God, she did need to relax. “No, it’s fine. This is a training relationship, not a romance.”
“I would honestly prefer you didn’t see anyone,” he offered.
“I won’t.” It was an easy promise to make. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t have to be. She would be alone, holed up somewhere hoping she didn’t have to see anyone at all.
And how had that worked out for her?
“Good, then we have a few weeks or months where we know we’re going to concentrate on this relationship. Now I’ve told you about the last time I had sex.”
A vision of her husband, his sweet face frowning as he turned off the light so she wouldn’t see him flashed across her brain. She’d loved him, truly loved him, but that night hadn’t been about sex for her. She shook her head. “I can’t.”
His arm tightened slightly as though he was afraid she would leap up and run away. “Good, then you’re setting a boundary for now. I’m going to push it from time to time, but I’m glad you can tell me when you’re uncomfortable.”
The hand on her thigh stroked from knee to just below her pussy, and she suddenly wished she was wearing a skirt. She’d worn the slacks because she felt like she had to wear heels with a skirt, and she had to walk so much in order to evade potential photographers.
She wanted the choice to be able to run.
“Can I kiss your ear? Play with it a little bit?” he asked.
She nodded because when she felt his breath against her, she forgot what she was thinking about before.
She gasped as he nipped her earlobe.
“I want you to concentrate on me, Vanessa. Stop thinking about anything but me. I’m a selfish bastard, and when I’m giving you pleasure I want every bit of your attention. Normally I would talk to a sub, ask her what she enjoys, but I don’t think that’s going to work with you. I think you’re going to be a mystery, and I’ll have to uncover you layer by layer.”
His hand was on the buckle of her belt, and she felt him start to release it.
He was going to put his hand down her pants. He was going to touch her. She should be scrambling off him. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been in this very position before, but now she was in control. This man wasn’t threatening her career if she didn’t give him what he wanted. He’d offered something to her. Pleasure and control.
She forced away those fleeting moments when she’d felt vulnerable. Was she going to allow those moments to stop her from ever moving forward? Nicki had tried to tell her she couldn’t live in the past, that she could learn from it, but she couldn’t let it stop her from growing.
Weeks. She could have weeks with him, with a man who was contracted to protect her. That was part of his role. Why shouldn’t she take this time?
“So I’ll tell you what I like,” he murmured. “I like being in control during sex. I like having a sexual partner who trusts me, and I’ll work hard to earn that. I like sinking into sex and spending a long time exploring my partner’s body. I’ll want to study you while you’re naked. I’ll use my eyes first and take in every inch of your loveliness, including all your scars and imperfections because those make you human.”
He worked the button on her slacks.
She had to think to form the words she wanted to say. He had her in a fog of anticipation. “Do I get to see your scars?”
“There are a lot of them, and yes, I’ll want you to accept them.”
Because he was a military man. Had been. He was a man who worked. He was being offered membership to this club likely because he’d done work for Julian and Julian’s partners. He wasn’t some overly privileged asshole. He was a real man, and it had been a long time since she’d met one of those. “I will.”
Something warm ran along her ear. His tongue. God, he was using his tongue to trace the shell of her ear, and that sensation seemed to go straight to her pussy.
What was this man doing to her?
He eased the zipper of her slacks down. “You might regret that promise. I’ve got some spectacularly nasty scars, and not only from my time in the Navy. I grew up on a ranch.”
He was a cowboy? She could see that. He was being open and honest with her in a way no one had for a long time. It was intoxicating. He didn’t know who she was, and he was treating her like a normal woman, like someone he wanted to seduce.
She was starting to think it might not be so bad to be seduced by Michael Malone.
His big palm flattened against her stomach, fingers teasing against the waistband of her undies.
“I’ll look at you and then I’ll touch you. I’ll close my eyes and let my hands stroke against your skin,” he whispered. “Like I’m about to do now.”
His hand slipped under her cotton panties and toward her pussy. Warmth spread through her as he inched his way closer and closer.
The arm around her found a place right under her breasts, and she was aware of them, too.
“When I’m done touching you, what do you think I’ll do?”
The question skimmed over her skin, a warm temptation. “Will you kiss me?”
“Oh, I’ll likely kiss you everywhere. This is what I meant by indulging in sex,” he replied. “You’re thinking about sex, concentrating on how close my fingers are to your clitoris. You’re not thinking about work or anything you’re worried about. You’re letting your body lead the way. And I’m not thinking about how lonely I am. I’m thinking about how good you smell. God, you smell like sex.”
She laid her head against his and let him maneuver her into a position where her legs were spread, and she could feel the hard line of his erection against her backside. He was lonely? The words penetrated. His open vulnerability blasted through her walls in that moment, and she gave over. She let her legs fall fully open, her body relax as he found her core and stroked her.
“Yes, that’s what I want. That’s what I need from you.” He nipped her ear again, sending a jagged sensation through her that did nothing to draw her out of the pleasurable fog he’d put her in.
So easily. He’d gotten her here faster than she’d ever gone before. He’d brought out some side of her that she’d thought had vanished forever.
She could feel how wet she was, how his finger slid over her sensitive flesh. Pleasure began to build inside her, and all she had to do was lie back and let him touch her. He was holding her up. She didn’t even need to balance herself because Michael was taking care of her.
God, she was so lonely, too.
Her lungs worked overtime, breasts moving against his hand as he rubbed circles over her clitoris and whispered dirty, glorious promises in her ear.
She could have this from him whenever she needed it. He would be her Dom, and her safety and pleasure was his job, and he was so very happy to do his job.
She didn’t want him to stop, wanted to stay in this moment for as long as possible, but the wave burst over her, and she couldn’t hold it off. Couldn’t stop the pleasure that warmed her bones or the cry that came from her mouth.
Her body felt languid as she relaxed against him.
“No worries there, love. You come quite nicely,” he said with a chuckle. His hand slid out of her pants. “I barely managed not to come myself. I think we can safely say the chemistry between us is fine.”