The Harder They Fall

by Ravenna Tate

  His soft chuckle told her that wasn’t going to happen nearly as quickly as she wanted it to. “We’ll get there, baby. Patience.”

  She wasn’t blindfolded this time, so when she heard his footsteps pad softly away from the bench, she turned her head to admire his tight ass walk toward the wall of toys. Holding her breath, she watched him pluck various whips and floggers off the hooks, swing them through the air at imaginary targets, then replace them. She couldn’t see his face, but she could feel the indecision in his body language.

  Did he know she was watching him? Was his dog and pony show part of the mind game? This entire experience was so damn sexy she could hardly stand it. Were all the Weathermen like this, or only Blaine?

  He finally picked up a flogger she swore was made of chain mail, turned to find her watching him, and grinned. He swung it a few times, and her jaw fell open at the tinkling metallic sound it make. “What do you think? It’s even better cold, but I don’t want to take the time to put it in the freezer for a while.”

  She swallowed hard. “Will it cut me?”

  The look on his face nearly stopped her heart. He’d never hurt her. She suddenly understood that in a way she hadn’t before. This wasn’t about pain. He hadn’t merely said that earlier. He wanted her to get intense pleasure out of this as well.

  “Oh, God no. I’d never do that to you, unless of course you wanted me to. Even then, it’s not really my thing. Any flogger can open the skin if used wrong, and some are made to do so on purpose. This particular one won’t cut you, but it will sting like crazy with even the slightest touch.”

  She tried to see her own ass by lifting her head and glancing over her shoulder, but couldn’t. “Am I bruised already?”

  Blaine walked toward her, gently swishing the flogger and back and forth at his side. “No, but you are nice and red.”

  “I’d love for you to try that thing on me.”

  He brushed it across her ass cheeks, and she shivered. Tiny jolts of electricity shot straight to her clit as he swung it once. He didn’t hit her very hard, but she definitely felt the nasty sting. She could imagine how being struck with it while he was using more force would be very painful, but at the same time, she wanted to experience it. Just once.

  Blaine brushed a finger along her ass crack. “What do you think?”

  Colleen moaned as much from the gesture as the sexy tone in his voice. “Hit me with it harder. I want to know what it really feels like.”

  She heard his soft intake of breath. “How many times?”

  “Once. Just once.”

  He slipped a finger into her pussy from behind and she cried out, contracting the walls around his digit. “Only once, Colleen?” Oh, he doesn’t play fair at all! “Are you sure you won’t let me give you three swats with it?”

  “In a row?”

  He withdrew his finger and slipped two inside. Then he teased her clit with his thumb. This man knew exactly what he was doing. Her breathing grew rapid as the climax that had been building for the past half hour poised, right on the edge.

  “Yes,” he crooned. “Right in a row. Fast. So you really get the feel of this. It’s my favorite, you know.”

  Of course it is. Blaine had a sadistic streak, and she was about to witness it poke through that polished, careful exterior. The thought excited her more than anything they’d done so far tonight.

  “All right. I’ll take three in a row.”

  Blaine kissed each ass cheek, sending shivers up and down her spine. “Say please.”

  She bit back a giggle, not wanting him to think she wasn’t taking this seriously. “Please, Sir. Please strike me three times in a row with the metal flogger.”

  “Good girl. That’s better. I’m only letting you top from the bottom so much because you’re new at this.”

  “If that means what I think it does, it’s in my nature to control things.”

  “I know it is. But in this instance it’s fine because I want to make sure you’re enjoying this.”

  “Thank you, Blaine. Really.”

  Colleen held her breath as she heard the flogger, then yelled in surprise and pain as it came down across her ass, three times in a row. They were quick hits but he wasn’t holding back, and it felt like he’d dumped a bucket load of fire ants on her skin. At the same time, her clit contracted in tiny spasms, and every muscle in her body quivered as hot desire raced through her. “Holy shit.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  He caressed the wounds he’d just made, which only sent her arousal further into overdrive. “You should see your ass right now. It’s so fucking beautiful.”

  “That was … incredible.”

  “Shall I try three more?”

  “No. I mean, not tonight. It was very intense.”

  He placed the flogger on the table. She heard it scrape the wood, and then she heard the sound of a condom. “I need to fuck you, Colleen. In that tight, hot pussy this time.”

  “Yes. Please.” Colleen wiggled on the bench, her anticipation reaching a fevered pitch. She felt him move behind her, and then his fingers were inside her again, gently stretching the walls.

  “Baby, you’re so fucking wet for me.”

  “I can’t help it. You did this to me.”

  He withdrew his fingers and teased the opening to her pussy with his sheathed dick. “This may take a while.”

  Even better! “Fuck me, Blaine. Fuck me hard.”

  He groaned loudly and shoved his cock into her. Colleen cried out at the sheer dominance of the gesture, and when he grasped a hip on each side and thrust hard and deep, the orgasm washed over her. His cries joined hers as he fucked her like a runaway train. He slammed into her with more force and speed than she would have imagined any man could do after getting a blowjob, then flogging her for over half an hour.

  He reached underneath with one hand and teased her nipples until another climax began to build, and then he moved to her clit, massaging it with two fingers at precisely the right speed and rhythm. How did he know?

  “You can come for me one more time, can’t you, baby?”

  “Oh shit.” No doubt about it. She would. Any second now…

  When the second orgasm came, he cried out loudly and his thrusting became rough and jerky. She knew he’d come, too, but he still fucked her for long, luscious moments while her contractions slowly died out.

  He withdrew, she heard him take off the condom, and then he was helping her stand. He pulled her into his arms, and she wasn’t surprised at all to find him as sweaty as she was. He held her tightly, stroking her hair.

  “Colleen … that was fucking amazing.”

  “I thought so, too.”

  “Will you sleep with me for a while?”

  She laughed softly. “What do you mean for a while? How are you not sleepy?”

  “I am, but I’ll be ready to fuck you again in a couple of hours.”

  She sighed against his neck. It was official. He wasn’t human. “I would love to.”

  This was the most erotic, exciting night of her life, and it wasn’t over yet. She was suddenly glad she had pulled the short straw because if she hadn’t, she might never have met Blaine Parker.

  Chapter Eight

  Monday morning, Blaine’s groin was still sore. Each time the memories of the past weekend filtered into his consciousness, he couldn’t stop the smile, and he lost his concentration at work. The first thing he’d done yesterday morning, while Colleen was still sleeping, was to apply for the permits online.

  The process had taken much longer than he’d anticipated, and he wasn’t quite finished when she came downstairs, poured herself a cup of coffee, and glanced over his shoulder. As soon as she realized what he was up to, she got down on her knees in the middle of the kitchen and gave him another mind-numbing blowjob.

  He had a small live-in staff like most of his friends, but it was a good thing there weren’t more people living in the apartment because the woma
n had no inhibitions and she was insatiable. Not that Blaine was complaining. He’d never had a weekend like this past one. He hadn’t expected her to stay beyond Saturday morning, and had wanted her to stay all week, but she had gone back to her apartment this morning before he left for work.

  That didn’t bother him. It usually took him a couple of weeks before he started asking a woman to stay over all the time, and not all of them were comfortable doing so. Colleen was the first woman in a long time he hadn’t been wishing would leave after a couple of days. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy having them around while they were dating, but he liked his personal space and his free time.

  Now, he missed her. If she worked here, he could have lunch with her, but her office was across town, and he wouldn’t dare show his face in the building. He could only imagine what people would say, and he didn’t want to jeopardize her job.

  Blaine rose and stood in front of the wall of windows facing the fake outdoors. Soon, he could once again gaze out at the plains in North Dakota every day. It didn’t matter to him if it was no longer called that. It would always be North Dakota to him. The day he’d met Colleen he’d been on the surface, glancing out over what was left of the place he’d grown up.

  Guilt gnawed at him as he remembered discovering that Charlene O’Leary was Colleen’s aunt. He had meant to find a way to bring up the subject all weekend, but the timing never seemed right.

  That’s because you were either fucking her or sleeping!

  All true, but it would have to be addressed. If she found out about his past with her aunt before he told her, she’d assume he’d kept it from her on purpose. While that was true, it wasn’t right for him not to divulge this now that they were an item. It would come back to haunt him, and might jeopardize his project.

  He returned to his desk and clicked around, checking out the background on Colleen Newton, which he should have done before Friday. He could have saved himself a lot of angst. Information on her wasn’t difficult to find. Her mother’s family was well-connected and insanely wealthy. He simply hadn’t known her mother’s maiden name or he would have made the connection before.

  She was the youngest of three daughters. Her older sisters were both married with kids, and were heavily entrenched in the charity ball circuit, just like her mother. Her father had worked in real estate development before everyone moved underground. Once they did, he had still worked in real estate, but six months ago he’d changed careers.

  Now, he had a middle management position in a satellite office here in North Central, at what used to be the US Post Office. The post office still functioned like it used to, but it had recently been combined with several other government offices into a centralized communications department. Colleen’s father worked in a department that exercised control over media, among other things. That included Blaine’s business, Clear Channel Communication.

  Blaine had never had any trouble from the government because he stayed under the radar and had contacts in key places. But what if that had all changed now? Not only due to the merging of government departments, but because of his relationship with Colleen? Both Douglas Newton and his daughter now worked in government jobs that could block his permits. And if Colleen’s aunt decided to leverage her power, he was toast.

  He knew the President personally. All the Weathermen did. Would Blaine have to ask him to intervene if his VP blocked the permits? Would he have to tell the man why the VP would try to block Blaine’s permits? That would be embarrassing.

  What the hell had he done? He’d never been this careless. Never. Well, not since grade school, at any rate. It wasn’t like him to fuck up in such a colossal way. Hell, it wasn’t like him to fuck up at all. He needed advice and quickly.

  Colleen was a wonderful woman and he’d had a fantastic time with her, but he risked a lot to keep seeing her. He risked even more to break it off now. She’d be hurt, and would be convinced he’d only used her to get help with the permits.

  They haven’t gone through yet.

  Fuck. That was true. Blaine ran a hand through his hair. He was so screwed here. He made a call to Ace even though his status showed he was in a meeting. Harper answered the call, telling him Ace had asked not to be disturbed unless it was an emergency. Knowing his friend would be very pissed off if Blaine asked Harper to pull him out of a meeting for this, he instead asked Harper to have Ace call him back when it was convenient for him.

  What the hell was he going to do?

  ****

  Colleen made Blaine’s permits her top priority Monday morning. She approved them, but the process didn’t end there. Her supervisor had to approve them as well, and any number of glitches along the way could delay or stop them. There was nothing she could do to push them through any faster other than give them a priority rating, which she gladly did.

  Every time she thought about something she and Blaine had done this weekend, her pussy grew wet and she had to push away from her desk to take a break. Several people with whom she worked had already asked her why she seemed so happy this morning. On Mondays, no one was happy, least of all Colleen. They all walked into a holy mess these days, with work piling up so fast it would be months before they made a dent in most of it.

  But none of that bothered her today. In fact, nothing had chased away her euphoria. Not the whiny chatter of her coworker, Kim, or the screaming matches that Pete and Lani, two supervisors in her department, got into twenty times a day. All the work piled up didn’t bother her. It’s not as if anyone expected her to finish it today, or even this week. No one she worked with was caught up by any stretch of the imagination.

  Her ass cheeks were still sore and red, so she’d worn her most comfortable jeans today. She was thinking of raising her desk to work standing up for a while, but since she never did that, it would require an explanation. Colleen had never been one to brag about her sexual exploits, and she certainly wasn’t going to start with Blaine. She had to keep this relationship as secret as possible, especially since she’d given his permits priority.

  He’d asked her to stay at his place all week, but that was a bit too much closeness for her taste. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy his company. Far from it. To her amazement, she hadn’t wanted to bolt after sex like she usually did. But Colleen liked her freedom. It was too awkward staying at someone else’s place for more than a night or two. She always became claustrophobic and uncomfortable.

  She smiled as she realized how silly it was to imagine being claustrophobic inside Blaine’s apartment. It was big enough to fit three or four of her apartments inside it. She almost got lost in it early Saturday morning, while he’d been sleeping. She’d gone exploring and had found herself in a back hallway with no clue how to find the stairs again.

  But still, wasn’t that a perfect example of why it was best not to overstay her welcome? She was sure he didn’t want women snooping around his place while he slept. The fact that he’d given her a tour Saturday afternoon was of no consequence. He’d only been showing how polite he actually was. Thoughts of the tour brought back memories of where they’d ended up having sex at the conclusion of it, on one of the plush seats in his media room.

  He had a condom in his jeans pocket, which had made her laugh, but then her giggles soon turned to moans as Blaine had placed her on his lap. After some hot and heavy kissing, they’d hurried to shed their clothes from the waist down. Once they both had done so, he lifted her back onto his lap and lowered her pussy over his cock.

  Blaine had held onto her, moving her up and down, until she came twice and he finally let go. It had been the most erotic, spontaneous fucking she’d ever experienced, and the memory still left her shaky and tingling all over.

  “Colleen! Did you hear me?”

  What? Shit. She whirled around, pulled out of her decadent memories by the annoyed voice of a coworker. “I’m sorry. What?”

  “I said, you have a phone call from your aunt’s office.”

  “Oh. Thanks.”
<
br />   She punched a few buttons to take her phone off forward. She usually left the voice mail on all day because otherwise she’d never get any work done. “Hi, Aunt Charlene.”

  “You really shouldn’t make me call the main number just to reach you. It’s embarrassing.”

  “Sorry. It’s really busy right now.”

  “Did you see The Whole Truth this morning?”

  “No.” The Whole Truth was a rag mag that printed so little of the actual truth, it was a wonder they still had a readership. Colleen ignored everything in it.

  “I think you’d better take a look at it.”

  Colleen refreshed her browser and typed in the address. It wasn’t like her aunt to get all worked up over a rag mag. When she saw the pictures and the cover story, she wished she were home. How long before everyone in this office saw it? For fuck’s sake. All she’d done was have dinner with the man.

  “Is that really you with Blaine Parker at Tiffani’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “You look very cozy.”

  Colleen frowned. Maybe she should call her aunt back on her Internet phone, in a more private location. “We had dinner.”

  “Looks like more than dinner to me.”

  Okay. There was one pic where she was leaning close and laughing, but honestly. The inferences in the article were silly. But all of them are true. Yes, but no one at The Whole Truth could possibly know that.

  “I didn’t realize you knew Blaine.”

  “I drew the short straw. I had to track him down and remind him about the need for permits.”

  “And that led to dinner?”

  Colleen glanced around. Everyone appeared to be busy with their own work, but she wasn’t fooled. “Can we talk about this another time?”

  “No. My schedule is full.”

  She would play the VP card. “Why are you upset about this? It was only dinner.”

  “You don’t know him.”

  I do now. Colleen bit back a laugh. She knew him better than her aunt needed to hear about, especially right now. “I know his reputation, but he’s nothing like that. He—”