And she had. She'd had a nightmare, and he'd held her in his arms as she awoke, even more terrified than she had been before.
"Please don't leave me," she'd mewled, clinging to him in a way she hadn't since she was a little girl who was frightened by thunderstorms, and neither man nor beast could have moved him from her side – no matter how hard it – and he – was going to be. He wouldn't have stressed her any further if his life had depended on it.
He'd spent the rest of his time with her just as erect and achy then as he was probably going to be for the rest of tonight and perhaps the weekend, since it was Thursday. He thought she should probably call in tomorrow, although it might take some convincing to get her to do it, since she – so like him in some ways – hated to be absent from work.
She slept on him for an hour or so, waking slowly as he took the time to indulge – torture – himself and look at her – really look at her, while her guard was down and she was unlikely to object, and his protective instincts were up but his thirst for her was – as always – high, too.
Ky always maintained that, looks wise, he was way out of her league, but he didn't see it. In his eyes, she was gorgeous – no two ways about it. She was a bit heavier than society told her she should be, but that's what he preferred, anyway. He liked a woman who looked female.
Although feminine she wasn't, in a lot of ways, for which he was grateful, for the most part. She could slob out with the best of them, and, although she had a pretty extensive wardrobe and loved clothes – when they went out, she was usually ready before he was, because she knew that he didn't expect her to get all dolled up for him.
She had naturally curly, dirty blonde hair, with just enough blonde highlights to make it look cute on her, that she kept shorter than his hair. Hers barely reached her shoulders, but was so soft; his fingers literally itched to run through it, knowing that the curls would cling to them, as if clutching at them, as if they, at least, didn't want him to stop touching her.
At a scant five-foot-three or so, he towered over her – she sometimes called him a tree – but he liked that. He'd always felt protective towards her, but ever since he shot up during his late teen years, that side of him came even further to the forefront, although he was careful not to stifle her, too.
Her breasts were gorgeous – and peeping a bit over the scoop-necked top she was wearing – more than a handful, even for his big hands, and her bottom just begged for a spanking. Very nicely proportioned for her height; essentially, she was exactly what he wanted in a woman, physically and personality-wise – if a bit smart assed, but that could be rectified.
And he was just the man to do it.
Not quite awake, Ky indulged in a full body stretch – not paying much attention to what Riker was doing beneath her – until he hitched her up his body a bit and kissed her, full. On the mouth. Tongues and everything.
She didn't know if she was just feeling vulnerable because of the breakup or what – but she couldn't seem to stop herself from kissing him back, but still letting him set the pace, her tongue meeting his, exploring his mouth, her hand coming up to cup his cheek gently.
When he pulled back a bit, she smiled and sighed. "What was that?"
Riker figured what the hell and said exactly what was on his mind. "That, my dear, was something I've been waiting forever to do again."
She gave him a squint-eyed look. "Why?"
In answer, his hand moved to cup her bottom – all of it, despite her claims that it was more than two handfuls for any man – pressing her down onto his erection as he lifted his hips at the same time.
"Because I want you, because I'm sick of being relegated to the brother zone or even the best friend zone." Ri sighed, happy that she hadn't laid into him and hopped off, but he knew his timing was pretty off, anyway. He just couldn't hold himself back any longer while she was writhing atop him, however innocently. "I've watched you go out with other guys, who ended up hurting you, and it kills me, because I would never treat you that way. I know this isn't the most opportune time to be saying this to you, and if you can tell me again that you think of me as your brother and no more, and kissing me is squicky to you, then I'll back off, this time for good. I won't ever make another sexual move towards you."
Riker gave her a considering glance, then turned them both a bit, so that she was lying more on her side and he was – even then – taller than she was. "But – since you haven't pulled away from me at all or reminded me that you don't feel that way about me – I have to wonder if my kissing you has had any effect on you at all. I can't hide my reaction to you from you, although you've always chosen to ignore it, we both know it's there."
Her eyes slipped from his, and he watched the bright pink blush rise on her face. "I just…" Kyah cleared her throat. "I figured it was just a normal reaction to any woman."
"Perhaps when I was a teenager, and air turned me on, but, no, even then, you were special to me. You always have been. And, nowadays, there are very few women – besides you – that I react to like this. I'm pretty picky, in case you haven't noticed."
"I have," she admitted softly.
"Because none of those other women were you, Kyah."
She was biting her lip – and he desperately wanted to do that for her – and looking hesitant.
So he decided to press his advantage, such as it was. "So, as I was saying, your unusual reactions had me wondering…" He clutched her more tightly to him, with a tight, muscular arm around her as his free hand began to move – slowly – towards her hip. "Whether you might be as aroused as I am, but I'm unable to see the signs. They're not as blatant in a woman as they are in a man. You can hide them from me, although that's a naughty thing to do."
There was no missing the way her breath hitched, at his choice of words. Riker leaned forward, his mouth at her ear as his hand found her pajama covered hip, its fingertips dipping boldly – if still leisurely – beneath their waistband, angling unmistakably for the area between her legs.
"When you're mine, little one, that won't be anywhere near as easy to do as it is now. I will dip my hand into your panties any time I want to plunge my fingertips into you, wetting them thoroughly, more often than not, I'd bet."
He pulled back just a bit, barely able to believe this was happening, his mouth hovering over hers, drinking in the hot, inadvertent gasps she couldn't seem to control as his fingers found her, trying to claim all of her at once, at first, but having a hard time insinuating his big hand between her closed legs.
"Open for me, baby girl," he commanded quietly, but with no less steel in his tone. "Open, so I can touch what's truly mine."
Chapter Three
His words were making her melt, damn him. Somehow, he seemed to know exactly what to say to her. She shouldn't let him do this. He was her friend, and she'd always hidden behind the worry about what might happen if they did get together and it didn't work out. They'd never be able to go back to what they were, she knew, and she wasn't at all sure she could survive the loss. They were so close that he was like an appendage to her; he was as much a part of her as her toes or her fingers, and on the rare times they'd been on the outs, it had been absolutely unbearable.
But what if they entered into a romantic – a sexual, but romantic relationship – what if she trusted him enough. as she already did, to let him become her love and her Dom and something went wrong?
Her body didn't give her mind a chance to finish listing all the possible problems with their coming together like this. It knew exactly what it wanted, making her legs part, slowly, hesitantly, but parting, nonetheless, as he took advantage of her weakness, occupying every bit of intimate flesh she revealed.
"Put your leg over mine, love," he breathed firmly, softly into her mouth before kissing her gently.
"But…" she murmured against his lips, even as her body was obeying, and her softer, shorter thigh settled over his much harder, longer one.
His kiss was exquisitely tender, but the words h
"No buts, Ky, I've waited too long for this. If you want me to stop, you have to tell me now, but if you do, we won't ever be like this again. And this is not going to be just a weekend fling, either. If you say yes, now, I will have all of you, and I can tell you, after almost twenty years of wanting you, of aching for you, that I will never have my fill of you."
She was speechless for a long moment, his stark words harsh in her ears. Ky had been able to tuck the attraction she'd felt to him away, to a certain extent, but he'd not been able to, apparently. She'd really had no idea that he felt so strongly about her in that way. Perhaps she had missed the signs over the years – consciously or unconsciously.
Riker was concerned that she seemed so hesitant, and he found he wasn't at all above using whatever advantage he had over her, in order to tip the scales in his favor.
She was completely open to him, and he caught her eye as she lay there, apparently dumbstruck at his revelation, while his long fingers found and claimed – in no uncertain terms – the hot, wet core of her, his heart jumping as her eyelids fluttered closed on a ragged sigh.
He felt elated – and more relieved than he wanted to admit – to find her literally dripping wet – and that was certainly not for anyone but him. He had been able to take her from crying and miserable to very thoroughly excited, in a matter of hours, and he thought that boded very well.
And, in the interest of not having her turn him down, he let the three damp fingers that had discovered her find their way north, slowly, watching her carefully the whole time. Her eyes still closed, head thrown back at what he was doing to her – until his fingers found the jewel they were looking for – and her eyes flew open. Her head jerked up until their eyes collided, and he stared down at her as he let the tips of his fingers have their way with the most sensitive spot on her body.
She knew she shouldn't. She hadn't even given him an answer yet, which she was quite sure he knew, the bastard. But there was nothing on the planet she wanted more, at this moment, than to wiggle and writhe and arch her hips against his hand, but she was caught between a sofa and a hard place – him. Not to mention that band of steel arm he had around her. She literally could not move, except, perhaps to put her leg back where it had been…
As soon as her thigh was no longer in contact with his, before she'd had a chance to begin to bring it back towards her, he immediately ceased those luscious things his fingers were doing to her between her legs.
"Is that a no?" Riker asked, searching her eyes, holding his breath and hoping she didn't notice.
Her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, Kyah couldn't find the words or the will to tell him that, yes, it was. Not here, not like this, not with his fingers still in residence, just stilled atop her. She could feel herself blushing furiously, for no good reason but that he was looking down at her as if he would devour her, bit by bit, starting with the area his hand currently occupied.
He waited for a long beat, but no longer, before moving to settle his ring and index finger to either side of that niblet of flesh that he could feel pulsating and throbbing as he did so, then placing his middle finger over the top of it, and beginning to stroke slowly, up and down, then back and forth.
This did not help Kyah's ability to speak in the least. In fact, it removed the last shreds of coherence entirely, forcing her to begin to fight against him to try to move beneath his all too knowing touch.
And all he had to do – all he did do – was to contract his arm a bit, though, to still her completely, whispering huskily, "Quiet, my love. The more you move, the less my fingers will."
She stopped before the order was fully out of his mouth, hating the purely self-satisfied grin that she knew was only there because she had obeyed him so readily.
Riker took a deep breath before he spoke. He knew that what he said and what he did, over the next few minutes, in particular, could change the course of his life for the very good or the very bad. "Now, I think I've given you more than ample opportunity to tell me that you don't want me to do this, that I should let you go, and how dare I, etc, etc, etc."
She hated it when he was right, more than almost anything else in the world. She should have been saying those things to him. Yes, she had used the excuse that he had been like a brother to her, but the bottom line was that he was a high-powered businessman, and she was just a teacher. She was average looking at best, and he was gorgeous. He should be with someone he could be proud of being on the cover of magazines with. He was a highly eligible, rich bachelor.
The bald truth of why she had been keeping him at arm's length all this time was that she knew, deep down in her heart, that he should be with someone who was better than she was. She fell short of what she felt he needed – what he should have – in so many ways.
And all the proof she needed was right there in front of her, in the fact that she just couldn't seem to bring herself to deny what she wanted. Him – his arms around her – his cock within her – his mouth on her, day and night, him spanking her, him fucking her, him holding her all night, bathing her, taking her mouth, bending her over the back of the sofa…
She wanted him too badly, and she couldn't find the will to deny it any longer. She was much too selfish. The feel of his fingers where she had so often imagined them to be was more than she could deny herself. God forgive her, now that she was here in his arms like this, she just wasn't strong enough to turn away that which she had coveted so badly, for so long.
"But I want to hear it from you, my Ky."
She shook her head emphatically, but he nodded his just as much.
"Oh, yes, baby girl. I want to hear the words from your sweet lips. I want you to tell me that you want me to have you, and that, in doing so, you freely submit yourself to me."
He realized that he was pushing a bit, but he also knew just how much this was exciting her. He was more intimately sure of that than he probably ever should be. She was trembling in his arms, her pupils almost eclipsing her irises. She was panting and flushed, and – the coup de gras – her body was keeping him more than amply supplied with the silky liquid necessary for him to flick his fingers back and forth over her, smoothly, slickly, watching her eyes practically roll back into her head as he did so.
Then he stopped.
Again.
One eyebrow went up. "Did you think I was kidding, Kyah Elizabeth? I can promise you I never kid about things like this. They're too important to me – as you are."
Oh dear Lord, he was going to make her say it!
She had to at least try – or literally die in his arms – of wanting – while doing so.
She tried to skate by with, "Yes, this is good," hoping that would be enough for him.
But she knew better than to think that he was going to let her get off that easily.
He simply shook his head. "I believe I gave you specific words to say to me. Do you need me to say them again? And keep in mind that I do not look fondly upon the idea that you're not listening to me when I'm talking to you."
Holy crap!
Her entire body contracted at his words and the stern manner in which he said them.
She'd known that he would be much stricter with her than anyone else would – and perhaps that was another reason why she had pushed him away all these years.
But now…
What was it he had said to her? She was racking her brain to remember. She felt him shift her a bit, his hand leaving her bereft as he slipped her pajama bottoms – taking with them her panties – down to just below the curve of her behind, leaving her bared for a sharp, crisp smack that she knew had left a reddening imprint of his hand on her bottom.
Damn! The sting seemed to radiate out from where his hand had landed.
"Ow! Jesus Christ –"
"No, that was not what I said to you," he taunted, continuing to spank her so that, now, she couldn't think because of an entirely different reason than before.
"Stop spanking me so I can think!" she complained, trying to squirm out from under the firm swats.
Both eyebrows were now at his hairline. "I do not take orders from you, little girl, just the opposite. And I will stop spanking when you start saying what you've been told to say."
Somehow, that outraged her for some reason. "Riker! No! I can't think."
"Then this is going to be a bad first spanking for you, isn't it?" he asked, with absolutely no sympathy.
Barely able to suppress an outraged shriek – but realizing it wasn't going to be helpful to do that – Kyah began, haltingly, her neon blush returning as she made the intimate vow. "I-I want y-you to have me, Riker," she began, her eyes seeking and finding his. "And, in…in doing so…" Her volume got lower and lower as she continued to speak, "I freely submit myself to you." By the end, he could barely hear her.
Ten powerful swats landed like clockwork, five on each cheek, so that she was unsuccessfully fighting back tears by the time they ended.
"Say it again, only this time, no whispering as if you're ashamed of your submission to me, Ky. Because I'm not at all ashamed to be your Dom. In fact, I consider it the highest honor I've ever been lucky enough to receive."
How could she not do as he asked when he put it like that?
Kyah took a second to collect herself, drying her tears then looking up into his eyes, as she wound her arms around his neck, her words now clear and strong. "I do want you to have me, Riker. And, in doing so, I freely submit myself – all of me – to you."
Seconds later, she was airborne, carried securely in his arms as he stared down at her, his eyes as teary as hers were seconds ago. "Do you know how long I have waited to hear you say that?"
She snuck an impish look at him. "As long as I've been waiting to say it?" she asked.
He placed her on her bed – her queen bed that he didn't really fit well on, but it was better than the couch – following her down and saying reverently against her neck, "Why did we wait so long?"
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