by Anthology
She unbuttoned her blouse and laid it on the chair beside her bag. Wondering if he was watching her at that very moment, she unfastened her skirt. She remembered the feel of his hands in her hair and sighed. She’d felt so beautiful. Tucking the memory close, she decided that if he watched her, she’d really give him something worth seeing.
He hadn’t left the robe for her to wear. He’d see everything.
Keeping her knees straight, she slid the skirt down her legs in a slow glide, revealing the silvery lace thong she wore. Taking her time, she carefully stepped out of the skirt and left her heels on. Standing, she folded the skirt and placed it with her top. She met her reflection in the dark glass and unfastened her bra, wondering if he watched and if he could see her breasts free of the confining lace.
Her nipples beaded, so sensitive that the very air seemed like a caress. Heavy, expectant, her breasts throbbed. Did she dare? He’d never forbidden her from touching herself, but wasn’t there an unspoken rule that a sub must wait for their Dom’s permission before self-pleasuring?
She cupped the heavy weights in her palms and brushed her thumbs over the tight tips. An electric tingle raced to her womb, intensifying her need. Her pussy felt full, yet starving. Pinching her nipples, she stifled a moan.
Knowing she toed a precarious line, she released her aching flesh.
She imagined him standing behind her as she hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her panties. Her body ached, yearned, as she slowly stripped the damp lace from her body. She placed her underthings with her clothes and released her hair from the knot at the back of her head. It brushed against her back as she donned the hood.
Inside the muted world behind the silk, she waited and wondered as the dim city lights flickered before her.
She didn’t have to wait long.
Heat brushed over her back, a delicious, phantom caress.
Then he spoke. “You appear to be set on pleasure tonight. Are you hungry for what only a Dom can provide?”
* * *
Her quiet answer washed through him. “Yes, sir.” Her admission was what he expected to hear, but not what he needed. He had a hunger of his own and it revolved around her. From day one, he’d make certain there were no misunderstandings. This was far too important.
“Wrong. You hunger for what only I can provide. You may not be aware yet, but no other Dom will do. It seems you need a lesson. Before we go forward you’ll have to understand the difference between what just any Dom can provide and what your Dom will provide for you.”
He heard a distinct hitch in her breathing. He didn’t know if she understood his meaning, but at least he knew she wasn’t unaffected. Fingering a soft curl of hair trailing down her back, he marveled over its beauty. He’d always loved her hair, but being able to touch it? Wrap it around his hand and anchor her to him with a firm grip? He couldn’t wait.
“Tonight, you won’t leave—you won’t receive the release you need so badly—until I’m certain you understand the difference.” He’d make certain of it or die trying. “Place your hands on the glass. No matter what I do, don’t move.”
She placed her palms on the window without hesitation. No games, no pretense. He’d loved that about their first night.
“Spread your legs. I’ve gone over your limit questionnaire, but is there anything you need to add to it? Once we begin, there will be no going back unless you use your safe word.” He straightened a curl and released it.
“No, sir.” A soft quiet balm, her words washed over him. “I want only to please you. I want whatever you give me.”
His response came out harsher than he intended. “Me? Or any Dom?” He concentrated on keeping himself in check.
Her shoulders rose on another stuttered breath. “You.”
Her answer drifted closer to what he needed to hear. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page, tell me your safe word.” Before they met the first time he’d read it several times over and had been puzzled by her choice.
When he figured out who she was, it made perfect sense.
“Band-Aid.”
He pushed her hair over her shoulder and traced the long line of her spine with his fingertip. “Were you aware that I was watching you? Or do you always put on a striptease when you undress?”
“I wondered if you were watching, but I didn’t know.”
“What made you do it?” He wished he could remove the hood and look into her eyes. He remembered them from years ago, a sexy shade of crystalline blue.
“I remembered how beautiful you made me feel last time. When I wondered if you were watching, the feeling came back. I …wanted to show you how lovely I felt. I’m sorry.” Her quiet admission cemented his resolve to do this right. She was far too rare a woman to let get away.
“Do not apologize for that ever. In fact, from this point forward, anytime you undress before me, you do it just like that. Understood?” For now, he left out the part where he envisioned years of watching her reveal her beauty to him, one slow fraction at a time.
“Yes, sir.” He retraced his path up her back with the palm of his hand, marveling over the events that brought them together.
“Good. Do you like touching your breasts? You seemed to enjoy it a few minutes ago.” He’d watched through a security camera and envied her hands as he ached to feel the soft weight of her flesh in his own palms.
“Sometimes.”
He stepped back giving her a little space. “Turn around and show me.”
She turned and faced him, a vision of beauty. Creamy skin and soft curves waited for him to explore. He wanted nothing more than to experience her every response, committing each one to memory.
“Touch your breasts. Show me what you like.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
She cupped them in her palms and lifted, thumbing the taught peaks. Glimpses of pale brown nipples pinched lightly between her fingers sent blood rushing to his already heavy cock.
Tracing the lines of her body with his gaze, he marveled over her graceful legs and the prize at the end of the trail, a small patch of curls. How many times had he imagined sinking into her arousal slickened pussy?
She tightened her hold on the flesh in her palms and he wished he could see the bloom of pleasure on her face. He yearned to remove the hood and see all of her at once. But not yet.
“You like it hard?” he asked. In time he would learn all of her secrets.
Her soft words puzzled him. “I do, but it’s not the same.”
“What’s not the same?”
She tugged on her nipples making his mouth water. “Touching myself. Though I enjoy it, it’s not quite as good as having someone else touch me.”
Someone else.
He’d make sure that was the last time she ever thought about anyone else touching what was his.
“What about your pussy? When was the last time you touched it?”
“The night after our last encounter. I needed release.”
“Come with me.” Fighting his body’s impatience, he reminded himself that more important things were at play as the rooms of his apartment passed by. Her hand rested in his, a tender acceptance he vowed never to take for granted. “Lay back on the bed and get comfortable. You won’t be going anywhere for a while.” He drew her into his dark bedroom and turned on the lights. He’d ensure that by tonight’s end everything would be revealed, both physically and emotionally.
So docile and perfect, she lay back on his bed and waited.
He stood at the end of the bed, watching. “Tell me, did you use your fingers or a toy when you touched yourself?”
“My fingers.”
“Did you play with your pretty little clit or fuck yourself with your fingers. Spread your legs and show me.” She opened her legs and the sight of her exposed sex made him want to thrust his dick inside her and pound the night away. “Wider. I want to see everything.” Wanted? Hell, he needed it like he needed his next breath.
She bent her knees and spread
her legs even wider. Her luscious breasts rose and fell as her arousal increased. Graceful fingers toyed with red, slick folds. A dangerous question jumped from his mouth before he could stop it. “What did you think about when you finger-fucked yourself?”
“You.” Her quiet admission slammed into him.
“Me? What about me?” He asked with baited breath, cursing the power she held over him.
“I imagined what your hands would feel like on my body and…” When her admission trailed off, he cursed her shyness. When her index finger slipped inside her pussy, he almost wept with envy.
“Finish your sentence. Leave nothing out.” He moved to stand beside the bed, close to one of her knees.
“I imagined what it would feel like when you, if you…” Her fingers faltered and then paused.
“Say it. There’s no room for pretty words or euphemisms here.” Unable to resist, he used his fingertip to touch her clit.
Her sharp gasp of pleasure rewarded him. Then she answered. “If we had sex.”
“You mean if I fucked you?” He traced a line from her clit down to slip inside her pussy. He stopped at the first knuckle.
Her response wasn’t much more than a breathy plea. “Yes.”
“Did I do you slow and easy or was it a hard, nasty, brutal fucking?” He inserted his finger farther, stopping at the second knuckle. Hot, dripping wet silk coated the digit, making him hunger.
“Hard.” She moaned and arched her hips, seeking more.
He pulled back and rested the tip of his finger on her clit again. “Say it, all of it.”
“You fucked me so hard, I saw stars.”
Bloody hell. She’s going to be the death of me. She relaxed her hips, letting them fall flat on the bed.
For her reward, he inserted his finger back into her wet heat. “Did that make you come?
“Yes.” Her hands went back to her breasts, pinching her nipples. The sight was so lovely he didn’t dare stop her from touching them.
Though, he would stop something else.
“Don’t come. Hold yourself on the edge. I know you know how.”
She laughed a painful half-laugh, half-choke. He watched the muscles in her hips tighten, but she held them in place, waiting. “How do you know that?”
“You’re an extremely intelligent person. I know.”
“You can’t know me that well.”
“I know you better than you think.” Because of that, he changed his plan.
* * *
As ecstasy overtook her, she fought to hold onto her senses. Was there something hidden behind the way he said he knew her? Beth’s computer program went above and beyond comprehensive. Ember had nothing but faith in her friend’s work, but as many times as she’d read over her Dom’s profile, she’d never felt as though she knew him as well as he claimed to know her.
She fought not to arch into his hand, her need for more so overwhelming. He crooked his finger and she moaned. He set off a shockwave of pleasure so intense that it neared orgasmic levels, yet it was a hair shy of tipping her over the edge.
Dear god, this man knows how to use his hands! And he’d barely started. She couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to have a Dom—or, more accurately, this Dom—in her life everyday.
Maybe it was immature of her to equate physical pleasure with a relationship’s longevity, but she knew enough about herself to know that she wouldn’t feel complete without certain aspects of dominance and submission in her life. And this? She needed it.
Their first night he’d taken something so seemingly simple and used it to train her and he’d done it by using pleasure and obedience. She just might be in over her head—her, the doctor who’d always been known as the most practical woman in their group of friends.
Her nurses always teased and encouraged her to let go and have a little fun. If they only knew she was well and truly sunk by a Dom who commanded her body, quite literally, with the crook of his finger.
And I don’t even know his name.
She cursed the hood and the barrier it kept between them. She’d love nothing more than to remove it and clearly see him. In the room’s golden glow, she could make out little more than the last time they’d met. He appeared to be a large, dark haired man. His shoulders, his overall presence, dwarfed her.
She loved it.
He thumbed her clit and inserted another finger. Pleasure swelled brighter, hotter.
“Don’t do it.”
Wanting to please him, needing to prove that she could, she tamped down on the near overwhelming urge to let go. Her body begged her to throw herself into the sensations threatening to consume her as her mind instructed her to obey her Dom.
He released her body, and she couldn’t contain the whimper that escaped. Then he shook her world. He moved, the bed shifted, and he came closer. He pressed his forehead to her abdomen. Warmth fluttered against her belly as he exhaled a stuttered breath. His hands gripped her hips in a gentle hold.
Then he kissed the skin just above her belly button.
In a moment seemingly too important to ignore, she cupped his head in her hands. Soft hair brushed through her fingertips.
He whispered against her so softly, she could barely hear the words he murmured against her. “Forgive me.” He kissed her again and, before she could respond, he stood, pulling his hair from her grip. “Remove your hood.”
Oh god. She’d waited and wished for the moment and, once it arrived, she didn’t know what to think. Realization smacked her. Though her body had been on display and he’d seen nearly every inch of it, she’d been hidden behind the gauzy material. Somehow, it was like meeting him for the first time again. Yet, she felt twice as vulnerable.
He repeated his command. “Sub? Remove your hood.”
It would be so much easier if he would just remove it for her, taking all her doubt with it. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t wish he would, but that wasn’t the purpose of his command. He instructed, and she was expected to obey.
Why, she didn’t know, but she closed her eyes and slid the fabric up and off her head. Cool air grazed her face, but the world remained dark. A heavy male sigh was the only sound in the silent room.
“Ember, open your eyes.” He knew her name? Her eyes popped open. Then she closed and reopened them.
Sitting at the edge of the bed was Royce Damron. Her mouth moved but no sound came out.
How? What?
Beth. That little brat.
She didn’t know whether to strangle her friend or kiss her. She moved to sit up and find something to cover herself with.
“Nope. I don’t think so. You put that lovely body right back where I told you, unless you want our night to end.” That voice, the voice of her Dom, stopped her in her tracks.
Did she want it to end? No, absolutely not.
“We’ll hash the rest out later, but right now, we’re going to finish this. I wanted to make sure that the first time I take your body, you were well aware of who was inside you and what it meant.”
Oh, god.
“And what does it mean?”
“It means, Ember Ross, that you need a keeper. You work yourself too hard, and I intend to make sure you take better care of yourself. If you don’t, I will. You need a Dom and I intend to be that Dom. I get that this is a shock. It stunned me too, but once we get past that, I think you’ll agree. You’re an incredibly intelligent woman. You know what you need, and you’re not about to shy away from taking it. That self-awareness is necessary and extremely sexy to a man like me.”
“A man like you? What does a man like you want?
“I despise game-playing. Life is too short and complicated for bullshit. I want a good woman and one who knows herself. A couple can’t have happiness until both partners know themselves and each other.”
“You think you know me?” She blinked again.
“I know that you’re incredibly intelligent. I know you have one of the kindest hearts imaginable and that you always pu
t yourself last. I intend to put a stop to the last part.”
What could she say? She’d lost her ability to speak, let alone do much more than open and close her eyes like an owl. “Royce.” His name, felt odd in her mouth, but in a good way, like a favorite treat she hadn’t tasted in years. “I’m a doctor. I took an oath to always care for my patients. That’s what I do.”
“And that’s what tells me about your kind heart. You’re going to save some of that energy for taking care of yourself. When we get that under control, then you’ll start taking care of your Dom.”
“My Dom?” The bright bubble of light within her chest grew, even as she tried to squash it. She didn’t know whether to leap for joy or curse his audacity.
“Yes. I know that, due to the past, you may have reservations about having me as your Dom, but in time I’ll prove to you that I’m not the man you think I am.”
“Reservations? What reservations do you think I must have?” Confusion crept in and stole some of her arousal.
“My membership in the fraternity. I know how you feel about them, but I hope you’ll believe that I had no part in John’s hazing. If I had been there when it started, I would have put a stop to it.”
“I never thought you had anything to do with that. When I saw Donnie and Will force the alcohol down him, you weren’t anywhere near them. I never blamed you. I saw you and Max pin them against the wall until the campus police arrived. That was the right thing to do. Why would I hold that against you?”
“When the paramedics arrived and took John away, and you went after Will and Donnie. Your girlfriends held you back. I heard you curse the fraternity’s name and say something about hating stupid frat boys. I’d never seen anyone so angry in my life.”
“Of course I was angry. They nearly killed him! They were idiots. That had nothing to do with you. Do you think I’m so shallow as to blame every man who’s been in a fraternity for something a couple of morons did?” This time she did sit up and, when he placed a light hand on her shoulder to stop her, she gave him a look cold enough to stop the devil in his tracks.
“No. That’s not what I think. I—”
