by Ravenna Tate
He released her mouth and trailed his tongue down Colleen’s neck, in between her breasts, and then back up again to circle her nipples before fastening his mouth on one, then the other. She moaned loudly, and he wanted to shout his happiness to the stars above them. They were completely alone up here, and that’s the way he wanted it.
He slid off her jeans, panties, socks, and shoes, and then realized she was shivering. “Hang on. I can fix that.” He dug out a large sleeping bag, pushed the food and wine off to one side, then spread the bag out and unzipped it, so they could both crawl onto it. Then he pulled it over them. “Better?”
She snuggled against him, her naked body lush and so inviting. “Much better. Except you’re still dressed.”
“I can fix that, too.” He pulled off his clothes and tossed them onto the pile where hers were, then shivered but not from cold this time. It felt so damn good to be skin to skin with her! Blaine held her close, nuzzling her neck and loving the way her curves fit against him in such a perfect way.
He kissed her again, then kept the blanket on top of them as much as possible while he moved his tongue over her breasts again, working his way to the real goal. That hot, wet pussy. She tasted incredible, and he couldn’t get enough. He moved his fingers in and out, sucking on her clit until her cries told him she was close to coming. Then he withdrew his fingers and turned her onto her side. She started to protest, but he reached around and cupped her pussy.
“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll let you come. Stay here for a second. I have a surprise for you.”
Wishing he’d had enough blood in his brain to retrieve the toy before now, he pulled a paddle, a bottle of lube, and a couple of condoms from one of the bags he’d brought along. She was still on her side, but watching him. The light from the lanterns cast a soft glow across her skin, making it shine like gold, glinting in the sunlight.
Blaine was struck by her raw beauty, and wondered if she had any idea how alluring she was. Probably not. She was tough as nails outside. He wondered how much of that was Charlene’s influence.
She pointed toward the paddle. “What do you plan on doing with that?”
He held it up and grinned. “One guess, beautiful.”
****
Colleen nearly came at the sight of the paddle. Long, thick leather with tiny holes in it, she imagined it striking her ass cheeks. It would sting, but it would also thud against them at the same time.
“What do you think?”
“Yes.”
His smile took her breath away. He’d planned the perfect evening for them, up here, alone, under the stars and the big moon. Even his revelation about her aunt couldn’t dim the emotions racing through her. They’d been college kids, for heaven’s sake. Aunt Charlene would just have to get over it.
“One question, though.”
“What is it?” he asked, scooting closer to her.
“How long will you make me wait for my orgasm?”
His laugh sent shivers down her spine. “Not long. You’ve earned it, and I’m feeling magnanimous.”
She couldn’t help laughing at his words. Blaine sat on the sleeping bag and pulled her over his knees. Even though the bag was no longer covering them, Colleen wasn’t cold now. His dick was erect and swollen, and it brushed her left thigh, making her moan as she imagined it inside her. The muscles in his legs were hard, and his skin was warm. She could conjure up no sexier image than being outdoors at night, completely alone, with this man.
He reached underneath and caressed her clit. She was so close now! The musky smell coming from Blaine mixed with the crisp scent of the real outdoors, until Colleen was lost in the sensations. She thought he was going to let her come and then paddle her, but that illusion was shattered when she heard the movement of air above her.
She yelled in surprise as the paddle came down across both ass cheeks, as hard as she’d imagined it would feel but a lot sharper than she’d anticipated. At the same time, her arousal went through the roof. She wanted more of the same, but he brushed the edge of it against her ass crack instead.
“That was one. How many should I give you?”
“I don’t know.”
The pressure of his fingers increased on her clit until she was right there, and then he backed off. Frustrated, she let out a loud cry, but all she got in response was a chuckle. “Maddening, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Sir, it is.”
Blaine caressed her ass cheeks with the paddle. “Good girl calling me ‘Sir’. As a reward, I’ll let you choose how many swats I give you.”
Oh, what an intriguing idea! “I have no idea how many to choose.”
He massaged her clit again, stopping short of letting her come. Her pussy was so soaked she was certain his legs would be wet in a moment. “Let me refresh your memory.” The paddle came down across her cheeks again, harder this time, and it was all Colleen could do to keep breathing.
It really hurt, but just as she’d experienced with the flogging and the crop last weekend, the pain was all mixed up with the pleasure and she needed both, together. It was like a drug she’d taken once and would now need every day for the rest of her life.
“How many, Colleen?”
That voice! So commanding yet soft. It did things to her mind like nothing ever had.
“Do those two count?”
He laughed. “Now that you’ve asked, no. They do not.” He rubbed the edge against her ass crack again, this time pushing it further in so it grazed her asshole and pussy lips. Colleen was losing her grip on any control over her own emotions. All she wanted to do was give her body over to Blaine completely.
“Ten?”
“Is that a question or an answer?”
Ten might be a lot with this paddle. Then again, it might end up being not nearly enough. She had no frame of reference. “What if I want more once you’re done?”
He leaned over and kissed her back. “Too bad, so choose wisely.”
Oh, what a brat. Then again, had she really expected anything else from him? “All right, then. Twelve. Please.” That’s a fair compromise, no?
“Are you sure?”
The wicked humor in his tone sent doubt racing through her, but she imagined he had intended it that way.
“Yes. Yes, Sir. I’m sure. Twelve, please.”
He put the paddle next to her and she heard noises that she soon realized involved him opening the bottle of lube and putting some on his finger, because that warm, wet finger slid into her asshole. Colleen cried out in pleasure.
“Twelve it is, then.” He moved his digit in and out, while at the same time massaging her clit again. “But we don’t stop.” She held on as long as possible, but there was no way to avoid the climax. Not with his fingers in both holes. “Mmmm … nice one, baby. Keep it going. When you finish, you will get twelve very hard swats with the paddle. No safewords. I will not stop until we reach the end. Do you agree?”
Agree? She could barely fucking breathe right now! “Yes,” she whispered.
“Good girl.”
He withdrew his fingers once her contractions stopped, and then she waited. Her entire body was so relaxed that when he began the twelve swats they didn’t feel as intense as before. They definitely hurt, but at the same time she loved it so much she didn’t want him to stop.
Her ass was on fire, but she was aroused once more. He kissed the wounds he’d just made, then laid her prone on the blanket. Colleen didn’t want to move, and she was glad he didn’t ask her to. She listened to him put on a condom. When he positioned himself between her legs, she sighed in contentment.
“I’m going to fuck your hot, wet pussy hard, Colleen.”
“Okay.” A giggle rose up, and she smiled wide at the emotion that came with the urge to laugh. Every happy thought she’d ever had surfaced, coalescing into this one perfect moment. When Blaine slid his dick into her wetness, she cried out in pleasure as he thrust deep and hard. At this angle, every stroke massaged the sweet spot inside her, and it
didn’t take long for another orgasm to overtake her.
“Yes,” he grunted. “That’s it, baby. Oh my God you’re so fucking tight and hot!”
She didn’t answer him. She couldn’t. All she do was lie there and take it. She never wanted it to end. When he finally came, both of them were covered in sweat, and Colleen was no longer cold. He pulled out and wrapped the condom in what looked like toilet paper.
It occurred to her there were no bathrooms up here and no bushes to hide behind. That produced a fit of giggles she couldn’t suppress, and he asked her what was so funny. When she told him, he lightly swatted her right ass cheek. “Yeah. You’re going to have to pee in the dark, out in the open.”
“I’m all right with it if you are.”
“Guys aren’t shy about peeing outside.”
She turned over and grinned. “Oh, really? You do that underground?”
Blaine laughed. “No. But up here, all bets are off.”
Once they each had taken care of their personal needs, Blaine poured the last of the wine into their glasses. They sat side-by-side, with the blanket draped around their shoulders, staring up at the stars and the moon.
“Thank you for this,” she said. “It’s perfect.”
“Thank you for not being upset with me.”
Colleen shrugged. “It’s not like you’re still seeing her.” She glanced up at him. “You’re not, are you? Because that would be too weird.”
Blaine shook his head. “Ah, no. I only date one woman at a time. As for your aunt, she literally has not spoken to me since two weeks after we broke up, and that was only to tell me off again.”
“That’s ridiculous. Want me to talk to her for you?”
“No. Please don’t. It’s been over twenty years.”
“And she might interfere with the agency work, right?”
“That, too, but mostly because it’s ancient history and there’s no need to dredge it up.”
Then why did her aunt make that phone call and send the emails? Colleen snuggled closer to Blaine. She didn’t want to think about her Aunt Charlene tonight. She only wanted to enjoy this sexy, charming man. She hadn’t had this much fun with anyone in her entire life. Once again, she was happy she’d drawn the short straw. Her aunt would simply have to deal with it.
Chapter Eleven
Blaine couldn’t shake the feeling he still wasn’t in the clear where Charlene was concerned, even after he spent the rest of the weekend with Colleen, and she told him she’d received no further calls or emails from her aunt about dating him. It nagged at him that Charlene would call or email Colleen about him in the first place.
The woman was the VP of the United States, for heaven’s sake. Why would she still hold a grudge over a college fling that had occurred more than twenty years ago? Talk about petty and vindictive. No wonder Blake Harrison had chosen her as his running mate. The two were alike and deserved each other.
Eight days after Colleen had pushed his permits through to committee, he received an email from her that afternoon saying she’d just heard they were approved. She was in a meeting but promised to call him later. Blaine was so relieved, but still didn’t make a move to call Townsend until he received the official email an hour later from the AFSR, confirming he could begin construction.
Even though he’d submitted all the blueprints and project notes along with the application for the permits, there were still more forms to fill out. After a quick glance at them, Blaine realized Townsend could take care of ninety percent of them, so he shot the man a quick email and attached the one he’d received from the AFSR.
Townsend emailed him back within ten minutes and told him he’d take care of it, then asked when Blaine wanted to break ground. Blaine told him Monday morning would be great, and Townsend said he’d have everything ready.
Blaine set his email indicator to “Busy” so he could lean back in his chair, put his shoes up on the desk, and bask in the glow for a few moments. It was over! He’d break ground next week, Charlene hadn’t tried to stop him, and he was dating a woman who made him happier than anyone had so far.
He frowned at the realization he enjoyed Colleen so much. Was he too emotionally involved with this woman, after only a couple of weeks? Blaine grinned when he heard Ace’s voice in his head, telling him his time was coming. He hated to differ with his friend, but this was still only a casual thing.
They had a lot of fun together, and she was incredible in bed. She was easy to be with and talk to, and she never made demands on his time or asked where this was going. He’d mentioned Kane’s and Julianne’s wedding coming up at the end of April, and she hadn’t committed to going with him one way or the other. She also hadn’t started talking about weddings, or how much she couldn’t wait to have her own.
On the surface, she was his ideal woman. She was fine with their arrangement, and wasn’t seeing anyone else. He wasn’t either. He never did that, regardless, and she’d told him she didn’t either. They had a good time with each other, and she hadn’t made any noises about moving into his apartment permanently. She had some clothes and personal items in the guest suite, but that was it.
In fact, it was Blaine who had asked if she was staying over past Sunday afternoon, both weekends now. That was a first for him. He usually had to make excuses when a woman asked him if she could stay during the week, but Colleen hadn’t even broached the subject. She was more detached than he was used to.
Was that what bothered him? The fact that she wasn’t falling all over him, becoming clingy, or bringing up the question of how long-term their relationship was? He expected it now, and to find someone who didn’t do all that made him question how into him she was.
This is about your ego, dude!
Blaine rose from his desk and walked over to the wall of windows. Ace would laugh at him if he could hear this exchange in Blaine’s mind right now. Imagine Blaine Parker conflicted over how a woman feels about him. And imagine Blaine Parker feeling neglected because a woman he was dating wasn’t pushing for a long-term commitment, two weeks in.
He needed this project to begin so he’d have something concrete to focus on, pun intended. It would keep him busier than usual, and he’d be up on the surface nearly every day. That meant he might not have as much time for Colleen.
Did that bother him, too? Would it bother her at all?
Blaine shook his head and walked away from the windows. He sat down at his desk again and got to work on his project notes. Monday would come quickly, and he needed to be ready.
****
Blaine spent the following weekend with Colleen again, and everything was so comfortable and easy that he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. He couldn’t understand why it was so difficult for him to simply accept this relationship as it was, instead of expecting it to mirror those from his past. This woman had crawled so far under his skin already, and he wasn’t used to that. He liked it, but he had no frame of reference for it.
On Monday, Colleen asked if she could be at the ground-breaking ceremony, and while Blaine was thrilled she asked, he also had to make sure it wouldn’t be seen as a conflict of interest by her boss or her aunt. She assured him it wouldn’t be viewed that way, so Blaine was more than happy to let her come with him to the surface.
The ground-breaking went off without a hitch, and he and Colleen stuck around for about an hour to drink champagne and watch the equipment that had been painstakingly brought up through the airlock begin digging. That feat in and of itself had given him a couple of sleepless nights.
He knew the equipment existed, and where it was stored, but finding people willing to move the diggers had given Townsend a headache. Anything that gave Townsend a headache from this point on would also give Blaine one.
Blaine wanted to stay longer, but he had a lot of work waiting underground for him, and his laptop was refusing to pick up a Wi-Fi signal today. He left everything in Townsend’s capable hands and descended through the airlock with Colleen.
Blaine read it three times, not wanting to believe it. He had already missed six calls from various Weathermen, because the email had gone out to all of them. It originated from the Assistant Director of HCS, and had been sent while Blaine was topside.
He called Ace first. “What the fuck? Is this true?”
“Barclay and I both have been trying to call Brad since we got the email. We were told he’s in meetings all day and can’t be disturbed. Would have been nice if he’d sent the fucking thing on a day when he could speak with us.”
“Sam Preston is one of the fucking hackers, Ace. How in the hell did he get past enough people at HCS to get in front of Brad Sykes? He’s the fucking Assistant Director over there, for fuck’s sake!”
“Yeah. I know.”
“So he gets a free pass because he has dirt on us? What dirt? The guy worked for Oliver for years. If he had dirt on us he could have sold it to any number of rag mags over the past eight years. He doesn’t have shit on us. I’d bet all the money I’m spending to rebuild my company on the surface right now against that. He’s only trying to avoid jail time.”
“I agree with you. All of us agree with you. But until we talk to Brad and find out what happened, we can’t do shit.”
“Where is he? Where is Sam right now? Where was he hiding all this time? How the hell did he get into HCS?”
“We don’t know any of that yet, Blaine.”
Blaine slammed his fist on the desk and immediately wished he hadn’t. Breaking a bone or two in his hand wouldn’t solve this. “This is such fucking bullshit.”
“I agree. I promise you as soon as Barclay or I hear from him, we will let the rest know. We’ll push to set up a call with everyone so he can tell all of us what the fuck is going on.”
