I release her neck, and she tucks her chin against her chest, gasping for air. My hand snakes around her stomach, reaching between her legs and flicking the dildo just enough that she feels it move inside her. Her inner thighs are slicked, coated with wetness.
“Are you ready to continue?” I ask.
She nods vehemently, her blonde hair curtaining her face. With white knuckles, she juts her ass out toward me again, her legs buckling and squeezing like her life depends on it.
Whack!
“Breathe,” I remind her. “Breathe and count.”
The paddle slaps her skin with quick, fluid movements, and she counts through gritted teeth.
“Eighty…seven…” she says. “Eighty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety…ninety-one.”
She collapses against the wall, and the dildo falls to the ground. I retrieve it, rolling the hot, slick glass in my palm.
“You did well.” I set it aside and untie her wrists, and she heads toward her crumpled clothes on the floor. “What are you doing?”
“Oh.” She freezes. “I thought you were done?”
“I’ll tell you when I’m done.”
My gaze falls on her pink, pert nipples, and I drag the palm of my hand across each one until her eyes squeeze tight. Two perfect peaks. I step into her space, backing her up against a nearby wall and pushing my knee between her thighs until her stance is widened. Her knees shake, whether she’s fatigued or aroused or both, I don’t particularly care. My hand glides up her thigh and curves between her center until my fingers find her arousal. I slick a finger between her folds, feeling her stomach contract against me, and then I bring it to my mouth, tasting what my power does to her.
I guaran-fucking-tee she’s waiting for me to part her legs and run my tongue along her cleft, offering her a sweet release.
But that’s the whole point.
I’m not going to do that.
She has to earn her release.
I step aside, heading to the bathroom to run her a hot shower in my office en suite. I’m not particularly in a touchy-feely mood, and I’m not sure I have the strength not to fuck the shit out of her mouth or pussy if her naked body presses against me for too long.
When I return, she’s fallen to the floor again. Her hair covering her face and her thighs squeezing and releasing.
“Uncomfortable?” I ask.
She bites her lip. “Yes. I though there’d be more.”
“Oh.” I take her hand and pull her up, trying not to smile. “Yeah, no. Not today.”
“Not…today? Not even later today?”
“No.” I escort her into the bathroom, pulling a warm gray towel from the warming drawer and placing it on the counter. “Clean yourself up. And absolutely, under no circumstances, are you allowed to touch yourself. Understand?”
Her throat bobs and her lips press into a straight line. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, Master.”
I leave her to shower, intentionally keeping the door open while I return to my desk in hopes of actually getting some real fucking work done.
My desk phone rings before I have a chance to finish typing the email I’m in the middle of.
“Yes, Marlene.”
“Um, I’m so sorry to bother you.” Her tone is hushed. “There’s a gentleman here asking to see Bellamy. Is she in there with you, by chance?”
“Send him to her office.” I hang up.
***
“Can I help you?” My question startles a man with sandy blond hair who’s helping himself through Bellamy’s closet, examining her wardrobe with a tight clench in his jaw.
He hangs a dress up and backs away, surrendering his hands in the air.
“This is my girlfriend’s office,” he says, as if it could excuse his snooping.
“No. It’s not.”
The asshole clears his throat and hooks his hands on his hips like he’s the one who should be annoyed with me.
“Bellamy Miller,” he says. “Her name’s on the door.”
“Right.”
“She’s…my girlfriend.”
“No. She’s not.” My neck stiffens, and my fists ache with an urge to smack him across his smug little face.
“Look, man, I don’t know who you are, but I think you’re confused.” This royal douche, Cortland I believe his name is, flashes a smile like we’re all of a sudden a couple of chums. “We’re getting married this year.”
“You’re not.”
Cortland laughs.
“You find humor in this?” I ask, clearly not laughing.
“I think you need help, buddy.”
I close the space between us, striding toward him until it’s abundantly clear I’ve got several inches on him, and I glance down my nose.
“Here’s the deal,” I say. “You and Bellamy are over. She doesn’t want to be with you. She’s not going to marry you. And you’re not going to tell her father a fucking thing because just like you were so easy to threaten her reputation, I’m about to threaten yours. McGregor, right?”
He scratches above his temple. “Yeah.”
“Dad is Walter?”
His brows furrow.
“You’re AUB, like Bellamy’s family. Your father is a medical equipment distributor.”
“What the hell?”
The day this bastard dropped her off, I had security nab the footage and zoom in on the plates, which I promptly forwarded to my guy. Everything about this asshole came up clean, but I’ll be damned if I don’t use what little information I have to bend him into submission.
“Your father’s biggest client is Premier Care Systems, a medical corporation that runs several metro area clinics and the largest teaching hospital in the state.” I brush a speck of lint from my sleeve. “Premier Care Systems is headed by Micah Bergmann, who’s a heavy supporter of every piece of anti-polygamy legislation and every anti-polygamy bill that crosses the desks on Capitol Hill, state and federal. He has deep pockets, vast connections, and he happens to be a very good friend of mine.”
“What’s your point?”
“One phone call, Cortland. One phone call is all it would take for your father’s little empire to come crumbling down.” I fold my arms. “There goes your father’s business, your job, your brothers’ jobs, and your family’s livelihood.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Am I, Cortland? Because I have to ask, are you crazy enough to destroy everything your father has ever worked for because you’re a spoiled lap dog refusing to release his toy?”
His mouth parts but nothing comes out. He shakes his head and glances out the window. I’d assume he’s trying to gather his thoughts, but I’m certain his head is full of mostly dead space and memorized You-Porn videos.
“I want to see her. I want to hear her tell me she doesn’t want to be with me. I’m not going to be broken up with by some arrogant asshole in a three-piece suit who walks around like he’s better than everyone.”
“I am better than everyone.” I flash a wolfish grin. “That’s the kicker. I’m better than you. I’m better than 99.9% of the men out there. And that’s what makes me better appointed for someone like Bellamy. She deserves a real man. Not some idiot flinging threats like a monkey throwing feces in his cage.”
“You’re something else.” Cortland hangs his head, and I’m not quite sure why he hasn’t fled the building yet.
Does he really think he’s going to win this argument?
“This discussion is over, Cortland. You and Bellamy are done. You will say nothing to her parents about her or anything you think she has or hasn’t done. You’re never to contact her again, and if I hear you so much as thought about trying to contact her again, I’ll make my phone call.”
“You don’t scare me.”
“Then you’re a goddamned moron.” I lean forward, picking up the receiver on Bellamy’s phone and dialing 831 for building security. “I suggest you leave now, because if you don’t, I’ll be more than happy to have you escorted off the premises in handcuffs.”
Cortland licks his lips, glaring at me. I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to spit in my face, and part of me wishes he’d pull something because I’m craving a physical release something fierce.