They rode along in silence for a while, the pounding rain and bad visibility a good distraction from the siren call of temptation winding through his mind. Control. This was about his self-control. He’d spent an extra long time in the shower this morning, stroking himself to release as he imagined the scene from Friday night, Kelsey tipping her head back and coming against his hand. He’d wanted to prepare himself so that he didn’t jump on her like some horny pervert when he finally got her to his place. But the few minutes with her in the car had his blood heading south and desire pumping through him like he hadn’t climaxed in a month.
Patience.
He took a left onto the long driveway that led up to his place. Kelsey bent forward, trying to peer through the rain-covered windshield. His house was barely visible through the haze of the storm and the trees that dotted his property. “You’ve got a lot of land around you.”
“I like my privacy.” He hit the button on the garage as he took the final turn up to the house. “In fact, you’re going to be my first overnight houseguest. I usually don’t like sharing my space.”
Her brows lifted at that, and he realized too late that he probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. “You should’ve said something. I could’ve come over tomorrow morning. You didn’t have to invite me to stay the night.”
He pulled the Jeep into the garage and cut the engine. “Yes, I did.”
Her gaze followed him as he got out and walked around to her side to open the door for her. He could feel her question before she even voiced it. “Why?”
He offered her his hand, and she took it, her fingers still icy. “Because my home is the place for all of my most precious possessions.” He helped her down from the Jeep and brushed his lips over her knuckles. “And you, love, are about to become the most important of them all for the next seven days.”
He braced himself for her reaction—the implication of ownership a bit of a test. If she was going to truly give herself over to this and shed her domme role for the time they were together, he needed to get her head in the right place from the start. He was in charge. She was his to command. Wyatt had talked to Grant Waters earlier in the week to make sure his training would count for Kelsey’s requirement, and Grant had warned him that Kelsey wouldn’t feel safe if he didn’t immediately prove himself worthy and capable of the role, that she would deftly manipulate a weak dom to hold on to her own control.
Wyatt wasn’t one to take directives from someone else, but on that, he’d agreed wholeheartedly. He wanted nothing more than to have the full experience with Kelsey and to make her feel absolutely safe and protected in his hands. A distilled version had never been in his plans.
“You understand what you’ve agreed to, Kelsey? To be owned by me?”
Her lips parted slightly, and the shiver he felt go through her hand seemed to have little to do with the cold. She managed a nod.
Nice. She liked the idea, and her body was already reacting to him. He glanced down the length of her—the slightly smeared makeup, the lush set of her mouth, the clinging shirt. All of it put together was like some erotic dream come to life. He wanted to yank those boots and jeans off her and lick the rainwater from her skin, chase away that chill in the most decadent way possible, feel her heat up against his mouth. But in his cold garage before they’d discussed a single limit was neither the time nor the place. Mustering up every ounce of restraint he possessed, he set his hands on her shoulders. “Let’s get you into a hot shower so you don’t end up with pneumonia. A sick sub will do me no good.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, a little catch in her voice.
He stared at her for a moment longer, watching the slight glaze go over her eyes. He cupped the side of her head. Was it possible? Kelsey had declared that she’d never willingly submitted before. The word willingly had stuck in his gut like a rusty piece of metal—a grim clue about what exactly may be lurking in Kelsey’s past. But right now, her whole demeanor suggested that she was already sinking a bit, going into that headspace where subs let go.
The achingly erotic sight squeezed the air from his lungs and vaulted his dominance straight to the surface—a demanding, pounding force that could no longer be kept on a leash. He needed her under his control. Right. This. Minute. He tightened his hold on her shoulders, battling with himself. But when she dipped her lashes and her muscles went loose beneath his fingertips, it was all the signal he needed. He wasn’t sure about a lot of things between them. But in this moment he was sure of one thing—for whatever reason, she needed this as much as he did right now, needed him to take over fully. And God did he want to. Without giving her warning, he bent forward and hauled Kelsey off her feet and over his shoulder.
She let out a little yelp, the move apparently breaking her from the spell she’d been in. “Wyatt!”
“Hush.”
“You don’t need to—”
He gave her ass a smack, the sound of his hand against her wet jeans a little too enticing. He had to hold back from giving the other side a similar pop. “It pleases me to carry you. Are you going to deny me that?”
“No, sir,” she said. “It’s just, there are groceries and—”
“It’s cold in here. They’ll be fine.” He shoved open the door that led to the laundry room and then headed into the darkened kitchen. The storm was still splattering against the windows, but he barely heard it as he made his way through the living room and up the stairs. His dress shoes squeaked against the wood, and he knew he was leaving footprints in his wake, but he didn’t care at the moment. All he was concerned about was the woman who had her cheek pressed against his back.
Once they made it into his en suite bathroom, he set Kelsey on her feet. Her cheeks were flushed and her blue eyes wide, but he didn’t sense any fear there. He reached out and turned on the shower to heat up the water. Then he was in front of her again. He clasped her chin, lifting her face to him.Author: Roni Loren
“I need to discuss limits and boundaries with you, Kelsey. I want to know where your lines are so that I don’t harm you. We need a safe word.”
She nodded in his hand, and he released her chin.
“But right now I don’t have the patience for that.” He reached for the buttons on her blouse, pulling them free, and pushing the garment off her shoulders. The material hit the tile with a wet smack. “I’ve spent morning after morning in that cafe, talking to you, watching you, aching for you. I sit there getting no work done because all I can think about are the filthy, deviant fantasies I conjure up about you. You drive me to distraction, love. And I’ve spent one too many nights in this very shower, taking my cock in my hand and imagining it was you around me instead of my fist.”
She closed her eyes, his name a soft whisper across her lips.
He reached for the waistband of her jeans, dragging her against him, his voice low. “And what I’m about to do has nothing to do with training or our deal. I want . . . need to fuck you before I lose my goddamned mind. And I need to do it my way. So if you don’t want that, say so. And if I do something you aren’t okay with, tell me to stop. That’s all the safe word you need right now. Even once we establish one, I will always listen to the word no. Do you understand?”
Something seemed to open in her expression, like a flower unfurling for the sun, and without a word, she met his eyes and worked the button and zipper on her jeans. The slow grinding sound of the zipper’s teeth was one of the sweetest noises Wyatt could ever remember hearing. Then, her cold little fingers were encircling his wrist and dragging his palm down beneath the thin satin of her panties. Hot, damp heat coated his fingers, and he groaned.
“I’m all yours, Wyatt,” she said softly. “I trust you. And you aren’t the only one who’s gotten off on fantasies about the other.”