BARE SKIN: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by Callie Pierce

  “I got scared, because… because in a lot of ways you remind me of a woman that I loved once.”

  That… wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear. No one liked being told about a previous lover, especially in the context of being like her. Was that the only reason things even got semi-serious with us?

  “We had been together for a long time. She was my sub,” he conceded, his voice dropping slightly just in case there were some doctors who liked smoke breaks. “And for a while, I thought she was my perfect match.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I murmured. What good did hearing about his past epic romance do for me?

  He smiled a little. “So, you understand why you made me so terrified.” He paused, then said, “Like you, Sarah was a natural submissive. She liked to follow orders, liked to give over control. She needed me to take care of her and that’s all I ever wanted to do. To take care of her. But things got out of hand. Suddenly, she liked the punishments more than she liked the pleasure. She wanted—” He broke off, like he wasn’t sure how much to say. Ultimately, he shook his head and finished, “She went places that I didn’t want to go. But I didn’t realize that until it was too late.”

  A sliver of fear ran down my spine, one of the very few I’d ever felt in conjunction with Jude. “Too late?” I questioned.

  He nodded. “I hurt her. She pushed me and the lines blurred. I didn’t know when to stop and she didn’t want to tell me to stop. I hurt her badly enough that she had to go to the hospital. After that, I decided I couldn’t do it anymore.”

  The hospital? Oh, my god!

  I was about to ask if she was alright, when he pressed forward. “We talked about it afterward, but she couldn’t understand why I was so upset. At least, not consciously. But subconsciously, she’d begun to flinch. She both looked forward to and dreaded punishments. There was this trust broken between us and I knew that it was my fault. I should have known where the lines were.”

  I frowned. “But… she pushed you to it, didn’t she?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and glanced away. It was dark outside and the lights from the city were visible, making the view kind of pretty since we were up on a hill. The closest you could see to stars out here with all the light pollution. After a moment, he said, “Maybe. But it didn’t matter. She gave me control and I lost it. She was the one who got hurt. I couldn’t take that back, so I broke it off. And I made myself a promise to never do this again. No more Dom/sub relationships – no matter how I enjoyed them.”

  “So why did you do it with me?” I asked curiously.

  “Because you were a natural at it. And… and I needed this. I needed to prove to myself that I could be trusted again.”

  We both fell silent as I processed all that he was telling me. I had sensed that he was afraid of something, but I hadn’t really understood what. Now, I at least had a better picture. “Why are you telling me all of this?” I asked quietly.

  His blue eyes found mine and held my gaze. “Because this sort of relationship is based on trust. If you can’t trust me – and I can’t trust you – then it’ll never work. Part of trusting is telling you what you’re getting into and letting you make up your own mind about it. It’s not fair for me to make decisions for you, not even for your own safety, because… in the end, you have all the control.”

  I have the control.

  It was a strange concept. Despite being the adult and taking care of someone else, it had always felt like my life was spiraling out of control. Like I had no say in what was happening around me. But that was it, wasn’t it? I’d felt that this weekend, for that short time I’d spent with Jude. Like I had the power, even when I gave it to him.

  “So… what are you saying?” I prompted him, feeling a fluttery, excited feeling build in my chest. I’d long since let the stirring hope in my chest run wild.

  He stepped closer and said simply, “I’m saying that I messed up. I was cruel to you just to get you to leave, because I was afraid of how much I’d already come to care for you. I’m saying that I’m a complete asshole and that I’m sorry. I’m here, because I want you, Alyssa. I need you. Please, take me back?”

  I stared at him, letting his words wash over me and collide with my own thoughts until they were a sea tossed tangle of roiling emotions. I wanted him, too. The world he presented to me, I wanted that, too.

  So I put my hands against his hard stomach, shifting them until they found his hips. I tilted my chin up and smiled at him. “Of course I’ll take you back. Because I do trust you, Jude.”

  He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine, pulling me close until our bodies were pressed together tightly. It was the best kiss we’d shared yet, because for just a moment, I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jude

  Two weeks later.

  I made her move immediately. Alyssa protested and told me that her apartment was fine, but her arguments were weak at best. After the whole incident with Brendan, she wasn’t all that keen on staying anyway. Once I found out that her biggest reason to stay was the money, I took care of it.

  “You can’t just pay for everything, Jude!” she told me, slapping my arm lightly.

  I ignored her as we browsed through several apartments on my tablet. I was reclining on the couch and she was seated on a pillow I’d gotten specifically so that she wouldn’t get cold on the floor next to me. It was blue, because it reminded me of that shirt she first wore, and it was large and lumpy. She’d helped me pick it out. She was completely naked, because that was how we both liked it when we were at home.

  My home, because she was going to keep her own apartment for a while still. We’d argued about that, too, but I’d conceded on that one, because she had a good point.

  Katy, her little sister, would be out of the hospital soon. She needed a stable environment to live in while she was in high school and we both agreed that my house might not be that. I wanted her to get more comfortable with me before we even considered that transition and then there were the privacy issues involved with the Dom/sub lifestyle.

  I doubted her little sister would appreciate Alyssa walking around naked all the time or sitting by my feet. I hoped that maybe one day Alyssa might be able to talk intelligently to Katy about all of this, but the girl was still just a kid and I agreed that exposure to this should come a little later, if at all.

  And I would leave that clusterfuck entirely up to the girls.

  “How about this one?” I asked, showing Alyssa a picture of a large condo with two bedrooms and a very nice kitchen. “It even has a balcony,” I told her, swiping my finger to show her the next picture.

  She eyed it suspiciously. I could tell she liked it, though she was trying to hide it. “And how much is it a month?”

  I waved away her concern. “Don’t worry about it. I have it covered. I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise.”

  “Jude,” she began, but I cut her off by leaning down for a kiss on the lips. She leaned into it.

  When I pulled away, I told her simply, “This is closer to my house and puts Katy in a good school district. Besides, I won’t have you living in some rundown hell hole like you were. That place was bad news and I thought I was going to kill that punk in the office. Seriously, the least they could do was lock the damn doors.”

  She looked up at me with those wide brown eyes, appreciation shining in them. “Thank you, sir. But it’s too much.”

  “It’s not. I’ll take care of it. You just worry about taking care of Katy.”

  She smiled at me then dropped her gaze. “Thank you, Jude,” she whispered again, using my real name. She only did that once in a while and I let it slide, because I liked hearing my name on her lips.

  “Only the best for my girls,” I murmured.

  We looked through several more apartments and Alyssa was a lot warmer to the subject. She seemed to feel better with letting me take care of her, though it was a struggle. She was so use
d to fending for herself that it was a large leap for her to suddenly just hand the reins over to me. I reminded her that that was what she did in bed every night, which always made her blush.

  I’d had her in bed a dozen more times since she’d made up. Her days were spent at the hospital with a recovering Katy, while I was at work, and when I got home she’d be there, waiting for me. I’d make her strip and bathe and then I’d play with her until she came half a dozen times. We were slowly making our way through the apparatuses in my play room, putting off the ones she shied away from. It was important to me that she was comfortable with everything we used in bed and she promised me that if she ever didn’t like something, she’d tell me to stop immediately.

  “You like the condo, don’t you?” I asked her. She nodded and I smiled. “Good. Then we’ll go with that one. Now, it’s time to play a little, don’t you think.”

  I watched as her skin flushed eagerly and she nodded her head, her gaze still poised downward. “Yes, sir.”

  I grinned. Sitting up, I jerked my shirt over my head. I caught her looking at my bare chest from beneath her lashes, but didn’t call her on it. My hands went to the fly of my leather pants and I unfastened the button. Then I undid the zipper. Looking at her, I said, “Stay on your hands and knees, pet, and come over here. I want you to practice swallowing me.”

  She crawled on her hands and knees so that she was positioned at my middle. I pulled my cock out of my pants for her, the length already hardened and bulging. I gave myself a couple of strokes for good measure, then waited.

  I saw her lick her lips as she moved so that she was sitting up on her knees instead of on her perky ass. This put her closer to my lap and as she leaned her face over my crotch, I saw her lick her lips. I felt her breath against the head of my cock and tensed.

  When Alyssa and I first met, she hadn’t done anything like this. She was a blank slate sexually, with the exception of touching herself and watching the occasional porn. After all, she was only human. But since agreeing to try a permanent relationship with me, she’d confessed to her personal curiosity on things.

  Giving head happened to be one of those things.

  “I want to practice,” she’d told me, blushing furiously and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  What man was going to tell a girl that he didn’t want her to suck his cock?

  So I made a point of giving her ample time to practice. The rules still applied and I still told her when it was okay and when she would just have to wait, but I also made sure that she got what she wanted.

  “Go ahead,” I told her tensely, my dick aching with need.

  I didn’t get a verbal response. Instead, her lips touched my head and she opened them as she went down. She began to swallow me, using her tongue to slide along the soft skin there. I held back a groan at the same time that I resisted the urge to jerk my hips upwards and bury myself in her mouth.

  She couldn’t take me very far yet and I didn’t want to scare her off of trying to.

  My hands went to her silky dark hair and my fingers tangled up in it. I got a good firm grip and pushed just a little, making her take a little more. She let out a muffled moan, telling me this was good, but I paid close attention to the hands settled on my leg. If either of them began to tap, I’d release her immediately.

  Trust.

  Her lips moved down my shaft and when she got about halfway down, she stopped. That was about her limit. It drove me crazy, but I didn’t push her any farther than she was ready to go. Not with this. She couldn’t give her safe word and that meant I was a little easier on her.

  My cock pulsed as she began to pull back, her tongue sliding along my length as she did so. She paused at the head and sucked, making me grit my teeth in pleasure.

  She hummed a little, then went back down. She did this over and over again, driving me a little crazier each time, until I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I used her hair to jerk her off of me. She looked up at me with those innocent doe eyes, her mouth a little wet and a little parted.

  God, she drove me fucking nuts.

  “Get up,” I ordered her.

  She obeyed immediately, showing me her full, naked body. I let my eyes rake over her, devouring the sight of her flushed skin. Fucking sexy.

  I got up off the couch, leaving my pants unzipped. I turned her to face me, though she had dropped her gaze once more. I grinned wickedly, lifting her chin up with my finger so that our eyes could meet again.

  “Meet me at the red door. I think it’s time we had some real playtime.”

  She let out a shuddering breath, then quickly nodded her head. “Yes, sir.” She turned to head quickly down the hall toward the play room.

  I stopped her before she got too far. “And don’t touch yourself until I get there, or I’ll have to punish you.”

  She worried at her lower lip, then got brave. She lifted her gaze and smiled at me. “I’d rather have you touch me anyway, sir.”

  Then she turned away and I watched her bare ass as it swayed out of the room. Oh, the things I was going to do to her.

  THE END

  Bonus -- BAD INFLUENCE by Callie Pierce

  There’s no escaping his bad influence.

  He’s a devil.

  A bastard.

  A killer.

  A crook.

  He’s the last thing I need in a life already teeming with bad luck and worse decisions.

  So why can’t I stay away from him?

  From the day I was born, I’ve been surrounded by poverty and crime.

  I’ve spilled blood, sweat, and tears to claw my way out.

  And I’ll be damned if I’m about to let Cody Bannik drag me back down into that hellish realm.

  I’m on the straight and narrow, now, and I’m determined to bring my little brother with me.

  We’re going to make it out of here, Kyle and I, and no leather-clad brute is going to stop us.

  At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

  But some quiet little voice in the back of my head is saying something different.

  It’s saying what I know to be the truth.

  You won’t leave.

  You can’t leave.

  The bad boy owns you now.

  Chapter One

  Donna

  Donna Mason had a thousand things to do, and answering an unwanted phone call from her parents wasn’t one of them. According to her assistant, her mother was currently holding on line three. That was great. For all she cared they could hold for a few minutes. Maybe even a few hours. She didn’t have time for them.

  Donna had Marissa Quinn, president of Quinn Cosmetics, on line one. That woman was a force to be reckoned with, and she didn’t like how Donna had scheduled the employee satisfaction interviews. On line two was Alfred Liam, of Liam, Rayne, and Donovan. He was happy with the scheduling, which was a blessing since he was known to be unhappy with everything, but not the criteria. He thought that it was overzealous and outside the scope of what his company needed.

  She wasn’t surprised. Companies only contacted Donna when their employee approval rating was so low they didn’t have a choice. Her coming in meant that there was a problem, and companies, especially previously successful ones, hated to admit to having a problem. They preferred blaming other people. Donna had an ex with the same issue. It was never pretty. Well, for that matter, exes weren’t pretty. Neither, she thought as the bright red light for line three continued to blink, was her family.

  She was five minutes into negotiating the necessity of her work with Mr. Liam when the light finally flickered off. Her anxiety levels dropped, and she was able to explain to a lawyer why his office could benefit from her assistance, and why she was absolutely the best person for the job. It was an old spiel, but she made it sound new anyway. When she hung up, Donna was smiling. That contact would keep her company employed for another six months.

  “Ms. Mason?”

  The door to Donna’s office was filled with a sensible br
unette in a demure business suit.

  “Yes, Cadence?”

  “Your parents. They are calling… again.” Cadence sounded mildly frazzled. It was a rare enough occurrence for Donna’s most trusted and steadfast employee to be anything but perfectly professional that Donna pushed her keyboard away and turned toward the phone.

  “All right, all right. I’ll take care of it.”

  “If you want me to…” Cadence made a chopping motion across her neck.

  “No,” Donna chuckled, knowing that the sound didn’t quite match the tightness around her hazel eyes. “I will handle this.”

  Cadence looked relieved. Donna couldn’t blame her. Even the best families could be difficult to deal with, and Donna’s were nowhere near the best. While the sensible woman was an assistant who truly went above and beyond, handling the Masons was completely outside of her job description. She picked up the phone and, after a very deep breath, hit the button to open the line.