Still he didn’t speak, and he didn’t untie me, either. Fisting his hand in the front of my damaged dress, he tugged once, hard. The knot I’d tied in the torn straps unraveled with ease, the thin fabric sliding instantly to the floor.
Hips flush with mine, he leaned his chest back, staring his fill at my naked breasts, the peaks so hard they hurt.
“Still mad?” His tone held no trace of mockery; he was asking because he wanted to know. As he spoke, he slowly stroked his hands to my breasts. His touch teasing, he pulled lightly at my nipples, sending rushes of liquid heat to my center.
“Furious.” I gasped when he increased the pressure to short, hard drags of his rough fingers on the most sensitive part of my breasts, and I rocked against the restraint, trying to push myself into his touch.
“Guess I shouldn’t let you go yet, then,” he said, arching an eyebrow as he assessed my reaction. He was probably searching for signs that I wanted out, that I wasn’t okay with this level of kink.
Instead, my pulse picked up speed, thundering through my veins, suffusing my skin with heat.
Sex while I was bound? At his mercy?
It wasn’t something I’d ever fantasized about before, but wetness slicked the space between my legs, crying yes, please.
“Probably not a good idea,” I agreed, still wiggling against my restraints. His hands cupped my breasts, squeezed, and I pushed into him, wanting more.
“I like you this way,” he taunted, pulling back and yanking his shirt over his head. I’d seen that chest earlier, had run my fingers over the hard planes of muscle, but it still took my breath away. The man was hard, hard everywhere, and I wanted to run my tongue everywhere that my stare landed. “Difficult to be so stubborn when you have to do what I want you to, isn’t it?”
“Do your worst.” I deliberately made my tone mocking, savoring the resultant rush when his eyes darkened. “I won’t break.”
“Maybe I should gag you as well as tie you up.” With sure fingers, he undid the button of his jeans and then the zipper. This time, rather than just pushing them down around his hips, he slid them all the way off, kicking out once they’d pooled at his feet.
I drank my fill of the view. He was hard, he was big, and those descriptors applied to every part of his body. Wide shoulders framed action-hero arms, and rope after rope of abdominal muscle led to lean hips and a tight ass. His thighs were huge, the muscles flexing as he moved, and nestled in between was the cock that I already knew fit so tightly inside of me.
I was wet. I wanted it inside of me again.
Running his tongue over his front teeth, he fisted a hand around his shaft and started to pump. I moaned as I watched the head swell, a drop of his excitement glistening on the tip.
“I could come just like this, you know.” I watched, transfixed, as his fist swallowed his length again and again. “Staring at you there, naked and bound by my belt. Helpless to do anything but take what I give you.”
“Do it,” I urged, not sure where the sass was coming from. “I’d love to see you come all over yourself like a teenager who just saw his first pair of boobs.”
“Liar.” Grinning, he loosened his hold on himself, and I barely held back a moan of disappointment. Crossing to a duffel bag that had been tossed onto the bed, he dug in a side pocket until he pulled out a condom. “You don’t want me to come until I’m so far inside of you that you’re going to feel me tomorrow.”
“Lots of talk, but not much action.” I couldn’t help but pull at my restraints, even though the last thing I wanted was to get free. “Maybe you should free my hands so I can do the job myself.”
“Sorry, babe, but that’s not what’s on the table.” I watched greedily as he tore into the foil packet and removed the ring of latex. With sure fingers, he pinched the tip then rolled it down his engorged shaft.
That done, he returned to me. “You didn’t like what I told you to do earlier. Let’s see if you like it better now.”
Pressing his lean hardness against me, he rolled his body, all the angles and planes that made him a man stroking and teasing over the softness that made me a woman. I shook my head, the plaster of the pole catching at the strands of my hair and tugging, the slight sting just serving to heighten my arousal.
“I think you do like it,” he said, taking his cock in hand again and notching it between my legs. “Want to know how I can tell?”
I couldn’t answer; my attention was focused on the hardness sliding between my thighs. I pressed them together, his length stroking through my folds, back and forth, teasing me and driving me higher.
It wasn’t enough.
“Your skin is flushed. Those pretty pink nipples on your gorgeous tits are hard and begging for my mouth. And I can feel the wetness in that pretty pussy of yours. You’re soaking my cock, and you’re just going to get wetter.”
“Damn it, Jasper,” I gasped, my breath coming in pants. “Fuck me. Please, God, fuck me.”
“Hell yes, I’m going to fuck you.” His hands found my hips, hitching me up as his mouth found my own. He kissed me deep, stroking and exploring and claiming, as he continued to work his cock through the slickness of my lower lips, teasing but never giving me what I wanted, what I craved.
“Get ready, baby.” Breaking the kiss so quickly I gasped, he pressed his lips to the curve of my neck and sank his teeth in. I bucked against him as my legs wrapped around his hips, grinding my center against his erection.
The swollen head pushed between my lower lips, pressing against my clit so hard that my body clenched and I cried out. He rocked his hips, and in one hard thrust, he was seated inside of me, his cock pushing through my slick, swollen inner channel until his hips tapped against my own.
“Oh my God.” I squirmed, the full length inside just a little too big, a little too much, even though he’d already been inside of me. He didn’t give, holding the position mercilessly as he braced his weight on hands pressed against the sides of the pole.
“You’re not the first woman I’ve been with.” Irritation snaked through me, whip fast—who said that when they were balls-deep inside of someone? He smirked and nipped at my lower lip. “But you’re the one who knows me.”
I melted, softening—how could I not? Then I shrieked because he pulled all the way back and slammed all the way in, claiming me in the most basic of ways.
My fingers scrabbled against the pole; I wanted to dig them into his shoulders, leaving bites from my nails that he’d feel the next day. I couldn’t do anything but hold on as his hands grasped my hips, his thrusts unyielding as he took me, hard.
The upper half of my body was held immobile by the belt; my breasts jiggled over the top of the leather band. Sweat slicked my skin, scenting the air with salt as Jasper worked his way in and out, my flesh clenching so tightly around him that when he pulled most of the way out it felt as though I’d lost something.
“Why can’t I get enough of you?” He panted this into my neck as the rocking of his hips grew faster, his thrusts shorter. He groaned when I pushed my hips back, begging for more. “I don’t like seeing you in danger.”
I didn’t answer—he didn’t expect me to. I focused on the pleasure that was rising, coiling tighter inside of me every time his rigid length dragged over my clit on his way inside and out.
“Jasper. Please. Please!” One of my shoes slipped off, flying across the room. I tilted my pelvis up, letting him push deeper, and the change of angle was all it took.
I cried out when the pressure inside of me exploded. My legs locked around his waist, holding him in place as the waves took me over. Harsh noises came from his throat as my slick inner walls pulled at him, coaxing out his own pleasure.
Dipping his head, he pressed his forehead to mine, fingers clenching the meat of my hips. Filling me up, he looked directly into my eyes as he pulsed inside of me, his face going slack as we went over the edge together.
We stayed like that for a long moment, bodies loose from release. My a
rms started to tingle, pins and needles piercing the flesh as my body urged me to move from that position.
I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to move again. All I could do was kick the other shoe off.
Jasper, being Jasper, took charge of the situation. Holding me in place with his hips, cock still inside of me, he reached around behind the pole and undid the belt. Tossing it to the floor, he wrapped his arms around me, carrying me to the bed.
Nudging the duffel bag off of it with one knee, he held me close as he pulled the covers back with one hand. Gently, he laid me back on cool sheets, then dipped his head to press a kiss to the red stripe that the belt had left.
The moment his cock left me, I wanted it back. Still, the view was nice as I used all my remaining strength to roll myself to the side, staring unabashedly at that high, tight ass as he tugged off the condom and tossed it into the garbage.
When he turned back to the bed, he rested one knee on it as he looked me up and down, his stare trailing slowly, letting him take in the details. A smile of satisfaction curved his lips as he parted my legs with one hand, swiping a finger through my wetness.
“I like seeing you like this,” he said as he held up his damp fingers for me to see. “Your skin marked from my touch, your pussy wet from my cock.”
“Mmm.” All I could do was murmur a sleepy assent. I was exhausted.
Lowering himself to the mattress, he stretched out beside me. “The motel will get you your own room, if you want. But I can keep you safe better if you stay here with me.”
I smiled at that, eyes closed. He could keep me safe better, of course. That was why he wanted me to stay.
He was lying, or at least only telling me part of the truth. We both wanted me to stay because even though we’d only met each other that morning, it just felt right.
Chapter Two
As it turns out, Jasper had taken my accusation about Russ Daly to heart, because the next morning he agreed to a meeting with the other man.
“Do you really think it’s Daly?” I asked while looking out the window.
Jasper’s eyes were trained on the road, scanning ahead as we drove to Daly’s office. “I’m not a hundred percent convinced that he isn’t,” he said finally, his face betraying no emotion. The softness he’d shown me in the night was gone—he was back on the job.
“Yeah, it just seems a little…I don’t know.”
“You seemed convinced earlier.”
Of course I’d seemed convinced earlier. I’d just taken a shower with broken glass. I was ready to blame whoever stuck their hand up, and Russ just happened to fit the bill.
We pulled into Daly’s office parking lot. It wasn’t exactly humble and inconspicuous. There was a big sign out front reading Daly Enterprises in glittery gold letters, like Russ Daly was the cream of the crop and wanted everyone to know it. Being the middle of the day, the lot was half full, and Jasper had to park a good distance from the front entrance, which didn’t strike him as ideal.
“We’re exposed,” he grumbled. “And I don’t know if my truck is on camera.”
“You think someone is going to mess around with your truck while we’re in there?”
Jasper shook his head. “No, I just don’t like that someone could, and easily. Let’s go.”
We started for the front doors, Jasper right on my heels. “So, what, we’re just going to walk in there like we own the place? You really think Daly’s security is going to let us do that?”
“We’re expected,” Jasper grunted.
That was the end of it.
He held the door for me, and we stepped inside. The ground floor of the multi-story office building struck me as being very “office-like,” as though Daly had based his design plans on a picture from a magazine. An eyesore of a fountain—one of those waterfall things with a pond at the base, all made of dark rocks with fake vines—greeted us on the way inside. The interior smelled sterile, like cleaning products, and the carpet was a labyrinth of zig-zagging gray and brown stripes. There were a couple of doors along the walls, each accompanied by one of those rectangular gray key card readers. A bland-faced police officer in full uniform stood at one end of the lobby.
“We’re in Meadow Ridge, Georgia,” I mumbled. “You think this security is necessary?”
Jasper didn’t say anything.
“I bet this has less to do with security and more to do with Daly’s ego,” I said, answering my own question. Again, Jasper remained silent.
We rounded the fountain to find the receptionist sitting at a desk with a polished marble countertop. She looked up at us as we approached. “Can I help you?”
“We have an appointment with Russ Daly,” Jasper said. “We’re expected.”
The receptionist turned to her computer and clacked on the keyboard. “Yes, Miss Dunn, correct?”
“Dr. Dunn.” I ground my teeth together.
Jasper just nodded.
“Great! Take the elevator to the third floor. You’ll find Mr. Daly in the third door on the right.”
We boarded the elevator and listened to smooth, generic jazz as we rode to the top.
As promised, Russ Daly was in the third door on the right. He greeted us with a too-bright smile and a booming “Ah, right on time!” while extending one meaty slab of a hand.
I shook it reluctantly. I couldn’t help but remember that the last time I’d seen this man, he’d oh-so-generously offered to knock me up.
“Who is this?” I gestured to a police officer who stood quietly in one corner. He had a shiny star pinned to the front of his shirt, so big I wondered if it was fake.
“This is Sheriff Mack Sands.” Daly smirked at me.
“What’s he doing here?” I sucked breath in through my nose, trying not to let my temper ignite.
“Mediating,” Jasper answered in Daly’s place. “Just so everyone leaves here with the same story.”
“Right.” I ground my teeth together. “So, let’s get down to business.”
Russ chuckled. “You’re a feisty one, huh? No wonder you’ve been causing so many problems for me.” He took a seat behind a desk so big he was surely compensating for something and steepled his fingers. Just the way he called me “feisty” made me want to jump over that monstrosity and tackle him out the bay window and into the parking lot below.
Instead, I took a seat in one of the offered chairs, and I think I even managed to look calm.
“We’re here to talk about the show,” I started, trying to keep my grip through gritted teeth.
“Right, the show. You’d be hard pressed to believe how much trouble that whole thing is causing for me. Listen, I hear you’ve been having…what should we call them…lady problems? Lady problems, with a gentleman.”
“Hmph.” Daly looked from me to Jasper. “Hence the bulldog?”
“He’s protection.”
Daly tilted his head back and laughed. “Ha! That’s a good one. Listen, sweetheart, when you girls gonna learn? All you gotta do is carry a bit of mace around, that’s all it takes. Learn some martial arts or something. What, next you’re going to tell me that you need protection in the kitchen to keep from burning yourself on the pans.”
I’d kept my temper in check for the better part of my twenty-seven years. Now that I’d let it free last night, it rose more readily to the surface.
“This isn’t the nineteen fifties,” I said, glowering at him. “Women can do more than cook and clean. I have a doctorate—”
Daly smiled. “Yeah, they’ll give one out to anyone these days, it seems.”
I was going to kill him.
“That’s it!” I said, standing up. “You got a problem? You want to take it outside? I’ll show you some martial arts—”
Fingers clenched on my shoulders. It was Jasper. To one side, I was distantly aware that Mack had stepped forward, too.
“Look, sweetheart, maybe we got off on the wrong—”
“And I’m not your sweetheart!” If Jasper h
adn’t tightened his grip on my arms just then, I would have gone over that massive desk at Daly. Instead, Jasper pulled me away and out into the hallway.
“Let me go!” I cried. “Chauvinist asshole! Let me go, and I’ll show you martial arts!”
“Cari, relax,” Jasper growled.
“Let me back in there!”
Jasper dragged me to the elevator. “No, this was a bad idea. We’ll try again some other time.”
The elevator dinged, and Jasper pulled me inside. As we waited, Daly stepped out into the hallway to watch us depart, still wearing that shit-eating grin of his.
The door slid shut before I had a chance to flip him off.
…
“This is why I can’t leave you alone,” Jasper muttered as we drove through town.
“I said I was sorry.” I sat in the passenger seat, my arms crossed. “He rubbed me the wrong way.”
Jasper didn’t say anything but instead slowed the truck. A growl rumbled through his chest as he stopped in front of Penelope’s Diner, one of only three places that served food in Meadow Ridge. He pulled into the parking lot.
“You go inside,” I said. “I’ll wait here.”
“I’m not leaving you out here by yourself,” Jasper said, stepping out of the truck.
“Yes, you are!” I called, before Jasper slammed the door behind him.
For a moment, the truck cab was silent. Then, the passenger-side door swung open.
“What are you—”
Before I could react, Jasper leaned in, unbuckled my seat belt, and hauled me over his shoulder once more.
“Let me down!” I said.
Jasper closed the truck and locked it, foiling my plan of jumping back inside. With his hands placed firmly on my ass, he slowly lowered me, sliding me down his body inch by delicious inch. I couldn’t hold back the gasp of pleasure at being pressed against him.
“I think you like me taking control.” His expression, set as always, gave nothing away, but I saw a spark in his eyes.
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