My eyes fluttered when Dean tested the split of my pussy lips with his fingertips, then closed his mouth over my clit. He kissed and licked it, starting to drag his fingers back and forth along me. I growled at the sink of the tips inside.
“Look at me,” he said.
I opened my eyes. Dean’s were bright as he covered my clit and eased two fingers halfway inside. Whimpering, I tugged at the ropes, showing him how much I craved him. My knees shook with how intensely he’d aroused me, Dean sweeping his tongue around my clit before sucking it in his mouth. When the crawl of his fingers reached the highest point inside me, I cried out.
“Yes. Yes, Dean, more!”
A smile lit his face and he sucked again, then drew his fingers out only long enough to slide another inside. He curved his free hand over my thigh to stroke my skin, and reached around to caress my ass cheek. As his fingers slipped higher, he curled them to rub my sensitive spot inside, his breathing hard with his gentle nibbles of my clit. It was impossible to keep my eyelids open but I struggled to, entranced by the hunger in his eyes and the desperate way he tasted and swallowed me.
“God...”
His fingers shifted into a more consistent pattern, deep inside and almost all the way out before he repeated the motion. I fisted my fingers as his mouth fired shudders through my core. When Dean wedged his hand between my legs to brace his palm against the back of my cunt and hold me upright, he snuck one finger inside my ass. I cried out, quivering, ecstasy swarming my sex and vibrating my cells, threatening to shatter every thought that didn’t center around this man, this moment, this breathtaking experience. As it struck, Dean moaned and started pummeling me with his fingers, bringing the orgasm in a gradual trickle at first, until it built into an unbearable quake that had me wailing and writhing in my binds.
“Oh, yes... Fuck, yes, Dean! Yes!”
Dean kept working his fingers, sucking at my clit, lapping my juices with spastic breaths, and I tried not to sink down above him. But the pleasure was too much, my eyes pinching shut and my knees growing weak. I dipped for one second before Dean took away his fingers, using both hands to brace me. He wouldn’t let me move while he licked along the length of my spasming cunt, the tremor tearing through me until I threw back my head with a barely audible cry. He stood then, hoisting me up until my ass rested on the end of the bed. Hooking my legs around his hips, he balanced me between the mattress and the press of his body against me. His rigid cock grazed my sex while he tried to help me understand.
“There you go. I’ve got you. Stay like this.”
I blinked as Dean braced me with a hand around my ass, then used his free hand to guide his cock inside. His thickness filled the space that craved him, and my head fell back again. Balanced in his arm and against the bed, I whimpered at the buck of his hips to thrust deep within me.
“Dean, oh...”
He grunted, his lips fast to my neck while he nibbled and pumped his hips again, using his hold to rock me on his length. I clenched my legs around his hips, shocked that he kept me up. “God, you feel good,” he groaned. I fought to lift my head, catching the shimmer of sweat along his hairline with how hard he worked to stay inside, my ass banging against the bed frame with every drive of his cock and his fingernails digging into my skin. “I won’t last long. Fuck...”
His lips found mine in a fervent kiss, our tongues twining as he sucked up my gasps at the increasing speed of his thrusts. I spun, throttled by his excitement to take me like this. My body relied almost entirely on him, and he slammed me against him with throaty groans. The slide of him, the pressure, the taste of his mouth while he sped up—all of it elevated the pleasure once more. When Dean drove in to fill me with his come, he held my hips tight and ground deep.
I spasmed around him with a cry. “Yes!”
Dean buried his mouth in my neck. Both of us wheezed. His cock slipped out of me, but I grinned at the trail of our juices rushing out after him, seeping from my cunt and onto the side of my thigh. “Christ.” He steered my leg back down, checking to be sure I could stand on it, his one arm around my ass until I gained my footing. He pressed his forehead to mine. “You’re divine, Maya.”
“You too,” I whispered. My body sang in our tender clutch. Once Dean moved to carefully untie me, he curled my freed arms between us and guided me onto his lap on the bed. He stared into my eyes with such love while he rubbed my shoulders and caressed my arms, planting soothing kisses on my lips for as long as it took for the world to right itself.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” he said.
“Are you kidding? I love that you shared it with me.” The gray-blue of his irises tumbled, reminding me we weren’t on land. “All of this. This is the best anniversary idea ever.”
Dean nestled a kiss in the crook of my neck. “I’m glad you like it. And I’d stay right here with you for longer, but I don’t want you to miss the sunset.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said with a chuckle.
That had completely slipped my mind.
Dean rose with another kiss on my lips before gathering my clothes off the floor. He handed them over and replaced his jeans and T-shirt, this time with no underwear. In the time it took me to dress, he went into the kitchen space and arranged our light dinner on a plate—cheese, bread, fruit and salad. I snapped my life vest into place and helped him with his between the bites of grapes and cheese he fed me, and once he balanced the food tray in one hand, he reached out for mine with the other. Together, we went back on deck. I sat on the bench near his with the tray propped in my lap, admiring the glide of his body around the back of the boat to untie us, then to motor out into the almost dimming sky.
“We should make it just on time.” Dean steered us through the cove and to the west side of the island, his knees nearly skimming mine. I wore a grin on my face the entire time. Drops of water kicked up as we moved through it, the salty mist splashing my face while I laughed. And for the last couple of minutes it took to pass around to the spot Dean wanted, we both kept our eyes on the horizon, the water turning darker with the sun starting its descent from the sky. Finally, Dean nodded in satisfaction.
“What are you grinning about?” I asked.
“This. With you.” He patted the spot by his hip. “Sit with me.”
I didn’t hesitate to take my place beside him.
Somehow, I didn’t think I ever would.
I leaned my head against Dean’s shoulder and we ate our dinner with the island at our backs. He adjusted the steering as needed, both of us taken in by the slow drip of the sun out of the clouds and into its gorgeous, golden flare along the horizon. It was the most beautiful sunset I’d ever seen, and though I didn’t know if that was real or if it was because Dean sat beside me with the boat’s subtle rock beneath us, I’d never been happier.
Once the final spray of orange and yellow dipped behind the waterline, Dean snugged his arm around me. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It’s incredible.”
He held me in the breezy air until only the lights of our boat and the moon high up above lit the space around us. Then he planted a soft kiss on my head and I raised my eyes to his. “I’ve been out here for many a sunset, but I think that was the best I’ve ever seen. Must be you.”
A flush filled my cheeks. “I like that.”
“And I love you, Maya. I’ve never felt so sure of anything before.” He brushed his hand across my neck, his fingers tickling along my hairline when he gave me the sweetest kiss. His lips lingered, warm and full, and I embraced him until his mouth fell away. Dean shook his head. “God, you’re amazing.”
My heart thumped. “I feel the same. Happy anniversary.”
“Yes. Happy anniversary. Here’s to another year, huh?”
“Yes, please,” I said.
We kissed there under the moon and boat l
ights, Dean’s arm around me all the warmth I needed until a gust of cold air breezed through.
Once it did, the boat started to drift. Dean pulled back with a tender pinch of my chin. “Wind’s shifting. We should head back.”
“Sounds good to me.”
For a second, we stared at one another, the gentle shifts of the water rocking us in a soothing sway. Then Dean stood to turn the sails, winking in my direction with a smile that told me our return to the shelter of the harbor wouldn’t be the end of our adventures that night.
Not even close.
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
This book has been quite a ride from day one—a roller coaster of exciting adventures paired with major life catastrophes that somehow, thankfully, worked out in the end. While the story was always in my head, it wouldn’t have broken free without several important people in my life, for whom I don’t know if there are enough words of gratitude available on the planet to acknowledge how much they’ve helped The Discipline come to be.
First and foremost I must thank my brilliant editor, Rhonda Stapleton, for her boundless enthusiasm, helpful commentary and insightful critique. I rather like our kick-ass team! I’d also like to thank the entire Carina Press crew for their fantastic work with every stage of this series—you are a killer group of people who have made me feel like one hell of a fortunate gal, and I’m thrilled to have gotten to work with every one of you. Next, an ocean of gratitude goes to my agent, Jessica Alvarez, for helping when life decided to mess with my words, and for assuring me (over and over again) that all would be okay.
That assurance came tenfold from some dear friends and people who have helped me in more ways than they can possibly know. A giant thank you to Malin James for our endless rounds of discussion on the fate of Maya and Dean, but more, for cheering me on as you always have since well before their creation in this incredible friendship we share. To Tamsin Flowers, thank you for your camaraderie, support, enthusiasm, and reminders of tension, tension, and more tension!
A hug of infinite appreciation goes to Michael Knight for joining the beta crew and in turn helping to make Dean a much better man. To Molly, I send love for the gossip, dynamic brainstorming and chat times I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’d also like to thank Dr. Schlegel for nearly curing the “mysterious and beautiful” migraines that tried to disrupt everything in my life (never mind for inspiring another story), and Margaret, for guiding me as thoughtfully as you have. My thanks in abundance goes to Skye and Erica, two amazing, courageous and inspiring women I’ve been blessed to have had in my life for over two decades, and to the wise and delightful Sandra, for twisting my rubber arm for repeated epic nights of karaoke, which I’m pretty convinced are the universe’s greatest cure-all. A tremendous thank you goes to Nick, as well, this time not just for grounding me better than anyone and making me smile as much as only you can, but for staying close when things got rough, and being all that you are.
Finally, to the readers who have joined in for Maya and Dean’s journey—a million times over, thank you. I’d hoped that one day their story would get beyond my circle of friends, but it actually happening is beyond surreal. I am forever grateful that you have chosen to read their tale and stay on for the ride. Thank you. It means the world to me!
Also available from Jade A. Waters
and Carina Press
The Assignment
And coming soon in the Lessons in Control series
The Reward
About the Author
Jade A. Waters has been writing for thirty years, but it wasn’t until the last few that she passionately claimed the title of “erotica author and poetess.” Since then, her short fiction and poetry has been featured in over a dozen anthologies, including Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Best Erotic Romance of the Year, The Big Book of Orgasms, The Sexy Librarian’s Dirty 30 and Bondage Bites, with several of her stories also narrated on The Kiss Me Quick’s Erotica Podcast. Her debut novel, The Assignment, was the first of the Lessons in Control series from Carina Press.
With a colorful past that includes a math degree, a stint as a semi-professional aerial acrobat, a short run on stage and a few years laboring in her personal costume shop, Jade now focuses on her love of words, be they on the page, read aloud or shared in good conversation. She has a fondness for sugar, coffee, dancing, karaoke and the entire California Bay Area, which is where she’s lived and worked for most of her life.
Currently, Jade is hard at work on The Reward, the final book in Lessons in Control—but she’d love for you to visit her website, jadeawaters.com, or say hello on Twitter or Facebook.
Introducing the Carina Press Romance Promise!
The Carina Press team all have one thing in common: we are romance readers with a longtime love of the genre. And we know what readers are looking for in a romance: a guarantee of a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happy-for-now (HFN). With that in mind, we’re initiating the Carina Press Romance Promise. When you see a book tagged with these words in our cover copy/book description, we’re making you, the reader, a very important promise:
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The first time I felt Master Jensen’s presence beside me, I knew he would be the one to show me all the kinky pleasures of Luminous. That I would give my body to him. Begin my journey to sexual freedom at his feet. But when I dared raise my eyes to his, I saw he would claim a part of me no man had had before: my trust.
AT THE BRINK by Anna del Mar
A Story of Sexual Obsession
Though my preferences may be unorthodox, I never leave a woman unsatisfied—far from it. Lily Boswell, though... Her innocence draws me, her secrets intrigue me. I want to release her passions and heal her wounds. On my terms.
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ISBN-13: 9781459294318
The Discipline
Copyright © 2017 by Jade A. Waters
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
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