Cherished: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

by Lexi Blake

  “Do you know how beautiful you are?”

  She turned her head, and the sensual smile on her face hit him squarely in the chest. “Why don’t you tell me?”

  He opened his kit. “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you what you want to know. Bridget, I’m not much for talking about my past. I don’t like to think about it much, but I’m going to make you understand that you’re not some fill-in for her. You’re more like a reward for surviving my own stupidity.”

  “If you call yourself stupid again, I get to spank you.”

  He couldn’t help but smile back because she was a fierce thing when she wanted to be. And she had a point. Sometimes Doms needed a firm hand, too. Perhaps it was time to forgive himself for that idiocy. “Agreed. Baby, do you know what I’m going to do to you?”

  She shivered, the motion going up and down her spine. “You’re going to take my ass, aren’t you?”

  He put a hand on her perfectly formed cheeks. He adored how round and healthy they were and loved the twin dimples in the small of her back. “Yes, I am. I’m going to fuck this lovely asshole but not until we get it ready.”

  He gave her a hard smack and loved the way she gasped and moaned.

  “Now, I’m going to explain a few things to you.” Another spank. He held his hand to her flesh to keep the heat in. “I didn’t have much of a sex life to speak of while I was in med school and during the first couple of years of my residency.”

  “So it’s not like…”

  “No. It’s not like TV. Honestly, we’re too tired to hump in the on-call rooms. I didn’t have time for anything like a relationship.” He kept up the slow spanking, punctuating his sentences with nice smacks that got her skin pink and pretty. “Now that I think about it, my relationships have been fairly casual. Even in high school and college, I had to work and watch after my sisters. I had a few girlfriends, but they tended to be a lot like me. Ambitious. Practical. We understood what was expected of each other. They weren’t looking for anything past companionship, sex, and a regular date night.”

  “So no crazy, overly emotional creative types?”

  That earned her a hard smack. “No. I would have told you I didn’t want that, but I think we work well together.” Yeah, that was romantic. “Anyway, after my residency was over, I started to look around for something more permanent, and that was when I found my first club. I went with a work colleague who understood my needs. It was an underground club. Not like Sanctum.”

  Her head started to come up. “Can…”

  “No, I will not take you there for research.” The sight of her ass was distracting him. His cock was throbbing pleasantly, patient since it knew it would get what it wanted. “It’s dangerous, sweetheart. Those clubs are what got me in trouble in the first place.”

  “You met her there?” She gasped when he brought his hand down again.

  “Yes. I met her and I was going through a slightly obsessive phase. I thought I wanted a truly submissive partner. Not just in the bedroom. Do you understand what I mean?” He spanked her harder this time. Her skin was warming up. It really was easier to talk about this when he had the distraction of her beauty to take away the humiliation he’d felt.

  “Like you had to pick out her clothes and stuff?”

  That had only been the beginning. “And leave a list of things for her to do and what she could eat. It was overwhelming, but I thought I should try. It seemed to be what she wanted. She was very peaceful. We moved fast because she gave me this story about how her ex-boyfriend was stalking her.”

  “I would have bought a gun.”

  He didn’t doubt that at all. Bridget wouldn’t have looked for a protector. She would have protected herself. “Of course you would. You would have turned it all around on him, but she wasn’t anything like you, sweetheart. She also didn’t actually have a stalker. She played me perfectly. I wanted to be the white knight, so I let her move in with me and we started a D/s relationship. You have to understand, I was very used to women being dependent on me. It felt almost natural.”

  “Because of your sisters.”

  “Yes, though they seem to be independent now. I rarely have to intercede on their behalves.”

  “Because you raised them right.”

  “I was a kid. I did what I could. I thought I could do the same for Starr. I thought she needed me. I now know you need me way more than she ever could.”

  “Hey, I’m the chick who would have bought the gun,” Bridget admitted.

  He didn’t like to think about an armed Bridget. “And then likely murdered someone with it. No, baby. You have anger issues. And organizational issues. And you can’t say no. You’re overcommitted at work, and we’re going to talk about that because you need relaxation time.”

  She also needed him. More than he’d imagined. When he’d gone into the relationship, he’d thought they would come together for play and sex, and then he’d realized she needed more than a casual Dom. She kind of needed a sneaky one. Unlike the other subs he’d played with, Bridget often rankled at the idea of an authority figure taking control over her life. So he’d quietly topped her. He wondered if she’d even noticed that he’d started handling things like her mail pile? Aside from that one night, he handled dinner since she ate crap. Had she noticed her fridge now boasted actual food? Probably not. Sneaky Dom. He kind of liked it.

  “This isn’t relaxing, Will. It’s frustrating.”

  He could hear the little whine in her voice that let him know she was on the edge and really wanted to go over. He let his fingers glide over her labia, feeling the arousal there. She was wet. The spanking was already doing its job. He rubbed his thumb over her clit and felt the shiver go through her.

  And then pulled his hand away because it wasn’t going to be that easy. Not tonight. “It’ll be relaxing in the end.”

  “Damn it.”

  He chuckled as he reached for the already prepped anal plug. “I promise I won’t leave you unsatisfied. I want you to understand fully that I’m not pining for Starr. I took out a restraining order on her. If you see her, I want you to call me. Don’t ever open the door to her again.”

  He would be happier when she was safely in prison.

  “So you weren’t in love with her. Oh, my god. I can’t get used to that.” She reacted to the lube he squeezed on her asshole.

  He liked the way it clenched and tried to keep him out. Like the rest of Bridget, her anus was a challenge. Yeah, he wasn’t going to tell her that. She would likely shove an anal plug where he wouldn’t want one. She would do it while he was sleeping. His sub was sneaky, too. He rimmed her with the tip, lubing the plug while he worked her asshole. “I told you. I’ve never been in this magical thing you call love. Do you want me to say it? I can if that’s what you require.”

  “No. No. It’s fine. It’s better to be honest.”

  He wished he hadn’t broached the subject at all. He needed to make it plain that he wasn’t wishing for his lost love and trying to replace her. “I’m here with you, Bridget. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

  “For now.”

  Damn it. “I don’t have any other time to give you.”

  Her ass wiggled. “Then you should really give me the now, if that includes making good on the promises you made. I believe there was something about being satisfied.”

  She moved with a sensuous grace, her hips rolling against the plug, but he couldn’t help but feel some of the fire had gone out of her. Was this what Kai had warned him about? Did he not have what Bridget needed? Did she need the kind of man who could throw her his heart and say all the right things?

  It didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to think about it. He was going to be a selfish bastard and he knew it. He was going to take every single thing she offered him and he wouldn’t look back. His cock jumped at the sight of the plastic plug sinking inside her.

  “This is a large plug, sweetheart. You took it beautifully. You’re ready for me.” He fucked her slowly with the
plug, watching as her asshole opened and then tried to close. But he wasn’t about to let that happen. No. He had her right where he wanted her.

  “I don’t know if I like it.” Her hands were fisted around the sheets, her body taut.

  He needed to relax her. Her ass might be ready but she was still thinking. He could practically hear her brain whirling. She never stopped unless he blotted out everything else for her.

  “Hold tight to that plug. Concentrate and don’t lose it.”

  “Why? What are you going to do?”

  “This.” He flipped her over as fast as he could so she was face up.

  Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to take inventory. “Okay. I managed to keep the damn thing in. Will, I don’t know that this is going to work. It’s not like I haven’t tried it before. I don’t know that I like it. It feels like a whole lot of pressure.”

  She would keep talking until he made her stop. Bridget could talk for hours. But he’d found one sure way to stop the barrage of words that came out when she was anxious. He leaned over and started to suck on her clit.

  “Oh. Oh. Oh.”

  Yes, that was so much better than her giving him all the reasons she wouldn’t like anal. He knew damn well why she hadn’t liked it before. Her previous lovers had been shitty. For a woman who wrote about sex, she hadn’t had a lot of good fucking.

  At least he could give her that.

  Damn he was a selfish bastard, but he couldn’t leave her. He couldn’t.

  She shook as she came, and that was his cue to take what he wanted.

  He spread her legs wide and pulled the plug free, stopping only long enough to lube up his cock. He was hard as a rock in anticipation of getting inside her again. He wanted to fuck her everywhere, any hole he could fit his dick in. Sex had always been an itch to scratch, but it was more with Bridget. Being with Bridget filled him in some unnamed way.

  He pressed his cock to her asshole and started working his way in.

  Bridget groaned. “You’re a manipulative man, you know that, right? Now I can’t tense up. I still don’t think I’ll like it.”

  Her body was languid under his, the orgasm doing exactly what he’d wanted it to do. She was relaxed and happy and willing to see where he would take her. She lay open to him. It was the only time she was truly submissive. And oddly, when he had her like this, he felt like he’d finally earned it.

  He pressed his cockhead past the tight ring of muscles protecting her. Fuck. So tight. She was tight around him, and the heat was different than her pussy. It wasn’t better, simply different. But he had to admit, he loved the way she started to squirm under him.

  “You’re too big.” She bit her bottom lip, her eyes still lazy from her recent orgasm. “Oh, Will. I don’t know. Oh, that feels…give me more.”

  He pressed in ruthlessly, his cock in a state of desperation. He fed his length deep inside as she spread her legs and moved her hips as though she couldn’t wait for more. “You don’t seem uncomfortable, sweetheart.”

  “You know I am and, oh, it feels different.”

  Because she’d been properly prepared and he’d trained her to expect pleasure from him. Because he never took and gave nothing back. “I want you to love this.”

  “I love you.” Her hands found his backside, and he groaned as she sunk her nails in.

  “I need you.” It was the closest he could come, but it was also the truth. She was rapidly becoming necessary to him in a way he’d never imagined.

  He dragged his cock back out almost to the end. Bridget gasped, her asshole clenching around him, trying to keep him inside now.

  He let go because she was on the edge, too. He could see it in her breathing, the way her mouth had come open, how her hips moved in time with his. He fucked her ass hard, and she gave as good as she got. Over and over he worked his way in and then pulled out.

  Bridget damn near screamed the plane out of the sky when she came. He adored the fact that she didn’t know how to hold back. She let herself feel, let him know how she felt.

  And she was happy, so that meant he could be happy, too. He gave over as his balls shot off. He stiffened above her, coming until he had nothing left to give her, pumping his semen deep inside.

  He pulled out and rolled to the side, his body immediately nestling against hers.

  “That did not suck, Daley.”

  He grinned and pulled her close. Nope. It definitely hadn’t sucked.

  Chapter Nine

  Bridget waved to her sister as they entered the beautifully decorated private lanai overlooking the ocean. She hadn’t seen her sister in months, but Amy looked lovely in a Chanel dress Bridget was fairly certain she couldn’t fit her left butt cheek into and sky-high Louboutins. Still, she let it go since she’d gotten some sleep and Will seemed determined to prove that he could get it up and get it on at least once an hour. Her whole body felt pleasantly sore as she walked toward her sister.

  All in all, she felt halfway decent for a woman stepping into the ninth ring of Hell. Will’s hand tangled with hers and when she looked up at him, he gave her a wink.

  “It’s going to be okay. Is that your father?” He nodded toward a fit older man who seemed to be holding court across the pool.

  “Yep. And look, Mom’s already in a state of blessed boredom.” Her mother sat at a table with an equally bored looking friend. They were both sipping champagne and shaking their heads at anyone who walked by. “Mother believes in never having a facial expression. Botox was her salvation.”

  Will frowned. “She’s had way too much of it. And what’s wrong with her eyebrows?”

  “Ah, the great brow lift of ’02. They tweaked it a bit too much and it won’t go down now. She thinks it makes her look intellectual.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Welcome to my family.” She glanced around at the usual suspects. “That’s Uncle Andrew on my mother’s side. He recently got out of jail for defrauding investors to the tune of a hundred million. He did a total of six months due to his incredibly good lawyer, and now he’s shopping a book based on the ‘enlightenment’ he found in prison. He’s talking to my Great Aunt Vespa, who is being investigated for having not one, not two, but thirteen undocumented workers living in her pool house. Yes, she had one poor girl who did nothing but take care of her hair and nails. I don’t know what she did with the rest of them. I think she tried to tell them one was a chef, but I happen to know she doesn’t eat. If you look to your left, those are my cousins, Violet and Meryl. Between the two, they’ve gone through five husbands, each older and richer than the last. No children though. That would ruin their figures. I’ve heard a rumor they’re doing a show next year called The Real Cock-Sucking, Gold-Diggers of Malibu. Or something like that.”

  “Are you sure it’s not housewives?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Trust me. Those two are professionals. There’s nothing stay-at-home about them.” She flipped them the finger because they were already talking behind their hands, and she knew exactly who they were talking about.

  Will grabbed her hand and his eyes narrowed. “No. Bad girl. Down.”

  Asshole. But he’d made her smile. “I’m not allowed to bite then?”

  “Or bark.” He brought the hand to his mouth and kissed her middle finger before easing it down. “We’ll get through this my way and that means you are going to play nice. Can we do that? And I promise when you turn the other cheek because these people don’t matter and you’re better than them, I’ll give you a treat. I’ll start carrying chocolates around in my pocket.”

  He’d changed into slacks, a dress shirt, and a sport coat. His hair was still slightly wet from taking over her shower. That had been one of the five times since the damn plane that he’d decided to show her his deep affection. She couldn’t help but laugh at him. “I am not your puppy, Will. We are not going there.”

  He’d been teasing her about puppy play. She was so not tempted.

  He leaned over and whispered
in her ear. “But then I could pet you and rub your sweet belly, and when you’re good, I could give you a treat to lick.”

  Yeah, she could imagine exactly what he would offer her. “But I’m a puppy who buries her treats, babe.”

  He sent her a wounded look. “That’s rude. Bad puppy. Puppy wants a spanking.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Puppy’s going to get one.”

  “Well, that looks like it worked.” Chris strode up looking spectacularly handsome in slacks and a polo. He also looked like he hadn’t spent the day being penetrated by a horny doctor. He had a glow about him that spoke of a day in the sun. “The evil twins are shooting you nasty looks.”

  She glanced over and sure enough, they were staring at Will and then back at her like they were trying to figure out what had happened to the universe that she’d landed such a hottie.

  Her first instinct was to shout out something like “look what my porn money bought,” but she decided Will would likely view that as misbehaving. She was going to be a good puppy. For now.

  Not that she was going to do the puppy thing. Not at all. Most likely.

  She settled for what she hoped was a serene smile.

  “Oh, shit, who did you kill?” Chris asked, his eyes wide.

  Will waved him off. “She didn’t kill anyone. She’s taking a ladylike approach to her relatives.”

  Chris stared at her like she’d grown horns. “What kind of drugs did you give her and can I get some?”

  “Jerk.” She was sure her good behavior would throw Chris for a loop, but she was willing to try it Will’s way. She usually attended these events with full on rebellion and defiance, but he was right. They weren’t worth the effort. She smiled her cousins’ way.

  “Oh, god. Are you going to kill Violet?” Amy was standing in front of her, shaking her head in horror.