Fierce Encounters Series (Contemporary Romance) Complete Collection

by Mia Cardine

  Emma looked at him now. He stood there, bare chested and aroused, waiting for her. She finished undressing quickly and fell back onto the mattress. He was on her in seconds, filling the space between her legs. He pulled himself up until they were nearly matched on the bed. Daniel kissed Emma with passion now, letting her know that he wanted her.

  She rolled over enough to open a bedside table drawer and pulled out a condom. She hoped he didn’t think her a slut for being prepared, but a few too many times passion had been thwarted by a lack of latex. He nodded and left it on the bed for a moment. He kissed her for a moment more, and then let his mouth explore her body. Emma let her head fall back against the pillow as he found her sensitive spots and the places that drove her wild. Without warning, he had his tongue inside of her. She hadn’t made a move to do the same for him, since she’d done that last night. Now was all about her.

  He drove his tongue in deeper, and she thrust her hips up towards him. He had her hips again and regulated the motion of her hips. She could feel the tease of his mouth on her and she wanted to orgasm now, but he wouldn’t let her.

  She lay back and let him pleasure her. At some point in her enjoyment, he’d exchanged two fingers for his tongue. He’d used her own juices to loosen her up and fill her with his fingers. She rose up with her hips to meet his hand. She bucked as much as his hands would let her. He slid a third finger inside of her. Emma moaned with desire. She wanted it now.

  Daniel must have read her mind, because now he pulled his fingers out. She felt the emptiness inside of her and whined, wanting to feel it again. Instead she heard the ripping of the condom’s wrapper and in a few seconds, Daniel had entered her. He was on his knees and elbows, slowly pushing his way inside of her. She’d known he was big from last night, but tonight he seemed even larger. She felt full with him, full and sated.

  He rested inside of her for a moment, letting her feel all of him inside of her. Then he started a rhythm of pulling nearly all the way out and then thrusting until his balls were pressed against her. The motion spurred her desire. She matched his motion, feeling the fullness of him in her with each thrust. She moaned again, wanting it to be over and never wanting it to end at the same time. Daniel went on for several minutes like this until Emma began a thick moan that no one could misinterpret. She felt her body flush and a blinding light of pleasure run through her. Above her, she heard Daniel groan and thrust one more time before he came. He thrust a few more times and pulled out. He left Emma there on the bed as he cleaned up. Emma finally rolled off the bed and dressed enough to see him to the door. She hadn’t expected him to stay the night, after spending almost all day together. She gave him a kiss with intent and watched as he walked to his own door.

  The rest of the week flew by. Emma deliberately tried not to think of the situation with Daniel. She struggled with the idea of being with someone who would tell her what to do, but on the other hand, she had felt immediately intrigued and comfortable with the man. That had to count for something, she believed.

  Before she knew it, Friday had rolled around. Emma had deliberately left a few weeks between her parties. She needed the intervening weekends to read and rest, and her friends needed to rest their livers. She had made some semi-plans with Daniel, but she hadn’t followed through on firming them up. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was so busy or because she was afraid of the next steps in their relationship if she did make those plans.

  She called his number from work. She got his voicemail and left a quick message telling him that she still wanted to see him that night if he was available. Her voice sounded stressed enough from her job that it was believable.

  Having made that step, Emma immediately doubted herself and her resolve. This was so outside of her comfort zone. Would she be able to go through with it? She barely knew what “it” would be. She tried to not let her imagination run wild, thinking of all these beatings and whips that she’d seen on Cinemax.

  Daniel showed up around 7:30pm. He was wearing a polo shirt and jeans, tight enough to show off his body, but not too tight. Emma had worn a soft pastel skirt and white blouse. They made small talk for a few minutes with Daniel asking about her work and how busy she’d been.

  At an awkward pause in the conversation, Emma blurted, “I’m not sure how to go about telling you I’d like to try this.”

  Daniel beamed. “You did great.”

  Emma smiled back at him. “Is there an initiation of sorts?”

  “There can be,” Dan explained, “but for now, let’s keep it very simple. For tonight, let’s just have you sit at my feet.”

  Emma nodded. With a quick inhale, she bent down and then rested herself on the floor. It hadn’t been difficult or painful at all. It seemed quite natural, but she still knew it was early on. She didn’t know what would come later.

  Daniel dropped a hand to his side and slowly stroked her hair. She felt safe here, surprising as that was. She leaned into the motion so that the strokes were long and thoughtful. She just took the moment for what it was.

  Before she could ask a thing, she heard a thumping at the front door. She looked up and Daniel nodded. He offered her a hand and she got to her feet. Emma couldn’t imagine who would be stopping by tonight, after she’d specifically told people that she wanted a quiet evening.

  An attractive woman stood at the door. She was dressed in a full skirt that blew lazily in the summer breeze. The cut of her blouse caressed her thin waist and ample breasts. Emma was a bit intimidated to be facing off against a woman like this. Emma waited for her to speak, but she didn’t.

  “Did you want something?” Emma asked perturbed.

  “I want my husband – Daniel.”

  Fierce Encounters Book 2

  Emma panicked at the word – wife. How could she have fallen for a married man? She stood up without waiting for assistance. She managed to slip her shoes back on, and she decided to leave through the back door, not from shame, but from the desire to escape the situation. To think that she’d made love to him and was getting ready to enter a new world with him. Emma made a point to do some on-line research into her next romantic interest.

  She wanted to call a friend, but she didn’t want to discuss the darker side of Daniel’s desires. She thought that any honest discussion with a friend would likely lead to that as well. Emma felt very isolated, not knowing who to talk to she decided instead to turn off her phones and read a book.

  She decided on a cozy mystery, knowing that a romantic novel was not what she needed at the moment. Emma didn’t have the strength to enjoy a happily ever after at this juncture. A nice juicy murder on the other hand seemed to fit her mood.

  Emma passed the day that way, curled up in a corner of the living room, drinking endless cups of steaming hot tea and reading her mystery. By the time she’d finished the novel (and of course, correctly figured out whodunit) Emma felt more ready to face the world again. She turned on the house phone and unmuted her cell phone. She immediately saw that she’d missed two phone calls and had several messages.

  She sighed deeply. At least he hadn’t had the temerity to barge down to her house with an “explanation.” She couldn’t have stood that. She felt bad enough for what she’d done to that poor woman. She should have known better than to get involved so fast. She should have asked the questions you’re supposed to ask of a new boyfriend. Instead, she’d gone for the quickie in the bathroom. Emma wasn’t sure why she’d done that, other than being tipsy and attracted to him.

  She took a deep breath to steel herself for the messages and pressed play. The first was from her mother, wanting to know about dinner one night this week. The message played on cheerily as her mother rambled on about people they both knew. Emma finally just deleted the message to end the suspense. The second one was from a woman she knew via her friends, thanking her for the party the previous weekend and inviting Emma to another party in two weeks.

  Emma pursed her lips. Daniel hadn’t called. He hadn’t even
bothered to attempt a call to her cell. She scrolled through the missed calls, but nothing. He apparently wasn’t even going to try to bother to deny his guilt in the matter. Emma felt a pang, realizing that at least a part of her had wanted him to beg her forgiveness and offer her a reasonable excuse of why a woman claiming to be his wife had arrived at his door.

  Of course, the wife could still be there. Emma went to the living room and looked out the window. No unrecognized cars sat on the street or in his driveway. So unless she’d arrived by foot, the wife had left long ago. So much for being the contrite lover.

  Emma rummaged around in her kitchen looking for something to eat. The cups of tea had only heightened her hunger and the anger and stress made them nearly acute. She grabbed a few eggs, some veggies and began making a frittata for herself.

  She’d mastered the single meal over the years. It wasn’t that she’d not been involved in relationships before. She had, but they’d been more like firecrackers than candles, brief, loud and noisy. She’d really hoped that Daniel would be something different, someone who would stay around a while and maybe even for the long run.

  She shook her head. She couldn’t be thinking about a long-term relationship with a man who was married. That was ridiculous. Emma had seen a few of her friends do this, pine after a man who was married. The results were always the same. The man went back to his wife or worse, went with the new woman only to do the same thing to her a few years later.

  The eggs were done and Emma sat down to eat. The food was warm and delicious, but she barely noticed because her mind was wondering why he hadn’t called. Apparently, she’d not even been worthy of the effort to explain. She washed her dishes, not wanting to waste the money on running the dishwasher while she debated her evening book. The first book had been light and fluffy, taking her away from the issues in her personal life. Perhaps the second one would do the same for a few more hours.

  She almost decided on a historical bodice ripper when the doorbell rang. Her heart gave a small flutter at the thought that it could be Daniel. She was definitely going to give herself another talking to if this was her reaction. Emma walked to the door. Indeed, it was Daniel standing outside the door. He looked calm and poised, no hang dog expression on his face for being found out a liar and a cad.

  Emma took a deep, cleansing breath. She opened the door calmly. Daniel was holding a basket in his hand, looking expectantly at her. “May I come in?” he asked, not taking much for granted. Emma was glad that at least he knew his current predicament.

  “Just you? No wife?” Emma asked, looking out the door.

  “About that. I feel like I should explain.” Daniel cleared his throat and looked at Emma. Now he at least had the good graces to blush slightly. Emma was flustered, because the pink looked good on his dark skin. How could he appear to be sexy even when he was so in the wrong?

  “I’d like to hear this one,” Emma said, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the wall. She didn’t want them to get overly comfortable or anywhere near horizontal at this point. She would keep her will power by standing and standing firm.

  “That woman isn’t my wife,” Daniel said simply, as if that explained everything.

  “Nice to know,” Emma responded. “Who is she?”

  “Her name is Margot. She’s my ex-wife.”

  “And that makes it better? Why is your ex-wife still in the picture and why does she still visit you?”

  Daniel cleared his throat again. “I was the one who wanted the divorce. She didn’t. She still gets upset and then has to talk things out with me. It’s basically a rehashing of what’s been said before. It’s awkward, but seems to be unavoidable.”

  “It would have been really nice to have known this before she showed up at your door.”

  Daniel nodded. “I understand. I’ve really been enjoying the times we’ve spent together, but maybe we also need to spend some time getting to know each other better before we go too far.”

  Emma nearly went slack-jawed. The man had actually suggested slowing things down and talking more. She’d always thought of that as a woman’s line. “That would be okay I guess. I’d want to hear more about the ex-wife and why she’s still around.”

  Daniel nodded. “I can share some of that with you.”

  The words struck Emma as awkward. Why would he only share some of this? Why wouldn’t he tell her the whole truth about the situation? She knew that some people kept awkward relationships with their former spouses, hoping to keep the good parts while moving on in other ways. Perhaps this was another one of those situations. She hoped not, because she knew that she could get overly competitive and more than a little jealous when it came to dating.

  “I’d like to hear this story. I need to make sense of what happened today. I left not liking the way I felt at all.” Emma was a bit surprised at her honesty with Daniel. She’d not pulled any punches and she’d not spared his feelings. It was a first for her, and it felt good to speak her mind.

  Daniel shifted from foot to foot, looking guilty as hell. Emma wanted to take him by the ear and lead him out of her house, but she managed to cool her temper and jealousy. Why was he waiting so long to try to explain this mess to her? “I was married for five years. It was never very happy.”

  “Any children?” Emma interrupted, getting her most important questions out of the way.

  “No. God, no. It was just the two of us.” Daniel looked surprised at the question. “Not even a dog. She refused to have one, as much as I like them.”

  “Why don’t you have one now?” Emma asked abruptly.

  “A dog? I’m on the waiting list at a local rescue shelter for terriers. They’re going to let me know when one comes in. That’s what you wanted to know?” Daniel’s face clearly showed his confusion. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t an interrogation about canines and children. “We met when we were young. Probably too young. I didn’t know what I wanted in a relationship. She didn’t know what she wanted at all.”

  “I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean?” Emma was getting impatient with the stumbling around. She was highly suspicious that this was the first volley in their break-up, and she just wanted it to be over so she could mourn and move on.

  Daniel paused. He looked over her shoulder as if looking for the answer elsewhere. Finally, he spoke again. “At first, she seemed very into being married and having a family, but as time went on, she was more interested in making waves with our friends, causing problems with others, being seen at events and parties. It just seemed like I was more like a trophy spouse to be paraded around rather than a husband to be loved.”

  “So then she didn’t miss you when you left? You were the one who left, yes?”

  Daniel laughed. “No, she wasn’t happy at all. The image of us as the perfect couple was shattered. She couldn’t be the one that everyone else envied if her husband didn’t think she was perfect too.”

  Emma stared at him. “So it was all about position and status? Didn’t she love you?”

  Daniel gave her an impish grin, as if a smile could change her mood at the moment. “I know it’s hard to believe that someone could not love this face, but it’s true. She was more in it for the position and the power. Nothing more emasculating than just being a showpiece.”

  Emma wondered at his words. Perhaps that’s why he was into domination? His last relationship had left him with no choice but to leave. She wondered how she would handle being in a similar situation, being used more for show than for love. In her books, love always won out, but Emma knew enough about life to know that things didn’t always end that well. Real life could get quite messy.

  “So why is she still around if she was that unhappy.”

  Daniel shrugged. “I’m not sure. Sometimes I think she wants me back, but I’ve made it clear that’s not going to happen. At other times, I think she just wants to keep everyone else at bay, so that if she can’t have me no one else will. It’s all pretty unhea
lthy, and I’m trying to get her out of my life. That’s about it.” He made the words sound final, as if he was done discussing the matter, even though Emma still had questions for him.

  Emma wasn’t sure what to believe by the end of the story. While she couldn’t put her finger on it, the story just didn’t seem to be entirely true. She wished she had more details about it, like what had set Daniel off to leave her. Had this ex-wife been a willing participant in his BDSM fantasies? Emma wanted to know more about that. She felt rather discouraged by his insistence on domination when it perhaps had not held his previous relationship together. What if his ex-wife had participated in it as well, but that it hadn’t been enough – or maybe Daniel wanted something more after he got to the first round of submission. Her earlier decision to submit now seemed under question again.

  Emma tried to play it off while continuing the conversation, “Any questions for me? Want to know all of my deep dark secrets? My previous relationships?”

  Daniel shrugged. “I always thought that learning about the other person was part of dating. You find out what you need to know to see if the relationship has what it takes to last.” He seemed genuinely unconcerned about Emma’s past. Maybe he just looked at her and figured that anyone who spent the day reading was unlikely to have a wild past of orgies and kink. Was that how others saw her? She wondered if that was why many guys didn’t bother getting to know her. She seemed too timid or uninterested.

  Daniel gave her a smile. “Now where were we?”

  Emma stood up straight. “You’ve got to be kidding. We were interrupted by your ex-wife and I came home to sit for nearly 8 hours before you decided to stop by and explain. I think we need a little time to contemplate all the shifts in what’s going on with us. I know I do.”