Rule Changer

by Deena Patel

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Well before noon the next day, we were on a flight to California. Thomas sat next to me, sipping a glass of cognac, and I nursed a B&B. We were both exhausted and thankful that Leo and Simon decided to take naps a few minutes after takeoff. Stacey watched over them in one of the sleeping cabins. With any luck, they wouldn’t wake for at least two hours.

  After Thomas had made his unilateral announcement, chaos ensued, with packing, planning, and reorganizing work commitments. Everyone agreed that the best place for Leo, Simon, and me was at Thomas’s ranch.

  During our past relationship, I never had the chance to visit La Cascada, but Arya and Max visited often and referred to it as an impenetrable fortress in the guise of a fancy vineyard and horse ranch. As of now, I’d be living there indefinitely, or at least until there was a solid plan to deal with the money or Christof.

  Just thinking of his name made my stomach hurt. He was a dangerous man who’d slit a throat without a speck of remorse. Add in forty billion dollars, and the stakes jumped to an incomprehensible level. He wouldn’t think twice about hurting my boys to get me to cooperate.

  A shudder rocked my body, and the next thing I knew, I was tucked against Thomas’s side.

  “It’s okay to relax, Carm. Staying on edge isn’t going to help.”

  I couldn’t deny that having him there to help me was nice. His presence brought a stillness to my psyche.

  I took another sip of my drink, set my glass on the table in front of me, and then closed my eyes.

  God, he smelled good, all male with a light scent of eucalyptus and sandalwood from the beard oil he used to soften his stubble.

  In the pit of my stomach, I had an unshakable anxiety about what kind of reception was waiting for me with Thomas’s family. I was expecting hostility from Diego. I’d avoid him and keep my mouth shut as long as he accepted my boys.

  But I wondered about the rest of his family. His cousins, his aunt. Did they share the same opinion as Diego? It was going to suck if I had to spend weeks on end with people who hated me.

  I guess I won’t know until I get there.

  “Do you still ride?” Thomas asked, pulling me from my thinking.

  “I haven’t in a long time. I couldn’t while I was pregnant, and after, I was too busy with the boys. The last time I went out was…” I trailed off and looked toward the window.

  “When we went to Max’s ranch,” he said, finishing my sentence.

  Before family complications and my insecurities. We were trying to figure out if what started as a one-night stand could be more, and we discovered it could. During those few precious months, we laughed so much, and the craziness of our sexual kinks wasn’t something we focused on. We fell in love without pretenses. He wasn’t the security-expert, nightclub-owning, rancher playboy, and I didn’t have to be the uptight, never-show-your-emotions, cold Dane robot.

  My heart hiccupped. Our last night there was the night we conceived our boys.

  “Will you go riding with me while we’re at La Cascada? It’ll give me a chance to show you my land and also give us some time away from the house.”

  I glanced at him with a slight smile. He knew how I’d go riding to calm my mind during the chaos of my childhood. I loved horses, and he was offering me an outlet for the storm we both knew we’d encounter on the ranch. “Only if you promise to take me to the waterfall the ranch is named for. Arya’s told me how breathtaking the view is from there.”

  He returned my smile. “Maybe we can engage in some extracurricular activities while there. There’s a cave under the falls with ropes we use to swing into the lagoon at the bottom.”

  Ropes.

  An excitement I hadn’t expected sparked inside me. It had been so long since I’d practiced any form of Kinbaku or Shibari, the ancient Japanese art of bondage. Nothing could describe the experience of using hemp to bind and suspend a submissive while bringing them to a state of relaxation and euphoria and eventually release.

  I licked my lips, picturing Thomas imprisoned with hemp, his muscles flexing and bulging, his gorgeous erection awaiting my attention.

  He chuckled and said, “Are you thinking about what it’ll be like when a seasoned rancher ties you up and makes you scream with pleasure?”

  His words held humor, but the tickle in my stomach told me the fantasy he painted was what he wanted to do to me.

  “No. I was thinking about what it would be like to bind said seasoned rancher to the wall of the cave and make him beg for release while he watches me make myself come over and over again.”

  “Is that a challenge?” He downed his drink and set his glass on a side table.

  “No, it’s a fact.” I lifted a brow while running my tongue along my lower lips.

  Thomas’s gaze went to my mouth, and his eyes dilated.

  Oh, I think it’s time for a play session at thirty-five thousand feet.

  “Come with me.” I stood, extending my hand.

  He slid his palm over mine and stood with a wicked grin. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Somewhere to show you who’s in charge.” I led him toward the master bedroom. After what happened on the balcony, I had to get us back on level footing. I was his Domme and had to show him I was the boss.

  Carmen, is this more for you or him?

  “Now, that definitely sounds like a challenge.”

  Upon entering the room, I walked to the closet and pulled out the belts of the bathrobes.

  “Are you planning on showing me what you would do if you had the ropes I mentioned?”

  “You’re about to find out.” I glanced over my shoulders, quirking a brow.

  Thomas lounged against the door and smiled. “I look forward to it.”

  “Strip and lie down on the bed,” I ordered.

  “Yes, Mistress.” His voice purred, sending a flood of arousal and wetness to my pussy.

  I kept my back to him, coiling the terry cloth sash in my hands and hoping to quiet my overactive libido.

  “I’m ready, Mistress.”

  I turned toward him and couldn’t help but admire his beautiful naked body. His erection stood rigid, pointing past his belly button and making me want to forget my plans for him and take him into my mouth.

  I strolled to the side of the bed and climbed in next to him. I glided the end of one of the belts over his feet, up his thighs, pausing to circle his weeping cock, and then moving along his stomach to his neck.

  I tied a loop around one wrist and secured it to the post on the bed, making sure it wasn’t too tight but would hold against his strength. I repeated the action with his other hand. Leaning back, I surveyed my handiwork.

  “Perfect.”

  He smiled. Tied down or not he knew his strength and was comfortable with allowing me to control the scene. His beautiful corded abs flexed with each breath.

  Damn, he’s hot.

  The taut muscles of his arms and shoulders bunched as he tested the bonds.

  “You won’t be able to untie those without a little help,” I stated. “I did spend my summer vacations from school working on a horse farm.”

  “Something that seems to have come in handy with your subs.”

  I lifted a brow. “Any problems?”

  “None whatsoever. But I should warn you. As a former military man, I know a few useful ones as well. You never know when a cord of rope can come in handy.”

  A tingle shot up my spine. I imagined Thomas binding me with rope, creating patterns that displayed everything he wanted to see and exposing nothing that he desired hidden.

  When I looked at his face, his grin told me he caught my reaction to the words. I squinted my eyes. “I believe you’re talking too much. I have plans for that mouth.”

  Stepping off the bed, I unbuttoned my dress, letting it slip to the floor while keeping my gaze locked with Thomas’s. With slow, precise movements, I shimmied out of my panties and unfastened my bra. He ate up every shift of my body, his breath com
ing out shallow as his erection grew longer and harder, and the angry head at the tip bulged.

  I reached down to slip off my heels, running my hands down my legs.

  “Please leave those on, Mistress.”

  I tilted my head, studying him. It was a command in the form of a request. I toed the pumps off and straddled his thighs. “I decide what I keep on, and the shoes would hinder my plans.”

  The friction of the light dusting of hair on his thighs tickled my labia, and a moan almost escaped my lips. His hardness against my soft skin was an aphrodisiac I couldn’t stop craving. I rubbed my pussy up his hips and settled over his throbbing cock. I pushed his head against my clit, grinding and sliding back and forth.

  Thomas arched his head and pushed up his pelvis. “God, you’re soaked. It feels so good.”

  His words pushed me forward with my plan. I crawled toward his shoulders, leaving a trail of my excitement along his abdomen and chest.

  Thomas licked his lips, and his nostrils flared at the scent of my arousal.

  “Would you like a taste?” I whispered, holding back a shudder as his breath grazed my bare pussy.

  “Yes, Mistress,” he murmured.

  I brought my pelvis closer to him, positioning one knee above each shoulder. His tongue reached out to touch my weeping lower lips, but I pulled back.

  “You have to ask, Thomas. Ask for what you want.”

  “I want you. I want to eat your pussy.”

  I shook my head and leaned against his chest. “No demands. Otherwise, I’ll stay here, soaking your chest but leaving both of us in need. Ask me.”

  The muscles on the side of his neck clenched. “Please, Mistress, may I fuck you with my mouth?”

  I lifted up toward him, but before I could shift, he jerked his head and fastened himself to my aching clit. His tongue dove into my pussy, and my body bowed in response, causing me to grab the headboard for balance.

  I gasped, “Oh, Thomas. That’s it. Keep going.”

  I closed my eyes, letting his well-trained mouth drive me toward the explosions slowly churning inside me. My nails dug into the headboard as the familiar tingle I only felt with Thomas intensified.

  I opened my eyes and looked down at him. He watched me with smug satisfaction. He knew how to use his expertise, and I was the happy recipient. His arms pulled against his restraints, and a creak echoed from the tug of the belts.

  He continued to devour me, bringing me higher and higher. All of a sudden my head snapped back, and a scream rose in my throat. I called out his name as my pussy contracted around his tongue and my essence flooded his mouth.

  I was never going to survive without this man.

  I pushed any rational thoughts out of my head as my orgasm continued to wave through my body. The sound of fabric tearing pierced my hearing, and all of a sudden Thomas pinned me to the bed with my hands above my head. He used his thighs and knees to spread mine apart, and then he plunged to the hilt inside my tight, spasming pussy.

  A surprised cry echoed from my lips at his invasion, and almost immediately, my body’s need for him reignited.

  “That’s it. Milk my cock, mi amor.” He covered my lips, and my salty-sweet tasted filled my mouth.

  Our tongues dueled as he thrust in and out of my swollen core. One hand gripped my hip as the other continued to squeeze my wrists.

  Oh God. It was happening again. His weight felt so wonderful. I arched up, rubbing my pinched nipples against the crisp hair of his chest.

  “Please,” I begged, not knowing what I wanted.

  “Come for me,” he ordered.

  Before I could protest his command, my body responded, detonating around him. Exquisite fire scorched through my pussy as I clenched my jaw and thrashed against him.

  “Once more, baby.” Thomas’s hand slid between our bodies to the throbbing bundle of nerves at the apex of my sex.

  I tossed my head side to side. “I can’t. It’s too much. My body can’t take it. Oh God.”

  He strummed my nub, sending another wave of need through my oversensitized pussy. “Yes, you can. Who’s in charge, Carm?”

  What?

  I stared, shocked by his question.

  The rhythm on my clit intensified.

  “You heard me.” He gritted his teeth. “Say it or I’ll leave you hanging.”

  I closed my eyes, turning my face away. “Me.” He couldn’t win this. I had to hold the cards.

  Fuck, this wasn’t fair.

  He stopped rubbing.

  “No!” I called out, feeling the immediate loss of contractions in my pussy.

  He returned to his ministrations, but at a pace we both knew would keep me on edge but never send me over.

  “Say it,” he ordered as he released my wrists and fisted my hair. He gazed down at me, plunging his pulsing cock inside me while his finger continued its torture on my tender clitoris.

  “Please, Thomas. I can’t. Don’t make me.” Tears rimmed my eyes.

  “It’s me, baby. I love you. Let go.” He rubbed harder, and his breath became ragged.

  “I can’t. I…”

  His pace faltered. “Fuck. I can’t hold out anymore. You’re so stubborn,” he growled as he came, filling me with his ejaculation. He pumped a few more times until the last of his release emptied. He pulled his damp fingers from between my folds and gripped my thighs as he shifted to the side but kept his cock inside me.

  We both remained quiet over the next few minutes. My body screamed for the final orgasm it never received, but more than that, my heart ached for what I’d almost revealed to Thomas.

  I closed my eyes, letting Thomas’s breath and weight soothe me. He loved me. He’d said it before on the balcony when he was so angry with me, but this time, it was raw and I knew from his heart.

  What was I going to do? Could I believe he meant it?

  I guessed the test would come once we landed in California.

  Thomas lifted up on his forearms and peered down at me. “One day you’re going to admit it. You know the truth deep inside. It doesn’t make you any less, Carmen. You’ll always be a Mistress. I have no problems saying I enjoyed your commands. Why won’t you admit you enjoy my domination?”

  My temper peaked, but I didn’t respond to him except by pushing him off, dislodging his now-soft cock from my body. He handed me a tissue to wipe myself as I slid from the bed and went to the bathroom.

  I leaned against the counter as my body shook. I couldn’t do it. No matter what I wanted, I had to have some defenses left, until I could truly trust his commitment to me.

  Thomas came to stand behind me, caging me with his naked body. His hands covered my grip on the counter.

  “It’s okay, mi cielito.”

  He kissed my neck as his palm slid up my arm and came to rest on my throat.

  My pulse jumped, and I tried to pull away, but his hold intensified, bringing a need I couldn’t accept to the surface.

  “You can’t deny your body’s reaction, even if your mind wants to refuse.” He held my gaze in the mirror. “I can admit it’s different with you. I can only hope one day you’ll accept the truth, that you can trust me with your submission.” He slipped a finger over my lips. “Think about it, and when you’re ready I’ll be waiting.”

  He released me, shifting to start the shower. “Let’s freshen up before we have to settle down for landing.”

  I stared at him for a few moments, then nodded and stepped into the stall.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  After my shower, I dressed and added a few final touches to my makeup.

  Thomas came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and stopped for a second to kiss me on his way to the closet.

  I noticed red burn marks on his wrists, and guilt flooded me. I hadn’t protected his skin. “Thomas?”

  He turned and looked at me.

  “Your wrists.” I shook my head.

  Walking toward me, he slid his hand around my waist. “I did it to myse
lf when I tore the bonds.” He grinned into my face. “Don’t scowl like that. You’ll get wrinkles.”

  “I’m serious. I’m sorry.”

  He kissed the tip of my nose. “If it bothers you so much, I’ll tie you up at the waterfall, and we’ll call it even.”

  A prickle went up my spine.

  “We’ll see,” I grumbled, pulling out of his hold and walking toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  I glanced at Thomas over my shoulder. “To the lounge. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Okay. I shouldn’t be long.”

  I strolled to the bar in the main area of the plane, fixed Thomas and myself a drink, and took a seat by the window.

  I giggled to myself as a thought crossed my mind.

  I was an official member of the mile-high club. Arya and Milla would be so proud of me.

  “What’s so funny?” Thomas asked as he came in dressed in a casual button-down shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots and hat.

  Holy shit!

  I nearly swallowed my tongue. Thomas was sexy as hell in his suits, but damn. No, double damn. He was walking sex on two legs.

  He grinned his knowing smile. “Like what you see?”

  My cheeks flushed. “Possibly.”

  “I have something for you.” Thomas crouched in front of me. “Give me your hand.”

  I hesitated but put my palm over his. Thomas pulled out a cushion-cut white and pink diamond ring from his pocket. My lip trembled. It was a replica of the ring my mother had worn.

  “How…how did you get this in such a short time?” I looked up at him, not knowing what else to say.

  “I had it made right after our visit to North Dakota and before I fucked everything up with us. I remembered you saying once that you would have loved to have your mother’s ring. That it was your favorite piece of jewelry she’d worn. I wanted you to have the same design, but added the pink diamond halo to make it your own.”

  My hand shook as he slipped it on.

  This is just pretend, Carmen.

  “You keep telling yourself that, and maybe you’ll start believing it.”