At His Bidding

by Faye Avalon

  The sound of the bedsprings being pushed to their limits, combined with their frantic breathing, filled the room. Daylight filtered through the gauze curtains, adding to the elicit and erotic feel of the moment.

  Zack reached a hand between them and slid his finger past her folds. Gently, he stroked her clit, and it took mere seconds before Petra clenched her eyes together, gasped in a breath, and exploded into a whirl of color, of light, of sensation.

  As she flew, she felt Zack join her. He gave a loud grunt, froze, and then pumped his seed into the condom. She felt the hot, damp spurt of it against her tender walls and reveled in the pleasure.

  Still braced on his hands, Zack tucked his chin to his chest, his eyes closed and his upper arms shaking a little. Petra knew how he felt because she was pretty unsteady herself. But at the same time, she felt satisfied—oh boy, was she satisfied—and as she looked up at Zack’s heaving chest, his wide shoulders, and glistening forehead, she felt content.

  The feeling unsettled her, and she shifted a little. What was she doing?

  Zack looked up, breathing through his mouth. “Give me a minute. I’ll get off you.”

  All she could do was nod and turn away when she saw his concerned frown.

  He pulled out of her, and she really hated that she felt bereft without him inside her. For the first time since she’d decided to have sex with him, Petra felt uneasy and full of uncertainty.

  “Stay there,” he said touching his mouth lightly to hers before hoisting himself off the bed. “I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter Five

  While Zack walked to the wet room, Petra sat up and pulled his duvet around her. Fighting a rising panic, she scrambled back against the headboard. Things had moved so fast, and she wondered what to do next. Now that Zack had gotten what he wanted, would he expect her to go back to her domestic chores as if nothing had happened?

  She didn’t get the chance to deliberate further, because he came back. He eyed the duvet pulled up around her shoulders, then frowned as he got back on the bed and sat on top of the duvet next to her in all his naked glory. Unlike her, he obviously had no qualms about what they’d just done. But then, why would he? He’d been planning to get between her legs for as long as she could remember.

  “Any more chores you’d like me to do for you?” she asked with a shaky smile. “I can put these sheets in the laundry for a start.”

  He turned his head and looked at her. “Is that code for no more sex? Because if it is, you could have saved yourself the trouble. The duvet up around your ears tells me all I need to know in that respect.”

  “It was really nice, but I—”

  “It was fucking fantastic,” he said sharply, folding his arms across his bare and glistening chest.

  Petra turned away, not wanting to be distracted by that chest or any other part of him. “Agreed. But it wasn’t the reason I came here, so maybe I’d better get on now.”

  “That bid offer of yours,” he said, stretching his arms and folding them behind his head. “If I remember rightly, it included something like, ‘any other duties of a mutually acceptable nature’. I’d say what we just shared about covers that.”

  His smile was slick. “Seeing as I don’t have any more cleaning, dusting, or laundry to be done, I’d suggest we stick to those other mutually acceptable duties. I’ve still got plenty of those to keep you occupied.”

  Petra tightened her hold on the duvet as her nipples tightened, and her pussy went damp at the thought of what form those duties might take. “Look, Zack. I really did enjoy what happened between us, and I don’t regret it, not for a minute. But this is not going any further.”

  He lowered his arms. “Because you still think I’m a bad lot.”

  She shot around to face him. “That’s not true.” Or maybe it was. Did she still believe that? “Look, it’s not easy for me to forget what you were like. I spent my whole childhood fearing what trouble my father would become involved in next, and there were too many nights spent waiting for the cops to knock on the door. That’s not something I ever plan to live through again.”

  “I get that,” Zack admitted. “It had to be hard living that way. Maybe I was lucky. My old man was there for me and managed to finally scare me into getting my act together. When I realized what I’d put my parents through, what sort of fate awaited me if I didn’t see the light, I sorted myself out.”

  He eased her fingers from around the duvet and took her hand in his. “I’m no longer that idiot who got involved in all that stuff back in school. The success of my business means everything to me. There’s no way in hell I’d jeopardize it, or the good name we’ve built in the business community.”

  Petra had to admit that she couldn’t deny the truth of that. Zack’s business was a prestigious one, but she’d always wondered if he’d perhaps bought his way to success, had used bribes and shady dealings to get what he wanted. Hadn’t he said that he wasn’t averse to greasing some palms to get his way?

  “You said you sometimes bent the rules,” she pressed. “That you paid people to get projects off the ground.”

  “If we’ve bid for a project and I get word someone else has gone in with a higher bid, I might up ours at the right moment. Or if I can scratch someone else’s back so they’ll look favorably on mine, then I might do the necessary.” He squeezed her hand. “Like I told you, it’s all aboveboard, if a little unorthodox, but it’s nothing that’ll have the cops at the door. I swear to you.”

  Now, with his earnest expression and the steady way he looked at her as he assured her of his integrity, she felt bad for having believed the worst of him.

  Remembering Lizzie’s prompting to give him a chance, Petra glanced down at their joined hands. “What other tasks?”

  “Huh?”

  “The mutually acceptable ones,” she said meeting his gaze. “You said you had plenty to keep me occupied.”

  His quick grin stole her breath, but his eyes remained sober. “Do you believe what I’ve told you?”

  “Of course. I’m sure you’ve got loads—”

  “That’s not what I mean. I want to know if you trust me. If you believe I’m the kind of man who’ll do right by you.”

  Unlike her father he meant, and Petra knew by looking in Zack’s eyes that she trusted him more than she ever had her loser of a father.

  “Yes. I believe you. I trust you.”

  He brought their clasped hands to his mouth, and kissed her fingers. “I’d like you to stay,” he said. “For the rest of the day…for the night. I want to show you how much I’ve wanted you for what seems like forever.”

  Petra smiled. “Remember that time you tried to put your hands up my skirt? Behind the bicycle shed?”

  His mouth cocked up at the side. “Yeah.”

  “I swore you’d be the last guy on earth I’d let do that.”

  “Yeah, I remember.” He cocked his head, signaling that he was waiting for the punch line. “And?”

  Petra shrugged the duvet away. “Well, now it seems you’ve done a whole lot more than put your hand up my skirt, so…”

  He grabbed the duvet and flung it off the bed, a wicked gleam in his eye. “So, since no other guy’s getting within an inch of you from now on, it seems your prediction came true.”

  Was he saying he wanted to be the very last man ever to touch her? Her heart gave a flip, then raced uncontrollably. In the space of a few short hours, she had seen past the antics of a reckless boy and into the heart of an honorable man. She liked it. She really, really liked it.

  She liked him. Very much. It can’t have been easy to live down what he’d done as a teenager and transform himself into a man with integrity and honor. Yet he’d done it, and in doing so had built a growing empire to be proud of and a future to believe in.

  He got off the bed, reached into the drawer for a condom, and held out his hand to her.

  “Where are we going now? Back to the chaise?”

  “We’ve got a few more
rooms to explore first.” He put the condom wrapper between his teeth, and then hiked her up into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and slipped her arms around his neck.

  His cock, virtually back to full readiness for action, pressed against her pussy and set her rapidly escalating hormones alight again. She loved the feel of his chest grazing her breasts as he carried her out of the bedroom and into the wet room.

  He walked straight to the shower, and still holding her, released one hand to put the condom on the inset shelf by the controls, adjusted the temperature, and turned on the shower. Warm water streamed down over them, and Petra dropped her head back and closed her eyes. He took advantage and bit softly down on her exposed neck, his mouth hot and wet from the water running over their faces.

  He released her backside, and she slid down the front of his body, letting her hands wander over every part of him she could reach. He spun her around so that her back was against the far wall, then pumped some soap into his hand and reached between her legs.

  “Wrap one of your legs around me,” he instructed on a groan. “Let me go deep.”

  She did, her knees almost buckling when he pushed two fingers inside her. He kissed her, slow, open-mouthed kisses over her mouth, her throat, her neck. She slid her foot over his backside, down his thigh, then raised her leg high around the back of his waist. The movement sent his fingers deeper, and she groaned.

  “You like that, don’t you” he said against her throat. “You like me playing with you.”

  “Yes,” she managed, pulling him closer so that his chest flattened her breasts. “More. I want more.”

  He released his fingers, but before she could protest, he turned her so she was facing the shower wall. She flattened her palms against the shiny black and white tile and felt water running down her back into the crease of her ass. The slap of his hand across her rear was so unexpected that Petra jolted and glanced over her shoulder at him.

  “Oww. That hurt.”

  But it didn’t, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. She stuck her backside out a little, a silent invitation for him to do it again.

  He grinned, and this time the slap was a little harder. He gave her four more spanks, then pressed against her, so that her breasts were crushed against the cool tile. All the while, he ran his palms over her smarting ass. “Next time, I’ll use a paddle on you. How would you like that, Brooks?”

  She wasn’t entirely sure, but if it made her any hotter than she felt right then, she wasn’t at all certain she could stand so much pleasure. “Maybe I’d like to try that,” she admitted. “Have you got a secret stash of sex toys around here or something?”

  He slowly massaged her ass, grinding his cock against her crease. “I can rustle up a few things. I’d really like to use a vibrator on you,” he ground out, biting gently into her shoulder. “Watch you come while I push it inside you. Then I want to go down on you, lick that sweet little clit of yours until you scream for me to fuck you proper.”

  Petra dropped back against his chest, tilting her head to the side. She could barely think right then as the image of what he’d described played out in her head. “What do I get to use on you?”

  “Whatever you want.”

  He grabbed her hips and drew them back until her spine was parallel to the floor. Knowing what he was about to do, she pushed her palms flat against the wall to anchor herself. He reached for the condom he’d placed on the inset shelf by the controls, sheathed himself, and then kneed her legs apart, encouraging them wide. The head of his cock slid easily into her slick entrance, his strong hands steady on her hips and keeping her centered so she couldn’t move. All she could do was take him as he slammed into her from behind.

  With one hand, he grabbed her now-wet hair and drew her head back, exposing her throat. But still he anchored her, kept her still.

  Her breathing came in frantic gasps, and she pushed hard with her palms against the tile. She’d never been taken in quite such a primitive way before, and she absolutely loved it. She tried to move her hips, pleased when he released his hand to let her do so. Still grasping her hair, he reached around with his free hand and fingered her clit. He toyed with the bud, rolling her wet pussy lips around it until the pleasure levels rose so high she couldn’t take any more.

  She screamed out. Then she came so hard she saw little stars firing beneath her closed eyelids.

  Zack followed close behind, shouting his own release while the water rained down on them.

  They slumped against the shower wall, and when he pulled out, Petra turned in his arms. “Wow.”

  “Yeah,” he groaned. “Wow is right.”

  They stayed there, breathing heavy and exchanging languid kisses. When Petra shivered, Zack reached out and turned off the water. He grabbed a couple of huge white towels and wrapped one around her so that the edge covered her breasts, before tying the other towel around his waist.

  He grabbed a smaller towel and patted her across her shoulders and down her arms. It was a heady mix, Petra thought dazedly. One moment he was talking dirty to her, pounding into her like there was no tomorrow, and the next he was tenderly wrapping a towel around her because she was cold and patting her dry like she was the most precious package.

  Her heart simply melted and gave itself up to him. Completely.

  It felt right. He felt right. And when he picked her up again and carried her back to the bedroom, she cuddled close.

  “Know something?” he asked, opening his wardrobe door and taking out a large toweling wrap.

  “What?”

  He set her down and divested her of the towel. Leaning down, he kissed each nipple in turn, and then devoured her mouth. When they came up for air, he wrapped the toweling robe around her and knotted the belt. It was huge, almost reaching the floor. He turned back the cuffs until her fingers appeared. “I’m glad I won that bid.”

  “Me, too.” She stole her arms around his neck, wriggled her hips against where his towel tented. “And by my reckoning, I still have quite a few chores left to do to make sure you get your money’s worth.”

  He kissed her again. “I’ve already got everything money can buy, and now I’ve got a whole lot more besides.” He slid his tongue around hers in a manner that left her in no doubt as to the direction of his thoughts. “You’re priceless, Brooks.”

  “And you, Cunningham,” she said nipping at his lower lip, “are insatiable.”

  He reached down and unknotted the belt of the robe. “You seem to be keeping up.” He slid the robe from her shoulders. “Now where did I put that vibrator?”

  Epilogue

  “Oh, my God. Petra! Where have you been?”

  Petra sat on the edge of the bed the following morning and listened to Lizzie’s voice down the phone. She felt a little guilty that she hadn’t even thought to check her phone since yesterday morning when she and Zack had first gotten together.

  They’d gone the rest of the day and most of the night, with very little sleep, and now her body was protesting against the exuberance of their activities. And she’d only just that minute remembered to check for messages she might have missed.

  “What is it?” she asked Lizzie, reaching for Zack’s discarded shirt on the nearby chair. Her first thought was little Danny, but she wasn’t unduly worried because the tone of Lizzie’s voice signaled excitement, rather than distress.

  “I can’t believe it,” Lizzie said, buzzed. “You’ll never guess what’s happened.”

  With the phone propped to her ear, Petra slipped into Zack’s shirt. “Danny’s okay, right?”

  “He’s fine. Oh, bloody hell, Petra. He’s absolutely fine, and he’s going to be even better.”

  Now Petra was on full alert as she walked over to Zack’s apartment window. “Tell me before you burst.”

  Her own heartbeat had picked up because Lizzie’s excitement was catching, and if whatever it was involved Petra’s beloved godchild and benefited him in some way, she was all but read
y to jump up and down.

  “Gary told me last night,” she said referring to her husband. “He’d been sworn to secrecy until then. But it’s all arranged, Petra. I can’t believe it. We’re going, we’re actually going. And Danny’s going to be okay.”

  Petra’s head was beginning to spin. “What’s arranged? Where are you going?”

  “To New York. We’re going today. That’s why I’ve been desperate to speak to you. Where have you been?”

  “New York? But we…we haven’t got enough money together yet?”

  “That’s why it’s been such a shock, but it’s all been arranged. The flights, the treatment… Oh, God, Petra. I think I’m going to pass out, I can’t take it all in. I haven’t slept a wink. But we’re all packed now and just waiting for the cab.”

  Petra thought she might pass out too, as her mind whirled and she mentally tallied up what they had accumulated in Danny’s fund. “Calm down. Deep breaths,” she instructed her friend. “Now. Tell me from the beginning. What happened?”

  “Gary waited until I’d put Danny to bed. It was a surprise, he said, and I wasn’t to know until last night because I’d get myself all worked up about everything. Then he said we were going to New York late this morning, travelling first class, and Danny’s treatment is booked for Friday. We’re staying near the clinic in a five-star hotel, everything’s been arranged and paid for.”

  “But how,” Petra hated asking the question, and she knew her only concern should be that her godson was getting the treatment he so badly needed, but she needed to have it all straight in her own mind. The last thing she wanted was for Lizzie to get there and find it had all been a bizarre mistake. “Has Gary won the lottery or something?”

  Lizzie’s laugh was full of joy. “No, of course not. It’s nothing like that. It’s Zack, he’s paid for everything.”

  Petra plonked herself down into the chair as the room spun. “Zack?”

  “Yes. It’s all arranged. He wanted it to be a surprise and swore Gary to secrecy. He still doesn’t want it made public. As far as everyone’s concerned, he wants it to sound like the fund has paid for the trip and Danny’s treatment. I don’t think he even wants you to know, but I mean, how am I supposed to keep it from you?”