn’t good enough for him.

The second she’d asked about Shar tonight, he understood her better than he ever had. Oh, he’d covertly tried to figure her out right from the beginning. Watching and gauging her during those classes. That was how he learned about Carmichael’s far-reaching influence over her which had to stop. Especially now that he knew what motivated that woman to interfere. It wasn’t healthy. The way he saw it? Jaxx needed to stand up for herself and not cave into her fears. He was of a mind that a person had to face those demons and with Carmichael trying to run the show, Jaxx was never forced to do that. He hadn’t missed how quick she was to offer up “Maggie” tonight when he’d mentioned the prospect of some people in her life liking the self-doubter in her. That told him she was aware of the problem on some level. Which was good. But it also told him she might be immune to it. Which was bad.

He dropped his hands and decided. He needed to be her everything. All-consuming until those two facets of her became one. Until there was no self-doubter for her family and friends to connect with and only the confident and sassy woman remained. When the idea began to take shape, he winced. It wasn’t going to be easy. So maybe this small rift tonight was the perfect jump-off point for what he had planned.

*****

Jaxx was still embracing the pillow when she awoke. Rolling over, she blinked from the glare of the bathroom light clicking on and then sat straight up.

“Aries?”

“Turn over.”

His expression was serious. Dark. Sizzling in a thrilling and sexy way that had her heart fluttering and her pulse careening. She didn’t even nod; she just did as he said.

In one quick move he had the sheet and duvet off the bed. He took the pillows off too. Now there was only her, but apparently he wasn’t satisfied. He slipped an arm between her waist and the mattress and brought her over to the middle of the bed. He smelled so great and his skin was cool against hers that she shivered. His muscles were unyielding as he positioned her as if she were a living doll.

“Get up on your knees. No. Not kneeling. I want your ass up and shoulders down.”

She did as he instructed, almost afraid to breathe, but then she saw him take off his belt. He leaned on the bed and buckled it on her headboard. Bringing the long, flat strip toward her.

“Use two hands and hold onto this. Move up some more. I want your chin above your hands so you’ll be able to rest your cheek on my leather.”

Here again she did as he asked, feeling totally exposed and yet completely grounded this time, because she had a hold of something tangible that was his.

“Spread your knees. Ass up. Shoulders down. Cheek pressed on my leather above your hands. That’s right. Stay like that.”

Jaxx closed her eyes, thinking she was going to have a hard time getting over the embarrassment of being displayed this way, while he did what? Got undressed? But she fought off the discomfort. And it was a good thing too, because he may have stripped naked but he didn’t come to her right away. He sat in her overstuffed lounger and stared at her. Heat rode the distance between them. Burning her up as she gauged his interest, knowing his eyes were on her… and she loved it.

The longer the minutes took to tick by, the hotter she got. Thoughts of him coming behind her anytime he wanted fired her up. She was there for him. Prepared. Ready. Available in the most basic way possible, and he didn’t rush it. That was the best part. The anticipation. The build. She found herself breathing heavy and when he spoke she almost came.

“Kiss my leather.”

She did, and the simple act made her tremble. Quiver. Want him so much she moaned.

By the time he came onto the bed and got behind her, she was in that hazy trance-like state. Euphoric almost. So when he easily slid into her and whispered, “Just what I like. Hot pussy.” She didn’t blush, move or moan. It was as if she were outside her body. Floating above it. Watching closely as he flexed into her.

He pressed a hand to her back, not that he needed to, because she was his to command. “Kiss my leather again.”

She moved to do this. Kissing, then sliding her cheek up and down the worn hide. Matching his rhythm. Up and down and in and out. Nothing but sensations. The heat and hardness. The pressure. God, it was consuming. Stroking and working her over until her hands slipped some on the belt.

“No, don’t let go. Get a better grip.”

His steady rhythm never changed as he spoke, and that more than anything got her adrenaline surging. The tingles, when they came, were deep. The inner squeeze long and tight as her lungs filled with air, and she breathed, and breathed some more as the urge built inside her. Higher and harder. Faster.

“Not yet.”

She panted through the need. Trying to hold on. Trying not to come because he didn’t want her to, but…

“Almost.”

She kissed the leather even though he didn’t ask her to, over and over, until he ran a hand down the length of her spine, pushing all the way into her.

“Okay, babe. Now you can come.”

She sucked in a deep shot of air and then let it go. “Yes!”

“Fuck, I love your pussy.”

Her inner muscles tightened around him, and the friction this kind of invasion created was heaven for her. Hell. Until those clenching muscles let go, only to constrict again. Over and over they danced around the raw power of him and when she heard the telling sounds of all that moisture as he continued to ride her hard, she buried her face against his leather and hung on tight.

It was much later, after he’d put the bed back together and tucked her into it, that she smiled. It felt good to be snuggled up against him. Nice as he stroked her hair. She didn’t even want to examine how glad she was that he wasn’t mad anymore.

Truthfully, Aries had been expecting a hissy fit, and what did he get? A wonderfully subdued woman who was ready to be mastered.

Recalling how she’d purred all over his leather got adrenaline jetting through him. He wanted more than just acquiescence from her. He wanted it all. He wanted her locked in his collar and marked by his hands. The way she’d just surrendered was an encouraging start.

“Do you feel better?”

“Yes. I don’t like it when you get mad.”

“I wasn’t mad. I was disappointed.”

“Worse.”

He grinned. “Don’t test me, and we’ll do fine.”

“You test me.”

“I know.”

“Not fair.” Even though she was grumbling, she still rubbed her cheek against his chest. She really was contrary.

“I have something I want to talk to you about.”

She tilted her head back and looked right at him. “Okay.”

“I want to do a Scene with you.”

She stiffened. “At your club?”

“No. At my house.”

She relaxed at the same time she let out a breath. “I’m glad to hear that. Sex clubs are not my style.”

And neither were tattoos. One he could deal with, the other he couldn’t, but they’d cross that bridge when they got to it.

“I’m going to be giving you instructions over the course of the week in preparation for it. Tomorrow I’ll send you over a list of limits, and I want you go through and take off the things that would be intolerable for you. The rest can be rated from one to five. Five being you hate it to one being it’s okay.”

“I think I can do that.”

“I’m going to buy what you’ll wear.”

“Are my choices on the list?”

“No. I’m also going to tell you what to eat for forty-eight hours beforehand.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It’s practical. Women usually do stupid things before they have a big night with a guy. Like skip dinners and lunch so they can get into that fancy dress. I don’t want you fainting when I’m in the middle of—” He caught himself.

“Yes?”

He lowered his voice, “Giving you my undivided attention.”