by Sykes, Julia
Mallory’s interest was piqued. “How many languages do you speak?”
“Five, including English. I know Spanish, Italian, French, and just enough Mandarin to get by.”
Her eyebrows rose, undeniably impressed. “I’ve never much had a knack for languages,” she admitted. “I know a bit of Spanish, but that’s it.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re with me, then,” he said, a bit arrogantly.
Mallory’s annoyance with his cockiness suddenly came back to the fore. “Well, if I’d had any warning that I was coming to Italy, I probably would have bought a phrase book. I can read, you know. And besides,” she continued, “knowing five languages is all well and good but what’s the point if you never use them for anything useful?”
Jake’s brow furrowed, puzzled. “What do you mean?” He asked.
Mallory rolled her eyes. Was he really going to make her come out and say it? The guy was a glutton for punishment. And we had been having such a nice day up until now, she thought a bit regretfully. But she couldn’t stop herself. “You said that you learned the languages for business. But you don’t actually use them for that; you don’t work.”
Jake looked shocked for a moment. “You think that I don’t work?” His tone turned hard. “I’ve been working for my father since I was sixteen. I started in the copy room and had to work my way up; he never cut me any slack.” His face was a bit darker now, as though remembering something unpleasant. “Never good enough,” he said under his breath, as though he didn’t mean to say it aloud.
But Mallory heard, and she softened toward him instantly. “I’m sorry, Jake. I just assumed-”
“Yes, you assumed,” he said, his voice clipped. “Just like everyone else.” He looked at her angrily now, but there was something more in his eyes. Was it disappointment? Mallory felt the need to justify her assumption.
“I’m really sorry, Jake,” she said, imbuing her tone with sincerity. “I had no idea. It’s just… You offered to sweep me off to Venice for a few nights; that does imply that you have a lot of free time.”
He looked slightly mollified, but his usual easy smile wasn’t back in place either. Mallory found that its absence made her inordinately sad. “I suppose that’s understandable, then,” he conceded with a sigh. “You have to know that I never do this Mallory; I never take time off work like this. Even if I’m not in my office, I’m constantly on call.”
“Then why the exception this time?” Mallory asked, testing him.
“Because you resisted me,” he admitted after a moment. “No woman has ever challenged me. I’ve told you, Mallory, I always get what I want. And I want you.”
Mallory’s expression hardened even as heat pooled in her belly. She couldn’t help being flattered that this gorgeous man, who could have anyone he wanted, had chosen to pursue her so relentlessly. But at the same time, she was not some prize to be won. “Don’t you think I should have some say in this?” She asked severely. “What about what I want?”
Jake smiled, his cocky grin sliding back into place. “But you do want me, Mallory. I think we both know that.”
She snorted and threw up her hands in exasperation. “Fine,” she bit out, unable to contradict him. “But this is just sex. Nothing more.”
Jake’s expression turned cool. “Of course not.”
But as he said it, Mallory felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Yes, the sex was amazing, and the idea of it ending bummed her out. But she found that she was growing to like spending time with Jake. Every new thing she learned about him flew in the face of all of the terrible things she had assumed about his character. Yes, he was arrogant, but it was becoming clear to her that his arrogance was a defense mechanism, a means of hiding his true feelings, his vulnerability. Mallory wondered what had made him that way. He had muttered about his father’s disapproval. Was that the source of his cocky persona? She wanted to know him better, to understand the real Jake Cleary, beyond the money and the sex.
But Mallory schooled her face into an unconcerned mask, unwilling to voice her feelings when Jake so obviously wanted to keep their relationship casual.
After an uncomfortable minute, they eased back into small talk, discussing where Mallory had gone to school, her love of the beach, and her dream of becoming a teacher. Jake listened attentively, seeming genuinely interested in her modest life.
That night, as promised, Jake took her to an authentic Italian restaurant, where she had the best pasta she had ever eaten in her life. After dinner, they took a stroll, pausing on Rialto Bridge to look out at the city. It sprang up from the main canal on either side, as though the buildings were floating on the surface of the water, secured there by some ancient magic. The warm lights coming from the houses illuminated the colorful facades. The pastels reminded her of Rainbow Row in Charleston, her favorite landmark in her hometown.
Jake’s arm slid around her waist and pulled her tightly to his side. He bent down to murmur in her ear. “Would you like to go back to the hotel?” There was a sexy rumble in his tone that made Mallory shiver in delight. She nodded as demurely as she could, trying to conceal her eagerness; after his teasing her clit as he kissed her by the Bridge of Sighs, she had been ready to jump him all day.
Minutes later, they were back in Jake’s opulent suite at the Plazzina Grassi Hotel. The exterior resembled all of the other old Venetian buildings in the city, but the interior was sleek and modern. Their room was all white furniture and linens, with large mirrors on the walls making the room seem even more spacious than it was. A gracefully curving black chandelier hung from the ceiling, its darkness the one elegant contrast to the almost stark white theme of the room.
But Mallory didn’t have much time to admire her surroundings. Almost as soon as the door was locked behind them, Jake was on her, tearing off her dress. He made a sound of masculine satisfaction as he took in her sheer black lace bra and panties that she had picked out for the occasion. Trying to gain the upper hand at his moment’s pause, Mallory lunged at him, pushing him up against the mirrored wall as she hastily unbuttoned his shirt, longing to trace his hard muscles with her fingers once again. She felt a few seconds of triumph when she was able to actually move him by force, having taken advantage of his distraction. He looked down at her, stunned at her gumption.
In a move faster than she could see, Jake grabbed her wrist and pulled it behind her back, twisting it as he did so. With a cry, Mallory found herself forced to turn around to alleviate the pressure on her shoulder; if she didn’t, he surely would have broken her arm. Then his knee hit the back of her own, and he released her wrist as she tumbled down onto the plush carpet. She tried to push herself up, but he was on her in an instant, his hand at the nape of her neck, pressing her head to the floor and holding her there. His arm snaked under her belly, pulling her upwards until she was forced into a kneeling position. With her head still pinned to the floor, her ass was flagrantly exposed.
She felt heat rush to her cheeks as she blushed crimson. But that wasn’t the only part of her body that was flushed with heat. How could she be so incredibly turned on by this treatment? Wasn’t this misogynistic?
“Let me up,” she demanded, a bit alarmed despite her arousal. She pressed her hands to the carpet to gain some leverage, but his hand on her neck held her securely down.
There was a sudden, loud smack, quickly followed by an intense stinging sensation where her ass met her upper thighs. She gasped in shock.
“Don’t move.” His voice was dangerous, a razor’s edge. Mallory stilled instantly. He stroked a gentle finger down the length of her spine, and she quivered beneath him.
“I told you that I always get what I want, Mallory. And what I want is control. I want you to submit to me.” His voice was hard, and Mallory found herself panting at his words, her pussy clenching involuntarily at the word “submit.”
“What do you know about BDSM, Mallory?” He asked conversationally, as though she wasn’t pinned down in a humiliating po
sition.
“Not-” She stuttered. “Not much.” She was familiar with the term, but she didn’t know what it actually stood for. It had to do with whips and chains, she knew that much. And she had never understood how being tortured could be a turn-on.
“There are three parts to it,” he lectured as he traced his fingers around the underside of her ass. She shivered at the erotic touch. “BD: Bondage and Discipline; DS: Domination and submission; and SM: Sadism and Masochism.” Mallory shivered at the last, getting truly scared now.
“Are you going to beat me, Jake?” She asked, her voice tremulous.
“Not if you don’t want me to,” he answered. Cutting her eyes to the side, she met his gaze, seeing nothing but earnestness there. “But I’ve seen how you react to me, Mallory, how you react to our games, the power-play.” He traced his finger up the crack of her ass, making her whimper at the intimate contact. “You can’t tell me that you didn’t enjoy it,” he smiled predatorily.
She was suddenly acutely aware that Jake was almost a total stranger to her; he might be capable of anything. “Please, Jake” she implored. “Don’t hurt me.”
He stroked a tender hand down her back, calming her. But he didn’t let go of her neck. “I won’t hurt you. I promise you that, Mallory. BDSM play is all about trust. Do you trust me?”
“I hardly know you,” she breathed.
“Then I’ll earn your trust,” he gave her a gentle smile. “I’m going to let you up now, Mallory. But only if you promise to stay and hear me out.”
“Okay,” she said meekly, totally overwhelmed by his show of dominance. And undeniably wet from his ministrations.
Jake gently guided her up by her shoulders until she was standing on unsteady legs. He took both of her hands in his, leading her to the couch and helping her sit. Mallory wanted to protest that she was perfectly capable of walking by herself, but that would have been a lie. She was so shaken, so nervous about what was about to happen to her, that her legs would barely support her.
Never letting go of her hands, Jake traced the lines on her palms soothingly, quieting her quivering. “We’re just going to talk, Mallory,” he assured her. “Nothing else. Not unless you say.”
She nodded her understanding, finding that she trusted his word despite what she had said about hardly knowing him.
“BDSM comes in many different flavors,” he began, his tone turning lecturing once again. “We already know that you enjoy being dominated and that you are turned on by a little humiliation.”
Mallory opened her mouth to protest, but Jake cut her off before she could begin. “Don’t deny it, Mallory. You know that what I’m saying is true; you know that you have enjoyed everything I’ve done to you.” He reached out a hand as though he wanted to stroke her between her legs, to feel the wetness there, but Mallory balked, and he drew his hand away.
“But I don’t want you to hurt me,” she said softly. “That sadism stuff; I couldn’t bear it.”
“I’m not a sadist, Mallory,” he assured her. “As I said, kink comes in many flavors, and that isn’t one that I enjoy.” Mallory thought that she saw something darken in his eyes, a flash of pain. But it was gone as soon as it had come, and she wasn’t sure if she had imagined it.
“But,” he continued, “bondage and discipline, Domination and submission: those are definitely to my taste. We already know that you enjoy submission, Mallory. And you enjoy being held down, a strong indicator that you would be receptive to bondage.”
“But what about the discipline part?” She asked tremulously. “Doesn’t that involve pain?”
Jake considered for a moment before answering. “There is a fine line between pleasure and pain, Mallory. An experienced Dominant knows how to hold a submissive on that line, to make the pain pleasurable.” He gave a sly smile. “And I am an experienced Dom.”
Mallory’s breathing had turned shallow, her pupils dilated. She couldn’t deny that she was intrigued by the idea, remembering her lustful reaction when Jake had slapped her. And when he had spanked her just now, reprimanding her for speaking out of turn... Discipline, she thought. She realized that the games they had been playing had all been leading up to this, to Jake revealing his true sexual preferences. And she had loved every minute of it. Hadn’t she just been thinking earlier that she wanted more?
Jake was silent, giving her a few minutes to process her thoughts. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, his seductive tone barely concealing his yearning. “Are you willing to explore this with me, Mallory?”
Am I? Was she ready to give in to his world of kinky games? She thought of the dark desires he had awoken within her. “Yes,” she whispered.
Chapter 3
Jake grinned, his eyes flashing intimidatingly. His hand moved from her palm to her throat, tracing his index finger from her shoulder up to her earlobe. The contact made her shiver, remembering his grasp on her neck as he had dominated her during their tryst on his jet.
“Where to begin?” He asked, his gaze thoughtful. “Have you ever been spanked before, Mallory?” He asked.
“No, she breathed, her lips parted. She had never had any sexual experiences that came close to what Jake wanted to do with her. If sex had flavors, then the only one she had ever sampled was vanilla. Heading into chocolate territory now, she thought a bit madly. Or was it Rocky Road?
Jake was suddenly grasping her hair at the scalp, tugging her inexorably forward until she was sprawled across his lap. As he had promised, the pain of it sent tingles through her, starting at her head and spreading out through her body until they reached her sex.
He shoved her legs away from the support of the couch, pulling her head downward by her hair until her toes were barely touching the ground; she was draped over his knees, her ass in the air.
“Now,” he said softly. “I believe that you have been very disobedient since we met: defying me in my office; refusing to go out with me; fighting me as I tried to take you just now.” His voice turned hard. “This behavior stops now.”
Mallory shivered at his brash words, her pussy contracting. She tensed, anticipating the same sting she had experienced from his earlier slap. But she jumped as he ran a gentle hand over her right cheek, then her left, stroking her until she relaxed across his lap.
“Your safe work is ’red’, Mallory. If it all becomes too much, just say the word and it will all stop.”
Mallory relaxed further, reassured now that she had an out, had regained some modicum of control in the situation. “Thank you,” she whispered.
She could almost hear him grinning. “You’re welcome, sub.”
Sub. The term should have disconcerted her, but instead warmth flooded her chest at the word. He had branded her with the name, claiming her as his to do with as he wished.
His hand left her for a moment, and then it cracked down on her ass, the sound of it seeming to resound throughout the room. Pain bloomed on her right ass cheek, and she cried out. But after a few moments, heat spread out from the area of impact, pervading her pussy and making her clit throb. Mallory was shocked by her visceral reaction.
She only had a second to wonder at it before his hand cracked down on her left cheek. This time she only let out a small whine, more prepared for the impact. His hand smacked down on her again and again, never hitting the same place twice. Within minutes, her ass was enflamed. But as the hits continued to rain down, she found that they hurt less and less; the stinging pain dulled to a warm glow, despite the fact that the strength of the blows had increased. Her awareness was completely focused on the throbbing of her sex, the need that had arisen in her from this humiliating treatment, from Jake’s assertion of his dominance of her body.
After an interminable length of time, she had gone completely limp. The cracks of Jake’s hand across her ass were silenced at her submission, satisfied that his message had been received.
Then his fingers were at her inner thighs, brushing against her sensitive skin, teasing her with his fea
ther-light touch. Mallory let out a strangled cry that she hardly recognized as her own at the contact; it contrasted so sharply with the punishment she had just endured.
“Please,” she heard herself begging. “Please, Jake. I need you to touch me.”
He chuckled down at her softly. “I don’t think I gave you permission to speak, sub. But since you begged so sweetly, I can’t possibly deny you.”
With that as her only warning, he drove two fingers into her pussy. They slid in easily; she was so wet and ready for him. He curled his fingers inside of her, pressing them against her g-spot. She came immediately, her sex contracting around his fingers as he continued to stroke her. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, he withdrew them from her.
But Jake wasn’t done with her yet. “Get on your hands and knees,” he commanded.
Mallory complied with as much alacrity as she could manage, considering that her limbs felt like jelly. When she was situated on the plush carpet, her ass offered to him, she looked back at him over her shoulder. His eyes were filled with a hunger so intense that it made her shudder; it was as though a barely contained beast lived within him, and it was all he could do to hold it back, to keep from ravaging her. His movements carefully controlled, he shrugged off his unbuttoned shirt and unbuckled his belt, letting his trousers fall to the floor.
Mallory licked her lips as she took him in fully. He was glorious in his nakedness: his muscles were hard and defined; his demeanor radiated power; and his cock was thick and hard for her. Kneeling behind her, he pressed himself at her entrance. She pushed back into him, desperate for him to fill her. He grabbed her hips, holding her in place. “Stay still,” he ordered. Mallory whined but instinctively did as he bade her.
“Good girl,” he praised her.
Mallory couldn’t even begin to summon up any resentment at the diminutive expression. It felt… right for him to speak to her like that. She found herself shuddering in pleasure.
He pushed into her slowly, only pressing the head of his cock into her sex, holding it there for a moment before languorously sliding into her to the hilt. The feeling was delicious, the need in her flaring back to life, building in intensity with every inch of him. He held himself there before grasping her waist, guiding her forward and backward, dictating her rhythm as she fucked him.
