by Ivy Nelson
“You’re welcome. You have fifteen minutes to get dressed and ready to leave.”
Her nose crinkled and she stuck out her tongue. One eyebrow quirked upward, and he leaned down so he was eye to eye with her. In a calm voice, he said, “You’re lucky you’re cute and that I’m not being bossy right now or you would find yourself over my knee.”
Those green eyes went wide as she stared at him and he watched her throat work as she swallowed. The apparent nerves faded quickly though, and she took on a defiant tone.
“You wouldn’t dare because then I would spill hot coffee all over your bed.”
Without breaking eye contact, he took the coffee cup from her and placed it on the nightstand again.
“You sure you want to go there right now darlin?”
With a vigorous shake of her head, she picked up the mug and emptied it with large gulps before scrambling out of bed and going to her suitcase.
“Good girl.” He chuckled. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Now you only have ten minutes.”
Something in her eyes told him she was about to stick her tongue out again. When he gave her his patented ‘try me’ look, she quickly changed her mind. Good girl.
It had been more than fun sparring with her. Usually, he preferred his submissives to be more... well, submissive. But he liked the idea of a challenge. Especially with Darci. He knew from reading about her experiences on her blog, that she could be plenty submissive, but like she told him last night, she wanted him to work for it.
Nine minutes later, she appeared in the kitchen. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. He sipped his coffee and regarded her coolly. With a glance at his watch he flashed her a wicked grin. “A minute to spare, Miss Sanders. I’m impressed.”
Her eyes lit up and she beamed at him so much that he swore it lit the room brighter. She liked impressing him, and that was something he could work with.
Chapter Seventeen
They had arrived in Arlington with just enough time to park and walk to the Marine Corps War Memorial, known to most as the Iwo Jima Memorial. The sunrise was breathtaking as always, but Bradley thought it was much more spectacular today because he was sharing it with an equally breathtaking woman.
“Oh Bradley, thank you so much for sharing this with me,” she had said as they stood watching the sun peek above the horizon before filling the sky with beautiful hues of purple and orange.
They had spent the rest of the morning visiting Arlington National Cemetery and were now on their way to Darci’s promised touristy lunch.
“This is perhaps one of the best-kept tourist secrets but it’s the most spectacular view of D.C. Especially with the Washington Monument being closed,” she said.
Bradley had never heard of the Old Post Office Pavilion. It was not an exaggeration when he’d said he had done little in the way of tourism in the city.
Now they were riding the elevator to the top of a clock tower and he had his arm slung around her shoulders. She was bouncing with excitement and it amused him. He loved seeing her so relaxed and happy. If the elevator hadn’t been packed with tourists though, he may have been tempted to pin her against the wall and stop the bouncing with a few well-placed kisses. His fingers traced shapes along her shoulder and upper arm as the elevator doors slid open.
Darci wasn’t wrong, the view of the national mall was incredible. Lunch, not so much.
“You’re making me eat in a food court? I bought you breakfast at Blue Duck and you bring me to Chick-En-Joy?”
“Hey, not all of us have the expense account for Blue Duck buddy. I told you it would be touristy. Besides, that was a breakup breakfast that was meant for someone else, so I don’t think it counts.” She poked her tongue out at him and he frowned.
“We’re going to have a talk about that tongue young lady.”
“You won’t mind so much when I show you what else I can do with my tongue.” He raised an eyebrow at her bold comment and her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my god. I can’t believe I just said that out loud. I’m so embarrassed.”
Bradley roared with laughter. “No need to be embarrassed baby girl. I have every intention of finding out what you can do with your tongue.”
“Stop. I’m going to die from embarrassment now.” Her eyes darted to the table, and she picked up her cell phone.
“Hey.”
No response.
“Look at me please.”
Darci refused to raise her head, so he reached across and plucked her phone from her fingers and slid it into his shirt pocket.
Her head shot up, and she scowled. “Give it back.”
“Not until you talk to me. What’s wrong? I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“I just shouldn’t have said that. Nothing is wrong,” she said, staring at her lap again.
“Don’t lie. Look at me Darci.”
She raised her head and made eye contact.
“Good girl.” He grinned.
“Stop that. You don’t play fair. You know what being called a good girl does to me.”
“Do I?” he asked, feigning innocence. “Why are you embarrassed Darci? You’re a fierce, sexy, open minded woman, but you’re embarrassed about exploring something with me?”
“I feel like I’m brand new to the scene again when I’m around you. I don’t know why but you make me nervous. Besides, you know we can’t play together. Things are too complicated. Therefore, I shouldn’t have made that joke. It isn’t fair to you.”
He sighed. Enough was enough. Time to be a little blunter.
“Every time you bring up my career as a reason we can’t be together, I get the urge to spank you. We can play together, and unless you kick me to the curb, we will. So, let’s be clear, if you give me that lame ass excuse one more time, spank you will be the first thing I do when we play.” He gripped her hands in his as he spoke, locking his gaze on her, daring her to defy him.
“You’re pretty sure of yourself Mr. Givens. Spanking might be on my hard limits list,” she said as she pulled her hands from his and turned her head.
“I’ve read your blog, remember?”
“Damn it. Maybe Michael is right. I put too much up there.” At least she wasn’t hiding from him anymore.
“Don’t fight me, Darci. You won’t win, so you might as well give in.”
“I’m not fighting you.” Her voice held a hint of exasperation. Then quietly, she said, “I’m just being careful.”
“Fair enough. Let’s get you to your apartment to sort out your office. It looks like it’s going to storm.”
Darci glanced out the window and shuddered.
“Worried about going back to your place?” he asked as they stood?
“Not really, I just don’t care for storms.”
When she didn’t elaborate, he chose not to push.
Once back at her place, Darci got to work sorting her files. Bradley offered to straighten the living room while she worked. He set about cleaning up broken glass and righting the couch.
Outside the storm was growing stronger. After one particularly loud crash of thunder, he thought he heard Darci yelp, so he went to check on her.
“Everything OK in here?” he asked as he entered the room.
“Fine.” Her voice was clipped. She didn’t look fine.
“Hey, what is it?”
“Nothing. I just really don’t like storms.” She was on the floor surrounded by stacks of folders, so he crouched next to her and lifted her chin.
“You’re safe, baby girl. I finished as best I could in the living room. How do I help take your mind off the storm? I would take you back to my place but it’s bad out there. I would rather wait it out here even though I don’t like being here with a lunatic on the loose.”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. Then she surprised him with a grin and asked, “want to play a game?”
“Oh, I can think of a few games I’d like to play with you,” he said with a wink.
> She smacked him in the arm. “Behave. I’m talking about a card game.”
“Strip Poker perhaps?” he suggested, trying for an innocent expression. Darci glared at him and it made him laugh.
“No silly. I was thinking Go Fish or Gin Rummy.”
“I’m afraid I’ve never played either.” She looked horrified, much the way she had when he had confessed to not having done any of the touristy things in D.C.
“What kind of horrible childhood did you have? That settles it, we’re playing cards.”
They moved to her kitchen table and Darci told him where he could find wine if he wanted it. He picked out a bottle, impressed with her small collection. While he opened it, Darci was explaining the rules of Gin Rummy. When he handed her a glass of red, she sipped it and set it aside, still intent on her explanation. Settling into the chair across from her, he studied her. The animated, happy woman he saw now was a far cry from the frightened girl she had been just a bit ago in her office.
“It’s not polite to stare, Mr. Givens.”
“I’m merely paying close attention to your excellent instructions, Miss Sanders.”
“Now you’re mocking me. Staring and mocking. How rude.”
Leaning forward with a serious expression he asked, “Shall we play? I can assure you I am not mocking you. I was enjoying how happy and carefree you seem right now. I wish you were like this all the time.” With a blush, she huffed and dealt the cards.
Two hours later they had finished two glasses of wine each, and Darci had beat him at ten rounds of cards. Bradley held his hands up in mock surrender. “You win, Miss Sanders. I know when I’m beat.”
She beamed. “Thank you for letting me teach you.”
She looked past him out the window. “The rain has let up out there. I suppose there’s no chance you’ll just go home and let me stay here tonight?”
He scowled. “That’s correct. No way in hell.”
“Had to try. I’m going to box up my files. The intruder only touched the top two drawers. The bottom two seem untouched. I'll have to wait until they return my laptop to do a full inventory but if he took something my guess is, he found it in the second drawer since he didn’t bother dumping the other two.”
It was sound logic.
He helped her box up the files and loaded them into his car. On the way home the storm picked up again. Bradley reached over and squeezed her hand as rain bounced off the windshield at a stoplight. He didn’t want to push her, but he was curious about her dislike of storms. A lot of people didn’t like bad weather, but this seemed like a fear.
Back in his apartment, Darci stifled a yawn.
“Someone is tired.”
“It’s been a long wonderful day. I'm glad I got to show you some of the more touristy parts of the city. Your sunrise was pretty great too. Even if it was at an ungodly hour. I just love D.C.”
“Have you ever thought of moving out of the city?”
“Never! I’ve always been a city girl,” she said.
“I grew up in Arkansas, where even the big cities are small town compared to here, but Dad was always traveling to D.C., so I got used to the hustle and bustle. I think sometimes I want to have a quiet place out of town though.”
“I’ve never been to Arkansas. It sounds... quaint.”
He laughed. “I’ll take you sometime. It’s not so bad.” He could see that the suggestion of taking her to his parents freaked her out, so he changed the subject.
“Tell me more about growing up in D.C. Did you go to college in the area?”
Darci tensed and her face fell.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. We can talk about something else.”
“No. It’s OK. I went to college in Maryland. It just wasn’t a great time in my life, and I would rather not talk about it right now.”
“I understand. I won’t pry.”
She smiled. “Thank you. Can we watch something silly on TV?”
“Of course, baby girl. You know I like snuggling on the couch with you.”
“You just want an excuse to fall asleep on me again.” She was smiling, and he relaxed.
“Hey, If I remember it was you that was snoring on me, little miss.”
“I do not snore!” They laughed, and the mood was once again light.
Bradley opened another bottle of wine and they settled onto the couch and began channel surfing. Darci snuggled close to him on the sofa. He said nothing, deciding to enjoy the moment. They settled on a stand-up comic and spent the next hour laughing. As the credits rolled, he pulled her closer to him and she sighed.
“Thanks for tonight Bradley.”
Looking down at her, he smiled.
“Of course.”
As she smiled up at him, he was once again struck by her angelic beauty. Her lips looked soft and kissable, and he couldn’t resist any longer.
He lowered his head to hers slowly, giving her time to adjust to the idea of him kissing her again. When she didn’t pull away, he continued until their lips met, and she moaned into his mouth. He took that opportunity to plunge his tongue between her lips and explore. She tasted of wine.
With a groan, he fisted his hands into her curls tilting her head back to give him better access. She broke the kiss a moment later, and he let her back away, not wanting to push her. Her face was flushed, and her breathing labored, but she was smiling. She snuggled back up to him and didn’t say anything.
Bradley pulled her close and found another show for them to watch. At the end of the show, Darci had fallen asleep on his shoulder again. He chuckled to himself. Silly precious girl. It was still storming outside when he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and turned to leave.
“Hey,” she mumbled sleepily.
“Shhh, I’m sorry I was trying not to wake you.”
“It’s OK,” she murmured. “Would you lay down with me for a little while? I want to be close to someone right now.”
“Of course.” He switched the light off before crawling into bed with her. She immediately scooted closer to him, so he placed an arm around her protectively. Within minutes her breathing was once again even, and it wasn’t long before Bradley was fast asleep with her.
Chapter Eighteen
The next morning, Darci woke before Bradley. His arm was still around her. Did I really ask him to lie down with me? The warmth of a blush combined with his body heat made her too hot.
Carefully she tried to lift his arm from around her and slip out of bed, thinking she would make them breakfast. He gripped her arm, stopping her from leaving the bed.
“Oh, phooey. You’re awake,” she said turning to face him.
“Well, it’s good to see you too.” He grinned when she frowned.
“That’s not what I meant. I was going to surprise you with breakfast before we have to go to work.”
“That’s very thoughtful. Did you sleep OK?”
“Very well. Thanks for laying with me. Storms make me uneasy.” He smiled and tugged her back down to his side and tucked her close.
“I’m enjoying our time together,” he whispered in her ear. A sigh left her at the sensation of his hot breath fluttering across her skin. “I hope you don’t mind,” he continued. “I’m going to repeat my favorite part of the night right now.” Then he was rolling, and she found herself pinned beneath him. Seconds later he was plundering her mouth with his. She instinctively fisted her hands in his hair as he stole her breath. “God, you taste good,” he said when he broke the kiss.
They had fallen asleep in their clothes, but now the urge to have him naked on top of her was overwhelming. As she squirmed against the erection pressing into her, she forgot her misgivings about this man. She fumbled with the buttons of his dark gray shirt, but her fingers seemed to have stopped working. He didn’t appear to notice because he was kissing her again. He possessed her mouth like no one ever had. She grazed her teeth across his lip and pulled away.
<
br /> “Clothes,” she said, her voice gravelly, still fumbling with his buttons.
Laughter shook him and he gave her a hand with his shirt. After discarding it on the floor, he rolled them so she was on top. “Too many clothes,” she said with a pout.
“I agree. You’re wearing entirely too many.” He scooted them until he was sitting against the headboard. “You should stand up and strip for me.”
“I’m not great at that,” she said, a hint of anxiety building in her stomach.
“It’s not rocket science baby. Just take your clothes off for me.” Despite insecurities, the look in his eyes and the erection still pressing against her, combined with the growing need between her thighs made her want to strip for him. She planted a kiss on his forehead and crawled off the bed.
Once she was standing in front of him, she slowly lifted her blouse over her head revealing a pretty blue bra. He hummed in appreciation as her shirt hit the floor. While unhooking the button on her jeans, she took a step closer to him. “My jeans are awful tight. Maybe you could give me a hand.” It came out as a husky whisper, but a whisper was all that was necessary. He crawled to the end of the bed and sat. Grabbing her hands, he jerked her to him. He planted a kiss on her abdomen and slowly peeled her jeans down her thighs, taking her panties with them.
“Mmm. I’ve been having dreams about this moment,” he whispered, kissing her again—lower this time. Her head fell back, and she couldn’t help the moan that escaped. Dropping to his knees in front of the bed, he finished removing her jeans.
He kissed a trail of scorching kisses up her leg until he reached the apex of her thighs. That spot that had been aching since they left for Arlington yesterday. The kiss he planted sent shock waves of pleasure through her, causing her to buck against him. When he chuckled, the vibrations of his laugh made her shudder even more.
“Somebody’s got it just as bad as I do,” he said as he stood pulling her close. His nimble fingers made quick work of the clasp on her bra. Soon she was naked in his embrace.
“Stand back,” he said pushing her away from him. Shyness overtook her again and she crossed her arms in front of her breasts. “Uh uh.” He shook his head. “Don’t hide from me, baby girl.”
