The Club Sin Series 4-Book Bundle (33 page)

Hours flew by like minutes, and the conversation hadn't dulled. In fact, considering how strained things had been at the beginning, Cora could've listened to Aidan talk about his childhood to college to his job all night.

At some point, the clouds settled in, darkening the sky. She stared at the fire burning brightly, sending orange flicks into the air. As a comfortable silence fell between them, Cora turned to the small beige-colored tent. Her heart fluttered and her palms grew sweaty. Really, a tent shouldn't make anyone so nervous, but there was more to that tent that troubled her.

One tent. One giant sleeping bag for two.
Daunting
.

Cora's heart tripped at the idea of sleeping next to Aidan. She felt as if she was sixteen years old and at the summer camp, the place she experienced her first kiss with a boy. She hadn't slept in the same bed with a man since Porter; dungeon play didn't involve sleepovers.

Is this really happening…

It seemed both exciting and incredibly dangerous for her.

“Was Porter your only boyfriend?”

She gulped, turning to Aidan. “My first Dom boyfriend, not my first boyfriend.”

“Tell me about the others.” Aidan smiled.

His shadowy gaze made her hyperaware of his every move. The warmth in the depths of his eyes lightened her chest.
You look good when you're not lost within yourself
. But she couldn't allow herself to get too hopeful—she'd been let down too many times.

Whatever his intent tonight, she had to keep believing his actions came from being her Dom and wanting to help her, not to get to know her better. And certainly not to let their love grow. She couldn't handle being wrong again. “Just young-love type stuff, boyfriends through high school and college. Nothing too serious.”

He hesitated, regarding her with a tilt to his head. “When did you discover you were submissive?”

“It was a fluke.” The fire crackled, drawing Cora's attention to the hot embers. “For an assignment in college, we needed to analyze a person and explain reasons for their actions.”

“You researched a submissive?”

His soft voice filled with interest, and a tone she'd never heard before kept her attention on the fire. “Nope, a sexual sadist.” She scrunched her nose. “In fact, he was a serial killer.”

“Please tell me how researching
that
led you to living the lifestyle.”

She glanced to him with a smile. “I know how morbid it sounds. A person researching that should run away, not willingly enter into it.”

A wrinkle marred his forehead. “My thoughts exactly.”

“Well…” She ran her hands over the soft blanket beneath her. “I went to Chains for research. I thought if I learned how it all worked, then it would be easier for me to understand the mind of a sexual sadist.”

One eyebrow arched. “Did it?”

She recalled that eye-opening experience. Lord, what she'd learned through that assignment had both changed her life and made her aware of her limits. “Yeah, and what I saw I didn't like.”

“You're not a masochist,” Aidan agreed.

“Yep, I figured that out pretty quick.” She remembered the iciness in her veins when she watched knife play. While she understood why some people enjoyed it, and she respected their right to do it, edge play never interested her. “From my experience at Chains and through all the research, I learned the difference between safe, sane, and consensual and abuse.” At his unfamiliar stillness to observe her, she looked to the fire. “By the time I finished the report, an interest grew to experience the safe, sane, and consensual.”

“You liked the kink?”

Chuckling, she turned to him, gazing over the shadows on the contours of his face. “I
loved
the kink.”

His body tilted toward her, and he paused to examine her. “How did wanting to experience kink move into realizing that you were submissive?”

Cora became trapped under his stare. He'd never been so attentive. She couldn't restrain her smile. Who knew Aidan enjoyed learning about her life? She mulled over his question, recalling the moment she made the choice to accept a power exchange, instead of playing with kink in the bedroom. To give up her choices and fall into a Dom's command had been a progression. “It happened with Porter.”

“What happened?”

“When I first got into the lifestyle it all unnerved me,” Cora admitted, glancing down to her hands resting loosely in her lap. “I guess I looked a little like Presley did when she first joined the club, wide-eyed and scared shitless.”

He chuckled. “I would've liked to have seen you that way.”

She laughed with him. “Oh, I'm sure it was amusing for all.” Her smile faded and she shrugged. “But with Porter, he built this level of trust between us that I never knew possible. He made me feel…”

“Safe?” Aidan offered.

“Exactly.” Lord, she had never known trust like that, where she depended on a man who held her like glass, always careful not to let her break. “He never asked me to give up control. At first we played in scenes in a fun way, staying comfortable within the limits I set out, which, let me tell you, were a lot.”

“Pretty normal for a newbie.”

She agreed with a nod. “I started watching other scenes in the club, and saw where Doms were taking their subs. Where I could see them mentally screaming to stop, but because they allowed someone else the control, they stayed quiet.” Her heart swelled with the happy memories. “And I saw where that took them. How they looked after the scene, with that glow of satisfaction.”

“You wanted that?”

She raised her brows. “Who wouldn't want that?”

He chuckled.

She smiled, too, and added, “The relationship I built with Porter allowed me to let my guard down. And that helped me realize that giving someone that kind of control didn't mean I lost myself; rather, it meant I found something more, something deeper emotionally.”

Aidan gave her a grin that encouraged her to go on. “What did you find?”

She focused on his mouth and his honest smile. “It fulfilled me in a way I didn't expect.” The response on his face made her hesitate, and then she looked to the fire. She loved when he looked at her that way. “I've always been driven, and it gave me peace to have someone else take care of me. That whenever I stepped foot into the club, I could let it all go.”

He brushed a finger over her hand, bringing her attention to him. She continued, “Most of
all, I loved how my gift of submission meant more than a sexual act. The feeling of being appreciated…it made things better for me.”

“You know you deserve that, Cora,” he said with an emotion-rich voice. “You deserve to feel all those things.”

“I know.” That had never been a question in her mind. How could any woman not feel incredible while with a man who paid attention to her every move? She glanced down to his hand over hers and she flipped her hand over, giving his fingers a squeeze. “Even if I don't love Porter that way, I'll be forever grateful to him. I wouldn't be the submissive I am today without the trust he built in me.”

“Look at me, Cora.” Her gaze cut to him when his fingers tightened around hers, and he added, “Porter allowed you to be who you are and opened your life to new possibilities. But
you
became that person by choice and should own that. Don't forget about the strong woman you really are.”

Her eyes became teary, and she yanked her hand from his.
Stop that, Cora!
With a harsh breath, she controlled the flare of heady emotion. “Don't worry, I'm still the same person.” She winked, forcing a smirk. “Maybe just a little wiser.”

He nodded and looked forward into the fire, and she studied Aidan as he stared at the flames, his dark hair falling over his brow. She clenched her hands against the sudden urge to trace her fingers over such perfection. The tingle of her lips to press them against his was not appropriate right now. “How about you? Did you always know you liked kink and sexual domination?”

Nodding, he leaned back on his hands. “Always knew I liked kink. After my first taste of bondage, I discovered I needed more than vanilla sex to find fulfillment.”

Cora's mouth went dry at the images of an inexperienced Aidan. All the same, picturing Aidan as a newbie Dom was near impossible. She pushed past the burn in her loins. “Then what happened?”

“I heard whispers of Chains in college.” With a slow arch to his mouth, he added in a low voice, “Once I went there, I never looked back.”

I'm damn glad!
“Did you have a mentor?”

He shook his head. “Not a mentor necessarily, but I learned from watching and practicing. Much like you did. In those early years, I attended a lot of play parties, which tended
to be where I learned the most.” He winked with a mischievous smile. “And I had patient submissives who let me make mistakes and learn from them.”

To hear him talk so openly about his past experiences tightened her chest. This conversation should've happened a long time ago. “Yes, but how did you learn to dominate a submissive?”

His brows drew together in concentration before he said, “I think anyone can grow as a Dominant, but I also believe it's a born trait, as it is with submissiveness. I'm good at it, because it's naturally who I am.” He exhaled slowly, bending his legs and resting his arms on his knees. “If it wasn't, I think it would look forced.”

“Yeah, I agree.” In fact, she believed all the Club Sin Masters were naturally dominant men. Most had important jobs in which they needed to be controlling. It wasn't much of a surprise that they'd seek that same type of control in their sex lives, too.

Whatever Aidan's reasons for the shift in his demeanor, she wouldn't miss the chance to learn more about him. “So, you asked me; now it's your turn—how many girlfriends have you had?”

He turned to the fire with a clenched jaw. “I've had a few vanilla relationships, but only one D/s relationship.”

Lily
.

A woman Cora had never met, but one she'd thought of often, especially considering she knew that Lily's death had destroyed Aidan. Club Sin Master Kyler had told her about the car accident when Cora asked him why Aidan seemed so sad. The man she'd met when she first joined Club Sin wasn't the happier man sitting with her now. From what she heard from Kyler, Aidan was even more depressed in the year he played without Lily in Chains. Cora didn't know how he stayed there that long. Facing the club without her must've been horrible.

When Cora had met Aidan, he'd been broken, a shell of a once-strong man that had no life in his eyes. In the first two months he had trained her, she'd never seen him smile. While Cora recognized that pain remained, she'd also witnessed him experience the stages of grief. He hadn't completely moved on, but he'd improved.

They were just friends when they first started to play and she'd helped him through a dark time in his life. She always felt that he saw that and appreciated her for it. She stared at him for an overlong moment before she looked away to the dark forest beside her.

Cora shut her eyes, listening to the thundering of her heart. She'd never felt
right
bringing up his past, since he'd never really given her the opportunity. With a tight voice, she turned to him and managed, “Do you miss Lily?”

Aidan heaved a sigh filled with longing. “I do miss her, incredibly so.”

Cora's eyelids became gummy at his tearful voice. She immediately wished she could take her question back. Why remind him of such a painful time? And why hurt herself in the process, hearing him talk about another woman? “I'm sorry you lost her, Aidan.”

“It's all right.” His arms hung slack at his sides; his expression slack. “Life doesn't always work out how we plan.”

With an ache in her stomach, she couldn't deny that statement. She'd learned that hard lesson, too. If it did, Cora would have what Lily had—this unguarded Aidan. “That's true—it doesn't.”

Staring into his shielded gaze, her shoulders slumped as she realized the distance she'd placed between them. A comfortable place for him she imagined that helped him ignore his pain. With nothing less than feeling a desire to flee, she stretched her arms. “All this fresh air has me beat. I'm calling it a night.” She avoided his gaze as she pushed off the blanket, and every step she took toward the tent weighed her down.

“No, Cora.”

She froze and shut her eyes, as she battled the fuzziness of her mind. Regardless, her head was murky, his low murmur sent heat roaring within. This was dangerous for her to play with him tonight. She felt too attached. This was too personal. Yet his voice, layered with rich sexual promise, dropped her into his command.

Her breath hitched and loins burned as he added, “Stay right where you are.”

I need to touch you
.

I have to feel your warmth
.

I want you close
.

Aidan stared at Cora, who was stiff as a board. “Take off your clothes.” He regarded the trembling of her hands as she removed each item of clothing, one by one. She shivered at the cool air in the mountains, which was still unseasonably warmer than in summers past.

All day Cora had teased him with her lustful looks. Which had been why he'd taken her not into the busy part of the campground but to a remote spot he'd been to before. He wanted her all to himself without watchful gazes.

Tonight, she belonged to him.

While he had expected her to react so intensely to him in Club Sin, he hadn't counted on it out of the dungeon. What she showed him was so glaringly obvious he wondered how he missed it.

It wasn't that he was a Dom; it was
him
that aroused her. The power within that knowledge made a low growl escape his chest. In every sense of the word, she submitted to him. He hadn't realized how deep that bond ran…until this moment.

Cora's back still faced him as she stood totally naked. As the light from the fire cast a stunning glow over her body, blood rushed to his cock. With a slow glance, he admired her, from her smooth shoulders to her spine to her waist curving beautifully at her hips. He grunted, scanning over her round bottom that fit ever so perfectly into his hand.

Aidan yanked his T-shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground. Then he approached her, and adrenaline spiked through his veins. Once he settled in behind her, he pressed his bare chest against her soft back, and her low moan quivered his muscles.

He inhaled the spicy scent that belonged to Cora and rubbed his hard cock against her bottom. “You smell amazing.”

“Thank you, sir,” she whispered.

Sliding his hands down her sides, he relished in the gentle curves beneath his touch.
Christ, her body was made for his fingers to explore. “So pretty.” Her quiet laugh tightened his jaw as desire swept through him. “I want to touch you.”

“It feels so good, sir,” she rasped.

He moved his hand down the center of her chest, and then cupped her breasts in his hands. “I want to put my hands all over you.” He massaged her breasts, enjoying the weight and her puckered nipples. “Make you feel good.” Running his hand down her flat stomach, he settled his touch at the junction between her thighs. “Make you nice and wet.”

“You're achieving your goal, sir.” She squirmed against him, wiggling her body this and that way.

His jaw clenched at her rubbing against him, and he cupped her sex. Cora moaned, yet her posture remained tense. He kissed her cheek before he chuckled in her ear. “I don't think I've ever seen you this nervous.” She continued to wiggle her sexy ass along his hardened length. “You've done incredibly naughty things with me. Tell me why this unnerves you.”

She shivered and turned in his arms, pressing her taut nipples against his chest. With wide eyes and enlarged pupils, she whispered, “I'm not used to this—this intimacy…this closeness.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Had he gotten too comfortable that he hadn't prided her enough? Perhaps he had failed to ingrain into her she was important to him and that he appreciated her.

Though he allowed himself the right to make mistakes, he wouldn't allow not rectifying them. Cora was too special not to realize within her lay a loving soul. “That is a shame.” She leaned into his touch, and he added, “You should have moments like these, where a man has you all to himself.”

With his free hand, he slid his fingers up to her rib cage and she moved with his touch. He grasped her tight and tangled his fingers into her hair, tugging her body into him. “Tonight, my touch can be yours.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

“Tell me.”

She widened her legs as his hand traveled lower down her stomach, exhaling deep. “I want you to touch me, Master Aidan.”

Biting his lip, he ran his fingers between her thighs and grunted at the moisture. “Here?”

“Yes, sir,” she wheezed.

He slid a digit inside her heat, and his cock throbbed against her stomach. “So wet, Cora.” At her soft moan, he trailed his finger through her lower lips, bringing her sleek arousal up to the bundle of nerves. “Always ready, aren't you?”

“Yes”—she shivered and shut her eyes, moving her hips in the same rhythm he set—“sir.”

He grinned, giving her clit a hard rub before dropping his touch. Cora's eyes snapped open with hunger. He slid his thumb along her parted lips and she drew the digit into her mouth. He became trapped in that sensual show. He finally groaned, low and deep, as he pulled his thumb from her mouth and gathered her hand. “Yes, luv, I want you, too.”

With her hand tight in his, he led her to the tent and unzipped the flap. His cock pressed painfully against his pants as he entered the tent. Once he'd guided her inside, he said, “Lay that beautiful body down on the sleeping bag.” He heard her comply when he sealed the tent shut. Then he turned on the battery-operated lantern bathing the tent in a soft glow.

He looked to her, and Cora lay on her side, watching him and blinking rapidly. Aidan frowned. He'd never seen her so unsettled, likely because she'd gotten used to Club Sin. Having sex without the kink wasn't the norm for her.

Aidan removed his pants and boxer briefs. Her gaze roamed over his chest and down his abdomen to his rock-hard cock. At her darkening eyes and hooded lids, he grabbed a condom out his pants. As he rolled the condom down his penis, her breath became raspy and her cheeks burned.

He froze.

Her tongue darted out to touch her lower lip and a blaze of fire erupted into his groin. Typically, by the time he put on the condom, Cora was too lost in the scene to notice him touching his cock. The side of his mouth arched. “Ah, you like this.”

Holding the condom snug at the base of his cock, he slid his free hand over his shaft. She followed his move before her heated eyes lifted. “I like watching you, sir. I've”—she hesitated, swallowing hard—“I've never seen you do that before.”

Stroking himself and hardening his cock further, he lowered his voice. “Tell me why this pleases you.”

She looked to his hand, making a slight growl in her throat. “It makes me jealous.”

He swirled the head of his cock, shifting his hips forward with each burn of pleasure. When he slid down his shaft to the base, he grunted. “Why jealous?”

She held his stare. “I want that to be my hand touching you.”

He liked that thought far more than he ought to. Tonight, though, wasn't about him, it was about her. He needed to remind her of the special connection that lay between them—to show her she could undeniably trust him. The hunger in her features and the possessive edge to her gaze made him ache. “Spread your legs. Give me a nice view.”

Once she complied, he quivered at her pink, soaking-wet folds. Each jerk of his cock tightened his muscles and quickened his breath. She liked the show, and he'd continue it for her. Cora's waiting for him and arousal by watching him fueled his pleasure.

When his body pulsated with the desire to take her, he dropped his hand. He craved her tight heat to finish him, not his touch. He studied her, panting and squirming along the sleeping bag as he moved toward her. Her cinnamon scent wrapped around him as he settled in between her smooth thighs. He closed his body on hers, feeling the soft woman beneath him. Taking both her hands, he raised them over her head and lowered his mouth to her neck.

Her scent consumed him. Her taste unraveled him. Her soft body beneath carried a primal need to devour her. Inhaling deeply, he bit at the warm skin on her neck. While his greedy cock craved her, his mind held strong on reassuring her. “Whatever you tell me stays between us.” He nibbled her earlobe. “You know this, yes?”

With a deep moan, she arched into him. “Yes, sir.”

He lowered his hips and rubbed his cock against her clit, and his moan of pleasure followed hers. Running his lips up her jawline, he licked the curve of her mouth. “Nothing you tell me could break the connection between us.”

When he leaned away, dark eyes rich with ecstasy watched him. “I know that, sir.”

He shifted his hips, again and again, brushing against her sex. As she exhaled deeply beneath him, he sealed his mouth over hers. She followed his kiss and gave her soul to him with their embrace.

When his cock nudged her slit, Cora's eyes rolled back with the pleasure. Though he'd fucked up somewhere in the past two years, he wouldn't allow another day to pass that Cora didn't feel appreciated. “Tell me why I'm going to fuck you.”

Her eyes widened as he slid inside. He released his hold on her wrists, tangling his
fingers into her hair. She ran her hands up and down his biceps, wrapping her legs around his thighs. “Because you want to, sir.”

His cock slid easily into her hot, moist center, and his eyes shut at the tightness. Christ, her body was flawless. She wasn't too fragile that she'd break beneath him, yet she was petite enough that he felt powerful.

He pumped his hips, dropping his head into her neck and relishing her right there. Beneath him, she felt perfect. Her soft skin sizzled against his flesh. He whispered in her ear, “And?”

Cora offered a moan before she replied, “Because I'm here to please you, sir.”

He placed a hand under her bottom and her inner muscles squeezed his shaft. He tilted her pelvis, bringing him deeper. His thoughts faded as he pumped into the depths of her. Her touch was his heaven. Her submission was his Eden.

Her pussy tightened against him and her breath became shallow in his ear, snapping him out of his pleasure. Slowing the pace of his thrusts, he allowed them both to experience every slide of his cock, every brush of his skin against hers, and every moan they gave. “Tell me why I touch you.”

“I'm yours to touch, sir.” She gasped.

He fought against his pleasure, wreaking havoc on his control. With her inner walls massaging him, he swirled his hips, rubbing his chest against her taut nipples. “Would I touch you if I didn't want to?”

She tipped her chin up, as her fingernails dug into his back. “No, sir.” He welcomed the burn on his skin and tightened his hand in her hair, pinning her exactly where he wanted her. Dropping his mouth to hers, he kissed her hard and swiftly.

Every squeeze of her muscles against his shaft made his balls tighten. He broke the kiss and thrust his hips in pure desire to send them flying over the edge of euphoria. Each thrust brought him higher. As Cora's hot, sexy screams of pleasure drifted across him, he pressed his cheek against hers and shifted his hips with no restraint.

When her screams cut off and her inner walls clamped down, he froze mid-thrust and her eyes snapped open. Quivering in need, he grasped her face, pressing his entire weight against her. “Tell me why I brought Porter to see you.”

Soft eyes, willing him to consume her soul, stared at him. “You care about me.”

“Yes, Cora, I do.” He brushed his thumbs over her warm cheeks, locking his gaze on her. “I care very much.”

Within her smoldering gaze, a longing developed. She bared herself to him, and he tumbled in the raw emotion crossing her features. At her vulnerability, he unconsciously thrust his hips. His hold provided safety. His warmth offered protection. His affection gave love.

Claim her
.

He pinned her body and angled her ass higher. Trapped in her heated stare he unleashed his strength onto her. Being inside her, coated in her moisture, an all-consuming passion overwhelmed him. He needed to take her in the most primal manner he could. He desired to own her, possess her soul, and make her body feel so good under his touch. His muscles burned and sweat coated his flesh as she went into a frenzy of pleasure beneath him.

A minute later, they both broke wide open.

When he came, no sound escaped through his lips and she had stayed silent, too. He stared into teary eyes that portrayed what he'd seen that first night. Her expression was longing and pained.

His heart twisted.

Remaining inside her, he flipped their positions. Once on his back, he wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed against his chest.
Why won't you share what's wrong?
Her soft sniffles and the moisture dripping onto his chest cracked something dead inside him.

You've held her before
.

But no…never like this
.