by Abby Gordon
“Really?” On her stomach, Pippa rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him. “Why is that?”
“Fittingly enough, just after Andy…”
“Mr. Munchson,” she corrected, mimicking the club manager’s tone and attitude.
Tony laughed, hugging her. “God, that was perfect. Add mimicry to your list of talents. I’ll have to be on my toes with you.”
“It kept my younger brothers and sisters amused and that meant they were quiet,” she told him, her humor fading into a mix of sadness and pain.
“You did what you had to, baby,” he whispered, stroking her hair.
Pippa nodded. “So, just after Andy?” she prompted.
“Just after Andy interrupted us, and I realized I wanted you, had wanted you for a couple years,” he added, shaking his head. “I mean, everyone notices you. They can’t help it. I kept telling myself you were too young, too sweet, and much too innocent.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Oh, you have this air about you. Innuendos get flung around and you don’t react to them at all. Like you don’t understand them.”
“A lot of time, I don’t,” she admitted, turning her head. She closed her eyes as his heartbeat thrummed steadily under her ear. “I have deliberately tried to avoid anything involving sex or intimacy in any way since I left home. My family made the act so awful I didn’t want to ever have anything to do with it. I actually considered being a nun, but thought they wouldn’t want me either because of what had happened.”
His caresses were tender, his arms strong about her. “You sure I can’t be alone with them for just a few minutes?” he wondered. “Just ten? Maybe five? To let them know what fucking assholes they are as parents?”
Her fingers clutched at his tee. The thought of seeing them terrified her. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I really do,” he countered. “Pippa, you’ve no idea what they’ve done to your younger siblings.”
The thought froze her mind, turned her body to stone.
“Sweetheart?”
“Oh, God,” she breathed. “I never thought about…” She lifted her head to look at him in panic. “Rose turns sixteen in a few weeks.”
“Sh,” he murmured, arms tightening around her. “I wish I hadn’t said anything. I know some people who can find out what’s happening. Make sure they’re all right. Discreetly. Maybe find your older brother as well.”
Nodding, she put her head back down, comforted by the way his hand came around and held her to him.
“You were saying about Andy?” she finally spoke.
“Oh, yes, well, after I explained to my dick that I could not clear the room, bend you over the table, and fuck you into submission…” Pippa giggled. “Sean came back to the table and we talked. We realized we’d been on the go all year. Literally since award season started last January, we’ve been going nonstop. I checked my calendar when I got back to New York a couple weeks ago. I’ve been in my apartment there a total of thirty-three days, including the past fourteen.”
“You travel with Sean? I never realized that.”
“I think my being with him keeps him out of trouble. Well, at least my being right there on the spot gets him out of trouble before it becomes public, so all that’s there are rumors.”
“Mm,” she hummed. “And two weeks ago? What happened there?”
“Oh, don’t get me started on that one,” he groaned. “Charlotte summed it up best. Sean is brilliant at three things: being a great lover, which,” Tony tapped her nose and scowled, “you will never find out about.”
“I have my own, thank you very much,” she told him pertly with a grin.
“Good answer,” he approved. “Two, he is the consummate professional, if rather obsessive, when it comes to music and acting. And three, he absolutely adores Maisie.”
“What’s she like?”
“She is eight-years old, going on thirty, precocious, talented, and has her mother’s dimples.”
“He’s wrapped around her finger, huh?”
“Completely.” His hand stroked down her back to her ass. “Thing is, I realized I’ve spent most of the past decade or so living out of suitcases. Growing up, we moved around because of my father’s job, then we got to Connecticut and…”
“You were at school,” whispered Pippa. “So you never really settled.”
“Exactly.” Relief in his voice that she understood.
His fingers stroked her ass crack and she shivered.
“So what are you looking for?” she wondered.
“The past couple weeks, I haven’t had much time to think about it,” he admitted. “See, my number one client, who happens to be my best friend, got himself in a bit of an international scandal with a famous dead painter’s daughter, who also just so happens to be a comte’s heiress, so that’s rather kept me busy.”
Pippa giggled, relaxing. “I can see how that would keep you hopping. On the phones, doing meetings, trying to keep the media from talking about him.”
“I spent the first week trying to get him on the phone. His family owns part of an island with four other families, and Sean built himself a small studio there. He went straight to his refuge and began recording. He insists it’s his best stuff ever, which is great, but in the meantime, Jessica was left to deal with everything alone.”
“So, what got him out of there?”
“Charlotte. Maisie came home from school in tears after being teased. Charlotte had spent all week trying to keep her from seeing the papers or hearing anything on TV or radio, but the kids at school knew. Charlotte might look like a puff of breeze would knock her over, but when it comes to Maisie, look out. She’s a lioness.”
“She called Sean?”
“When he didn’t call back in two hours, she called Saul. He’s the manager on the island. None of us, including members of the families who own the island, had thought of that.”
Pippa turned her head and looked at him through narrowed eyes. “None of you,” she stated.
“Yeah, I know,” he sighed. “Too damn obvious. So, Sean gets on his plane, flies to London, plays knight in a limo, which the studio and his manager absolutely loved, whisks Jessica away, and now I’m dealing with another sort of mess with all the questions about where are they, when are they coming back, et cetera.”
“Poor baby,” crooned Pippa, wriggling her hips against his. “You must be so worn out.”
Now it was his turn to look at her through narrowed eyes. “And what are you doing, Venus?”
“I think I’ll have to take care of you,” she decided.
“I like that idea,” he replied, pulling her up his body so he could kiss her.
Breathless, Pippa sighed, nestling her face against his neck.
“So, what do you want out of life?” he wondered.
“Everything,” she replied.
His hand went back to exploring her ass.
“Keeping things simple,” he suggested.
“A house, a garden, a job where I’m not being leered at by the boss,” she listed.
“I like that last one,” Tony agreed, fingers squeezing a cheek. “Anything else?”
“Mm,” she considered as he shifted them on the couch so they lay on their sides. “I love it when you do this, you know.”
“Do what?”
“Put my back against something. Get between me and the rest of the world,” murmured Pippa, hand stroking his chest and back. “I feel so protected, even as I know I’m about to fly and touch the stars.”
“I’ll have to do that every chance I get,” he decided.
“I think you do,” she replied, smiling up at him.
“So I do,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. “You know what I want? Keeping it simple?”
“What?”
“A house, a garden, a job near my wife’s job where she’s not being leered at by her boss. A couple kids…”
Pippa couldn’t move, her head spinning at hi
s words. “What?” she breathed.
“I’m not picky about which sex they are,” he told her. “Granted, I don’t know a thing about kids besides what I’ve picked up from Sean and Charlotte with Maisie.”
“No,” she whispered, a hand flat on his chest. “Before that.”
“You being leered at by your boss? I know men are going to look at you. I get that, but I am not going to have them acting toward you the way Andy did.”
“Back up a few words before that,” she prompted. Had she heard him correctly?
“A house and garden?” He frowned.
Pippa groaned. Damn the man could be dense at times. “I don’t know how they do it in America, but in England, the man usually proposes before…”
His mouth covered hers as his cock went from its constant semi-erect state to full-on hard. Their bodies shifted again and she was under him as his hips came up. The head of his erection pressed between her pussy lips.
“Which part of ‘I’m not letting you go’ did you not understand?” he demanded.
“That’s not a marriage proposal,” she countered. “That’s more like a possessive statement of ownership or something.”
“Something like this?” he growled, pushing his cock fully into her.
“Yes,” she breathed, wondering just what was going on in his head. “Please, Tony. Talk to me.”
Frustrated, Tony stared down at her. Couldn’t the woman understand simple English? Or basic rules? He was pretty certain he’d made it clear on more than one occasion that she was to call him ‘Master’ if they were alone. And couldn’t she see that he was…He sighed.
“Dammit,” he muttered, closing his eyes.
“Tony,” urged Pippa, her fingertips brushing his cheek. “Talk to me. Please. I need to know what’s going on in here.” She tapped his temple. “Words are your specialty.”
“They are,” he agreed, slowly opening his eyes and meeting her distressed expression. “Relationships aren’t. I’ve stayed out of them as much as you’ve stayed away from anything to do with sex.”
“Why?” she wanted to know.
“In college, senior year, Sean’s second album had just come out, along with his first movie. He was everywhere, hitting it big. Everyone kept telling him he had to get a PR person, to go along with the manager, personal assistant, lawyer, and accountant.”
“That’s a lot of people,” she commented dryly.
“It’s a lot of money, lot of business to keep straight,” he explained. “Every interview, he kept saying he was waiting for me to graduate. That I’d been advising him for two years, and when I graduated, I would be his PR person. Most people laughed at him, saying I had no experience. That hurt a bit.”
“But you knew Sean,” she pointed out. “He trusted you.”
“That’s the way he was thinking,” Tony agreed. “So, I’ve got my head down, focused on studying, learning everything I can so I won’t let him down. And the last semester, there’s a new girl in my classes. I’d never seen her before, and after a couple years, you pretty much know everyone. God, this is embarrassing to tell you,” he groaned.
“You fell for her,” Pippa said quietly, clearly figuring out where the story was going.
“Hook, line, and sinker,” he confessed. “The biggest irony? She hadn’t done all her homework on me. She figured that, if I’d gone to school with Sean since we were thirteen…”
“That you had about as much money as he did.”
“Exactly. And when she saw the paperwork for my financial loans and grants, she accused me of deceiving her and leading her on.”
“What a bitch,” denounced Pippa. “That’s what she was doing.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “Thank you for that. Bronson Franklin found me at the campus pub, trying to get as drunk as I could. He hauled my ass to his cousin’s apartment to keep me out of trouble. And that’s when Grant talked to both of us about sex.”
“You didn’t know what it was before then?” she teased.
His eyes narrowed, but he loved her giggle.
“About being sexual Dominants.” Her eyes widened and she swallowed. He nodded. “Exactly. He took us to a club that’s been around since the late 1800s, and we started training.”
“Training?” She goggled at him.
“The O’Grady family is very particular about who is with the submissives and slaves in their clubs. Liam runs the clubs now and is very protective of them and even more careful to keep a low profile. Of course, having most of the elites in the city if not the country helps if there is any trouble. And there is a lot of responsibility. A sexual Dominant has to earn the trust of the submissive. Be aware of what to watch for to ensure the sub’s safety and well-being. Even if the sub tries to insist he or she is okay.”
“Like choking on a cock?” she wondered.
“Among other things,” he confirmed with a nod. “So, I really don’t know relationships either. Guess we’ll have to work on that together, won’t we?”
“We?” she asked archly.
“Pippa,” he growled.
“Bloody hell, Tony,” she swatted his shoulder with her palm. “I’m only going to get one my entire life. Come on. Humor and romance a girl, okay?”
Bracing himself on his forearms so one was under her upper back, the other so his hand could conveniently brush her breast, Tony looked at her irritated face and bit back his angry response. Shit. She was right. They had this one moment, and he was acting like it wasn’t important when it was. It was as important as that moment when he’d caught her wrist, or as he was leaving the room at the club. Or the moment he’d realized he’d taken her into a submissive zone. Words were his specialty. He better use them well, because both of them would remember if he didn’t. He moved his left hand from her breast to her face.
“Pippa,” he whispered, fingertips touching her jaw. “My sexy, strong, smart, Pippa. I can’t imagine a future without you. I don’t know what that future holds for us, but I know if you’re with me, by my side, holding my hand, it will be bright and warm, full of love and hope. You center me. You make me realize the man I want to be is the one taking care of you, loving you. I want to hold you in my arms every night knowing you’ll be waking up in them. Will you marry me?”
He watched tears fill her eyes as he spoke, and prayed he wasn’t screwing everything up. His last words were barely above a whisper. His Pippa sniffled, then he felt her hands moving up his chest to cradle his face.
“That was beautiful,” she breathed. “Yes, yes, I’ll marry you.”
With an exhale of relief, he bent his head and kissed her.
****
“I think you should do all the cooking from now on,” Pippa decided as they washed the dishes. “You’re very good at it. Nearly as good as you are a lover. Or proposing.”
“Oh, really?” Tony wondered, grinning. “That good?”
“No ego problems with you, are there?” she laughed, putting away the glass dish he’d used to marinate the steaks.
Pippa knelt, causing the tee she was wearing to ride up and expose her heart-shaped ass. He couldn’t resist. As she straightened, he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Oh, baby, all I want to worry about is taking care of you. Sexually.” His hand went to her pussy, two fingers thrusting inside. She moaned, leaning against him. “Protecting you and being strong for you. That’s all I want to do.”
“Mm,” she sighed. “And you’re so good at all of that.”
Glancing at the counter he had just wiped down, he figured they were done with work.
“Time to play, Venus,” he whispered in her ear.
“Yes, please, Master. Play with me,” she begged.
His left hand went under her tee and found a breast. Her pussy was dripping. Her nipples tight and eager.
“God, I love to hear you beg,” he told her. “Love to hear you, smell you. Watch you.”
Her trim backside wriggled against him in need.
His mouth trailed down her neck to the pulse just near her collarbone, where there were already a few marks from his attention. His right hand brushed over her flat abdomen to cup her mons. She moaned, shifting against his palm. He stroked his fingers in and out of her pussy, rubbing her clit with his thumb. Each time, her body responded faster, ready to explode at his command.
“I can just imagine you with some of my toys,” he breathed, nibbling her shoulder. “Nipple clamps tightened just so.” He pinched the nipple hard, and even as she cried out, he caught the other firmly. “A vibrator the size of my middle finger in your ass. And a butterfly over your pussy.”
“A what?” she gasped.
“It’s a device that nestles in your folds,” he explained, rubbing his thumb along the sleek skin. “Curves around, so nothing is left out.” His mouth nuzzled her ear and he felt her sigh. “I have one that has a plug on it that will fill your hole quite nicely I think. And there’s a cup to fit over your clit.” His tongue traced the curve of her ear, and she shuddered against him. “And can you guess the best thing, Venus?”
“No, Master,” she panted.
He smiled. Her slender body already gleamed with perspiration. He could feel his cock pressing against her ass crack, ready to take her. His breathing was faster, shallower as his body prepared.
“They all vibrate. I could put them on you, securing them with a harness that you have to wear all day. And I simply press a button to turn them all on.”
“Oh, my god,” inhaled Pippa.
“The combination would probably bring you right to the edge, wouldn’t it?” he whispered in her ear, excited just at the thought of doing that to her. She nodded, panting as her hips writhed.“But you wouldn’t be able to come, would you? You know why?”
“Why, Master?” she wanted to know.
He stroked his fingers into her, catching her G-spot as he pinched her nipple. Pippa gasped, her wriggling body trying desperately to orgasm.
“Why, Master?” she cried out.
“Because, my sweet Venus, I hadn’t given you permission.”
Eyes wide, she met his knowing gaze. Tony nodded, seeing the acknowledgment in her stunned eyes.
