Indebted Heart

by Stone, Measha

  She arched upward toward him, and he gripped her hips- stilling her

  "No." He needed to get a grip or it would all be over too damn soon. He cursed himself for having the self-discipline of a teenager. "Okay. Oh, fuck." He began to move within her again, and her arms snaked under his.

  Her fingernails bit at his skin. "Alyssa," he groaned. "No, don't stop." He fucked her harder, pushing her legs farther apart. "Play with your clit, baby. I want you to come again for me."

  There wasn’t a moment of hesitation as she slid her fingers between their bodies. He gripped her thighs, keeping her spread for him as he continued to pound into her.

  "Eyes on me," he ordered when she began to close them. "You are too fucking beautiful." Her pussy clenched around his shaft. She was close, and she was pulling him with her.

  "Harder, Alex. Please harder!" She exploded with him as his orgasm pulled him from reality. Her erotic cries rose in volume with every pulse of her cunt as she milked his orgasm.

  His chest heaved, trying to suck in air that had been denied. Alex released her thighs, and he collapsed onto her, exhausted, spent, and absolutely sated.

  Balancing his weight on his forearms, he slid from her body and pulled her close to him.

  “You will be the death of me, Alyssa Sanders."

  Chapter 26

  "Hon, two ladies out here are asking about you." Mrs. Devon peeked her head through the passthrough window to inform Alyssa.

  "Me?" Alyssa wiped her hands on her apron and headed out to the restaurant. It was quiet in the diner. Wednesday afternoons usually were. She was just ending her shift and getting ready to go home for a nice hot shower before her night shift at the club. Alex had been out of town for the past several days working with a client for the advertising firm.

  Before leaving, he’d reminded her to talk with Mrs. Devon about decreasing her shifts. He just didn't understand. It wasn't enough to pay her current bills; she had a lot of catching up to do as well. He refused to take any money for rent, so her debt only piled up.

  Kelly and Jessica greeted her as she spotted them in a corner booth. "Hey! Good! I was worried we missed you!" Kelly jumped up.

  "No, just finishing." Alyssa smiled, stuffing her hands in her apron pockets. "What brings you by?" she asked. The two of them had been trying to get her alone for over a week, but with her work schedules, she hadn’t had time.

  Jessica’s curled into a warm smile. "You."

  Alyssa wasn't really used to that, especially with women. Most of the women she'd known growing up were spiteful and jealous. "Alex said your shift ended at three, so we are here to kidnap you. Kelly made us reservations at Sepia, a really cool French restaurant, and then we are going to open a few bottles of Alex's wine and play a few dozen rounds of Skee-Ball."

  "Oh." Alyssa blew out a breath. It sounded wonderful, a nice dinner and wine. She hadn't had a glass of wine in weeks, or any time to play in his arcade. She played a few rounds of other games in his bedroom, which more than made up for it, but the idea of a game night sounded wonderful. "I can't. I have a shift at the club tonight."

  Kelly and Jessica exchanged a confused look. "Alex texted me this morning and said you were taken off the schedule for the night."

  "What?" Alyssa dug out her cell phone from her back pocket. Four text messages. Three from Alex.

  10:00 a.m.: Overstaffed tonight. You're off.

  11:14 a.m.: Did you get that? You're off tonight. Go out and have fun.

  2:02 p.m.: We really need to have a chat about your phone manners

  The fourth message was from Stephen.

  Hope to see you at the club this weekend. I have a surprise for you.

  She deleted the last message with a scowl.

  "Everything okay?" Jessica asked.

  "Yeah. Yeah. I just didn't get the message from my boss earlier. Looks like I'm off." The club was never overstaffed. Alex was playing with her schedule. He'd probably grown tired of arguing with her about her shifts and decided to take matters into his own hands. They could chat about her phone, and she'd have a chat about his micromanaging.

  "How did Alex know you were off before you did?" Kelly asked with obvious confusion.

  Alyssa felt herself blanche. That was an excellent question. "Let me just grab my purse and we can head out." She ditched the question entirely and left them to grab her things.

  Kelly drove the threesome to Alex's apartment so Alyssa could shower and change. Alyssa worried they'd end up spending their evening in the ER instead of the arcade based on Kelly's driving. Jessica scolded her more than once to slow down and watch the alleyways. She hugged the curb too much on her turns, and Alyssa found herself bouncing in the back seat.

  The two women made themselves at home in Alex's kitchen while Alyssa showered. Alex had explained his relationship with the two women. They had been like his little sisters ever since meeting them in college. His tone softened when he had spoken of Jessica. Alyssa doubted he categorized Jessica as a little sister as easily as the others. But Jessica beamed when Royce was in the room, so Alyssa let go of her worry.

  Alyssa’s cell began to ring as she walked into her bedroom. She had been tempted to sleep in Alex's room while he'd been away, but she felt as though she were trespassing. When he was home, she slept beside him every night, but it was at his discretion, his command. Without that directive, she didn't want to overstep her boundaries.

  "Hey!" She tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder.

  "Hey to you." Just the sound of Alex’s voice soothed the tension from her shoulders. "Where are you?" he asked in a casual manner that kept her guard from flying up.

  "In my room," she answered while going to the suitcase that lay open on the desk.

  "Why are you there?" His tone told her he was frustrated.

  "Oh. No. Not my room at my apartment, my room at your apartment." She'd been having a hard time getting a hold of the rental office in order to terminate her lease, and Alex hadn't taken over the task—yet.

  "Why aren't you in my room?" he asked with less irritation.

  "I'm getting dressed." She sighed. "Jessica and Kelly are waiting for me. We're going out to dinner."

  "Yes, I know, but why aren't you changing in my room? Haven't you moved your things over there?"

  "Uh. No." She looked around for her hairbrush. "I didn't want to intrude."

  "Intrude?" He said the word as though it were repugnant. "Alyssa, move your things into my room. You won't be sleeping in the guest room anymore." His firm tone sent a shiver dancing through her chest. "If I have to tell you again what's mine is yours, you'll be feeling my hand on your ass."

  "Do you promise? It's been ages since you've given me a good girl spanking." Was she teasing him? She couldn't seem to help herself when he wasn't there with his eyes on her.

  He gave a mock sigh. "I gave you a really good spanking the morning I left," he reminded her. "And it wasn't the good girl kind I had in mind. If I find even one sock left in your room when I get back…"

  "Okay. Okay. I was only teasing."

  "Good." The lightness crept back into his voice. "Where are the girls taking you?"

  "We’re going to Sepia, I think. It's a French restaurant. Is there an ATM in the lobby? I don't remember seeing one, and I need to get to one before we go out." She dug through her suitcase in search of a pair of jeans that didn't have a hole in the knee and wouldn't make her sweat bullets on the way to the restaurant.

  "No, there isn't. I left you money, remember?" Ice clinked on his end of the phone.

  "I don't—"

  "Alyssa." His patience was thin tonight. She plunked down on the bed and unraveled her hair from the twisted towel perched on her head.

  "Okay," she conceded. "By the way, Kelly wanted to know how you knew my shift was canceled before I did. I ignored the question, but you need to be more careful if you don't want them knowing about the club."

  "If you had checked your phone, you wouldn't have been the la
st to know."

  "Are you mad at me?" Her lack of phone etiquette annoyed him, but she'd never been tied to her phone before. There hadn't been anyone she expected to hear from so often that she needed to check her phone more than once or twice a day. Just having it in her pocket was a drastic change.

  A heavy sigh. "No, I'm sorry, baby. It's just this client is being a real ass. He loves the campaign but wants subtle changes that will cost more than he wants to spend. It's a numbers thing right now, which is why I'm here."

  "I know you're worried about your friends and your dad finding out about your lifestyle, but I think you should give them more credit. What are you going to do, live a double life forever?” She'd heard enough conversations between the girls and their boyfriends to know they weren't too far off the map of the D/s lifestyle. If her suspicions were right, they each had a very deep relationship that involved more than a little slap and tickle. "And besides, you can't have two full time careers." She realized her blunder as soon as the words left her lips.

  "Why not? You have no trouble with it." And…the irritation was back.

  "That brings me to another point. You can't take my shifts away like that."

  "I didn't. Brandon didn't need five waitresses tonight. There's a large private party using their own subs for most of the service." She winced. She had booked that party.

  "I booked it. Why did Brandon cut me?" It was her turn to be irritated.

  "Because he didn't need five of you, and you've had double shifts the past two weekends. If you would take the manager position, you wouldn't be asking me these questions, and you wouldn't have to work at the damn diner." His voice rose steadily with each sentence. He'd never yelled at her before.

  "Maybe we should talk about this later," she whispered into the phone.

  "That's probably a good idea."

  Silence stretched on.

  "I'm sorry," she finally said softly. "You're having a bad day, and my bitching isn't making it better."

  "No. I'm sorry. I hate being away from you. I miss you."

  A flush took over her cheeks at his words. She missed him too. More than she had thought she would when he originally told her about the trip. "I miss you too," she confessed. "When do you think you'll be back so I can collect on that good girl spanking?"

  A gentle laugh came through the phone. "I should be home Friday. It's my turn to pick the restaurant. How about Thai food?"

  "Sounds wonderfully new." He enjoyed watching her experience new things. He'd been damn near giddy when she’d told him she'd never tried sushi. Before she could blink, he'd hailed a cab and hauled her to his favorite sushi place.

  "Then I better pick the right place. Have fun with the girls tonight. Don't listen to Kelly. She'll talk you into doing something stupid. The cash is in the bedroom. I'll talk with you in the morning."

  "Okay." She sighed. It would be another two days before she felt his fingers on her skin, his mouth on her lips, or his whip on her flesh.

  Alyssa found the girls sitting around the kitchen island with a full glass of wine in front of them and a third waiting for her.

  "Hey, I thought we were going to dinner?" She picked up her glass of red wine.

  "Yeah. There's a reason Kelly doesn't plan events. She made the reservation for the wrong night." Jessica grinned. "I called to confirm, ’cause it's Kelly, and the reservation is for tomorrow night. So, we ordered pizza."

  "You make it sound like I'm a dingbat." Kelly gave Jessica a playful swat to her arm, almost spilling her wine in the process. "I was finishing up some work this morning while I made the call. I just got the dates messed up."

  "Well, let's hope you can keep the dates straight when you order your wedding invitations." Jessica laughed, and Alyssa joined her. The two had such a casual banter, a true friendship she envied.

  "Whatever." Kelly gave an exaggerated eyeroll and picked up her glass.

  "Oh, keep that up and I'm telling Kendrick." Jessica laughed again.

  Kelly gave Alyssa a quick glance before throwing a retort at Jessica, who also gave Alyssa a side-look before changing the subject.

  "Here, let me move my purse out of the way." Alyssa grabbed her bag from the middle of the table. An envelope slipped out, and Kelly picked it up.

  "Top Floor?" Kelly turned the envelope in her hand. "Is this where you work?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes, handing the envelope back over to Alyssa. Kelly's knowing grin sent another twist to Alyssa's stomach.

  She decided to go for the truth. Just because she worked there didn't automatically mean Alex owned or had any interest in the place.

  "Yeah." She threw the envelope containing her paystub into her purse and tossed the bag onto the counter.

  "What's Top Floor? A dance club?"

  "It's a BDSM club." Kelly beamed brightly at Alyssa.

  Jessica sat straighter in her chair. "How do you know that?" she demanded of Kelly.

  "I found an invoice for it in Kendrick's office. I was using his computer, and he had the invoices on the desk. I hadn't heard of that account before, so I googled." Kelly shrugged.

  "Kendrick's company does the security?" Alyssa asked quietly. She hadn't seen him any of the times she'd worked, but she usually didn't talk with the guys doing security. They all looked so serious and focused.

  "Yes. But I'm not supposed to know. Or, rather, I'm not supposed to tell." She at least had the decency to look slightly guilty. Jessica squirmed in her seat, and Alyssa chewed on her inner lip. If Kendrick did the security, then he had to know Alex owned the club.

  "But you did anyway," Jessica supplied to break the silence that had fallen over the kitchen.

  "This is ridiculous!" Alyssa took a long drink of her wine. "What else do you know, Kelly?" She pulled a stool out from the island and sat across from the wild-haired redhead.

  Kelly eyed both women and grinned widely. "I know everything." She winked. "I know Royce and Kendrick used to belong to the same clubs when Royce lived here years ago. I know Kendrick and Royce both employ a strong hand when they think one of their many rules have been broken. I also know Jessica loves the riding crop as much as I love Kendrick's belt."

  Jessica's face quickly changed from a natural tan to crimson red, but Kelly didn't stop. "And I know Alex hired Kendrick's company for Top Floor. And that you work there. So, there you go."

  "Kelly," Jessica groaned.

  “What? Don’t glare at me like that, Jessica. Now we all know about each other being kinky and don’t have to hide it anymore.” Kelly shrugged as she drank her wine, emptying her glass. “Someone needed to come clean about it all. What were we going to do, tiptoe around the subject the rest of our lives? Alex owns a BDSM club, Jess. How much longer was he going to hide that from us?”

  “Alex is going to die,” Alyssa mumbled. “So, Alex told Kendrick about the club but no one else?”

  “He didn’t really tell Kendrick anything. He hired him for the club’s security during construction before we met. And as far as Kendrick is concerned, I didn’t tell any of you anything. He only told me because Alex’s name was on the invoice. He swore me to secrecy.”

  "A lot of good that did." Jessica shook her head.

  "Does Royce know about this?" Alyssa inquired.

  "He knows about Kendrick, but not Alex. At least he never mentioned it, but we don't talk about Alex very much."

  "I bet," Kelly muttered. "Now all we have to do is talk to Erin, and we can stop tiptoeing around these things."

  "Aw gawd, Erin!" Jessica laughed. "The last person in the world I want to have this conversation with is Erin. She'd never understand. She's way too 'I am woman hear me roar' to get this. Besides, something's going on with her. She's cancelled out on dinner two weeks in a row, and when I asked if she'd be there this week, she never answered."

  "Yeah. I got that impression too." Kelly poured another glass of wine. "Hey, now that we are officially out of the closet, I saw a flier at the club we went to last week for a slave aucti
on at Top Floor. I know it's an exclusive club, but they've extended an invite to the members of Deviant Gallant. I think we should all go!"

  "Wait a minute." Alyssa put a hand in the air. She could already feel the heat of Alex's belt on her ass for the mess currently being made in his kitchen. "Alex doesn't know you know. And he doesn't want you to know. And I don't want him to know I know you guys know."

  "Come again?" Kelly asked. The mischief in her gaze held promises of regret for Alex.

  "You know what I mean. He doesn't want anyone to know about this side of him." Alyssa frowned at Kelly. "Please. He's really weird about it, and I don't want him to know I spilled his secret."

  "Don't worry." Jessica laid a calming hand on Alyssa's forearm. Her comforting voice was backed up by the compassion lingering in her eyes. "We won't tell him, or the guys. Although, I'm pretty sure the guys know. They seem to know these things about each other. But we won't tell them we know."

  "Thank you." Alyssa let out a long breath. "He's been working so much with the club and the firm, I think he's going to implode soon, and I don't want to be the cause of it." Alyssa reached for the wine bottle and poured another glass for herself.

  "Funny." Jessica smirked. "He says the same about you."

  Alyssa let out an aggravated sigh. She knew he spoke to Jessica with regularity, and although it had worried her, she'd grown to see his attentions were completely platonic. "Don't you start too." She groaned.

  Jessica laughed. "I won't. I'm sure you have your reasons for wanting to keep up with both jobs. I hated depending on Royce—I still do. It's something we are working on together. I think Alex could help you in the same way. He's a great a guy."

  "Now you notice," Kelly muttered as she put her glass to her lips.

  "I always noticed. But he's…well, Alex." Jessica scrunched up her face. "He's like a brother."

  "I don't think he saw you like that." Kelly gave a twisted grin. "He does now, Alyssa," she rushed to say.

  "It’s okay. I’m not worried.”

  "I think he really loves you," Jessica said with sincerity.