by EM Gayle
“No way, kitten. Eyes on me while you clean my fingers.”
I choked back a sob and forced myself to meet his gaze. For once, the raging lust I saw in his eyes gave me no comfort. He was definitely making a statement with this scene and I was going to enjoy every damn minute of it.
My mind tumbled over a million thoughts while I completed my task. By the time his fingers slipped from my mouth and he kissed me instead of making me come, I wanted to scream in frustration.
“You’re going to leave me like this, aren’t you?” I tried to bite back the sarcasm and failed.
His eyebrow lifted. “Yes, kitten, I am. I won’t deny you my attention but by God you can sure as hell wait for an orgasm until after you’ve had some time to think about this mess.” He started for the seat next to mine and buckled in. “We’ve got several hours until we get to our destination. Think about your denial and what it means. Then we’ll talk.”
When he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes I almost started to give him a piece of my mind until the tent in his slacks drew my gaze. He was as affected by all this as me and it wasn’t only me who got denied.
I sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. It always amazed me how often he’d deny his own orgasm before mine. How many men had I ever known who got me off and then suffered in silence when their own needs weren’t met? Not a single one, that’s how many.
Like a tire with a sudden pinprick hole, my anger began to deflate. Damn him. Couldn’t I even stay mad at him for ten minutes? I didn’t even know where we were going exactly and he was about to take a stupid nap.
I tried to relax but found being naked, wet and restrained to a chair did not help me cool off. The next few hours were going to be the longest of my life. “You suck, Alex.”
“Poor, baby.” He didn’t open his eyes or turn his head, but the unmistakable upturn of his mouth made it all worse.
Time passed. No. Time dragged on and on and on. I tried reclining my chair, sitting up straight, crossing my legs and uncrossing them and nothing eased the want. The light snores from the seat next to me definitely didn’t help. The bastard had no trouble getting comfortable after my ordeal.
I tried looking out the window but there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot to view in the darkness. Hell, I didn’t even know what time it was. When I finally started to drift asleep, my mind wandered to my predicament. Forcing me on this trip with him also altered how and when I wanted to tell him the whole truth. One simple conversation just wouldn’t do it. I sighed.
Loving an alpha male was a giant pain in the ass sometimes.
Chapter 16
Harper
* * *
“Wake up sleepy head.”
With great effort, I opened my eyes and found Alex staring down at me. His disheveled hair and rough stubble made my stomach flip. He looked so good in the morning and it was totally unfair.
“It’s a good thing you have me to take care of you. I think you’d sleep through just about anything, including a landing, a car ride and at least two conversations.”
I blinked up at him. “What?” The fog slowly cleared from my brain. “Did you say you brought me coffee?” How was I supposed to function under these circumstances without caffeine?
His chuckle soothed some of my sleep-roughened edges. “No coffee yet, kitten. Let’s get you inside first and then we’ll see about some much needed caffeine and breakfast. I think I heard your stomach growling several times.”
I glanced past his shoulder and saw we were sitting in a car in front of a huge house. “Where are we?”
“In the Florida Keys just like you’d planned. Except this place is a lot more private and a little larger than where you booked. In fact, we have the island all to ourselves.” He bent down and bit my shoulder. “Good thing too because I have plans for you.”
I followed his gaze down and found I still wore nothing. Humiliation burned through me as I looked toward the shade wearing driver with no expression on his face and purposely looking directly forward.
I shook my head and imagined who else might have seen me naked thus far. “Am I going to get any clothes on this trip?”
He grinned. “Maybe later. C’mon. Let’s go check out the house.”
I didn’t believe him for a second that I would see a stitch of clothing later, but I was anxious to see what he had in store for me, starting with this gorgeous looking mini mansion.
I followed him from the backseat of the car up the winding path that led to the front door of one of the most magnificent houses I’d ever seen. Although the simple word “house” just didn’t seem to cut it. It looked like one of those places I’d seen on TV when they were showcasing outrageous places that cost millions of dollars. Knowing this was par for the course for Alex, the surroundings still took my breath away.
It had taken a while but I’d kind of gotten used to Alex’s lifestyle. In that he liked to go to restaurants I’d never stepped foot in, although was more than happy to try in the name of research for my job. Then there was his penthouse apartment that never failed to amaze me with its panoramic views of the city. And of course, the private plane I knew he used often.
But for the most part I still felt separate from his lifestyle, which suited me fine. I had my own comfortable life thanks to some smart business connections I’d made, mainly with my bestie and extraordinaire celebrity chef Zia, and the fact I’d never been one to dream of living extravagantly.
New York might seem like one of the most expensive places in the country but if you dug deep enough and were willing to get creative, it wasn’t that hard to live on a budget.
This, on the other hand, was the first time we’d ever taken a vacation together and I’d obviously aimed my expectations way too low.
Alex wrapped his arm around my waist at the massive wooden front door while he entered a pass code into a keypad and depressed his thumb on some sort of scanner. High-tech and gorgeous. The dollar signs spun out of control in my head.
Thankfully, I heard the car drive away and I didn’t have to keep feeling like I was on display. Naked with Alex was one thing. An audience a whole nother.
Together, we strode inside and I found myself staring at an eye-popping cavernous room that took open concept to a whole new level. There was so much to see, from the multiple seating and game areas to the gourmet kitchen that drew my gaze like a magnet. From my vantage point I counted six wall ovens and was that a—? Shit. An open brick pizza oven large enough to feed a small army.
“I see you eyeballing the kitchen. Don’t even get any ideas in that direction. You’re on vacation and you have other matters to tend to this week. Like me.”
For some reason his words made me blush and I felt the heat flood through me from head to toe.
He ushered me down a hall of closed doors I presumed were bedrooms to the double doors at the end, pushed them both open and motioned for me to go in ahead of him. “Your home away from home for the week, milady.”
The first thing I noticed was the massive black wooden bed playing center stage in an equally massive room. The fluffy linens and pillows were stark white and beckoned me to come lie down and sink into them. There were also white silk drapes behind the headboard that extended up across the ceiling and came down partway at the end of the footboard, creating a billowy, decadent canopy that filled my mind with wicked sexual images of what Alex would do to me in this bed. My sex clenched.
Beyond the bed I spied huge floor-to-ceiling shutters that covered two walls of the room where I imagined full walls of windows stood behind them.
I’m not going to lie, I wanted to run around the room and touch everything. If I had my phone handy I’d be snapping pictures to text to Zia later. My best friend would love this place. Thoughts of my friend again brought real life crashing back. First things first.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
Alex pointed to a door in the far corner of the room.
Finally.
I lunged for my purse that someone had placed on the floor next to the bed and ran for the bathroom. So far, I couldn’t tell if he’d seen the pregnancy test in my bag or not. I’d tried to read into every look he gave me and all that got me was a raging headache of worry.
I flipped the lock behind me and with barely a glance at the luxurious spa-like bathroom, I flounced down on the toilet seat and began digging through the contents of my purse.
My normally organized things were haphazardly thrown together and it took quite a bit of digging to find the box I sought. I pulled it free and examined it for—what exactly was I looking for? A note? The simple cardboard container looked tamper free as far as I could tell but that didn’t mean squat.
If my purse had been dumped on the floor he had to have seen this not so discreet white and purple box with the words ‘pregnancy test’ proclaimed in larger than necessary letters.
I dropped the purse to the ground and rested my head in my hands. What the hell was I supposed to do? The man just on the other side of the door drove me crazy. And when it came to him I had no capacity to say no. My feelings were deeply ingrained at this point and short of never seeing him again, I’d never deny him anything.
Which meant I had no choice but to talk to him about this. I lifted my head and carefully opened the box. I had no idea if sound carried through the luxurious island house, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I had to take the test and find out once and for all. The not knowing for sure was going to kill me.
Under different circumstances I’d imagined this as one of the most exciting events of my life. The idea of Alex being in love with me and us raising a family together had the makings of the perfect happily ever after. If only life worked out like that instead of being so damned messy all the time.
Before I chickened out again, I shifted and adjusted my body so I could pee on the stupid stick. Despite not having used the facilities since before Alex loaded me onto a plane, nothing happened. My body completely froze, uncooperative. I willed my body to relax; knowing the stress of the last several days still weighed down on me.
“Hey, hurry up in there. We’ve got stuff to do today.”
I jerked my hand at his sudden voice and nearly toppled to the floor. I grasped the edge of the counter and rebalanced my body. “Okay,” I replied. Guilt at hiding in the bathroom with a pregnancy test prevented me from firing back something nasty for his obnoxious behavior. I shoved the test stick back into the box and buried it at the bottom of my purse.
Later when I had more time I’d finish the job and then me and Alex could tackle the truth. As I washed my hands in the striking copper basin sitting on top of the granite counters, I finally took a moment to take in my surroundings. Glass, granite and stone surrounded the space. The dark gray tones of the stone highlighted the blues and greens of the glass and tile perfectly. It gave me a sense of an indoor space that had been married to the outdoors. My gaze landed on the gigantic tub and my eyes widened. Holy hell. It looked large enough to hold half a football team—or an orgy. I rolled my eyes. My imagination would be the death of me for sure.
The large window above the rim of the tub, although I’d have to refer to it as a hot tub due to its size, looked like it latched and opened to the outside. The frosted glass allowed a lot of light into the space but currently blocked my view and left me curious.
I stepped into the giant white tub and reached for the latch on the window. I pushed it open and gasped at the view in front of me. Sand so white it nearly blinded me led from this side of the house to the open ocean not more than two hundred feet from where I stood.
For a half a second I entertained the idea of climbing out the window and making a run for the water. I could already feel the sun-kissed heat on my face and the cool, soft grains of sand between my toes.
Then I remembered I still had no clothes on. My travel attire had consisted of the blanket I’d been sleeping under when Alex grabbed me and nothing else. I’d need at least a bathing suit. There were some places I didn’t want to get sand stuck in.
I scrambled back away from the window, stopping long enough to check myself in the mirror. Alex always liked to maintain reasonably strict rules for my attire or lack of attire when we were in private. How many times had he told me how much he loved my body and that having it accessible for his pleasure kept my mind in the headspace I so desperately craved?
Something he wasn’t wrong about.
I turned sideways and frowned. In the time since making the biggest mistake of my life by telling Alex I loved him, I’d noticed the pounds slowly creeping on. At first it seemed no big deal as I’d struggled my entire life with weight management and bounced often between a size twelve and fourteen. Especially during times of stress.
At the ten pound gained mark I’d grown concerned because it was happening so fast and I’d finally paused working long enough to consider the cause.
I cupped my breasts and lifted them. By far my favorite benefit of weight gain, if there truly was a benefit, were the boobs. So what if my stomach had thickened or my thighs widened, I now had a nice fucking rack.
I clamped my lips to suppress a giggle and stepped back. Time to get this show on the road, and while I was at it, find a gallon or two of water. Eventually necessity would override stage fright.
I flung the door open. “I really think I need some clothes at this point. I certainly hope you brought me some…” Alex stood six feet in front of me with his hand raised and a scrap of magenta cloth hanging from his fingertips. My eyes widened.
No. It couldn’t be.
“What the heck is that?”
Chapter 17
Harper
* * *
He stared down at the material for a second before meeting and imprisoning my gaze with his. “It’s a bikini. I figured you’d want to get dressed to go outside.”
“A what?” I snatched the two pieces from his fingers and held them up. “You want me to put this string on and go out in public?” Was he certifiable?
Alex’s eyes narrowed and his eyebrows climbed to his hairline.
Shit. I knew that look and did not want to go there.
My shoulders sagged as I capitulated to his wishes. As much as I dreaded how this tiny suit would look on me, I hated disappointing my Dom even more. And he was definitely in sexy Dom mode.
Although in my defense I had technically broken up with him the night before even if he refused to accept it.
I stepped into the bottoms and tried to ignore the way the skimpy fabric sunk into the extra flesh on my hips or the way it cut slightly into the more recently pronounced curve of my stomach.
Maybe I didn’t need that test to be sure after all. The evidence was right in front of both our eyes.
A satisfied hum came from Alex. “You look just as beautiful as I thought you would.”
Before I could think it through, a gush of air pushed through my lips in an obvious sarcastic gesture. Thank God I’d cast my gaze downward so I didn’t have to see the new disapproval in his eyes.
“All right, kitten. What is going on here? Didn’t we get past this ages ago? You know how perfect I think your body is.” He’d cupped my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. “I know we’ve been through a lot lately, but this kind of petulance is not your norm. What is going on?”
I shrugged and looked skyward, fighting the familiar burn behind my eyes. Weight gain, mood swings and crying at the drop of a hat. My test results crystallized in my brain before I’d even peed on the stupid stick. Did he know too? Was he testing me? If he’d been in my bag, how could he have missed the box?
“Stress I guess. More exactly stress eating. I’m sure you’ve noticed the weight gain. Your sexy size twelve is now a not quite as sexy fourteen.”
He pursed his lips and the expression that crossed his face reminded me of a storm about to explode on the horizon.
“Take that bathing suit back off and get on the bed now,” he ordered.
Caught off
guard, I stared blankly at him. I’d basically just told him how uncomfortable I was in his stupid bikini and he wanted me to do what now?
“I’m not kidding here, Harper. Safeword or get your ass on my bed. I want the usual position. You on your back, legs spread as wide as you can get them.”
For a second I actually considered sticking my tongue out at him. Yes, I was being a brat but not feeling sexy in my mind at the moment did not equate with a free-for-all sex session.
But he’d done nothing to warrant my use of a safeword in all of our time together and I wasn’t going to go there now over clothing. There were many times in the past he’d commanded his now favorite position and I’d willingly accepted his demand. Collar or not, I’d always belong to this man. Slowly, I peeled the offending fabric from my body and methodically walked to the bed and climbed on.
Alex stood at the foot and glowered down at me. I knew he’d never strike me in anger, but I didn’t know quite what to think of his thunderous expression. The waiting for him to say something dragged on and it took every ounce of willpower not to squirm. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and closed my eyes.
“I don’t think so, Harper. Look at me. There will be no hiding anymore.”
Apparently, he had no intention of cutting me a break. With more than a little reluctance tugging at my insides, I opened my eyes and met his gaze.
“You were curvy the first time I laid eyes on you at the Glass Kat Club in your adorable uniform, passing out cupcakes, and my dick got so hard I thought I’d go blind from the ache.” He touched the inside of my bare ankle and a zing of electricity shot straight to my pussy. “The first time I got my hands on these naked curves, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.” He slowly traced a path on the inside of my leg to my thighs. “Your acceptance and response to a practical stranger blew my mind. Don’t you get that? Every time we’re together I’m drawn to you, the most fuckable woman I’ve ever met.”
