Adored: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella (1001 Dark Nights)

by Lexi Blake

  He hadn’t even looked at her breasts. He was too horrified by the underwear.

  She stepped out of the offensive panties and he got his first look at Laurel in her glory. He had to catch his breath because she was even more beautiful than he’d imagined her. She was a fucking fertility goddess with her curvy hips and full breasts. There was a slight curve to her belly that made him wonder what she was going to look like when she was full and ripe with child. His child. “Come here, Laurel.”

  Her golden brown hair was loose around her shoulders, her eyes slightly suspicious. Did she think he was about to reject her? Was she worried she wasn’t pretty enough? Because he thought he’d already shown her how much he wanted her.

  “Grip your wrists behind your back,” he ordered when she moved close enough.

  She took a deep breath and complied, the position causing her breasts to thrust out.

  Fuck those were gorgeous. She had full breasts, likely a large C cup, maybe even a D, with big pink and brown nipples he could suck on for days. “How sensitive are they?”

  “They’re sensitive, but they don’t hurt.”

  He reached out and let his fingers trace a line from her collarbone to her right nipple. The minute he brushed the top of her breast, the skin underneath flushed, the nipple hardened. Like a flower blooming to his touch.

  Because he was sitting down, those pretty nipples were almost at the level of his mouth. He leaned over and placed a very chaste kiss on one and then the other. “Do you know what I’m going to do to you tonight?”

  “I’m kinda hoping you’re planning on fooling around.”

  He traced the areole of her nipple with his fingertip, utterly fascinated with her beauty. “Don’t be ridiculous. Fooling around is for high school kids. I’m going to make love to you. Properly this time, and with complete control. I acted like an idiot that night.”

  “You were passionate.”

  “Passion tends to get us into trouble. I’m going to be thoughtful this time. I’m going to make you scream for me. I’m going to teach you what it means to be my sub. Tell me something and be honest with me. I’ll know if you’re not honest. I might not be in the courtroom a lot, but I can tell when a witness is lying.”

  “You’re quite good at it,” she agreed in a breathless voice.

  “Why did you join Sanctum?”

  She hesitated and he worried that she wouldn’t answer. He filled in the time by moving his hands down to her hips and kissing his way to her belly. He breathed in the sweet scent of her arousal.

  Finally, she replied. “To try to get close to you.”

  “So you were hoping to make me jealous.” Her pussy was perfect, but he couldn’t truly see it. “Sit down on the coffee table and spread your legs for me.”

  “Mitch, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “I’m going to be patient with you because you’re new and we’re learning together, so let me make this plain. You have ten seconds to sit on the coffee table, spread your legs, and show me your pussy, or I’ll put you over my lap and we’ll start with a count of fifteen.” He reached around her and grabbed her mug and the contract. Now the coffee table was perfectly clutter free and ready for her. He held a hand out to help her sit down.

  Her lips had firmed, her jawline becoming harder than normal. Ah, she was chafing at the confines. He intended to push her a bit harder.

  “I wasn’t trying to make you jealous.” Even as she was arguing, she let him help her down. She placed herself on the coffee table he’d bought because it had a sturdy feel to it. He’d bought nothing for simple beauty, preferring function over form.

  Now he had to think that having a naked Laurel totally brought the décor up. He sat back down and couldn’t help the smile that threatened. “I was jealous, Laurel. I was blindingly jealous. God, you’re lovely. Lean back a little. I want to look at your pussy.”

  “Mitch, this is bordering on the weird,” she began, but did as he asked. “I’m sorry I made you jealous. I won’t do it again. I suppose if I’m honest, I was willing to do just about anything to have you see me. Though I wasn’t thinking of a gynecological exam at the time.”

  He waved her off and got down on his knees. He let his hands find the skin at her ankles and started to work his way up those sweet legs that would eventually get propped on his shoulders while he fucked her hard and long. “If your gynecologist does what I’m about to do, let me know because we’re going to sue the motherfucker for all he’s worth. So tell me what you had hoped would happen when I found you playing with Master T? I suspect I was being set up to find you playing with him. Was I supposed to start a fight?”

  “Absolutely not,” she began and likely would have continued had he not leaned over and put his nose right up against her pussy. “Oh my god.”

  It was good to know he could put her off balance. Laurel almost seemed too competent half the time. She would stand there in her prim little outfits and tell him what she thought he should do. It was usually the exact opposite of what he wanted to do. She liked to change things. He liked things to stay the same. It wasn’t that he couldn’t accept something new. He was definitely liking his new decoration. And he knew damn straight he wouldn’t want to let her go. Ever.

  He breathed her in, memorizing the spicy, deeply feminine scent of her arousal. And there was no doubt she was aroused. He could see her gorgeous labia. Her pussy was perfectly shaved and a lovely cream coated her pink flesh. He could see the pearl of her clit. It was poking out of its hood, begging for a lick, a suck, some sweet attention. But he had a couple of questions first. “Would you have let him fuck you?”

  Her whole body tensed. “My contract didn’t even allow nudity until three weeks in. I was kind of hoping you would wake up in three weeks. And no. I wouldn’t have slept with him. I was desperate. I only wanted you. I would never have accepted another Master but you, you jerk.”

  He had been a jerk. He’d overreacted and taken something from her. Yes, she’d put him in a corner, but he wasn’t a child. He hadn’t had to fight his way out. He should have made the choice. He should have decided to be her Master or to let her go. Now he had no choice. He would be her Master. “I like to think I would have made a proper decision and that would be to take over and make you realize that you need me. I think I can still do that. But if you even look that cowboy’s way, we’ll have problems, you and I.”

  He was sure she would have argued on her own behalf. She would have told him that she wouldn’t ever play with Master T, but he didn’t give her a chance. He would rather let her know what she would be missing if she did.

  He licked her, a long, slow drag of his tongue over her pussy. This was what he’d missed. He’d missed her taste and smell. God, he loved her smell and he fucking needed to know how she tasted when he could really take his time to enjoy her. He wasn’t sure how he’d lived without that taste on his tongue. He put his hands on her knees, gently pressing out as he very tenderly ate that sweet pussy. He was careful. Despite what Will had said, he was still nervous about hurting her or the baby. He needed to read up. Research was something he was good at. He would read all he could about pregnancy and sex, but for now he simply licked and sucked at her.

  She gasped and wiggled, but he had a good firm hold on her. She wasn’t trying to get away, but he would bet she also wasn’t completely comfortable with having a man spend this much time at her pussy.

  “Relax, Laurel. There’s nothing for you to do except let me have my way.”

  “Mitch, I want you.”

  “And I want you.” He sucked one side of her labia as his thumb started circling her clitoris. Not enough to make her come. He didn’t want to do that yet.

  “Mitch, I want to have sex.”

  She was taking a deeply Clintonian definition of sex. “We are having sex.”

  She’d shaved and her skin was baby smooth and god, she was so wet. He delved inside, fucking her with his tongue, gathering all her cream for himself.<
br />
  “Mitch, I want your cock. I think we should have intercourse. Penetrative intercourse.”

  He pulled away. “Then you should have found a different lover, Laurel. I told you how this would go.” He hated leaving her. He hated the fact that he wasn’t going to get what he wanted, but he couldn’t let her move him on this. He’d already given in to her. He knew what he needed and if he allowed her to, she would walk all over him.

  Again. God, he was a perverse son of a bitch to need control and always be attracted to women who wouldn’t give it to him.

  “I think I’ll go take a shower. Lisa should be here soon. Do you mind waiting for her?”

  Her eyes were wide. Her whole body flushed a nice pink and he wanted nothing more than to give her exactly what she wanted, but he’d played that way before and it didn’t work out. “You’re leaving?”

  His dick was protesting, but he knew what he wanted and it wasn’t to be pushed around and told what to do. Definitely not during sex. “You should have read the contract more closely, Laurel. I’m in charge in the bedroom, and you obey me there or you use your safe word if you get frightened or find yourself in pain. You weren’t scared and what I was doing couldn’t have caused you pain, so you were trying to take control. I’m ending the session. I don’t play like that and I’ve explained that to you on numerous occasions. I’ve never lied to you about what I wanted.”

  She shook her head. “No, you haven’t, and I want to understand what it means to be your submissive. Please, Mitchell. I’m sorry. You can spank me if you like, but I promise I won’t try to take control again. I was excited and I wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted anything. Please forgive me.”

  “The punishment was clearly laid out in our contract. When you infringe on my bedroom rights, I withdraw and you’re to be left to think about your actions.” He’d punished many subs this way. So why did it seem so foolish to punish Laurel? Why did something that once seemed like a game now feel so fucking serious?

  Things were changing and he didn’t like it. The best course of action would be to leave her for an hour or two and get his distance. Then he could return and they would discuss the infraction.

  She hopped off the table and stepped up to him. “Mitch, I’m asking you to change that punishment. You’re right. I didn’t read it as thoroughly as I should have because I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from signing, but I can’t do this. I can handle a spanking. I can’t handle you withholding affection as punishment. You asked me to never ignore your calls because you wouldn’t ignore mine. Well, don’t play with my heart this way because I won’t ever do that to you. This makes me feel very small.”

  His former subs would have pouted and sulked, and now he realized why he’d chosen the women he had. To those submissives, everything was a game. He’d been careful to pick women who enjoyed the manipulative aspects, who would give him reasons to punish them because they enjoyed the game.

  This wasn’t a game for Laurel.

  He nodded and forced some unnamed emotion down as he reached for her and drew her close. “I don’t want you to feel small, baby. You’re not small to me. Forgive me. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.”

  “And I didn’t mean to make you feel out of control.” She kissed his jaw and then settled herself against him. She didn’t seem to be self-conscious in any way. She was like a happy kitten rubbing against him. “I can handle a lot of things, but I can’t handle you being cold to me.”

  He’d been cold for so long. It was all he knew how to be, but he found himself holding her close and then his mouth found hers. How long had it been since he tossed out his rituals and routines and simply let the sex happen? Well, besides what had happened in his office a few weeks before. Tonight wasn’t going to end the same way. Tonight he would end up in bed with her, wrapped up with her.

  He kissed her, his tongue finding hers and playing. His hands moved across her skin, exploring. She was his for the time being and she was different from the other subs he’d kept. She wasn’t after his money or his connections. She wasn’t looking for a free ride.

  She was carrying his child.

  He hated change, but it was here and he was trapped.

  He was surprised to find that didn’t scare him the way it should have.

  Before he really knew what he was doing, he was pressing her back, taking her down to the couch. He kissed her as his hands fumbled at his belt and then the fly of his slacks. His cock sprang free and he wasn’t thinking about anything but getting inside her. He shoved his slacks down and made a place for himself at her core.

  Her hands tore at his shirt as though she couldn’t stand the clothes between them. He ripped the damn thing off himself, hearing the sound of the buttons pinging on the hardwoods as he tossed it away. It didn’t matter. He had twenty exactly like it and he wanted to feel her hands on him.

  She sighed as she looked up at him. “You’re so beautiful.”

  She was the beautiful one. “Wrap your legs around my waist. The good news is I don’t have to fumble around for a condom. That ship sailed.”

  The smile on her face would have brought him to his knees if he hadn’t already been there. “That ship has definitely sailed and there’s no getting off it.”

  But she was smiling. She was stuck with him and she was still smiling. God, he would do a lot to keep that smile on her face.

  He slowed down. He was always in a rush to have her. She pushed him past all control, but that smile gave some of it back. He lowered himself down, giving her his weight. Her legs circled his waist and he kissed her, his cock nudging at her.

  He groaned as he thrust inside. So tight. God, she had the tightest, hottest pussy. It fit him like a damn glove, like she’d been made to take his cock.

  He buried his face in her neck, breathing her in as he slowly forced his way inside her. She was wet, but it was still a deliciously tight fit.

  “That feels so good.” Her nails ran over his back.

  He kissed her neck and let the heat of her body warm his own. “One of these days, I swear I’m going to get out of my clothes, baby.”

  He pushed in until there was nowhere else to go, until she’d taken every inch of him and he could feel her squeeze him tight. He flexed inside her and was rewarded with a sexy gasp from her.

  He thrust in and dragged back out, feeling her all around him. Her legs tightened, arms circling and nails scoring him lightly.

  He didn’t have sex like this. Somewhere in the back of his head alarm bells were going off. He controlled the sex. He preferred to have his sexual partner tied up or ordered to remain still, to give her body over to him and he would see to their pleasure. But he couldn’t do it with Laurel. He gave over to the primal instinct to mate. He couldn’t call it sex. Sex was something he could take or leave, but he wasn’t sure he could ever leave this woman, and that was precisely why he’d stayed away from her in the first place.

  He was not the man who got lost in freaking passion.

  He fucked her hard, not caring to listen to alarm bells or reason. It felt too good to have her around him, to be in the center of her touch, her smell, her heat. He forgot about all the reasons why he shouldn’t and let his cock take over. His cock knew exactly what he wanted and he wanted to mark Laurel as his.

  Over and over he thrust inside, taking them higher and higher. When she tensed around him and called out his name, he knew this fight was over. The silky muscles of her pussy clamped down and milked his cock. His spine sizzled as he gave up and held himself hard against her, pouring himself into her.

  He finally rested, completely spent. Her hands smoothed over his back and there was nothing but the peaceful sound of her breathing, her heart beating as he laid his head on her chest.

  He was in deep and he was fairly certain that this time he would drown.

  Chapter Six

  Laurel looked around the new Sanctum with a sense of wonder. It was big. Three levels. There was a bar, lounge, and g
orgeous locker rooms on the first floor. She’d been surprised to discover she’d been given her own locker complete with a nameplate. When she’d opened it, she’d found her favorite toiletries had already been stocked and there were clothes Mitch had picked out for her hanging there.

  He was a thoughtful Master. She’d traded the delicate gold chain she wore during the day for a heavier collar. This one was made of leather, but he’d had it custom detailed with green, glossy leaves.

  For a Laurel tree.

  The second level was the dungeon. She stood there, looking out over Ian Taggart’s own version of heaven, and hoped Mitch didn’t have a thing for the human hamster wheel. It was a massive thing and someone had lined it with twinkle lights. Serena and Bridget were giggling as they watched a male sub jogging his ass off in the hamster wheel while a big Dom stood watching, threatening to whip his ass if he slowed down.

  “Is that Chris?” Chris was her sister-in-law’s best friend. Along with Serena, Bridget and Chris were a trio to be reckoned with at Sanctum. Everyone knew that if you gave them a juicy story it would end up in one of their books.

  Bridget gave her a spectacular smile. “Yeah, he told Jeremy he needed help getting fit. He kind of threw a hissy fit because Jeremy can eat whatever he wants and still stay gorgeous. Chris got a little bratty and hence the new sub workout.”

  Chris’s legs pumped harder and faster and the twinkle lights changed from white to green.

  “That’s right. Get it up to green, sub. Five more minutes or I’ll have you on a St. Andrew’s Cross and you won’t be able to sit down for a week. How many calories will that burn, love? Yeah, don’t try to talk. Just run.” Jeremy winked at her. “That’s the last time he tells me I’m a shitty trainer.”

  “Tag set it up so the lights change the faster you go,” Serena explained. “It’s kind of the symbol for the new Sanctum. Pretty and functionally torturous. I can’t wait to start writing about it.”