Too Hip for Love

by Sindra van Yssel

  “I’ll take you to your room. I think there should still be an hour for me to hit the slopes after that.”

  “Oh, good. I don’t want you to miss out or anything.” Any sarcasm was lost on him, apparently. They rode in relative silence, with Karen contemplating whether she’d drive back on her own. She’d have to use her left leg to work the pedals, but at least she had an automatic transmission. It wouldn’t be comfy; in fact, she suspected it would be downright painful. It was a two-hour drive, even if she didn’t encounter any traffic.

  It was four o’clock when she got back, and the painkillers made her decidedly loopy. I’ll doze first, let them wear off, and then drive.

  “You hurry so you can get your skiing in,” she told Gavin, not because she cared much for his skiing but because she didn’t want to spend any more time with him. She turned the lock on the door after he left, even though that required getting up. Just because he was being a jerk didn’t mean it was unsafe to be passed out on her bed near him, but smart girls took no chances. She lay back, thinking she was forgetting something important but unable to figure out what it was through the narcotic haze.

  A loud knock on her door startled her.

  “Go ’way,” she yelled.

  There were voices outside—multiple people. And the sound of a key going in the lock, although the door didn’t open. And then again. And then one more time.

  Then the door swung open, and there was Parker, his dark hair tousled, wearing a white shirt and black jeans. He held a set of lock picks in his hand, and he looked decidedly pissed off, but when he saw Karen, his face softened. “What the hell happened to you?” he said.

  Craig and Alicia were right behind him. Craig was wearing a suit and tie, like he’d come from work, and Alicia wore jeans and a black T-shirt that said There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who think in binary and those who don’t.

  Her heart jumped as she saw her friends, and especially Parker. “Leg went one way, body went the other.” Alicia ran over to hug her, and she returned the hug gratefully. Why are they here? Oh. The safe call. I missed the safe call. And my phone is in the locker up at the top of the slope.

  “Where is the bastard?” asked Parker.

  “He’s out on the slopes.” When she saw Parker start to turn, she realized he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion. “No. I mean, I did this to myself. Skiing.”

  “Most people would have jumped to that conclusion right off,” said Craig, amused. “The question is, why isn’t he here?”

  Karen shrugged. “Because he’s not that into me, I’d guess. I’m sorry I missed the safe call. I was in the hospital. You-you all came?”

  “So it would seem,” said Parker drily. Then he moved to her side and bent over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Alicia tried calling the police, but they weren’t eager to jump in, and maybe that’s as well. So she got us.”

  “I’d have felt a bit foolish. And they’d have been pissed.”

  “Yep,” Parker agreed. “Me, I’m just glad you’re okay. Well, relatively okay. What’s the damage?”

  “ACL tear.”

  “Ouch. Sounds nasty.”

  “No sports for six months. Um. Probably kind of limited in the BDSM department too for at least a while, although most of what I have to avoid is things like running.”

  “We can keep you off your feet. The swing is good for that. Suspensions. Actually, there might be some fun in making you keep your weight on one foot.” Parker grinned.

  “Trust you to see a kinky side.”

  He gave a mock bow. “For right now, let’s get you home. Unless you want to stay? Doesn’t sound like the guy you’re with is worth staying with.” He made a face. “I might feel that way about anyone you’re with, though, so maybe you should get a less biased opinion.”

  He’d feel that way about anyone I was with? Parker, jealous? She shouldn’t feel good about jealousy, but she definitely did. “I should leave a note. And I need to get my phone from the lodge. It’s in a locker.”

  “You have the key?” asked Craig.

  “Yes.”

  “And the locker number?”

  “Twenty-eight.”

  “Gimme. I’ll go get it.”

  “And I’ll drive you home,” said Parker. “We took Craig’s car up.”

  She unzipped the skintight ski outfit she wore, fished the key out of her cleavage, and handed it to Craig. “Thank you so much for coming,” she told him. She zipped herself back up.

  “No problem. Glad it wasn’t worse than it is—and thanks for the peek. Alicia?” Craig dangled the key, and Alicia and he left.

  “You’re staying with me tonight,” Parker said.

  “You’re not going to ask me?” She didn’t have any objections, but his manner surprised her, and reflexively she wanted to argue.

  He shook his head. “No.” He smiled. “Because neither of us likes it when I do. You need a strong hand, especially while you’re recuperating. Let’s pack your bag. You can tell me what happened to your knee and what the next step is.”

  Karen ended up watching while he packed for her. She told him what the doctor had said. He pulled her stuff out of drawers and off hangers and packed them back up. He didn’t comment on the plain sports bra she’d brought based on how she’d expected the weekend to go, nor on the frilly lacy lingerie she packed in case she warmed up to Gavin and wanted him to warm up back. It seemed silly now that she’d even entertained the hope. Gavin wasn’t even half the man Parker was.

  Craig came back with her phone and her wallet and her keys. Parker intercepted the keys before they got to her.

  “Thank you,” she said to Craig. “I’m not drunk,” she told Parker.

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re still not driving, and I am. Besides, now I have your house keys, so there will be no more argument.”

  She glared at him but not because she meant it. She liked him taking charge, and she much preferred to stay with someone than to be alone at home. There was no one she’d rather be with than Parker, although she didn’t think she’d enjoy having any extra pain in her life right now. But sadism seemed the last thing on his mind.

  She scribbled out a note for Gavin, and then they all left the little room. She asked Alicia to slide it under his door for her.

  Then she handed Parker one crutch so she could give Craig and Alicia each an awkward hug. “Thank you so much, both of you, for coming out to make sure I was okay.”

  “You’re important to us,” said Craig. “You helped us find our way together. Nothing but simple payback.”

  Alicia gave her an extra hug. “Besides, you’d do the same for me. Not,” she said, smiling at Craig, “that I’m going to be in a situation where you’d have to give me a safe call. My man takes good care of me, and I don’t think I’ll be with any strangers.” For a split second, Alicia’s gaze flicked to Parker. Was that a dig?

  And yet, if Parker was willing to be with her as much as Craig was with Alicia—if he’d been as romantic—Karen would never have agreed to the ski trip. The skating had been wonderful, but it was a one-time thing. So Alicia was right, in a way, and she had said something that Karen would never have been able to say. Still, it wasn’t Parker’s fault that she’d gotten herself injured or that she needed to be rescued. She’d gotten into that herself. And he wasn’t her man, exactly. Only on one day a week, and on that day he was her Master.

  Parker’s look at Alicia showed that he had noticed. And oddly, he looked sheepish. Karen wasn’t sure she’d seen that expression on him before.

  They walked down to the cars and headed back toward DC.

  Chapter Six

  Parker was pissed. Partly at Karen, partly at himself. As he drove down the mountain roads in silence, he tried to sort it out. By the time they’d hit the interstate, he thought he’d succeeded.

  He glanced over at Karen, who was looking at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. Karen noticed him looking, though, and looked up. God, she looks vu
lnerable. She was always lively, ever a brat, never seeming to take the exchange of dominance and submission too seriously. She did what he told her to do, but he always wondered how in charge he was or if she was getting him to do what she wanted all along. She rolled with his best efforts to keep her off balance. Now she looked vulnerable, and he didn’t want to hurt her.

  He looked back at the road and spent a few moments recalibrating his words. “Karen,” he said, “I’m feeling some anger and hurt.”

  “I could tell about the anger. I’m really sorry I missed the safe call. I should have made sure I brought my phone with me, but, well, never mind. There’s no excuse, and I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not upset about that. You were in a lot of pain. And I’m not upset about coming out to get you—you needed me. I’m getting you safe and warm and to someplace I can care for you, and that’s worth the drive. I’m sure Craig and Alicia feel the same way.”

  “You’re upset I was on a date?”

  “No. Yes. Yes, I am, actually, but I don’t have a right to be. We never agreed to be exclusive, and obviously you had needs I wasn’t meeting, or you wouldn’t have signed up for that dating site in the first place.”

  “Did that upset you?”

  Didn’t she know it would? He dodged the question. “Do you have any more dates lined up?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Because it’d be awkward driving you to them.” He winked at her to let her know that he wasn’t too very mad. Hopefully she’d see the humor. “What I’m upset about is that you didn’t arrange the safe call with me. I’m glad you arranged one with someone, but I always figured that I’d be the one who was there for you.”

  “Yeah. So did I. I guess— While I’ve got a hurt leg, you can’t spank me, right?”

  He chuckled. “I think I could find a way to punish you if I needed to. But if you would like to step outside that dynamic a moment and speak freely, you can.”

  “It isn’t just a matter of speaking, Sir. It’s a matter of something I did.”

  He felt his chest knot up. He presumed it was something about having sex with someone, and as he’d said, she had every right to do as she wished. Didn’t mean he had to like it. Hopefully she hadn’t caught something or gotten pregnant. But whatever she’d done, he knew he was still going to care for her. He said softly, “Like I said, we didn’t agree to be exclusive. There is nothing you could have done that gives me a right to be mad at you.”

  “Sure?”

  “Sure.”

  “I asked—and found out—that it was you at the club the other day. I know I wasn’t supposed to try to find out, but I needed to know. And when I found out it was you, well, I didn’t want to talk to you.”

  He was simultaneously relieved and annoyed. That he did have a right to be bothered about, although he supposed it was Alex’s issue. Alex had been her top. Parker had just been helping. “Why did that make you not want to talk to me?”

  “I think I was afraid I’d confess. I think I was also ashamed that I…let someone do that, in front of you, without knowing. I considered calling you and telling you I had figured it out on my own, but I’m a pretty rotten liar, and you have a way of knowing. You always have.”

  Like now. “There’s something else.”

  “I think a part of me hoped I’d found someone besides you who could make me feel so good. And that I’d talk to them, and maybe they’d want me more than once every weekend.”

  I want you more than once every weekend.

  The silence hung for a while as Parker tried to figure out how best to talk about their relationship. “Karen?” he asked.

  She didn’t respond, and the road required him to look straight ahead. “I love you,” he said.

  Still no response. He glanced over at her when traffic allowed and saw that she was asleep. She might be able to keep her eyes closed, or even fake her breathing, but he was sure the gentle snoring he could barely make out was real. He smiled at her and turned his attention back to the road, knowing that she would be in less pain sleeping. The fates had intervened. Maybe I didn’t have a right to say it after all.

  * * * *

  Karen woke up when they got to Parker’s house, enough to walk in on her crutches and take some more drugs before falling asleep again. She woke up in his bed. He had taken her clothes off at some point and pulled an extra-large T-shirt over her head, but he himself was naked next to her. And sleeping soundly. She had fallen asleep on his chest a few times, but she couldn’t remember seeing him deeply asleep. A lock of brown hair had fallen in front of his eyes, and she was tempted to brush it back but feared waking him.

  Her knee hurt, but it wasn’t as bad. Not so good that she wanted to move much but not as bad. She reached out to stroke his chest, and he didn’t wake up. She smiled and let her hand drift downward until she found his still-soft cock. His eyes opened at that.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  His cock hardened in her hand with every fondle she gave it. She loved that. Her pussy moistened in response. “Stroking you,” she said.

  “You should be resting.”

  “But you like it.”

  “Of course I like it.”

  “And I’m horny.”

  “That’s the drugs talking.”

  “Maybe. Doesn’t change how I feel.” She grabbed his hand and pulled it to her pussy. That was definitely the drugs. She’d never be so bold with a Dom when straight. But it was more that her inhibitions were gone than that she was doing anything she didn’t want to. She was a firm believer in playing sober, and she knew Parker was too, but damned if she was going to buy the idea that they couldn’t touch because she’d taken some painkillers.

  He hesitated. “Are you comfortable where you are?” he asked. “With your knee?”

  “Comfortable as it gets.” She didn’t want to think about her knee.

  “Good enough. Stay still.” He grabbed her wrist and guided it away from his cock. At the same time, he pushed two fingers into her pussy.

  “Yes, Sir.” She let go of his cock reluctantly, but the feel of his fingers made her forget all that.

  He stroked her inside and then slowly withdrew his fingers, slick with her arousal. He stroked upward until he encountered her clit and then circled it. She felt it swell under his attention. This is so much better than the drugs.

  “My little slut,” he said softly. “I really shouldn’t take advantage of you like this, but you’re impossible to resist.”

  His. That’s what I’ve wanted to be. And this isn’t exactly taking advantage. But she moaned instead of saying it.

  His other hand cupped her breast, then flattened to tease her hardened nipple with his palm. He slipped his fingers into her pussy again, and she missed them on her clit briefly before his thumb replaced them. Then he curled his fingers just so, and she felt her arousal rise. Her knee complained at her, and she adjusted it slightly. No matter what, she supposed, it was going to hurt. She feared it would distract her too much to let her come. “I don’t know if I can—”

  “Shh, sweetheart. Don’t worry about the destination. Just enjoy the feelings, and if you can’t do that, tell me and we’ll cuddle and go back to sleep.”

  She relaxed. Sweetheart. She didn’t think he’d ever called her that before, but she didn’t want to read too much into it, either. Even if he loved her, it would only lead to him being her Master. She wanted that, but she wanted more, and she doubted she could have it all. Parker would never want to have children underfoot.

  A shudder ran through her as he touched the perfect spot inside. She didn’t want to give up his touch, his care, his dominance. She was addicted. And she’d have to choose. You watch the kids while I go to my Saturday afternoon lover. No, that was never going to work. No other man was going to accept what Parker was to her.

  “Stay with me, Karen, or I’ll stop.” He gave her nipple a sharp pinch.

  She met his gaze and saw that he was serious. And he coul
d tell the difference between her drifting thoughts and the distraction of her knee or the drugs. Damn him. Why did he have to be so perceptive? “Yes, Sir. I may need help.”

  She knew what form that help would take, more or less. Pain had always been the way to focus her attention, and he did it so well. Now, without the toys in the dungeon, he had less sophisticated options for how to administer it. He moved his hand to her other breast and flicked the jutting peak, making her shriek.

  “Ah, lovely,” he said.

  Of course he would like that. She arched her back for him, offering her breasts for his pleasure and abuse. And he responded, flicking her nipples and pinching them, even pulling and twisting. In return she gave him her full attention, with each bit of pain adding to the arousal building in her core, making her breasts feel warm and heavy. Her skin felt electric.

  Even so, her orgasm sneaked up on her. She had to force herself not to tense her knee, knowing that would hurt, as she felt waves go all the way down her legs to the tips of her toes. Parker glided his hand over her body, skimming her skin, making her aware of how alive she was.

  If I could have gone straight for this, I never would have bothered with the skiing.

  “You’re beautiful, Karen,” Parker said. “I’ll never get tired of making you come.”

  She glanced at him, wishing commitment into those words. But if nothing else, they had been at least good for each other in bed for a long time. Well, in bed, on a cross, in a swing, over the washing machine…

  He drew his fingers from her and wiped them on the sheets, never breaking eye contact. “Rest, beautiful. We’ll see if we can get your surgery scheduled in the morning, but it sounds like you’re going to be here a few days, and you’ll have to get used to being pampered.”

  Pampered. That sounded good. But it was only half of what she wanted. “Sir?”

  “Yes, girl?” His voice shifted as he changed back into Dom mode.

  “I still want to please you.”