Pucked Up Love

by Lili Valente

  “A fish,” Will says, arching a brow at the salmon.

  “Not just any fish. That’s Gary, the killer King Salmon. He lives in the Willamette and crawls up onto the beach to feed on people foolish enough to fall asleep in the shade too close to the river.”

  “This is a real thing? Or something you made up?” Will pulls into a parking spot in the mostly-open field. There are only a few other trucks scattered about, making it clear most people don’t consider the end of September corn maze season just yet.

  “Totally real,” I say. “The girls in my intermediate class were telling me about him last year at the gym Halloween party. Some people say Gary used to be a Native American warrior who, after his tribe was wiped out by smallpox, asked to be reincarnated as a giant, razor-toothed salmon so he could wreak his vengeance upon the white man who killed his family and stole his land. Others say Gary is descended from a logger from the early days of Rose City, who was so desperate for a wife that he fell in love with a fish that lived near his houseboat, married her, and made a bunch of murderous half human-half fish babies that later went crazy after exposure to toxic chemicals dumped in the water. And Tina said that Gary was a drummer from a punk band in the 70s who took some bad heroin that turned him into a salmon and that’s why you should never do drugs.”

  “Which story do you subscribe to?” Will asks as he shuts off the truck.

  “The love story, of course,” I murmur, unable to keep from flirting, just a little bit. “You know I’m a sucker for a love story.”

  “Even if the love story ends with the creation of a giant killer fish?”

  I shrug. “No love story is perfect.”

  “No, they aren’t.” Will’s lips curve in a smile so sexy it makes me shiver. “Cold?”

  I shake my head. “Nope.”

  “If you are, you can have my jacket. But first, let me help you with this.” He pulls a rolled length of fabric from his pocket and takes it by one end, holding it up as it unfurls to reveal what is unmistakably a blindfold.

  A thick, sturdy one that will ensure I can’t see a damned thing.

  Anxiety spikes in my bloodstream—I’m not a fan of not being able to see where I’m going—but I nod. “All right. I’m game.”

  “You’re sure? You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do tonight, Hailey. You know that right?”

  “I know, but I was just thinking how much I trust you, so…” I tuck my hair behind my ears and shift closer to him as he lifts the blindfold. I close my eyes, heart beating faster as he guides the fabric into place and knots it firmly. “But we’re keeping this G-rated for now, right?” I ask as darkness falls. “Just in case there are any kids loose in this maze?”

  “Completely G-rated,” Will assures me, his hand covering mine. “This is about building trust. I want you to know that when we’re in a scene, you can count on me to be there for you, to take care of you, no matter what.”

  My tongue slips out to dampen my lips. “I already know that. I trust you, Will. I promise I do.”

  “Good,” he says softly. “But this is also about learning to follow orders without second-guessing me or yourself. Are you ready to follow orders, Curious Cat?”

  I swallow. “I think so?”

  Will clucks his tongue disapprovingly. “That’s not the answer I want, Kitten. The game starts now, so what do you say when I ask if you’re ready to follow orders?”

  “Yes, sir,” I say, electricity zipping across my skin as Will makes a husky sound of approval low in his throat.

  “Good, then get out of the truck, shut the door behind you, and await your next order, sweetheart. We’re going to see how good you are at playing follow the leader.”

  “I’m going to be so good at it, sir,” I say, the playful note in my voice surprising me.

  But then, Will is the one who keeps calling it all a ‘game’ and games are meant to be fun, aren’t they? So as I reach for the door, I don’t fight the smile on my face or the giggle that escapes from my lips as I step out of the truck only to realize the ground is a good six-inches lower than I assumed.

  And when Will joins me after locking up the truck and says, “Good work, Curious. Now I want you to take ten big steps forward.” I offer a sassy salute in response. And yes, my heart is pounding as I stride across unseen ground into unexplored territory, with nothing but Will’s voice to guide me. But it isn’t fear making my pulse pound.

  Or at least, not only fear…

  As we move into the maze, Will’s commands grow more demanding—“Three big steps, then turn left for four and right for two.” “Jog forward until I tell you to stop.” “Run toward the sound of my voice as fast as you can.”— and I realize that the fear isn’t an unwanted side effect or something to be shoved aside and ignored as I soldier through to the next challenge.

  The fear is…part of the fun.

  Placing my safety in Will’s hands sharpens my awareness, my anticipation, my elation as I sprint toward the sound of his voice only for him to sweep me off my feet and into his arms, spinning us both in a circle as we laugh like fools.

  “I get it,” I say, heart pounding as I wrap my arms around his neck.

  “What do you get, beautiful?”

  “Not knowing what comes next is part of the fun,” I say as he sets me on my feet. “The uncertainty and being just a little bit scared—it makes everything so much more intense.”

  “And this was just a corn maze.” He unties my blindfold, easing it away from my eyes as he adds in a softer voice, “Imagine how much fun other things could be with this kind of trust.”

  I blink, eyes prickling as they adjust to the dim light of dusk, and Will’s face slowly comes into focus. He’s so close and he smells so good—clean and Will-ish and beautifully familiar—that I suddenly can’t help myself. I press up on tiptoe, bringing my mouth to his for our first kiss in way too long.

  And just like the first time I kissed Will, back when I was eighteen years old and had no idea what it was like to kiss a grown man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to show how much he wanted it, sparks fly, the earth spins faster, and my universe is rearranged.

  Back then, it was love at first sight. Now, it’s confirmation that the chemistry between us is every bit as combustible as it was before, that it might even be a little bit wilder, and a little bit sweeter, after our experiment here tonight.

  “Sorry,” I whisper when we finally pull apart. “I couldn’t help myself.”

  “Why are you apologizing?” he asks, his hands gliding down to squeeze my ass through my jeans.

  “You’re supposed to be in charge.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can’t kiss me whenever you want,” he says with a wink. “Assuming I don’t have you tied up in a position that makes kissing difficult.”

  I grin, the thought not nearly as intimidating as it used to be. “Oh. Okay. That’s good to know, sir.”

  “All done with sir. For now.” He smoothes my hair away from my face, holding it in place as the breeze does its best to undo his tidying work. “You did a good job. A great job.”

  “Thanks.” I wrap my arms around his waist, feeling closer to him than I have in a long time. And feeling hopeful, too. So hopeful I can’t help asking, “Does this mean I’m ready to graduate to Lesson Two?”

  He shakes his head in mock disapproval. “Always in such a rush.”

  “Can’t blame me for being an eager pupil when I have such a good teacher.” I press closer to him, biting my bottom lip as my belly brushes against clear evidence that I’m not the only one affected by that kiss.

  His eyes darken in response, and when he speaks, there isn’t a hint of humor in his words. “I brought you here for a reason, Hailey. Because I’m not sure I can be trusted in a room alone with you.”

  “You can always be trusted,” I whisper, tipping my head back, bringing my mouth closer to his. “And we agreed that these lessons were going to be hands on…” I brush my hot lips
against his hotter ones as I add in a temptress voice I barely recognize, “So why shouldn’t you get your hands on me, sir? Preferably all over me. Everywhere.”

  My next breath ends in a groan as his mouth covers mine in a kiss that isn’t the slightest bit sweet. This kiss stakes a claim, makes demands, and issues a warning—back away now or prepare to be taken in ways I may never have been taken before. But I’m not scared or even intimidated. I’m turned on, fired up, and ready for everything this no-holds-barred version of Will wants to share with me.

  “My place,” I pant against his lips when we finally come up for air. “It’s closer. And we can get our clothes off faster.”

  “Race you to the truck,” he says, and then we’re both off, dashing back through the maze as the first stars begin to wink on in the clear blue sky.

  Chapter 10

  Will

  Twenty minutes—and several violations of state speed laws—later, we stumble into Hailey’s apartment, mouths fused and hands everywhere. After only a few feet, I lose patience with the pace of our progress toward the bedroom and reach down, hooking my hands behind Hailey’s knees and urging them around my waist. She moans her approval against my lips, locking her legs tight above my hips as I palm her bottom in my hands and make haste toward her bedroom. “I’m still on the pill and clean,” she gasps against my lips.

  “Me, too,” I echo. “The clean part.”

  She smiles against my lips, and I kiss her deeper, moaning as I squeeze her sweet ass tight, pinning her against my rock-hard length as I move.

  I had a game plan for tonight, one that didn’t involve so much as a kiss, let alone carrying Hailey straight to bed—do not pass go, do not discuss her safe word in further detail—but now I realize how naïve it was to think I could plan this like any other scene.

  This isn’t any other scene, and Hailey isn’t any other sub. She’s the woman I love, the woman I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, dreaming about, for months. I’ve jerked off to memories of being buried inside her more times than I can count, each release ending with a sharp wave of pain rushing in fast behind the pleasure as reality came crashing in, reminding me that I was never going to have Hailey in my bed again.

  But here she is, stretching out in front of me on top of her pale blue and green quilt, her skin golden in the glow from the exposed bulbs strung across the ceiling. The lighting makes her bed look like a table at a trendy restaurant, and I intend to make the most of scoring this oh-so-coveted seat.

  I note the slats in her headboard and don’t hesitate to order, “Arms over your head, wrists crossed.”

  “Yes, sir.” Hailey lifts her arms without missing a beat, her eager obedience making my cock pulse against my fly. I’m desperate to be out of my clothes and skin-to-skin with her, but I’m determined to take this slow. I want to drive Hailey crazy, make her beg for me before I grant her the relief we’re both so desperate for. I want to give her a taste of what obedience and delayed satisfaction can do for her if she willing to put herself in my hands.

  “Your safe word is ninja,” I remind her. “Do you still have those scarves you used to wear as belts a few years ago?”

  “The silk ones?” She nods. “Yes, sir. In my closet. On the hooks to the right.”

  “Perfect.” I fetch a silk scarf from the collection in Hailey’s closet and cross back to the bed, holding her hooded gaze as I deftly bind her wrists to each other before securing them to the headboard. “If you want me to stop or unbind you, you use your safe word, not ‘no’ or ‘stop.’ Do you understand?”

  “Why?” she asks in a soft voice, her eyes going wide.

  “Because sometimes ‘no’ and ‘stop’ are part of the game, Curious,” I say, reaching for the top button on her blouse and slowing slipping it through the hole. “You might find yourself screaming ‘no’ when you really mean ‘yes’ or ‘stop’ when you really mean ‘go.’” I open another button, balls growing heavier as the white lace of her bra comes into view. “When we agree to suspend the usual rules, it opens the door to different kinds of play and for words to have multiple meanings.”

  “All right, sir,” she says, teeth digging into her kiss-swollen bottom lip as I finish unbuttoning her shirt and part the fabric, revealing her taut stomach and the tight nipples pressing against the lace of her bra. “But I’m not sure I’m going to be into that kind of play. I like no to mean no.”

  “Understandable, and there’s no pressure to do anything that doesn’t feel right. You will always be able to put on the brakes, whenever you want. But when we’re together like this ninja is your ‘no,’ Hailey. Do you understand?”

  She nods, shivering as I mold my hands to her ribs beneath her breasts, relishing the bliss of being able to touch her like this again. Like she’s mine.

  “Cold?” I ask, voice husky.

  She shakes her head and whispers, “No again, sir.”

  “Scared?” I slide my thumbs beneath her bra, teasing back and forth across the sinfully soft skin on the underside of her breasts.

  She shakes her head again.

  “Then what are you feeling, Cat? Tell me how you feel.”

  “Excited. Electric,” she says, adding in a husky voice that slays me, “Like I can’t wait for you to touch me.”

  “Touch you where?”

  “Everywhere.” She sighs as I bend, pressing a kiss to her chest, right above her pounding heart. “Please, Will, touch me everywhere.”

  Her words snap something inside of me, severing the tether on the control I usually take for granted when I’m calling the shots in the bedroom, and before I’ve made the conscious decision to take things to the next level, I’ve shoved her bra under her armpits, baring her sweet, perfect tits. This is what she does to me, this woman. She drives me crazy, which is going to make topping her even more of a challenge, more of a pleasure.

  I make love to her breasts with my mouth, circling each tight nipple with my tongue, dragging my teeth across the sensitive underside of her fullness, sucking and biting until she’s squirming beneath me, panting as she writhes against her bonds.

  “Oh God, please.” She loops one leg around my waist, using her considerable strength to attempt to pull me closer. “Please, sir, I want you so much.”

  “All things in good time, baby,” I promise, holding strong and holding back, making sure no part of me touches the needy place between her thighs. “But first, a brief refresher course on what we learned tonight. Lie flat on the bed and close your eyes.”

  After the briefest hesitation, her lashes flutter closed, and her shapely leg lengthens back onto the increasingly rumpled quilt.

  As soon as she’s still, I sit back between her spread legs, admiring how beautiful she looks with her shirt open, her breasts swollen from my mouth, and her arms bound over her head. “Now I want you to tell me, how close are you to disobeying an order? On a scale from one to five, one being not at all tempted to disobey and five being ready to rumble for what you want.”

  “A one.” Her back arching, she adds, “I feel like I’m on fire with wanting you, but I don’t want to break the rules.”

  “Good.” I reach down, tracing my fingers slowly down between her breasts with their tightly puckered tips. “And why don’t you want to break the rules?”

  “Because I trust you.”

  “Is that all?” I circle her navel, feeling the pulse of her heart beneath my fingertips as her belly flutters.

  “And because I like it,” she whispers, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth in a way that makes me crazy. “I like doing what I’m told, not having to make any of the decisions, just doing what you tell me to do. It makes me…”

  “It makes you what, baby? Tell me.”

  “It makes me wet. So wet,” she says, sending a fresh rush of desire rocketing through my body until it screams for me to strip off her jeans and find out just how wet my girl is. For me to spread her thighs wide and sink deep into her slick heat and fuck her with all
the passion I’ve been keeping bottled up tight for so long.

  Instead, I grit my jaw and force my touch to remain whisper-soft as I return my attention to her nipples, circling her tight tips with my thumbs. “I love making you wet, sweetheart, but I don’t just want you wet tonight. I want you dripping. By the time I get you down to your panties I want them to be soaking wet. Do you understand?”

  She whimpers softly, her throat working as she nods. “Yes, sir.”

  “And so I want to try something different. You can open your eyes.” I wait for her lashes to sweep up and her lust-fogged gaze to focus before I reach into my front pocket, pulling out the silver buds I brought to share with her and holding them up to the light. “I was going to leave these here as a gift for you when I left tonight. I wanted to give you time to look them over, try them on, see what you thought about adding them into our lesson plan. But now that I have you here, naked and at my mercy, I don’t want to wait. Do you know what these are?”

  Heat flickers in her eyes. “Nipple clamps?”

  I nod. “Have you ever played with clamps before?” I ask, fighting to keep my voice calm and even. I know there’s an excellent chance that Hailey’s slept with someone else in the past year, but I can’t afford to let ex-boyfriend Will get code-red, stab-a-fucker jealous about that. As her instructor in the art of pleasure and pain, I need to know if she understands what to expect as I tighten the clamps—that’s all.

  But I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m relieved as hell when she shakes her head. “No, but I’ve read about them. And I was…curious.”

  “Curious Cat,” I murmur as I roll one of her nipples between my fingers and thumb. “Are you curious enough to skip ahead a few lessons tonight?”

  She nods again, her lips parting on a gasp as I pinch her nipple tight.

  “Just remember, if this gets too intense, you have your safe word.”