Tara stared up at him. “I don’t want anyone else but you. They’re just my friends.”
“I know. It just took me a while to stop letting my past color my actions and emotions. My life is nothing without you in it. So, what do you say? Shall we rip that contract up?”
She grinned. “Let’s burn that sucker.”
He laughed.
“Does this mean we’re going to start going on dates and stuff?” she asked.
“I guess so.” He hadn’t really thought about it.
“I haven’t been on a real date in years.” Her face looked wistful.
“Well, I’ll just have to make our first date memorable, won’t I?” he said. He’d give her anything to make her happy.
Tara leaned over and kissed him. “What do you say we celebrate the end of our contract?”
Alex bit her neck. “I like your thinking.”
He moved, throwing her on the bed and crouching over her on all fours.
“Shit,” he swore. “I just remembered about your arm. Are you okay?”
Her gaze softened. “I’m fine, Alex.”
He frowned. “Still, we’re going to take this nice and slow.”
Tara let out a low moan. “Not too slow. It’s been three weeks. I need you inside me.”
“Flattery will get you fucked, sweetheart. But at my pace and we’re going to go very slowly and gently.”
She pouted. “I’m all better, I promise.”
“Really? Because if you’re feeling good enough to play then you’re feeling good enough to take the punishment you’re owed.”
“What? What punishment?”
“Hmm, let’s see. For leaving the club without telling me—”
“I left a note!”
“For taking public transportation at night when you’d been forbidden to, for getting shot—”
“That wasn’t my fault!”
“For taking so long to tell me you love me.”
“Hey!”
He grinned. “All right, I’ll let you away with the last one. But the rest of them will be dealt with when you’re better.”
“You’d think getting shot would let me off.”
“You’d think,” he said with false-sympathy.
Alex quickly undid the buttons of her shirt. It was one of his old ones that he’d given her to wear around the house. He carefully stripped it off her, mindful of her sore arm. All she wore underneath was a pair of pink panties which he dragged down her legs. Then he drew off his clothes throwing them into the corner of the room. He moved to stand at the base of the bed.
“Lay back and spread your legs,” he ordered.
A small thrill went through her at his words. This is what she’d been missing. His domination.
He ran his hand up and down his thick cock. Tara licked her lips in anticipation.
“You’re going to keep very still. I don’t want you moving except for when I give an order.”
Crap.
“Yes, Sir.”
“If your arm hurts at any stage you’re to call out your safe word, understand?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Tara,” he said in a low, warning voice.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. Do not come without permission.”
Oh God.
He started at her ankle, kissing slowly up her leg, taking his time when he got to the tops of her thighs. Skimming over her mound, he kissed his way down her other leg.
“Please, Sir,” she begged as he lay between her open legs and pulled the lips of her pussy apart. He simply stared down at her until it became almost impossible for her to lay still.
Then he dipped his head, flicking his tongue lightly on her sensitive clit. Alex thrust two fingers deep inside her and Tara’s hips rose of their own violation.
Alex pulled back. “That’s one.”
She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut as he returned to her pussy. This time she managed to last a whole minute before she started wriggling beneath him.
“That’s two, Tara. I’m just going to add these to the spanking you’ve got coming your way. I suggest you start lying very still.”
“I can’t,” she cried out as he returned to her pussy, using his lips, his tongue, even his teeth to drive her crazy. She lost count of the number of infractions she racked up. Finally, when she was a sobbing, lust-filled mess, he took pity on her. He rolled over onto his back.
“Straddle me,” he ordered, helping her kneel over him.
He held his cock in one hand, using his other hand to help steady her as she sank down onto his thick shaft with a deep sigh.
“Oh, that feels so good.”
Alex grinned up at her wickedly. “Stay still.”
“Why must you torture me?” she wailed as he played with her nipples, twisting them, pulling on them lightly then flicking them back and forth.
With one hand he reached down to tease her swollen clit.
She felt him move inside her and it nearly caused her to come then and there.
“Oh, oh, oh. This is killing me. You’re killing me!”
Alex chuckled. “I don’t think anyone’s ever died from this, sweetheart.”
“How do you know? I could be the first. Do you really want that on your conscience? Oh, please let me move. Let me come. I need to come.”
She didn’t know how much longer she could go on. Need lashed at her in furious waves, pulling her under as she sank further and further into a world where only he existed. Alex. Her Dom.
Alex pulled her up then pushed her back down. She attempted to pull away from him and control the pace but he reached around and gave her a sharp smack on the ass, pulling her back into reality.
“Behave,” he said sternly. “Or you won’t come at all.”
Oh no. There was no way she could survive that. And she knew he meant every word. He had his stern Dom face on.
So she let him guide her movements, driving her slowly up and down that delicious cock. He ran his thumb over her clit, flicking it softly.
Sobs of need escaped her mouth. Alex’s breathing grew harsh. Her eyes filled with tears of need. One dripped down her face.
“You may come, my sweet.”
They were words she’d been longing for. He drove into her harder, faster, his thumb rubbing her clit. Ecstasy rolled over her and she screamed, slumping forward against his chest as he let out his own yell of relief. Her arm protested as it thumped against his hard body, but she ignored it as she shuddered through the onslaught of pleasure.
Alex rolled them over until she lay on her good side. He snuggled her against his chest as they both breathed heavily.
“Still alive, baby?” he asked.
“Maybe,” she replied tiredly. “Give me a few hours and I’ll let you know.”
She fell asleep listening to him laugh.
Chapter Thirteen
“I can’t believe we’re in Rome!” Tara exclaimed as she took a sip of her wine and smiled at Alex.
“I wanted to make this day special. It’s been one month since we tore up that stupid contract.”
It had been nearly two months since she’d been shot and the doctor had cleared her to start work next week provided she took things easy for a while. Eloise had been deemed a flight risk and had been denied bail so she was locked up until her trial. Tara was not looking forward to having to testify. But at least the police had arrested the man who’d mugged her and wrecked her apartment.
About a month after she’d been shot she’d started having nightmares about what had happened. Embarrassingly she’d even had a few panic attacks.
Alex had insisted that she go to therapy and she was glad he had. Talking through that night seemed to be helping. The last three nights she hadn’t had any nightmares.
Of course, that could be because Alex had whisked her away to Rome as a surprise. Now they were sitting on the balcony attached to their suite of rooms. Alex was dressed in the tux he’d worn for dinner. Damn, he looked hot. Th
e tux fit him perfectly. She was dressed in an oversized t-shirt with nothing underneath. Alex had decided that she would be naked in the hotel suite unless someone else was around. The t-shirt was in deference to the fact that they were out on the balcony.
“My feet hurt from all the walking we’ve done today.”
They’d been to the Colosseum and Ancient Rome. After a beautiful dinner, they’d decided to walk back to their hotel, stopping along the way to get some gelato.
“We did too much today,” Alex said with regret in his voice. “I’ll go run you a bath.”
“I’m okay. But a bath would be nice.” She followed him through the living area of the hotel suite into the amazing bathroom with its walk-in shower and enormous spa bath. This place was about ten times the size of her old apartment.
“What made you choose Rome?” she asked as Alex started filling the bath for her.
She sat on the small stool beside the spa bath and watched him.
“Paris seemed so cliché,” he told her. “Plus, you love gelato.”
Tara laughed. “I do love gelato. I’ve been to Paris, it’s beautiful as well.”
He turned off the taps and looked over at her. “You’ve been to Paris?”
She nodded as she swirled her hand through the water. “Uh-huh. I was about twelve. I went with my mom. She was dying of cancer and she’d always wanted to return to Paris. My father couldn’t take her, so she took me instead.”
“Oh God, baby.” He drew her onto his lap. “We’ve talked about your brother, but you hardly ever mention your parents. I assumed they were both dead.”
She shrugged. “My mom is, but I don’t like to talk about it.”
“I can understand why, but it’s not good to keep everything inside, Tara.”
“I know. Can we get in the bath now?”
Alex helped her stand. She was dressed in one of his t-shirts, so it didn’t take her long to strip and get in the water. He climbed in behind her, pulling her back against his chest.
“Tell me about your mother.”
Tara told him all about the mother she’d adored. How kind she’d been. Funny and sweet. Alex just listened as she talked.
“And what about your father?” he asked once she grew quiet.
She stiffened for a moment, but knew it was only natural he’d be curious. He’d told her his demons it was time she shared hers.
“Last I heard, he’s still alive. We don’t talk. He’s a cold, heartless bastard.”
“Tell me.”
Tara rested her head back against his chest. “We didn’t see a lot of my father growing up as he was always working. But somehow, it didn’t matter when my mom was alive. She was always there for us. I have no idea why she married that jerk. When I was nine she found out she had breast cancer. She died when I was thirteen. Eight months after Paris. Do you know what the first thing my father did after the funeral?”
“No,” he said quietly.
“He sent me to boarding school.”
“He what?” The incredulous tone in Alex’s voice soothed her.
“All I wanted was to stay with my baby brother. He was only six, he needed me. I’d promised my mom I would look after him.”
Alex wanted to hurt her father. To make him feel at least a smidgen of the pain Tara had obviously endured.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“I ran away. I kept running away until they had no choice but to send me home. He wanted to send me to another school but I threatened to run away from there too. He told me that either I went to boarding school or he would cut me off when I was eighteen. I told him that if he left my brother and I alone that we would stay out of his way and once I turned eighteen he’d never see me again. That made him happy. I heard him telling his lover, who moved in with him three months after Mom’s death, that he’d never wanted the two of us.”
Alex hugged her close, but remained quiet not wanting to interrupt her.
“I looked after my brother. I kept him out of my father’s way. My father only every noticed the bad things, a poor mark on my report card, if I accidentally broke something. He never noticed how hard I worked to please him. Finally, I stopped trying.”
That asshole.
“I never actually expected him to do it, you know. I thought he would forget or weaken. But he didn’t. Once I turned eighteen, he kicked me out of home. I had nothing but my clothes, which he had boxed up and sent to me. My brother and I had to sneak around to see each other. I lived with a friend until I graduated high school.”
“What did you do then?” Alex was horrified by her father’s behavior. How could he do that to his daughter?
“Got a job and saved money for college. When I had enough saved I enrolled and still worked part-time. Once I graduated I found a job I loved. Didn’t pay great but it was enough. I had this cute little apartment and things were going well. Then the bastard did the same thing to my brother.”
“He kicked him out?”
“My brother is gay. My father found him with his boyfriend. He was just seventeen. My father threw him out and my brother came to live with me. For a while we survived, then Ben got a scholarship for med school and well…”
“You gave up a job you loved for one that paid better and moved to that awful apartment.”
“Yeah.”
“What did your brother say about you moving into that apartment?” Alex couldn’t believe her brother would let her sacrifice so much for him.
“Oh, Ben doesn’t know why I moved or changed jobs and I never intend to tell him. It was my choice. He’s my brother.”
And she’d promised her dying mother she’d take care of him. How had he ever compared her to Simone? They were nothing alike.
“Well, you know you don’t have to work yourself to the bone anymore. I’m going to support Ben.”
She sat up and turned to look at him. Her face was fierce. “Oh no, you’re not.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s bad enough that you already pay for everything else, I am responsible for my brother, not you.”
“And when we get married he’ll be my brother as well,” he told her with a frown.
Tara’s throat went dry. “When we what?”
“When we get married. Don’t get any ideas, this isn’t a proposal. When I propose it will not be in the bathroom of a hotel. But I am going to propose.” He tapped her nose. “And you’re going to accept, aren’t you?”
After a moment to recover from the shock, Tara smiled up at him. “You’re ordering me to say yes?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m with you for your money, like your ex.”
“Tara, I have to fight with you just to pick up the tab at a restaurant. You insist on going to work for Reagan, who will probably be more of a slave driver than Tim, instead of letting me support you. I have never thought that you were after my money.”
“I just feel like you already pay for everything.”
“I like looking after you and it’s about time you let someone else take care of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always the first to volunteer to help someone else. Even though you don’t have much money you always manage to give a sandwich to the homeless guy who hangs out down from the club.”
“You know about Tony?”
He nodded. “You ran yourself ragged working for Tim. He took advantage of you. You’re perfectly capable of supporting yourself and I know that. But you do need me. You need me to make sure that you’re looked after, that you’re a bit selfish and do things for yourself.”
Alex needed to be needed. Was that why he’d married his wife? Because she’d acted like she needed him. Then he’d realized all she needed was his cash.
“You’re right. I do. I need you. No one has ever worried about me or taken care of me when I was sick since my Mom died.”
“She sounds like she was a great person.”
“She w
as. I often used to wonder what she saw in my cold father. I think he was different before we came along and stole her attention. She would tell us stories of all the places they’d been to. It always sounded so magical. My father took her to Paris for their honeymoon, which was why she wanted to return. The bastard wouldn’t take her. It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford to take the time off, he’s filthy rich.”
“Yet he kicked you out with nothing?”
“That’s my father for you. I always thought that he at least cared about my mother, but he barely waited until she was gone before he found someone else. He remarried a few years ago. Needless to say neither Ben nor I were invited to the wedding.”
“Ahh, baby. I’m so sorry. Is that why you find it hard to lean on other people and let them help you? Because of your father?”
“After Mom died, I only had myself to rely on. I was in charge of taking care of my brother. I had to make sure that we didn’t make our father angry. I didn’t want him to separate us. I guess I just got used to relying on myself. There was no one else. I think he expected me to crawl back to him after he kicked me out, you know? To beg him for help.”
“Well, you showed him.”
She smiled and glanced back at him. “Yeah, I guess I did. And my life turned out pretty damn good.”
Chapter Fourteen
Nerves butterflied through her stomach as Alex tied her to the spanking bench. Tara could feel the eyes of the other club members on her, watching.
The time had come for her punishment for walking out on him that night she’d been shot and Alex had decided to punish her at the club.
“Are you sure you feel up to this?” he asked her quietly.
She opened her eyes to find him watching her in concern.
“I’m fine, my arm doesn’t hurt anymore.” It had been nearly four months and while it still got stiff and sore at times, it was only when she overdid things.
He watched her carefully. “You’re pale and you’ve gone all tense.”
“I guess it’s because everyone is watching.” Sure, she was used to having people watch, but it seemed like everyone in the club had stopped what they were doing to come over and stare at them.
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