by Cara Bristol
Emma planted her hands on her hips. “I am dating. And it doesn't involve you. Why can't you understand?"
"Does he know the kinky shit you're involved in? That you like to be spanked?"
"How—” She broke off as she remembered he'd listened to her tape and formed his own conclusions, erroneous at the time. Ron didn't know anything. He only thought he did.
"As I told you before, I'm not going to talk about that with you. Please leave. Don't force me to call the police.” She shouldn't have opened her door, and vowed if he ever showed up again, she would not let him in. Ron had turned into a borderline stalker.
Brrring. Emma jumped when her telephone rang. Dan, probably. They'd spoken every night. Admitting she was dating was one thing, but talking to Dan in front of Ron wasn't going to happen. “Please go. I have to get that."
Brrring.
"So answer it.” He folded his arms over his chest. His defiant expression dared her.
Brrring.
He'd worn her patience clean through. Why did he push everything to the limit? “Get out."
Brrring.
"It's Flower Boy, isn't it?” An angry flush seeped into his unshaven cheeks.
Click!
Oh great. Her answering machine had picked up the call, was playing her outgoing message, and any second now, Dan's message would be broadcast for Ron to hear. But maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was a telemarketer offering a great deal on aluminum siding. Maybe Summer was calling to warn her of something she'd read in her tarot cards. Maybe it was somebody who had the wrong number. Many positive possibilities existed.
"Hi, Emma?” Dan's disembodied voice floated into the room.
Ignoring Ron's smug expression, Emma dived for the phone.
"Hi, D—Hi!” She broke off, not wanting Ron to learn Dan's name. She didn't trust her ex. The less he knew about her life, the better.
"Did I catch you at a bad time?"
Let's see... Sexy new boyfriend on phone, angry ex standing in living room. Bad time? “No!” she said brightly, conscious of Ron eavesdropping. “No. I have somebody here...who was leaving.” She glared at Ron, but instead of departing, he plopped down onto her sofa. “Hold on a sec.” She shot Ron a scowl that said she'd deal with him later, and carried the phone out to her small patio and shut the door. She turned her back so Ron wouldn't distract her.
Out of sight, out of mind. Better already. “I'm glad you called,” she said, contentment warming her from head to toe.
"I had to hear your voice. I'm counting the minutes until I see you again."
Giddiness welled inside Emma, filling her with the buoyancy of happiness. “I miss you too. When I'm with you, I'm living. All the other stuff I do seems like just filler,” she said.
She rode a roller coaster of ups and downs. Each contact—phone call, date, lunch—rocketed her to the pinnacle, while each separation plunged her to the bottom. Very quickly he'd zoomed to the number-one spot in her life. Three little words danced on her tongue, but the first time she would tell Dan that she loved him, it would be in person, not over the phone when her stubborn, angry ex hovered only a few feet away. She glanced hopefully over her shoulder. Nope, he was still there.
"You fill my life. You fill me.” Sincerity streamed through Dan's tone as clear as the underlying meaning.
She blinked back spontaneous tears that surged on a burst of joy. “Thank you.” Emma sniffed.
"Why are you crying?"
"You make me happy.” She wiped a tear.
Amusement and tenderness infused his chuckle. “Ah, Emma. You're my girl.” He paused. “How's your ass?"
"Wonderful. Sore.” She rubbed a cheek. “Eager for more. I love it when you spank me.” I love you. Soon she'd speak the words.
"What do you love about it?"
"I-I like it when you're in control and I don't have any choice but to do what you say.” The words popped out of her mouth, and Emma widened her eyes. That was the crux of it, she realized. She derived great pleasure and soul-deep contentment surrendering to his will. Dominated, whispered the little voice that never strayed from the truth.
"You always have a choice, Emma."
"But I give that choice to you. For you to decide for me."
A moment of dead silence filled the earpiece. “If I was there, you'd be over my knee right now,” he growled. “That you give yourself to me means everything to me, Emma. I don't know what I did to deserve you."
She could have talked to Dan all night, but his business that had prevented them from getting together also ended their phone call. Though she ached to see him, when they hung up, her spirits soared into the stratosphere. That the entire focus of her life had shifted so during the short time since she'd met him should have left her reeling, but instead, filled her with promise. She didn't know where her relationship with Dan would go, where he would lead them, but she would follow.
Her moral compass had become skewed in her desperation to change jobs, but loving Dan and being spanked by him had set her back on course. Putting the kibosh on the Rod and Cane story lifted a weight of worry and guilt from her shoulders and freed her to pursue the relationship openly and uninhibitedly.
She would rustle up a replacement column. If it took awhile to find a blockbuster to secure her journalism career, well, she could wait until she could achieve her goal the right way. Emma realized she'd been investing all her energy into her career because it was the only thing worthwhile in her life. Dan had changed that. The something new to which they'd toasted on their first date turned out to be a new love. An everlasting, exciting love like she'd never before experienced How different he was from Ron...
Emma whipped around. Her ex was gone.
She entered the house. “Ron? Are you still here?"
"Meow?” Jinx twined around her ankles, and she scratched him behind his ears the way he liked. The cat's calm, friendly manner indicated Ron had left, but to be sure, she checked the kitchen and bedroom, exhaling in relief to find empty rooms. Ron had been unwilling to make their relationship work, but after she had ended it, he had refused to let go.
A little shaft of fear zigzagged through her when she spied her laptop on the coffee table. Was it her imagination, or had it been moved slightly? God, what if Ron had seen her photos? He'd snooped through her stuff before. She lifted the lid and to her relief, found the photos as she'd left them.
He was the most passive-aggressive person she knew, and she wouldn't put anything past him. Thank goodness he was out of her life, and he couldn't bother her anymore.
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Chapter Twelve
Seated in a quiet corner of the restaurant, Emma chewed and swallowed her meal but couldn't have named what she was eating, because Dan overwhelmed her senses. He hadn't yet uttered the words “I love you,” but his unwavering gaze shouted it, and that, along with the way he touched her throughout dinner, holding her hand across the table, bumping his knee against hers, melted her insides. His devoted attention made her feel like she was the star of a one-woman show, performed just for him.
And how she wanted to please him, today and every day for the rest of her life. She fluttered her lashes flirtatiously, curving her lips into a come-hither smile he couldn't obey in the middle of the restaurant, and he shot back an avenging look vowing sexual retribution. She giggled.
Buoyed by emotional intimacy, they spoke of everything and nothing, their casual, easy conversation skimming over a sizzling undercurrent that made Emma light-headed and shivery. They shared a dessert over coffee, passing a single fork between them to take bites of the succulent chocolate torte, but it was Dan she savored. As Emma closed her mouth on the tines of the fork where his lips had been, she imagined his touch, his taste. She stared into his eyes, and the admiration and desire she glimpsed ignited hot spots in her clit and pussy.
Dan covered her hand and stroked her palm with his thumb, sending jolts up her arm. “We should talk."
"Haven't we b
een talking?” She raised her eyebrows innocently. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and watched heat flare in his eyes. She wondered if he was as hard as she was wet.
He stared at her lips. “This is what we need to talk about.” He lifted his gaze. “The way you've been begging for another spanking."
Emma sucked in a breath of air to cool the molten need his words aroused. She wanted him to kiss her, to touch her breasts and her clit, to fuck her. She wanted him to anchor her flailing legs and spank her bottom until she begged him to stop and then screamed for more.
"The way I want to give you one.” His tone was thick, rough.
Her clit pulsed, and beneath the lacy bra that matched her sopping panties, her nipples beaded to hard points. Every body part leaped to full attention at his tantalizing words, except for her mouth. She'd lost her ability to speak.
"I want to hold you, and fuck you, and spank your pretty ass.” His voice dropped to an intimate rumble for her ears only. “Not just tonight. Every night. I want to wake up every day with you in bed next to me."
She stared at him. Joy clogged her throat.
"I need to hear you say it, Emma.” His fingers tightened around hers. “You've had some time to consider what a relationship with me would mean, and I need to know that you want the same things I do."
Within the space of a few sentences, he'd turned her warm and mushy. Any second now, she'd dissolve into a puddle of goo on the floor. Emma swallowed. “I do. It's all I've thought about all week. I want you, Dan. The whole package.” She desired his love, his warmth, his spankings, his body. He'd opened her eyes to her true nature. She remembered the risk he'd taken by announcing he wanted to spank her—and the tender but firm way he'd put her over his knee and given her the most memorable experience of her life. Dan didn't shy away from his convictions. He faced them; he lived them. How could she not admire courage like that? No wonder she'd fallen in love with him.
Desire so intense, so white-hot, ignited in his gaze, she half expected him to drag her out of her seat and spank her in the restaurant. “I think I'm falling in love with you, Emma."
"I'm falling for you too."
He squeezed her fingers hard. “Let's get out of here."
After the valet delivered his vehicle, Dan helped her into it. “My place?” he asked as they were on their way.
"Yes.” Emma didn't care where they went. Wherever Dan went, she would go. If that sounded unfeminist, well, too bad. She wasn't going to live her life to please anyone's dogma. As much as she enjoyed her journalism career, it didn't fulfill the needs of her heart or her bed. At the end of the day, her job was just a job.
As he drove, she gripped his thigh. Inebriated with lust, she itched to stroke his taut muscles, follow the corded path to the bulge between his thighs, but she retained some sense and did not distract him as he negotiated the dark and winding canyon road. When the road's curves straightened out, he lifted her hand to kiss her palm, then sucked one of her fingers into his mouth.
Emma shivered as she envisioned him employing the same technique on her aching nipples, her pulsing clit. She couldn't stop a moan of desire from erupting from her throat.
"If you make sounds like that, I'm going to pull off the road,” he growled with enticing menace.
Emma shifted in her seat and inhaled. “Then I'll make more noises for sure,” she countered throatily on an exhale.
He nipped her finger and replaced her hand on his thigh. “Be good."
"If I'm not good, are you going to spank me?” Her tone oozed flirtatious innocence.
"I'm going to spank you whether you're good or not."
His threat sent another wave of lust shuddering through her. The ride to Dan's house unwound like one long foreplay session, his heated words and his brief but searing touches arousing her to a peak of desire. Emma feared that when he finally touched her with serious intent, she would explode in his arms. Was there such a thing as premature ejaculation for women?
Dan pulled into his driveway, and she trembled with excitement. In the distance a coyote howled, while nearby, crickets serenaded their own love song. The pungent scent of the chaparral filled the air with a heady perfume. She heard the click-click of her heels on the flagstone path but felt not the footfalls as she floated on a haze of longing. Only Dan's strong, broad hand clasping hers grounded her.
Those strong, broad hands would soon warm her ass. Or would he use the paddle? She refrained from asking. Like peeking at a birthday present, it would spoil the surprise if she knew in advance. Anticipation sweetened the gift.
Once inside, the lamplight revealed the sexual need etched on his face, emphasized the tautness of his muscled body, and showcased his turgid bulge. “Would you like a glass of wine?” He stepped toward her.
"No.” She lifted her chin.
"Coffee?” Another step. “Water?"
"No.” She took a breath and let it out.
"Anything?” He stood directly in front of her.
From beneath her lashes, she peered at him. “You."
He captured her face in his hands and kissed her, staking claim to what was freely, desperately given. She dug her fingers into his biceps for support as the world spun and shattered around her.
Emma unbuttoned his shirt and shoved it off his shoulders, then splayed her hands over his hard chest, delighting in his muscles, the springiness of his hair. She wanted to rub herself against his body, luxuriate in the differences of texture, his roughness to her smoothness, his hardness to her softness.
Dan unerringly found the zipper of her dress. Moments later, the garment puddled at her feet, leaving her clad in a rose lace bra and matching boy shorts. He leaned back to gaze at her and trace the path of the lace across the swell of her breasts, branding her with his touch.
"You're beautiful,” he said, his voice raspy. Emma's pussy clenched at his throaty tone, his touch, the heat in his eyes. He fingered the edge of one rose bra cup. “Very, very pretty. This is the color your ass is going to be after I spank you."
Her stomach fluttered with longing, and Emma couldn't prevent a whimper of desire from escaping her lips.
Before she could register the sound, he possessed her mouth again, moving his lips over hers, his tongue intimating a preview of coming attractions. He cupped her breasts and stroked the protruding nipples covered by the lace he'd so admired. His erection, thick and hard as a length of pipe, pressed into her abdomen.
As if she weighed nothing at all, Dan lifted her into his arms. Her high-heel slides fell to the floor with a clunk.
"I wish all your froufrou came off that easily,” he joked.
"You didn't have any problems with my dress,” she pointed out.
He grinned. “I'm motivated."
Emma hugged his neck as he carried her down the hall. His heart beat as rapidly as hers. Nerves, anticipation, and desire blended into one singular sensation that left her light-headed.
He set her on her feet, and the backs of her legs bumped the bed. She peered through the darkness as he moved to the wall, and then blinked when the room flooded with light. He dimmed it, shadowing the corners but illuminating the bed. “I want to see you."
Emma nodded. She understood. Turning her ass pink wouldn't be as much fun if he couldn't watch it color.
"My, what a big bed you have,” she said, channeling Little Red Riding Hood. It stretched an acre across.
"All the better to play with you.” He leered wolfishly.
Emma glided toward him and lightly raked her fingers through the coarse curls on his chest. “I'd hate to lose you in that big bed."
"You won't lose me. I plan to keep you real close.” He clasped her waist and pulled her against him, then slid his palms to her ass and massaged her cheeks, only half covered by her boy shorts. Her skin tingled under his delicious assault.
She traced the arrow of hair to his belt buckle. “You're wearing way too many clothes."
He released her, toed off his loafers, and un
did his belt. In a flash, he shoved off his pants and dark blue boxers, leaving him with a cheeky grin and an impressive erection. “Better?"
His brawny chest issued an invitation to play, and Emma kneaded his muscles and twisted the whorls of hair around her fingers before teasing his nipples to hardness. At last, she meandered to his cock. Dan inhaled sharply as she stroked the smooth, soft crown, then closed her fingers around his steely shaft and smoothed down the length of it. Against her palms, he was velvet, steel, and heat.
Dan kissed her, crushing her body against his and trapping her marauding hands. He nibbled his way from her lips to her neck and ear, his warm breath heaping fuel to the bonfire that burned within her. She made a noise in the back of her throat.
"I love the sounds you make,” he whispered. “I can't wait to hear you whimper when I spank you, when I slide my cock into your pussy, and you come for me.” He slid his hands down her back and under her panties.
He massaged her cheeks, stirring memories and new desires. He tightened his grip, momentarily squeezing hard, and Emma clung to his shoulders as her legs went weak.
Dan unhooked her bra and cupped her breasts, then gently pinched her nipples, tugging them to harder, longer points. He bent his head and drew an aching tip into his mouth, which transmitted sharp pangs into her womb.
Something silky slipped down her legs to her feet. Her panties. Like a magician, Dan could whisk away her clothing with a simple flick of his hand.
His erection bobbed against her abdomen as he guided her to the bed. With no place else to go, Emma eased back, her gaze locked on Dan. He loomed over her, masculine dominance in full relief. Lamplight glanced off hardened muscles, his cock jutting out, ready for business.
He crawled over her to kiss her eyelids, her mouth, her sensitive neck. He kneaded her breasts, pushing them together and upward so he could tug on the turgid tips with his lips and teeth, sending jolts of electricity all the way to her clit.
She threaded her fingers in his soft hair and hung on to him as he sent her reeling. Her breath hitched when he slid his hand down her abdomen to toy with her curls before slipping his fingers between her legs. “Ah, Emma,” he groaned against her breast.
