He took a step toward her too.
Joe’s blood zinged through his veins as the adrenaline rushed through him and his heart thudded fast and heavy in his chest. Christ, dominating her was a challenge like no other. They stood there staring at each other for long, wordless moments. Unable to help himself, his eyes went to her mouth, now softly parted, her white teeth just visible. When he looked up at her eyes again, she lowered hers, her cheeks flushed, and white-hot need jolted through him straight to his groin. All he wanted at that moment was to grab her and bend her over the desk, spank that pretty ass and then fuck her brains out.
Her breasts rose and fell beneath her blouse. Tension rose between them, stretching tighter.
He shook his head and took a big mental step back. This woman was testing his control like nobody ever had. He’d never, ever been at the edge of losing control in the office like this. Yeah, he was confident, authoritative, knew what he wanted in the business world and usually got it—heavy emphasis on usually—and kept that very separate from the dominant tendencies he let loose in his personal life.
“I told you, Tara.” He flicked his gaze over her. “Don’t dick me around.”
Her eyes widened and he loved the flash of fear and uncertainty he saw there as he turned and left her office and returned to his own.
By the end of the day he was ready for a weekend. His mind buzzed with all the information he was taking in, not to mention the perverse pleasure he got from annoying Tara with all his questions.
He grabbed his laptop and briefcase and left the office. He’d always been one to work hard when he was at work, do whatever it took to get the job done, work long hours at times if he had to, but balance had always been important to him too. Back in San Francisco, he’d had friends he liked to hang out with, a large family he was close with too and a full and busy life outside of work. Which had been the only thing that had kept him going when his career had gone down the toilet in one quick flush.
He didn’t know many people in Santa Barbara, but that was okay. He wouldn’t be there long anyway. He was here to work and that’s what he should concentrate on. For now, though, it was the weekend—time for him to play, relax and recharge so he could show up Monday morning and kick ass.
And he knew just how he was going to play.
Chapter Eight
Tara watched Joe leave the office. Friday evening, and he was no doubt off to have fun somewhere while she sat in the office alone. Oh well. It was good to have quiet, uninterrupted time without worrying about him sticking his nose into what she was doing. She wanted to review the proposals from the website designers again.
He’d been so pissed off she’d almost seen smoke coming out his ears that morning when he realized she’d met with the designers without him. A thrill of triumph had mingled with a measure of fear at his anger. At the thought of what he could do to her. And yet—wasn’t that her goal? To make things difficult for him, so maybe he just wouldn’t want to stick around. She felt like a little kid playing with matches, tempted to do something scary, fascinated at what the dangerous result might be.
She pushed aside thoughts of Joe and pulled out the folder with the proposals to work on. After spending some time going over them, she wandered down to the store to help out there for a while to see how things were going. Friday evening brought lots of tourists shopping up and down State Street and the store was full. She wished they had the soap deal and could sell some really cool olive oil bath products. She was convinced they would go over well with the same demographic who liked to shop for specialty food products.
How did she know that, though?
Dammit. That was Joe’s voice in her head, asking another damn question, making her second-guess herself, making her have to prove her gut was right. She sighed as she gave a credit card back to a customer, forcing herself to smile as she handed over their package. Finally business slowed a little and she could leave.
She didn’t want to go home and sit there all alone on a Friday night. But if she went to Le Château…would Joe be there again?
So what if he was? She didn’t have to have anything to do with him. She could find another partner, or partners, like she had before. Let him find his own little submissive to dominate.
But thinking about Joe doing things to someone else sent a dark thrill trickling down her spine. He embodied dominance—big, strong, intense, his air of authority unquestionable and commanding. Her insides quivered at the thought.
Maybe even watching him would be fun…
She chose a different outfit tonight, and dammit if she wasn’t thinking of the approving look in Joe’s eyes as he’d studied her last week in the black latex dress. Tonight she stepped into a slim black pencil skirt and a black bustier with a heart-shaped neckline. She left her hair down and loose.
She rubbed her thumb over the healing blister on the palm of her right hand before picking up her flogger. How much was she going to be able to do tonight? Oh well, there were other things she could try.
When she walked into Le Château, she couldn’t stop her gaze from searching the crowded room, looking for broad shoulders, dark hair…but she didn’t see Joe. That didn’t mean he wasn’t in one of the private rooms, already paired up with a sweet little thing who wanted him to…don’t go there!
She wandered through, exchanging interested smiles with a few people, then got herself a drink. Nerves fluttered in her tummy. She didn’t see Jason or Adam, the only two men she’d ever scened with there, and she hesitated to approach someone else. Not very dominant of her. Huh.
Two men and a woman seated on a couch began to attract some attention as they made out and Tara watched them for a while, a warm ache of arousal growing inside her. It was still hard for her to believe she was standing in this place watching people have sex. Then her gaze was drawn to another scene, where a man turned a woman so her back was to him and bound her hands behind her back. The position thrust her naked breasts forward. She turned to face him and he pushed her to her knees in front of him.
Tara edged closer and paused, knowing if they were doing it in one of the public areas, they wanted to be watched. Her mouth grew dry and her heart picked up speed as the man pulled his erection out of his pants, long and hard. He met her eyes briefly and the domination and sensuality in them made her tummy flip over.
“Open,” he commanded the woman. She obediently opened her mouth and he cupped her jaw with one hand, directing his cock into her mouth with the other. The woman looked up at the man, their gazes locked as he fucked her mouth, one hand still holding her jaw, the other holding her hair back so those watching had a clear view of his cock sliding in and out of her mouth.
Tara’s nipples tingled and her pussy ached, a low flutter in her tummy. She watched with helpless fascination. The woman’s pose was submissive, hands behind her back, on her knees in front of him, the man aggressively thrusting into her. That yearning started deep down inside her, a hot ache of need.
“This turns you on, doesn’t it?” a black velvet voice whispered in her ear.
She started, turning her head to see Joe standing beside her. She blinked at him but said nothing. He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. She tried to jerk out of his grasp, but he held her tightly and her eyes slid back to the scene in front of her. His warmth and his scent surrounded her, that erotic spice and citrus fragrance.
The man lightly tapped the woman’s cheek. “Deeper,” he said. “Take it all.”