“Save me from southern women and their mamas.” He started to walk toward the steps. His arm went under her legs, and he hauled her up. “I want you to think about this. I want to be utterly in charge when it comes to our sex life, but I want a partner. I want to depend on you as much as you depend on me. When we’re in the bedroom or at a club, I’m the Master, but everywhere else, I want to be your boyfriend with all the stuff that comes with it.”
He placed her on her feet. There was a towel on the bench. He wrapped her in it and started to dry her off with short strokes. Grace stood there smiling a bit. No one had touched her in so long, and now she had her own personal dryer. “What stuff comes with it, Sean? You’ll have to forgive me, but I haven’t had a boyfriend in twenty-two years. I married Pete when I was eighteen and had two kids by the time I was twenty. I’m afraid I don’t understand dating.”
“Hold your arms out.” Grace did as Sean asked, and he wrapped the towel around her torso. “I think we should take it slow. Maybe we can have dinner tomorrow. Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. We don’t have to follow anyone else’s rules. We can make them up as we go along.” He leaned over and kissed the bridge of her nose. “Now, go get me one of those towels and turn on the shower. I’ll clean up and then maybe get a look at your kitchen.”
She nodded, but her doubts lingered as she walked through the cool house. She moved through the master bedroom and into her sunny yellow bathroom. It had become so very feminine over the years, she wondered at how out of place big, masculine Sean would look in it. She grabbed a towel, turned on the shower to heat up, and returned to him.
He’d taken off his clothes and stood there in the moonlight completely comfortable with his own nudity. Of course, who wouldn’t be if they looked like that? Grace stared for a moment. He was a testament to masculine perfection. His shoulders were broad and his chest ripped. His abs formed a perfect six-pack, and she’d been right about his legs. They were long and powerful. There was the lightest dusting of blond hair across his chest. And then there was his cock. It stood up proudly, jutting from the V of his thighs. It was long and ridiculously thick. It lay almost flat against his abdomen, the head reaching his navel. Without a thought, Grace licked her lips. He was so hard it must be painful. Grace stepped forward, and her hand came out to touch him.
He stopped her by catching her wrist. “I didn’t give you permission to touch me, Grace.”
She felt herself flush with embarrassment. She took a quick step back and lowered her head so he couldn’t see the tears welling up in her eyes. How could he not want her?
He released her hand and took the towel. He quickly wrapped it around his waist. “I thought I made myself plain. I’m in control of our sexual encounters. There will be times when I give you leave to do what you like. This is not one of those times. I’m going to take a shower and then we’ll talk. Think about this long and hard. I might not be so easy to deal with as you think. I won’t tolerate you manipulating me.”
“I wasn’t trying to manipulate you.” Her fists were clenched at her sides. She didn’t understand anything. If he didn’t want her, why the hell was he here? “I didn’t understand that I wasn’t even allowed to touch you. Maybe I’m not cut out for this.”
Maybe it was the kind of thing that only worked in a book.
He forced her chin up, his eyes fairly pleading. “I’m sorry, little one. I’m feeling a little savage. I need to calm down, and that means I need a few minutes to myself. I know you won’t believe this, but I’m feeling my way through this, too. I haven’t dated much.”
She snorted. It wasn’t a pleasant sound, but she couldn’t help it.
His lips curled up slightly. “I didn’t say I hadn’t had an enormous amount of sex, but it didn’t mean anything. Now, go open that bottle of wine. When I get out of the shower, we’ll talk.”
He turned around, and it took everything Grace had not to gasp. Sean was utterly perfect from the front, but his back was a mass of scars. She managed to keep quiet and not reach out to him. He was damaged. That was something she understood. He walked off, leaving her feeling more vulnerable than ever.
What had happened to him? The scars were white. They were years old, but told a tale of pain he’d endured. Grace wanted to go to him and wrap her arms around him. She wanted him to tell her what had happened and to promise that he wouldn’t be in that position ever again.
She doubted that she was going to be able to sit patiently and watch him cook dinner as he explained why he was changing his mind about making love to her. It seemed to Grace that was what he was doing. She picked up the bottle of wine and walked back into the house, closing the door behind her. She would do as he asked her to, but she would do it in her way. And she would definitely find out how serious he was.
Chapter Six
Sean felt like beating his head against the tile of the shower. He had the water as cold as it would get, and the damn thing wouldn’t go down. He looked at his recalcitrant cock. He was so hard, there was a drop of pre-come glistening on the tip. Wasn’t it supposed to respond to cold by shriveling up?
The problem was, no matter how cold the water got, he couldn’t forget about how hot Grace had been. She’d been soaking wet. Her little pussy had wept freely, just begging him to dip his cock in. Despite their obvious size differences, Sean knew she’d been so aroused he would have no trouble shoving his cock in all the way to his balls.
Stop. Stop thinking about it. Think about the fact that she doesn’t even know your real name. She thinks you’re Sean Johansson, boring negotiator for an IT company. She thinks you work a nine-to-five job that doesn’t get you shot at on a regular basis. She doesn’t know anything real about you.
But was that true? Despite her attempts to avoid him, he’d spent an awful lot of time talking to her over the last several days. She might not know all of the facts about his life, but he’d been honest about most things. It was always best to stick to approximations of the truth when undercover. He’d told her he’d spent time in the Army, though he hadn’t mentioned he’d been in Special Forces. She knew he had a brother whose shadow he’d always been in. He’d talked about how hard it had been on his mom when his father had walked out. God, his mother would love Grace. His mother would admire her for the woman she was. He could just imagine Grace and his mom ganging up on him when he took on a dangerous job. Grace would even disagree with Ian. Grace would likely tell Ian off on a regular basis. He would love to see how his brother would deal with his sweet, strong-willed, southern sister-in-law.
Where had that thought come from? He couldn’t be thinking about marrying Grace. That was crazy. He wasn’t looking to get married. Sean took a deep breath and realized that the thought didn’t make him panic the way it should. He was thirty-two years old. He wasn’t some kid. Maybe it was time to think about settling down. Maybe it was also time to think about a career change. That thought had been ruminating for a long time. Grace had just crystallized his dream.
Of course, when Grace found out he was in her bed under completely false pretenses, he wouldn’t likely be settling down with her. He would have a lot to answer for. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Grace. He’d briefly considered completely pulling out of the job. He could claim trouble at the home office, and Ian could send someone else in. When the job was done, Sean could come back in as himself and start their relationship over. There was only one problem with that scenario. If Patrick Wright was really using his brother’s business as a front, then Grace was in potential danger. He didn’t trust anyone else to keep her safe. He would just have to deal with the consequences later.
Sean opened her bottle of shampoo. It smelled like peaches, like her hair. Lately the scent of peaches always aroused him. That damn shampoo did nothing to calm his cock down. His cock didn’t care that Grace would be angry. His cock didn’t give a shit that he was trying to build a relationship with her. His cock just wanted to get inside her.
Sean put the shampoo
down and soaped up his hands. There was only one way to fix the problem. He wrapped his hand around that unruly body part and started to stroke. His soapy hand stroked from the weeping head all the way to the base. He was going to maintain control. He squeezed and picked up the pace, thinking about how much nicer it would be if it was Grace’s pussy clenching around him. He would hook her legs in his elbows and spread her wide. She wouldn’t have anywhere to hide from him. She would give and give. She would take everything he had. She would scream out his name when he finally let her come just seconds before he allowed himself to let go. He would pump into her until he was completely empty. He would fill her up.
Sean stiffened at the image and let loose the breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Warm semen spat out of his cock and covered his fist. He pumped until he didn’t have anything else to give. He finally relaxed, his muscles unbunching, his breath calmer. Now the cold water was doing its work. Now he could think a little bit.
Sean quickly lathered his body while he thought about the trouble he’d gotten himself into. He needed to back off a little. He’d been far too impulsive, a trait his brother had always said would get his ass blown off someday. His intention hadn’t been to make love to Grace this evening. He’d intended to cook her a late night snack and impress her with his culinary skills. He would ply her with a good wine and get her talking. He’d meant to get closer to her this evening by asking about her sons and then finding a way to talk about her boss. The most he’d planned to do was an innocent little make-out session.
She’d blown that plan out of the water with her little skinny-dipping adventure. He hadn’t been able to control himself. He’d been in the water with his hands exploring all that perfect skin before he could stop himself.
Perfect skin. He wondered if Grace had really looked at his back as he’d walked off. He soaped his shoulders. He could feel scars there though he couldn’t feel the ones that went lower. After he’d come out of the hospital in Germany, he’d forced himself to look at it. His back had been an angry river of scars with multiple tributaries running off the long, deep scar that ran down his spine. Sean knew he’d been lucky. He’d survived the IED that took out his Humvee, but he didn’t like to think about it. Now he had to. Grace would have questions. He doubted she would accept his usual comment. He usually mentioned that if they thought he was bad, they should see his brother. Sean doubted there was a single piece of his brother that had been left unmarred.
Sean felt infinitely more in control as he dried off. He shut off the water and stepped into Grace’s delicate little bathroom. It was a confection of feminine frivolity. He was surprised by it since Grace always dressed so austerely. This was a little peek into her soul, like those hot shoes she wore. Sean smiled at the neatly organized bath salts and bubble bath oils she kept in an antique bin next to the clawfoot tub. There was a stack of paperbacks on the window sill. He could tell from the flowery-looking covers that Grace enjoyed lying in her tub reading romance novels. He looked through the covers and quickly figured out they mostly featured BDSM. She would be very interested in what he could teach her. He looked at that tub and pictured her there.
Of course, a tub that big was really built for two.
Not going there. He didn’t need to get his brain caught on the image of lying back in that tub with Grace cuddled up between his legs. He could wash her hair and then allow her to bathe him. Nope. He wasn’t going there.
He wished he had been smarter. He needed the barrier of clothes between them. He would have to dry his clothes before he could get back in them. He checked in her big walk-in closet. All she had was her own pink fluffy robe that he doubted would cover his chest. He was stuck with the towel. It was only thirty minutes or so. He would sit down with Grace and tell her he wanted to slow down, maybe go out a few times before they had actual sex. Maybe if he didn’t have sexual contact with her again before the job was over, she wouldn’t hate him. Maybe he could keep some piece of himself apart from her.
Sean wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door. He’d ask Grace if maybe one of her sons had left behind something he could wear. Anything would be easier than sitting around her kitchen almost naked trying to explain that he didn’t want to have sex with her when his cock so obviously did.
The sight that met him when he opened the door made him stop in his tracks. Suddenly, every single thought of leaving Grace further untouched fled as his cock firmly took command.
Grace sat in the middle of her queen-sized bed. She was completely naked and on her knees. Her palms were up, lying on her thighs, and her lovely head gazed to someplace on the floor in front of her. Her eyes were submissively down, and long auburn locks flowed around her shoulders like a silky waterfall. It was the graceful position of a sub waiting for her dominant partner’s command. Everything inside Sean responded to it. He’d seen submissives waiting for him in this position countless times, but his heart leapt at the sight of Grace. This wasn’t some nameless sub looking for a good time. This was Grace. She’d never sat in this position for anyone else. Just for him.
“Not on the bed, Grace,” he heard himself saying. “When you greet me, you do it on the floor.”
She moved quickly and found the position again. She never looked up at him, merely followed his command. Her red hair flowed freely down her back. It was wild and wavy from the humidity. It went well with her nude body, making her seem primitive and tempting. He took in every inch of her lovely, feminine form. She was petite, but curved in all the right places. Her breasts were large and natural. Her waist flowed gracefully into full hips he could grip while he fucked her. She was the most desirable woman he had ever seen. As though he hadn’t just had an orgasm, his cock fought the cotton of the towel, trying to break free.
He placed a hand on her head and gave up the fight. He would regret it. He knew he would. And he also knew he couldn’t walk away from her. He let the towel drop. “Your form is next to perfect. Straighten your spine a little. Those novels you’ve read seem to have the right idea. Look up at me.”
Her chin came up. Her lovely face was placid. Those big hazel eyes were perfectly calm, but the slight curve of her lips gave her away. She was thrilled with his response. She’d known what she was doing. His little one was going to try to top from the bottom. It would be an intricate dance between them for power. He was looking forward to many, many years of such a struggle. This was what you didn’t get from a slave, this fire and passion. She would always surprise him. Perhaps it was time to surprise his little sub, too.
“Did you do as I asked?”
She nodded, though a little wariness entered her expression now. “I opened the wine, Sir. It’s on the table.”
Sure enough, she’d followed the letter of his command, but not the intent. The bottle was chilling in a little silver bucket with two wine glasses beside it on the bedside table. “Grace, I told you I wanted to talk. Did you have any intention of talking to me?”
“Oh, yes.” Her response was bouncy as though she was happy he’d phrased it in a way she didn’t have to lie about. “I think we should talk.”
He would have to be more direct. He hid the smile that threatened. He was supposed to be in control. “Grace, are you trying to seduce me?”
Now her face fell, and her teeth sank into her full bottom lip. “Can I seduce you?”
He sighed. That was what this was about? Did the woman not have eyes? In the week he’d known her, he’d always had an erection around her. She was his fucking Viagra, and he’d gone way over the “erection lasting four hours” point. He didn’t need a doctor. He needed her. He was far past thinking about the job. He was thinking about Grace.
And he needed to teach his little sub a lesson. “I believe you’ll find you can seduce me, but first things first.” He sat down on her bed. “Over my lap.”
He didn’t miss the hitch in her breath. It wasn’t nervousness.
“I won’t ask again. Right now, it’s a count of
five. Every second you delay, I add on to it.”
Grace’s gorgeous heart-shaped ass was across his lap in no time. Her stomach pressed against his cock. She wiggled a little, trying to get situated. Sean steadied her with his left hand. “Do you know why I’m going to spank you, little one?”
“Because I was trying to manipulate you?”
“No, darling. I’m going to spank you because you’ll like it.” He brought his hand down in a short arc, the sound cracking through the silence of the room. Her skin was so pale it immediately pinkened, and her breath came out in a sweet little squeal. She squirmed slightly. His hand came down again, on the opposite cheek. “I’ll allow your sounds this time. Know that in the future, I will tie you down and gag you if you disobey me again.”
He planted a little slap to the center of her ass then let his fingers slip underneath to make sure he hadn’t misjudged the situation. Sure enough, his Grace was sopping wet and getting more aroused by the second. She liked her spanking. He wasn’t cooling off any either, though. He could feel his cock pulsing against her heated flesh.
He shoved two fingers straight into her cunt. She was so slippery, he slid in unencumbered. He watched her back rise and fall, uneven with every jerky breath. His sweet sub was trying so hard to follow his orders. Her skin was perfectly pink and hot to the touch. She responded so well to his discipline. He would have to be careful when he used a cane or a whip on her. He couldn’t wait to tie her down and put his mark on her. He pulled his fingers out and smacked her ass again two times in quick succession. He was past the point of waiting. He needed her. He lowered her down so she knelt between his legs. Her face came up. She flushed with need. Her tongue darted across those full lips of hers, and Sean’s cock throbbed.
“Open.”
She didn’t hesitate. She opened her mouth and allowed him to thrust his aching dick between her lips. Her tongue came out to swirl around his head, making him groan. He thrust his hands into her hair. Later, he promised himself, later he would spend an evening instructing her on just how he liked his cock sucked, but for now he was overwhelmed with the need to simply use her, to know that she was his.
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