“Yeah.” He dropped the towel on the bench, reached around to wrap his arm around her, and pulled her into his side. “Sorry. That was uncalled for. You’re right.”
She slid around to his front and flattened her hands on his chest, tipping her head back to meet his gaze. “Where is this coming from?”
He needed to tell her flat out. It wasn’t fair for him to hold on to constant frustration around her without pointing out what he needed from her directly. He took a deep breath. “I’m not sure. Part of my stress is because I realize I really like you, and you’re guarded as hell. After what happened with Sarah, I’m less trusting.”
“I understand that.”
He shrugged, wanting to switch the topic so she wouldn’t run. He’d opened himself up to her. The next move in that arena needed to be hers. “And then there’s my sister. She’s so vulnerable. For five years that fucking husband of hers pushed her around, and she couldn’t even defend herself. She has panic attacks worrying that he will come after her.”
“That makes sense,” she murmured.
“I feel like I’m caught between a rock and a hard place since I lecture her every day about the need to file for divorce and be done with him. Meanwhile, at the same time, I rue the day she files because it will also put you in danger.
“If I thought I could convince her to pick a different lawyer, I would try, but there’s no way she’s going to go out of the house to meet with someone new. I never should have brought her to you in the first place. I didn’t think. It simply didn’t occur to me how dangerous it would be for you until that fucker from your office screamed holy hell at you and then approached you later at your car.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t heard from him again.”
Colin gritted his teeth. “Nope. Sorry, babe. That doesn’t make me feel better. It makes me think that fucker is now enraged enough to come after you with a gun next time.”
“I can’t do much about guns. You’re right about that. But you’re also right about self-defense. I’m taking it seriously now. You helped me see reason. Don’t give up on me. I can do this.” She stood taller.
“Oh, Rayne. I’m not giving up on you. I’ll never give up. I’m just frustrated. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” He pulled her closer to him.
“Apology accepted.” She stared at him for several moments, licking her lips, and then she lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him. On the lips. Full-out kissed him.
He lost all ability to remain aloof when her lips touched his. Memories of the last time they’d kissed rushed to the surface. He angled his head to one side and deepened the kiss. Instantly, he lost his resolve. He needed her. His hands went to her waist and he lifted her off the ground, turned slightly to the side, and laid her on the bench.
Their lips separated for a moment, but the next second he leaned over and resumed the kiss while tossing one leg over her body.
Her hands slid up his back and into his hair.
Yes. It felt so good to be touching her again after denying himself for two weeks. It felt even better for her to be touching him.
He moaned against her mouth. Or maybe it was her moan. Either way, he wanted more, and he wanted to turn her moan into a scream. So, he broke the kiss for a moment and met her gaze while he grabbed her hands from his neck and tugged them over her head.
He held them there, one of his hands circling both of her wrists. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she breathed heavily. “Sir…”
Damn, he loved that sound.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he would regret it later. But he wanted her so badly, and she was so willing. Eager. Her eyes were glazed with lust. Her cheeks were pink. Her lips swollen.
He kissed her again, devouring her as if he were dying of thirst and had been waiting two weeks for a drink.
The next time he broke the kiss, she was gasping for air. “I need you, Sir…”
He gave her a crooked grin. She was going to have him. On his terms. And it was going to rock both their worlds. She may have given him nothing about her personal life yet, but maybe if he showed her how good they could be together, she would come around. And if he was lucky, she might do so before he was so deeply into her that losing her would hurt.
Who was he kidding? Losing her would already hurt.
He leaned over the side of the bench and snagged one of the resistance bands, releasing her hands to pull the band under the bench. He tied it across her wrists, pulling them snugly over her head.
She whimpered. The fucking sweetest sound. Thank God she liked to be restrained because restraining submissives was his kink above all else. Making a woman writhe, unable to escape him as he teased her until she came so hard her vision blurred was what got him off more than anything.
Rayne had proven she enjoyed this kink when she nearly came the first time he tied her up at Roses and Thorns.
“That band won’t keep you from escaping. But I trust you not to wiggle free. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir.” Her voice was breathy.
His hands went to her waist and he smoothed them up her torso until he cupped her breasts.
She arched her chest, another soft moan making music in the room.
His cock was rock hard, but it would wait, because watching her come undone was more important. It would mean he would come in less than a minute after he finished bringing her to orgasm, but it would be worth it.
He continued to cup her breasts, flicking his thumbs over her nipples rapidly. They grew stiffer and jutted out under the tight green material of her shirt. When he couldn’t stand another moment without seeing them, he slid his hands down her body, under her shirt, and shoved it up over her breasts and over her head, leaving the spandex around her wrists.
Her breasts bounced free, and he immediately grasped one with one hand while latching onto the other with his lips.
“Sir…”
Sweetest sound.
He sucked her nipple hard, making her gasp, and then he switched sides. By the time he released her second swollen tit, both were tight points, wet with his saliva.
She shivered.
He met her gaze, realizing he’d left out a step. “Safeword?”
“Red. Please. God, Sir, please…”
He shot her a commanding frown. “Enough talking. Unless you need to use your safeword, lips closed.”
She nodded, her face flushing further.
“Good girl.” He scooted down the bench, tugged off her shoes, and then grabbed the elastic band of her pants to haul them off her body, leaving her naked. Naked and so very gorgeous. Her pussy was still groomed in the same fashion as the last time he’d had sex with her, which meant she either groomed herself frequently or she’d anticipated they might end up in this position today.
Colin grabbed another band from the floor, threaded it under the bench like the first time, and then tied it off at her hips.
She never stopped whimpering. Her eyes were wide as she looked down at what he’d done, trapping her pussy so that she couldn’t lift it. That wasn’t enough, however.
For his next band, he swung his leg over the bench and kneeled beside her left foot. He grabbed one last band, wrapped it around her ankle, and then reached under the bench to pull her ankles closer together, securing them to each other.
She had stopped speaking or arching, but she had never stopped making sweet little noises that kept his dick hard.
Colin straddled the bench again. He set his palms on her thighs, spread them wider, and began to stroke his thumbs over the soft outer swell of her lower lips.
He’d been a personal trainer for many years. Never once had he scened with a client, which meant he also hadn’t used gym equipment to dominate a woman. This was fun. Why hadn’t he thought of it sooner? The bench was perfect. The exercise bands the best impromptu restraint system he’d used in a long time.
Watching her face, he pulled her lower lips apart, but rather than touch her where she would
most be needing contact, he pressed the skin on either side of her pussy to more thoroughly expose her glistening channel.
She was so very wet. A stream of her arousal leaked down toward her bottom. He tapped the sensitive skin of her perineum and then dipped his finger into her pussy. Slow and easy. A maddening pace he knew would make her writhe.
Her head lolled back and forth, her lips pursed.
He smiled as he set his thumb on her clit and pressed against it.
Her mouth flew open wide, and she stopped breathing.
Damn, she so easily succumbed to submission and so quickly approached orgasm. Was it just him? Or did she respond this way to other Doms? Jealousy reared its head for a moment before Colin reined it in and put it in its place. He couldn’t possibly concern himself with anyone she’d been with before him, nor did he believe for a second she’d slept with other men in the last two weeks.
So, no, jealously wasn’t invited, but it came anyway. Disturbing.
He needed to know something, though, so he pumped his finger in and out of her warmth several times and then slid it down toward her tight rear hole without warning. Testing her reaction.
She gasped, clutching her cheeks together.
“Has anyone been in here, Rayne?” he asked, his voice deep and nearly unrecognizable to his own ears.
“No, Sir.” Her voice was wobbly and soft.
Why that fact pleased him so much, he would never know, but it did. Even though she’d dated Rowen for a year, apparently the two of them hadn’t crossed this line. Perhaps Rayne hadn’t been ready for something like that at the time. Or, maybe, Rowen hadn’t been the right man. Maybe I’m the right man. He smiled inside. Good. I’ll be the first. He tapped the sensitive skin again even though he had no intention of breaching her there just yet. It was a reminder.
Her head tipped back as she lifted her chin, and he thrust two fingers into her pussy, making her gasp. Her knees gripped the sides of the bench, so he scooted forward, putting his knees between hers and the vinyl, forcing her wider. More vulnerable. Open to him.
She clenched her knees against his now, the pressure telling him how desperate she was to come. “Please…” Her head rolled to one side. “Sir…”
With his free hand, he circled her clit and then straddled it with two fingers and applied pressure. That, combined with the two fingers still thrusting in and out of her, pushed her over the edge.
She cried out, her entire body stiffening as she came around his fingers.
Still stroking inside her, albeit slower, he released her clit to tug his workout shorts down a few inches so his cock could pop free. He ran his hand up and down the shaft, increasing his desire to be inside her.
Lucky for him, he’d made a point to never come near her without a condom after their first night, and now was no exception. He quickly released his cock, leaned to the side, and tugged the foil wrapper from the side pocket of his bag.
He had to remove his fingers to suit up, but he did so in record time, and then he rose up to lean over her. “Eyes on mine, Rayne. You want more?”
She was breathing heavily, her body shaking from the aftermath of that powerful orgasm. Her eyes were glazed. “God, yes. Please, Colin.”
He smiled down at her, lined himself up with her tight warmth, and thrust to the hilt.
She cried out. Her nipples were hard points as he let his gaze trail down her body to where they were now connected.
He slowly eased out, partly because her expression was too good to miss, and partly to avoid coming too fast. How did she manage to do this to him? He’d always been able to force himself to hold off and last longer. Until Rayne.
He needed traction, so he set his hands on her wrists and pressed them into the bench, making her more helpless. Even with the band wrapped around them and secured under the bench, she could easily have tugged free. He’d relied on her to imagine the feigned restraint was real.
She licked her lips. He leaned closer to stroke his tongue against hers, and then he sucked hers gently into his mouth.
She moaned, the vibrations driving him to thrust harder.
Damn. This woman had him wrapped around her finger. This mysterious woman with life secrets that could possibly be a deal breaker for them.
He shook that thought from his head and concentrated on the way her body conformed to him, the way her pussy clenched his cock, the way her tongue now explored his mouth.
And that low moan, that constant underlying whimper. God.
He released her wrists with one hand and reached between them to pinch one of her nipples and then lower to do the same to her clit.
She bucked uselessly upward, as if needing more. As if there were more. There wasn’t. He was as close to her as he could possibly be.
The pressure built. His balls drew up in that telltale sign that his orgasm was imminent. He pulled his mouth away from hers and met her gaze. “Come for me, baby.”
Her chest rose, and then she obeyed, her clit pulsing against his fingers, her pussy clenching his cock.
It was all he could do to watch the beginning of her orgasm, and then he was following right behind her, consumed, lost, ruined for other women. It seemed as if his orgasm lasted twice as long as any other.
It felt so good. Too good. Just right.
Chapter 12
Rayne’s entire body was drained and limp when her orgasm subsided.
Colin was still hovering over her, though she sensed his thighs shaking. His eyes were closed as he regained his breath, but his mouth was tipped up in an expression of pure bliss.
She felt empowered like never before. Tied to this bench in the middle of the morning in broad daylight, she’d brought this gorgeous man to his knees. She wanted to touch him now, run her hands over him.
He might have sensed her need, or perhaps he simply chose that moment to set her free. First, he tugged the band over the top of her wrists, freeing them, and then he released the pressure across her abdomen and ankles. He sat back, taking her with him so that they both now sat on the bench, face to face, two limp bodies, shaking from the experience.
She set her forehead against his chest, still trying to catch her breath. She gripped his biceps with both hands as if it would help her hold on to a shred of sanity. She was holding on both literally and figuratively.
Her brain was slightly scrambled, but not so much that she didn’t realize she really needed to find a way to share a piece of herself with him. If she didn’t, she would run the risk of losing him before this thing ever started. She wasn’t entirely sure she could open up to him, or anyone for that matter. She’d never tried. But she needed to at least give him a bone to buy herself some time to think about what she wanted from him. From the future.
She cleared her throat, pressing her cheek into his pecs. “My father died a year ago.”
He stopped stroking her back, his hand stilling on her shoulder blades. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
“Thank you. That’s why I moved back to Denver. I left home when I was eighteen to go to the University of Miami. My father encouraged me to go, so I went.” She lifted her face, feeling emboldened, and met his gaze. “I needed to get away. I’m sure it was the right thing to do. But I felt guilty leaving him here.”
“Why, baby?” Colin asked, his hands cupping the sides of her face. “Lots of people go away to college.”
She glanced down, embarrassed. “He thought it was a good idea for me to have some time away from my mother.”
“Oh.” He didn’t pressure her to say more, which she appreciated. This was hard enough to say. It would be worse if he pushed her.
“She was mentally ill for most of my life, probably even before I was born.”
Colin cringed. “I’m so sorry. That must have been hard.”
She nodded and glanced around. “My father built this gym for her. She didn’t use it often, but she rarely ever left the house, so he tried to make sure she had everything she desired inside these wal
ls.”
Her heart was racing. So much information. Now that the words were out, what few of them she’d shared, they didn’t sound as appalling as they had in her head. A melancholy fell over her, and she swallowed back the lump in her throat. Speaking of her mother made her picture the woman as she’d been when Rayne was young. She missed her terribly sometimes.
Colin nodded. “Thank you for sharing with me, baby. I know it was hard for you.”
She started shaking. There was no way she could continue. Not today. She needed time to process what she had shared first.
A large shudder racked her body from top to bottom as she heard her father’s words in her ear. We don’t air our dirty laundry out to other people, Rayne.
Was he judging her even now from the grave? Could he know she had never spoken these words until after his death?
Colin pulled her closer. “Shhh. It’s okay. Don’t say more. Not today. You’re drained.” He wasn’t wrong.
After holding her for several moments, he stood, righted his shorts, swung his leg over the bench, and then lifted her into his arms. Without a word, and with her still completely naked, he carried her from the room, across the living room, and up the stairs to the second floor.
He didn’t set her down until he was in her bathroom, and still he kept her against his side while he shed his clothes, turned on the water, tested it, and waited for it to warm.
She let him take care of her, clearing her mind of worries and relaxing into his care. It felt good. It felt even better when he situated her under the spray of water and proceeded to wash her hair and then her body. He was all business, somehow managing to wash himself too without losing contact with her.
She felt much better as they stepped out of the shower and he wrapped her in a towel. He took her shoulders. “Hungry or tired? Which one wins?” He was smiling.
Her stomach growled at the suggestion. “Hungry.”
“Perfect. Can I take you to lunch?”
“Yes. I’d like that.”
“Great. Get dressed. I’ve got street clothes in my bag downstairs. I’ll meet you down there?”
Mastering Rayne: Club Zodiac, Book Four Page 10
