Safe Word: Oasis 3: Out of My League

by Michele Zurlo

  In the course of his search, he had slid his hand from her neck to the center of her back. He put a little more force behind the hold because he knew she was going to protest with more than a scream.

  He tested the implement against the tender skin of his forearm. It smarted and left behind a sting, but it didn’t actually hurt.

  Turning back to Mia, he ran a hand over the smooth skin of her ass and suppressed the urge to caress it with his lips. “This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me, babe. Feel free to scream as loud as you want. Let all that attitude out.”

  Knowing better than to wait for her to figure out what he’d been doing in the drawers, he brought the ruler down sharply on her ass. She bucked and screeched, but he had a firm hold on her. He waited a second, giving her a chance to use the safe word. When she said nothing, he lifted the ruler. It had left a bright pink, rectangular streak on her skin.

  He traced his fingertip over it. She hissed, but the scent of her arousal betrayed her true reaction.

  Mia had some issues with body image, and those scars on her breasts held the key to why she hid her body behind baggy clothes and prim manners. He didn’t mind that she always pulled her hair into a ponytail or that she almost never wore makeup. He preferred natural beauty, which she had in spades.

  If it took a day of spanking her to get her to let go of whatever ailed her, then he would gladly spank her until he had no feeling left in his arm. Then he would switch sides. He wasn’t as good with his left hand, but he would manage.

  Lifting the ruler a little higher, he concentrated the next blow over her other cheek. He rained smacks over her ass until she stopped fighting and her angry screeches turned to quiet sobs.

  Her ass glowed with bright red streaks. He fought with the urge to take her into his arms. That wasn’t what she wanted today.

  “How are you doing?”

  She sniffled. “I’m okay.”

  He ran his fingertips over her hot skin. She trembled and moaned. Oh yeah, she was okay. He snatched his jacket from where he’d hung it and folded it on the terrazzo floor. “Kneel on the jacket. Keep your legs apart.”

  She pushed her body away from the desk. He watched her face as she knelt, checking to make sure she was as okay as she claimed. She bore tear-stained cheeks, but her eyes were clear, and she exuded a calmness he’d never before seen. Pride puffed his chest. He’d given her that.

  Running his hand down the front of his shirt, he quickly unbuttoned it. He threw it, the rags from her dress, and her sweater to the floor. A line furrowed between her brows for all of two seconds before she looked up at him with serene expectation that changed to undisguised lust.

  “I want you on your elbows and knees. I’m going to fuck you, and this is all the padding available.” He knelt behind her, watching as she bunched the clothes in a way that cradled her elbows, forearms, and head. Her pussy glistened, and her juices dripped down the insides of her thighs.

  Fumbling in the drawer for a condom with one hand, he ripped open his jeans with his other. He shook a little as he rolled it onto his cock. How many times in the past year had he dreamed of having her this way?

  He lined up his cockhead with her opening. A sigh issued from between her lips. “Ready?”

  “More than ready.”

  She was tight. He sank in slowly, stretching her walls to fit around his girth. She braced herself against the floor, providing a counterbalance so she wouldn’t slide away. He gripped her hips and pushed until the heat from her pink ass singed his skin.

  So small and hot, she sheathed him in a vise he never wanted to escape. If he wasn’t careful, he wouldn’t last long, and he wanted this to last. He was going to rock her world.

  She pushed back against him, grinding her pussy in a circle and whimpering. Her prickly attitude had completely disappeared. She was a docile kitten, her claws temporarily sheathed.

  “None of that.” He swatted her ass lightly. It was enough to send a tremor that left her with an arched back. He ran his hand up her spine and tangled his fingers in her hair. He pulled a little. She purred. He pulled harder. She moaned, and her pussy quivered. “Are you close?”

  “Mmmm-hmmm.” She convulsed again, a precursor to a climax.

  “Let’s see how many times I can make you scream my name.”

  He withdrew and thrust back into her slowly, savoring every sweet inch. It didn’t take long for him to realize the sedate pace drove her crazy. She reached between her legs. He felt the increased pressure on his cock as she touched her clit, and he was glad he couldn’t see what she was doing. Watching her masturbate would be enough to send him over the edge.

  Her squeaks and moans came to a crescendo, and her pussy pulsed around his cock. He gritted his teeth and continued with his slow pace, riding out the sweet seduction of her orgasm and knowing he also prolonged it.

  When it diminished to occasional twinges, he renewed his grip on her hair, pulled harder, and increased his pace. Her ass lifted to meet his thrusts.

  “Oh God, oh, Kaelen. Please, please, Kaelen, please.”

  Drunk on the heady pleasure of being inside her, he didn’t understand what she wanted. “Please what?” His question came out slurred, but he didn’t care.

  “This. What you’re doing. Please don’t stop.”

  “Not a chance. You haven’t screamed my name enough.”

  Three more thrusts and she did scream his name, inserting way more than the two syllables it usually had. He held on to her hip and pounded into her tight heat. She stopped fingering her clit, bringing her hand forward to support her weight. Her entire body, softer and more pliant after two orgasms, trembled and shook beneath him. She whimpered when he released her hair, but her body bucked again when he used that free hand to press and rotate against her clit. Her walls shook with a series of powerful convulsions that pulled him deeper and milked a climax that stole his vision. He shouted something loud and incoherent.

  Kaelen barely controlled his fall, managing to land half on her right side and half on the floor. He pulled her into his arms and held her close. It seemed like she was part of him, an extension of his body and soul. This new feeling caught him off guard. He’d felt close to a woman before, especially after sex, but not like this. Nothing he experienced with Mia was quite comparable to anything he’d encountered before.

  She slid her hands up his chest and locked her arms around his neck. Her small, firm breasts pressed against him. “You’re trembling.”

  He felt her lips against his shoulder. He wanted to touch her everywhere, explore and memorize the perfection of the woman who had captured his heart.

  Holding her even tighter in his arms, he kissed her forehead. “So are you, babe. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

  Chapter Five

  The hardwood floor pressed against her hip uncomfortably, but Kaelen’s firm body cradled the rest of her with a warmth and security that made her reluctant to shift. She’d never been one to cuddle after sex. Usually she dived for her shirt, even if she planned to stay the night.

  Kaelen had stared at her scars, but to her relief, he hadn’t asked.

  And that kiss had knocked her socks off. He certainly knew how to use those lips. The man had lethal skill, and it bothered her. It was just another indication of his perfection, and she had never been comfortable around perfect people. Seeing faults and imperfections in others brought her no small measure of comfort. The more flaws people had, the more she felt a connection with them.

  She didn’t understand why she felt so connected to Kaelen. The afterglow usually faded by this point. He’d been holding her for at least twenty minutes.

  At last he relaxed his hold, easing her away and capturing her with a searing kiss. The tip of his tongue slid along the seam of her lips. She surrendered to his demand, parting to let his tongue sweep inside and claim temporary dominion.

  His fingertips traced a path up and down her spine as he settled back, letting his head fall to the floor. “
How are you doing, babe?”

  She sighed and pushed away. “I wish you wouldn’t call me that.”

  He sat up, and his jeans brushed against her thigh. She turned away from the way they gaped open to show his semihard cock. “Babe?”

  “That.”

  The hand on her back dropped away. “Why?”

  “It’s demeaning.” She tried to put some distance between them as she reached back for her sweater, but he snaked his arm around her waist and held her close.

  “How so?”

  Having located her sweater, she snagged it, but it didn’t move much. Kaelen was sitting on it. “You’re on my sweater.”

  He shrugged. “You’re going to be putting something else on for the next scene. You won’t need it. Are you going to answer me?”

  She didn’t have a good answer, other than that the level of familiarity irritated her. “It implies I’m incompetent and inexperienced or that I’m lesser than you.”

  He laughed, a real, honest sound originating deep in his belly. When he finally quieted down, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulled her closer despite her best effort to resist, and kissed her forehead. “It implies I find you incredibly hot and desirable, and it’s familiar and intimate, but it doesn’t say anything about your competence and experience or anything else.”

  Having spent enough of her life being the object of laughter and ridicule, she didn’t take kindly to his amusement at her expense. She rolled her eyes at his declaration and wiggled away.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Bathroom.” She tried to flounce away, but he grabbed her hand.

  “Your next outfit is in there.” He pointed to the bottom left drawer of her desk.

  Crouching down, she yanked the handle. Metal rolled over metal. The two scraps of cloth looked like they could be the white blouse and plaid skirt she’d anticipated earlier. She gathered the clothes in the crook of her arm and fled to the safety and privacy of the bathroom.

  The next part of the script called for her to be his administrative assistant. Secretary. He’d be her boss. When she’d read the scenario, she couldn’t help but notice the blatant sexual harassment of the scene. At the time, she’d figured if he was willing to play the role of Kaelen in her fantasy, she would return the favor by playing the role of secretary/slut for his fantasy.

  Having Kaelen show up changed everything. She had expected to bend over in a short skirt and file papers, play at being chased around a desk, and be groped when she leaned over to give him a file. But she hadn’t expected Kaelen to be that man. She wondered why he’d cast her in such a demeaning role.

  But she had found the scenario exciting when she first read it. If she pushed the idea of Kaelen out of her head and focused on the facts, she could do this and have fun with it. The man with whom she’d spent the last two hours had melted her with his kisses and fucked like a champion. She could do worse. She might not be able to walk tomorrow, but she’d be relaxing on a lounge chair on a beach in the Caribbean. She wouldn't need to walk.

  Already the pleasant ache and burn on her ass had faded to little more than a memory. The effects of a spanking rarely lasted longer than an hour. She’d never been spanked with a ruler before, but she’d found it to have less bite than a leather paddle. She wasn’t a true masochist who wanted something drastic like a wooden paddle or a riding crop.

  Mia shivered at the prospect. She liked the lighter slap-and-tickle aspects, and she liked the upcoming scenario because she sometimes fantasized about having a man tell her what to do and treat her like a sexual object. However, she’d walk out on any man who tried to do that at other times. Role-playing like this was completely new to her.

  She frowned at the naked woman with wild hair in the mirror. Kaelen had never treated her badly or talked down to her. He flirted incessantly, and he used his charm way too much, but he’d never been rude or crude. Perhaps she should give him the benefit of the doubt. This scenario presented a safe, consensual way for both of them to explore a dynamic neither of them wanted to put into permanent practice.

  Fantasy and role-play provided for healthy expression and exploration of alternate ideas and frowned-upon social norms. She ran her hands through her unruly tresses. Her hairbrush was in the bag she’d left in her car. She wondered if Kaelen would run out and get it.

  A knock on the door startled her from her thoughts. “Yes?”

  “I have a bottle of water. You have to be thirsty after all that.”

  She cracked the door the slightest bit and reached her hand out for the bottle. “Thanks.”

  He’d fastened his jeans, but he hadn’t put a shirt back on. “Hey, do you know how long you might be in there? It’s the only bathroom in this place.” He handed the water over.

  “Let me throw on some clothes and you can go first. I have to get a few things from my car.”

  When she emerged a few minutes later, she was wearing the same baggy jeans and shapeless sweater in which she’d arrived.

  He looked her up and down, a frown marring his brow. “That’s not the outfit I picked out for you.”

  She smoothed a hand over her hair, hoping to tame some of the mess. “I’ll get dressed after I run to my car.”

  The frown didn’t go away, and Mia found that she didn’t like seeing it. In all their interactions, he’d rarely frowned like that, even when he didn’t get his way. “It’s a little chilly outside. Do you want me to get it for you?”

  “Thanks, but I got it. You go ahead and do what you need to do. I’ll be right back.”

  He grabbed her wrist as she went by. “Are you okay with this? You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

  She couldn’t look away from the concern shining from his gray eyes. He’d fulfilled her fantasy. She would take this part with the playful grain of salt in which it was intended. “I’m okay with this. Just don’t expect me to behave like an airhead.”

  The line between his brows disappeared, and the brilliant smile that melted her bones reappeared. “That’ll work. I like smart chicks.” He released her wrist, but he slapped her on the ass before she was out of reach. At her expression of mild disapproval, he shrugged. That smile never faded from his face. In fact, it grew. His dimple put in an appearance. “Practice.”

  She couldn’t stop herself from returning his smile. “You’ve practiced enough on my ass.”

  He shook his head and started toward the bathroom. “I’ll never get enough of your ass.”

  The door closed, ending her chance to say anything in response. It was no use anyway. She was out of her league when it came to his level of flirting. Since she would be on the receiving end of his flirtation, charm, and sexual advances for the next few hours, perhaps she should just relax and enjoy it. After all, that was kind of the role he’d asked her to play, and it did appeal to a soft part of her she’d buried in order to nurture her pragmatic side.

  When she returned to the cabin, the bathroom door hung open. A file folder waited on the desk, though the papers and other office paraphernalia were still on the floor where he’d flung them when he’d cleared the desktop.

  She glanced at the closed door behind the desk. It was a bedroom. It had to be. There was nothing else left. How would that play into his boss-secretary fantasy?

  What a puzzling man. Outside the confines of school, there seemed to be a lot more to him. Perhaps she’d underestimated him when she’d stereotyped and dismissed him from everything but her sexual fantasies.

  Ten minutes later, she had tamed her hair back into a ponytail and shimmied into the outfit he’d selected. It reminded her of something from a porno or a rock video. The green plaid skirt was almost long enough to cover her ass. From Kaelen’s height, he wouldn’t be able to see anything, but if she bent at all, he would have an unobstructed view of everything. Underwear and hose weren’t allowed, but he’d left a pair of low-heeled, strappy sandals for her feet.

  The white button-down shirt had a little pleat i
n front that made the shirt cup her breasts. It barely covered her midriff, and it was so thin that the white lace demi-bra was easily visible through it. In the subdued bathroom lighting, she could make out the rosy color of her nipples.

  Mia spent more than a few minutes staring at the stranger in the mirror. She never wore tight clothes, and she avoided looking into a mirror for longer than necessary. So many years of hiding her figure had spawned a habit not easily broken. Somewhere along the way, though, she had turned into a curvy woman with more than a little hint of sex appeal.

  On a whim, she released her hair from the band holding it together. Soft chestnut locks floated over her shoulders. Her eyes appeared larger, and she looked feminine and a little wanton.

  Still not the kind of tall, cool beauty she pictured at Kaelen’s side.

  She shrugged at the image staring back, turned off the light, and headed to her desk. Having to do actual secretarial work seemed unlikely. This was a sexual fantasy, not an answer to a disorganized person’s prayers. She knocked on the door to let him know she was in position, and then she spread the discarded sweater over the seat to have a barrier between her skin and the leather chair.

  Time ticked by as she sat there. For the first time, she became aware of the black-and-white clock hanging over the door and the schick-schick sound it made to mark every second.

  With nothing else to do, she gathered the papers from the floor and set them on the desk. The yellow binding of the report holder Kaelen had thrown down earlier caught her attention. She opened the cover and attempted to read the first sentence, but the door flew open.

  Turning, she found Kaelen transformed. The jeans and flannel were conspicuously absent. In their place he wore dress pants, a shirt, and a plaid tie that matched her skirt. The man had a thing for plaid.

  “Calloway, get your pad and pen, and get your cute little ass in here.”

  Mia lifted her brow at his 1970s tone. “My cute little ass? Isn’t that going a bit far?”

  He matched her expression. “You knew the conditions of employment when you accepted this job. You’re my assistant, here to assist me in any and every way I need assisting.”