Hero

by Julia Sykes

  “I don’t care what she said. I’m not letting you out of my sight while you’re working this story on the Kings.”

  She sighed. “Okay, Dex. I appreciate that you care. Thanks for helping me out.”

  I ran my fingers through her hair, traced the line of her jaw. “Of course I care.”

  The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, puncturing the sensual tension that had instantly gathered between us.

  “Come on,” I urged, grasping her hand. “I’m taking you home.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Yes, I do. We need to talk.”

  Resolutely, I pushed all lingering thoughts of Katie from my mind. It was time to put my plan into action. Soon, Chloe would be crying out my name while she writhed on her bed, wearing nothing but my cuffs. She’d admit that she was mine.

  15

  Chloe

  “Sorry, my place is kind of a mess,” I apologized as I unlocked the front door to my townhouse. If I’d known Dex was coming, I would have at least thrown all the clutter into closets to hide it. My place wasn’t dirty; it was just messy. I was too busy with my work to bother keeping everything tidy. And what did it matter if I was the only one who had to deal with the clutter? It wasn’t like I ever brought men home.

  I watched him anxiously as he took in the mess, his pale eyes roving over the papers and notebooks scattered across my coffee table and piled on my sofa. After a moment, he shook his head with a wry smile.

  “You need a keeper,” he declared.

  I blushed. “No, I don’t. I’m perfectly capable of straightening up. I just don’t have time.”

  “You need a little structure in your life. You’re all creativity and chaos.”

  “And you could use a little chaos in your life,” I shot back. “You take everything so seriously.”

  He chuckled. “Maybe I do. But I am serious about talking to you. There’s something we need to discuss.”

  I stiffened. “I don’t want to talk about Neil.”

  He took a step toward me, entering my personal space. His fingers threaded through my hair, cupping my nape.

  “We don’t have to talk about him,” he said in that deep, soothing tone that always managed to melt my insides. “Not until you’re ready.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready,” I admitted.

  “I won’t force you to tell me anything. But I do want you to trust me. I want to be your Dom, Chloe.”

  My breath caught. “But…” I stammered. “But you barely know me. We’ve only just met. We live in different cities. And—”

  He pressed two fingers to my lips, silencing me. “We can figure all that out. I care about you.”

  My heart ached with longing. I wanted to tell him I cared, too. More than I would have thought possible. But I couldn’t give him what he needed. Not now. Maybe not ever.

  “You don’t want to be with me,” I told him quietly. “I can’t give you what you want.”

  “And what is it you think I want?”

  I cut my eyes away. “Sex,” I said, my voice small.

  He gently cupped my jaw, redirecting my gaze to his. “I won’t deny that I want to fuck you, Chloe. You’re a gorgeous woman, and I haven’t felt a connection like this in years. But I want to take care of you more than I want to indulge my own physical desires. Besides,” he gave me a half-smile, “we’ve shared some of the hottest scenes of my life. I don’t need sex. I just need your trust.”

  “But you could have anyone you want,” I protested, desperate for him to understand. He might say he could go without sex, but eventually he’d tire of me and find someone who would fuck him.

  His eyes burned into me, searing into my soul. “I want you, Chloe. I’m not going to let you push me away. I know you’ve been hurt before, but I would never harm you in any way. As my sub, your happiness and wellbeing will be my top priority.”

  What he offered was so tempting, so perfect it couldn’t possibly be real.

  “I haven’t agreed to be your sub,” I tried to sound flippant, but my denial lacked any conviction.

  His gentle smile sharpened to a grin. “I didn’t expect this to be easy. Too bad for you, you’ve made me realize I enjoy a challenge. You will accept me as your Dom, Chloe.”

  “You can’t force me to agree to this.”

  “I would never force you to do anything. However, I can persuade you. And we both know you want to say yes.”

  “Maybe I do want to say yes. That doesn’t mean I’m going to. This is more complicated than you’re pretending, Dex.”

  “I want you to be mine. There’s nothing at all complicated about that. The rest, we can deal with as it comes.”

  “But—”

  Before I could protest further, he brought his lips down on mine, holding me in place with his gentle grip on my nape. His other hand found the buttons at the front of my blouse, opening each one in rapid succession until the shirt fell open. He reached behind me and deftly unsnapped my bra, his strong fingers gentle on my back. All the while, he kept me captured in his kiss, his tongue sliding along mine in steady, determined strokes.

  His hands continued their work, shifting to my slacks. He unzipped them, and they slid down my legs. Automatically, I stepped out of them along with my flats. I was getting caught up in him, and the powerful connection between us swept all thought of resistance away.

  I shrugged out of my blouse, allowing it to fall to the floor along with my bra. My fingers fumbled at the buttons on his crisp white shirt. Never breaking our kiss, he reached between us to help with my progress, stripping his clothes away until he wore only his slacks. His heat pulsed over me, and his masculine scent overwhelmed my senses, making me lust-drunk. I trailed my fingers across his powerful shoulders, tracing the contours of his bulging muscles. He was so strong, but he held me carefully, as though I was something precious and fragile.

  Suddenly, the world tilted, and I found myself cradled in his arms.

  “Bedroom?” he asked, his warm breath playing across my sensitized lips.

  “Upstairs,” I panted out before crushing my mouth to his again.

  He managed to make his way up the stairs without ending our frenzied kiss. He sucked on my lips, traced them with his tongue, nipped at them with his teeth. I shuddered and sighed, relaxing in his hold.

  I let out a shocked squeak when he dropped me onto my bed, the air whooshing out of me when I hit the soft mattress. I sucked in a breath and released it on a thrilled giggle as adrenaline spiked through me after the sensation of falling.

  He took advantage of my momentary disorientation. Familiar cool metal clicked closed around my wrists. I craned my head back to see that he’d cuffed my hands around one of the wooden slats in my headboard.

  “You really are obsessed with cuffing me, aren’t you?” I teased breathlessly.

  He grinned. “Payback, princess. You never should have picked that lock.” He patted his pocket. “And I almost always have my cuffs on me, so it’s not difficult to restrain my naughty sub.”

  “I’m not your sub,” I managed to say, but it was more playful than defiant.

  “Yes, you are. You just haven’t admitted it yet.” He took a step back, towering over me where I lay stretched out on my bed. “Now, I wonder where my kinky girl would keep her goodie drawer,” he mused. He didn’t bother searching the room; he simply studied me intently.

  My cheeks heated, and my eyes automatically darted to my bedside table. His smile widened, triumphant, and he slid open the drawer to reveal my stash of sex toys.

  “Jackpot.” He let out a low whistle. “This is quite the collection.”

  “I don’t use all of them,” I said, defensive. “I got them for—”

  “Your research,” he finished for me. “Yes, I guessed as much. You’re a very curious girl, aren’t you?”

  He reached into the drawer and pulled out a huge blue anal plug. I shook my head wildly.

  “I bought that by mistak
e,” the words tumbled out of me. “I didn’t understand the sizing.”

  “So you’ve never used it?”

  “Of course not. It’s too big.”

  His grin turned savage. “That sounds like a challenge, princess. And I told you: I’ve come to realize I love a challenge.”

  He set the plug down and grasped my teal lace panties in both fists. Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he gave one jerk of his powerful arms, and the delicate fabric tore free.

  “Hey!” I gasped out as he tossed the ruined scrap of lace away. “I liked those.”

  “Not as much as you’ll like this.” He picked up the plug again and retrieved my bottle of lube from the drawer.

  “Dex, be serious. That will never fit inside me.”

  “Oh, I am being serious, princess. And I believe you accused me of taking everything so seriously, so you shouldn’t be surprised.” He cleaned the excess lube from his hand with one of my cleansing wipes.

  “It’s going to hurt,” I tried to make him see reason.

  “It won’t. I won’t let it. I can be very patient.” As he spoke, he pulled yet another item from my drawer: my cordless Hitachi vibrator. “Do you remember what I told you the first time I plugged you? The quickest way to tame a willful sub is to fill her ass.”

  I shook my head, keeping my eyes fixed on the huge blue toy as it neared my most vulnerable area. “I’m not being willful,” I insisted.

  He paused. “Are you ready to admit that I’m your Dom?”

  I pressed my lips together. I couldn’t admit it. I’d spent three years alone. The prospect of letting anyone in was scary, even if that person was Dex.

  “Do you trust me?” he asked, the teasing lilt disappearing from his tone.

  “Yes,” I said quietly. I couldn’t help trusting him. I hadn’t trusted anyone since Neil betrayed me, but somehow Dex had worked his way past my defenses and found a place in my heart.

  It was all happening so fast. Surely I couldn’t feel so strongly about Dex in such a short time?

  But the connection between us was undeniable, my submission inevitable. The glint in Dex’s flame-blue eyes told me he knew it, too.

  “You’re mine, Chloe,” he declared, his voice low and rough.

  The tip of the plug kissed my asshole, and the vibrator touched my clit as Dex flicked it on the lowest setting. He applied pressure, and the plug began to penetrate me. My inner muscles danced around the intrusion as all my dark nerve endings lit up. The tingling of the vibrator sent pleasure racing from my clit throughout my body, making my core throb and my nipples tighten. I moaned, and my eyes rolled back in my head as carnal bliss settled over me.

  “Look at me,” he ordered.

  My gaze found his, my compliance immediate and unquestioning. He commanded my full attention, my absolute obedience. He controlled my pleasure, my body. But his dominance went deeper than simple physical ownership. His pale eyes looked into my heart, silently demanding that I give him everything: my body, my will, my soul.

  An orgasm burst through me, sudden and visceral. There hadn’t been a slow, cresting wave; simply a flash of white-hot pleasure.

  The plug slid in farther as my body relaxed in ecstasy. I gasped for breath as fresh bliss rose up in response. The dual stimulation of my clit and my ass was enough to overwhelm me, to dive all thoughts and concerns from my head.

  “I wonder how many times you’ll come before I get this all the way in,” Dex said, his tone merely curious but his eyes intense.

  My clit was becoming too sensitive beneath the assault of the vibrator. I squirmed and whined, but I couldn’t escape him. “It’s too much,” I panted.

  He shook his head. “I want more,” he said, steady, determined. “You’re going to give me more orgasms, and you’re going to accept me as your Dom before this plug fills your ass. Tell me you’re my sub.”

  “I can’t,” I forced out, my teeth gritted against the mounting pleasure.

  “You can. I know you’ve never truly submitted to another Dom. I earned your submission. You’re already mine. I just want to hear you say it.”

  I cried out as my second orgasm claimed me. The plug slid in farther, adding dark layers of bliss to my tormented ecstasy. The pleasure was as unrelenting as the man who was inflicting it.

  “Tell me you’re mine, princess,” he urged. “Let me take care of you. Trust that I would never hurt you.”

  “I know you wouldn’t,” I gasped out, my entire body tensing as the plug slipped a little deeper. As he’d promised, there was no pain. Only slow, torturous pleasure as he claimed me.

  “I know things are complicated,” he continued in that soothing tone that made my chest ease and my toes curl. “I know you have a lot to deal with before you’re ready to let me into your life. I have things I need to deal with, too. But you left New York, and I couldn’t let you go. There’s something between us, Chloe. And I’m not going to let you run from me just because you’re scared.”

  “But I am scared,” I admitted, my pride and pretense stripped away, leaving only stark honesty.

  “Would it help if I told you I’m scared, too?”

  “You’re not scared of anything.”

  His eyes tightened. “I’ve lost someone I cared about before. I don’t want that to happen again. I won’t let it. I’m scared of losing you before I even really know you, Chloe. Take a chance,” he urged. “Accept me as your Dom, and let’s see where this goes.”

  I was comforted that he wasn’t professing undying love or proposing a lifetime together. We hadn’t known each other long, and I wasn’t anywhere near ready to contemplate anything so serious. But he was proposing a D/s relationship. There would be commitment and trust, but we weren’t promising forever. I’d already promised to spend forever with one man, and look how that had ended.

  “Okay,” I finally said, the single word barely a whisper.

  He cocked a blond brow at me. “Okay?” he questioned. “Do you want to try that again?”

  I took a deep breath. “I want you to be my Dom, Dex.”

  He beamed at me, his handsome face alight with triumph and something brighter: unadulterated joy. It knocked the air from my chest.

  He turned the dial on the Hitachi, and the vibrations increased. I threw back my head with a sharp cry as a third orgasm ripped through me. The plug stretched and filled me, the widest part easing past my tight ring of muscles with a light popping sensation.

  “Good girl,” he praised, pressing the plug in deep, so the base was flush with my ass.

  Mercifully, he took the vibrator away, giving my aching clit a reprieve. He lay down beside me, running his calloused palm across my skin as he stroked me. I shivered at the delicious contact against my sensitized flesh. He toyed with my tight nipples, rolling and pinching them between his fingers.

  “Aren’t you going to take the plug out?” I asked after I caught my breath.

  “Oh, no. Definitely not yet. You’re so cute and subbie right now. I want to keep you this way.”

  I pouted. “You do like to control me.”

  He chuckled and brushed a kiss across my lips. “Of course I do. But I also like bantering with you. I like how you challenge me. But right now, I like the way you feel in my arms, my sweet sub.”

  My sub. A delighted shiver raced across my skin. Dex was my Dom. I’d told him I was scared, but in that moment, I didn’t feel even a shadow of fear. With Dex’s strong arms wrapped around me, nothing bad could possibly happen.

  “You seem happy,” Beth commented with a smile. “Who’s the guy?”

  I sipped my chocolate martini to hide my grin. When I’d texted my sister to tell her I was safely back in Chicago—which she’d made me promise to do before I left—she’d insisted we meet up for a drink. I hadn’t wanted to leave Dex after our intense afternoon, but I couldn’t blow Beth off. I knew from experience that she’d simply show up at my place to check on me. It was easier to acquiesce and meet her in public. Dex and I might have
agreed to start a relationship, but it was far too soon for him to meet my family. I’d left him in my house after extracting a promise that he wouldn’t watch any more Supernatural without me.

  I tried to face Beth with nonchalance. “Who says there’s a guy?”

  She shot me a level look, her brown eyes businesslike. “Don’t pull that crap with me, Chloe. I’m your big sister. I can tell these things. I haven’t seen you this giddy since you met—” She stopped herself short. “I’m glad you’re happy,” she finished lamely.

  My smile melted. I knew what she didn’t say: “I haven’t seen you this giddy since you met Neil.”

  “So,” she pressed on past the awkward moment. “What’s his name?”

  “Dex,” I replied shortly.

  “Sorry, sis,” she said, contrite. “I didn’t mean to bring him up.”

  Him. Neil.

  “It’s okay.” I didn’t entirely succeed in sounding unruffled.

  She tucked her caramel hair behind her ear, a sure sign she was uncomfortable. “Neil wasn’t right for you,” she said abruptly. “I know you were happy with him, but I’m glad you’re divorced.”

  I scowled. Happy? Beth had always been the one to tell me that Neil was no good for me, that he was holding me back in life. If only I’d listened to her when I was twenty, I could have avoided wasting four years of my life married to an abusive bastard.

  He hadn’t always been like that. When I met him at eighteen, he’d doted on me, buying me presents and always telling me how beautiful I was. I’d only just been coming out of my awkward growth spurt phase, so I wasn’t used to men thinking I was pretty. I’d fallen fast and hard.

  I wouldn’t make the same mistake with Dex. I might feel an intense connection, but that didn’t mean I was ready to let him into my heart and share my secrets. We were in a D/s relationship now, but it was new. There was plenty of time for us to get comfortable enough to open up. And I knew deep in my soul that Dex wouldn’t rush me or make me do anything I didn’t want to.

  Dex is nothing like Neil, I reasoned. He’s kind and protective and puts my needs before his own.