The Terms: Part One (The Terms Duet)

by Ruby Rowe

  This could lead to trouble, so I hesitate, but if I refuse, he might leave the room and look for Tony. He can’t find out his brother left the house to go to his. He’ll be suspicious for sure.

  I lie back on the bed, my head making the decision for me. It spins and spins. Ohh, I’m lightheaded, so I shut my eyes. Much better…

  “You seem easy to talk to. I think it’s because you’re not asking me how many zeroes are behind my name. Hell, you haven’t even asked me my damn name.” Ellis’s last words are slurred before he laughs.

  I suspect his behavior is out of character for him since Tony described his personality as serious and drab. He also said Ellis can’t hold his liquor and will pass out within five minutes.

  Well, we’ve surpassed the five minute mark, and I’m becoming anxious. Maybe he’ll pass out soon, and I can sneak out.

  “So, what is your name, Lady in Red?”

  “Let’s keep this night a mystery,” I mumble as I try to stop the tilt-a-whirl I’m riding on. My hands reach out, but there’s nothing there. I feel around to gain my bearings until I suddenly realize I’m patting Ellis’s firm stomach.

  In a heartbeat, he rolls onto me. My eyes fly open, and he’s so close. Ellis Burke is so close and so good-looking, and he smells yummy, too.

  “It usually takes me longer to warm up to a woman, but you’re sweet and easy to talk to,” he says while his eyes open and close … open and then close. Mine are doing the same.

  “Something’s wrong. We shouldn’t feel like this from a bottle of champagne.”

  “Maybe something’s right. Maybe we’re supposed to be right here, right now, sharing this moment together, because I can say with certain–certainly–with absolute certainty that you feel incredible beneath me.”

  “I want to fall asleep so my head will stop spinning.”

  “And I want you.”

  Oh, fuck. “Please get off of me.”

  His lips kiss up my neck, and I smell a citrus scent from his coarse hair that tickles my face.

  “Let me touch you,” he whispers.

  “You weren’t supposed to do this.”

  “But you feel so good beneath me. Please, whoever you are, give me this one night with you.”

  Fighting to hold my eyes open, I see the sincerity in his. He presses his lips to the corner of my mouth in the gentlest way. They move up my cheek, and then press to my forehead.

  “You’re genuine. I feel it,” he exhales.

  “I guess somewhere inside of me I still am, but I don’t know that girl anymore. I had to lock her away years ago and become someone distant and untrusting, all to keep my sister and me safe. It gets lonely.”

  Why am I sharing my secret with him? It’s one I’ve never told a soul.

  “I’m lonely at times, too. Wearing armor and feeling misunderstood. But I don’t know what I’m protecting. My heart maybe.”

  My fingers find his hair and play in it. We stare into each other’s eyes, sharing an intimate moment, a telling of secrets.

  His lips land on mine, and I can’t deny I’m getting aroused. His erection presses between my legs and against my thin panties.

  His tongue pushes inside my mouth, and his hand massages my breast. His touch is soft, not threatening, and I realize I’ve passed the point of control. I want Ellis Burke to touch me. For some reason, I want him to know me.

  What’s happening? My god, the tilt-a-whirl ride won’t end.

  His lips swirl over my nipple before he pulls down my negligee and finds the stiff peak with his wet mouth. I moan from the pleasure of him sucking and nipping.

  “Fuck, you smell so good, and those sounds... Let me inside you,” he breathes against my lips.

  “OK.”

  Sitting straight up, I discover I was dreaming. I’m dressed, and sweating beneath my clothes.

  “Oh, my god,” I utter.

  Moving to the side of the bed, I lean my head back and gasp for air. All these years I figured we passed out before he could do anything. We were drugged, so I assumed he couldn’t perform. I mean, we could barely hold our eyes open.

  Rubbing my forehead, I struggle to see through the fogginess of that night. Even under the influence, there was this connection between us. An intimacy, like two lost souls found their way home at that precise moment.

  I remember it now.

  I remember Ellis Burke being inside of me.

  My phone buzzes on my nightstand from a text message, so I lean over and grab it.

  I need to know your hard limits, my Rose.

  Ellis

  While working in my office after dinner, I look down at my watch. Five more minutes, and Beatrice will be here. After my discovery at Tony’s, I felt my control slipping away more than ever, so I called her and asked if she could sleep over to care for Liam. I knew I had to take Camilla to the playroom.

  I need this–she needs this. She was different again this evening, likely stressed over the news that Tony was poisoned, but we’re not going backward.

  She knows that once Beatrice arrives, she’s to go straight to the guest house and change out of her clothes. I’m getting hard just thinking about it.

  Actually, I’ve been battling an erection ever since she sent me a list of hard limits while I was still at my brother’s. Yes, I fucking texted her from his house, asking for them, and I hope somehow he knew it.

  I loved my brother, but he was an idiot to let someone like Camilla walk away, and I can’t begin to comprehend his rationale for not seeing Liam.

  I think what hurts more than anything is he didn’t tell me about it. His loss, my gain. I’ll take care of them better than he ever could.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Camilla

  Stunned, I cover my mouth with my hand.

  Red.

  Red.

  Red.

  I walk along the closet in the playroom, touching each article of lingerie. Every red article of clothing. Oh, no. It hits me like a semi barreling fast. I was wearing red the night we were drugged by Tony.

  Does he remember me? Is this a game to him? What if this moment is part of his master plan to destroy me? Maybe he’s leading me on, sucking me in so I’ll fall for him and get accustomed to this life of luxury, only to take it all away from me, along with Liam.

  I sit down on a bench that’s another reminder of Ellis’s wealth. Its cushiony seat is upholstered a light grey, and it’s held up by fancy black legs.

  I don’t know what to do. If I confront him with accusations, he’ll be angry for sure, especially if his heart is in the right place. All our secrets must be shared for us to trust each other, so I have to start somewhere and tell him about Christopher.

  I go over to an elegant grey dresser and open it. I find a pair of red thigh-high stockings that are adorned at the top with silky bows.

  At least they look nothing like what I wore that first night we met, so if he doesn’t remember me, they shouldn’t trigger the memory.

  I’m pulling on the second one when I hear him in the other room. I freeze and listen to his footsteps as he moves around. Slipping on a pair of spiked black heels, I examine myself in the mirror.

  Damn, I could use a boob lift. Having a child did a number on my body, but I guess it could be worse. My hips are wider, too, but the curves don’t look so bad.

  Nervous as hell, I approach the door, and my hand trembles on the knob. I gradually open it, and Ellis turns to me. While his eyes soak me in, he pinches his lower lip like he so often does.

  “Come here,” he says authoritatively.

  Being careful not to slip on the shiny floor, I walk toward him, admiring him as I go. He’s wearing only dark grey sweats, similar to the ones he had on that night in the kitchen, and he’s barefoot, too. He’s holding the ruby necklace he gifted me.

  “Turn.” Hooking the clasp at the back of my neck, he then presses his lips to my shoulder, causing the hair to stand up on my arms. I swear I can feel his appreciation as he turns me ba
ck to face him. “Kneel.”

  Doing as he ordered, I kneel at his feet and sit back on my legs.

  “Sir, may I please speak?”

  “Go ahead.” Slipping his fingers under my chin, he lifts it.

  “I need to confess something. It’s important.”

  “Does it have to do with our time in the playroom?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “Then you will wait until tomorrow to tell me.”

  I can’t say I’m looking forward to the conversation, so I nod in agreement.

  “I’m struggling to know where to begin with you. With so many options in this room, it’s hard to choose. Stand again.”

  Once I’m upright, he takes my hand and leads me over to the left of the bed. A plush raven rug is on the floor, and on top of it is a red cushioned ramp.

  It appears foam-filled, and attached to it at the bottom of the short slope is a cushiony wedge to use as a pillow. I can’t help but notice, too, that there are restraints on both sides and at each end of the ramp.

  “Lie over the ramp on your stomach with your hips resting at the top of it. I’ll be right back.”

  Getting on my knees, I lean over the cushion and rest my forearms on the wedge. I find I’m rather comfortable, but I have an alarming thought of how my ass is in the air, perfectly positioned for Ellis to spank if he wishes.

  Sensual music fills the room, and I recognize the artist, Alan Walker. A drawer opens at the dresser, causing my breath to hitch. The wait is enthralling in itself, gripping me to my bones, holding me still for Ellis’s return.

  I eye his backside and how his sweats hang low on his hips, revealing the top of his ass. So help me, I want to squeeze the firmness of his cheeks.

  Strolling back, he then squats next to me and sets some items down beside him. I heave for a breath as he puts my wrist in a black leather cuff and buckles it. He moves around to the other side and does the same. I’m still on my forearms but shackled to the wedge.

  He holds something up in front of my face.

  “This, my Rose, is a pinwheel.” There’s a devilish sparkle in his eyes as he holds the metal handle. He rolls the device over his fingers, and I notice the pins sticking out of the wheel are rounded at the tips. Gently, he glides it along my forearm, creating a tingly sensation. “How does that feel?”

  “Prickly but good.” Setting it down, he holds up another item.

  “This is a butt plug. I’ll ease it in before I fuck your pussy from behind. Something I’ve wanted to do since you first gave me attitude in my car.”

  Holy. Hell.

  “Lie down on your chest and relax.” Although I’m restrained, I’m able to move my arms enough to rest my cheek on my hands.

  Lowering to his knees, about center to my body, he begins moving the pinwheel across my shoulder. I know this because I feel the prickly sensations.

  It’s not painful like I first expected it to be. There is the faintest sting, and as he glides it over my other shoulder, my body quivers, and I hum from the stimulating motion.

  He skims it down the center of my spine, igniting my arousal, especially once he reaches the curve above my ass.

  It rolls up each side of my back, and I relish in the spine-tingling feel of it all as I get lost in the sensual sound of the music.

  I take notice of the lyrics in the song “Faded” that speak of someone disappearing or only ever being imaginary … a fantasy. I’ve come to realize how much that night we shared years ago affected Ellis.

  The intimate time between us was a contrasting kaleidoscope of light and dark. A colorful confusion, yet a clarity of truth. We were two complete strangers baring our souls amidst a blurry fog.

  My closed eyelids can’t hold back the forming tears. A couple of them manage to slip from the corners of my eyes. Ellis and I were meant to find one another.

  I feel it…

  I believe it.

  This is genuine.

  Ellis

  Setting down the pinwheel, I press my lips to the center of Camilla’s spine. My fingertips skim down her back at each side, and my cock aches over her moans and her shuddering body.

  The way her chest is pressed against the slope of the ramp, so she can inch her ass higher in the air, incites a growl from deep in my chest. I want her so damn bad. To fuck her hard from behind. To own her at this moment.

  My tongue darts out, and I drag it down her spine, causing bumps to rise to the surface of her skin. Moving behind her on my knees, I glide my hands along her hips before I pull back on them just a touch, teasing her of what’s to come.

  Her arms come out from under her cheek, yanking the restraints, the sound like a dinner bell for my cock. I’m so fucking hungry for her.

  I spread her ass cheeks apart, and she’s on her forearms in an instant, shoving her ass up for me. My tongue skims down her crack until it reaches her slick cunt.

  She’s soaking wet, her pussy waiting for me to have a taste … to fuck it with my tongue and my cock, slow at first, and then hard and fast.

  “God, yes, Sir. Please give me more,” she begs through a moan.

  Fucking hell. I want to give her more. My shaft far up her ass is what I’d like to give her. My mouth covers her pussy, and I eat her out. She’s practically dripping on my face as I lick and stroke her, pulling her cheeks apart more.

  She’s saying the word Sir repeatedly with a chorus of moans, and every time she gets to the brink, I ease up. I continue this several times, preventing her orgasm.

  “Please, Sir, let me come.”

  Finally, her wish is my command, so I flick her clit until she breaks into a thousand pieces against my mouth. I hold her hips still to keep her from collapsing.

  Fuck, I want to rush along, to get my dick inside her, but at the same time, I never want this to end. I stretch over and grab the lube from the floor.

  Squirting it all over her ass, I watch as it shines even up into the two sexy dimples of her lower back. My fingers spread it along her asshole before I pick up the butt plug.

  “Baby, breathe as I slide this inside your ass.” Her back rises with a deep inhale, and she sticks her ass up farther. I knew she fucking wanted this. Barely inserting the tip, I watch as her muscles clamp around it. “Breathe … try to relax.”

  She does it for me, and it allows me to inch the plug into her. Within a minute, I have a few of the four and a half inches inside.

  Her moans haven’t subsided, and I’m about to come from the way her ass twitches as her muscles squeeze the plug tight.

  Imagining my cock in its place, I can’t take another second, so I shove down my sweats, and holding the butt plug steady, I glide my shaft into her tight pussy.

  “Oh, I feel so full with both,” she utters.

  “That’s right. Take us both.” I pull back, and pushing the plug completely in at the same time, I sink inside her once again, deeper this time.

  “Fuck, you feel sensational.” Clutching her hip, I begin moving faster. I’m slapping against her ass as she squeezes my cock, and the sight of her is going to be my undoing.

  Restrained wrists.

  Her arched back.

  Her perfect lubed ass at my service.

  Erotic red stockings.

  And a plug deep inside her asshole.

  Christ. “Come now, my Rose. Come now.”

  She does as I order like I’m the fucking majesty. My dick couldn’t be clenched tighter by her pussy, and as we come together, I slide the plug out from her ass.

  She cries from the pleasure, her whole body shaking in ecstasy, and I can’t remember a greater moment in my life. “Shit, baby, yes,” I manage to say through a long groan.

  I drop the plug to the floor, and wrapping my arm around her upper thighs, I fall over her back, wanting to be skin to skin with her. I also feel the need to collapse as I come down from an immense high.

  Figuring she’s uncomfortable, I reluctantly move and undo her restraints. Helping her down from the ramp, I pick h
er up and carry her over to the turned-down bed.

  With her eyes closed, she scoots over to make room for me. I climb in next, and without hesitation, she moves back to me and presses her feverish body to mine. Her arm circles my waist as we both heave for breaths.

  “Thank you, Sir,” she whispers.

  Kissing her silky hair, I pull her closer.

  The woman in my dreams is real, and she’s all mine.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Camilla

  Sitting in my chair with my back to my desk, I stare out the window in my study at the sleet coming down from the grey sky. The temperatures in Denver are beginning to rise but not enough for the ice to be rain.

  I, however, am the furthest from cold. My body still burns from within as I fantasize over the night spent with Ellis in the guest house. Our hideaway.

  I gave up studying since his touch and dominance are all I can think about. I’m working toward a master’s in public administration, and Ellis is a distraction I can’t afford to have, but hell if I’d stop him. I’m hooked. I never thought I could have an addiction, but he might be it.

  I jump from a knock at my door. “Come in,” I say as I swivel around to face my desk. Liam skips in with Emma following behind. She’s holding her stomach and is pasty white.

  “Emma, are you OK?”

  “No. I’ve been sick since right after lunch.”

  “Hmm…” I look to Liam. “Sweetie, does your stomach hurt?”

  He smiles. “Nope, but Emma throwed up in my bafroom.” His forehead scrunches, his smile turning upside down. “It was nasty.”

  “Well, I don’t feel sick, either, and we all ate the same thing for lunch. Maybe you’re getting a stomach bug.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You should go home. We’ll be fine here.”

  Her head shakes. “But you started classes today. I need to stay.”

  “No, you shouldn’t. Please go home and rest. Liam’s due for his nap, so I can get more done then, and besides, I’m sort of distracted today.”