“Bianca—”
“Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s not that I’m choosing you over grad school, or I think a relationship is more important. It’s just that after everything that’s happened, my priorities have changed. And I feel like I’ve finally gained some independence from my family. I don’t need UCLA anymore.”
Sam waited for the mood to lighten before responding. She wanted to let Bianca get everything out. This was important to her, after all. Which was why Sam had been thinking about it, too.
“I’ll go with you,” she said.
“Huh?” Bianca almost fell off her stool. “Really?”
“Yes. You should go. And I should go with you.” Sam smiled. “You might need a bodyguard, right?”
“But… your business!”
“To be honest, this contract with your family and Black Diamond is the biggest Rainier has scored in a while,” Sam said. “I was already thinking about going on sabbatical once everything’s set up and ready to go. Thanks to your family, we’ll be able to cut back on doing one-off contracts. It means I’ll have a lot more free time. And anything that Ineed to do can be done remotely. Say, from SoCal? Besides, it’s not like it’s a long flight between the two cities. We’ll make it work.”
“For two years? At least?”
“I’ll go on semi-sabbatical.”
“If you’re sure…”
“Bianca Black,” Sam began. “The only thing I’ve been more sure of in my life is that I love you.”
Bianca threw her arms around Sam’s shoulders. “No matter how many times you tell me that, I still can’t believe it.” The adoring look on her face said more than her words. “It’s like a dream come true. A dream I didn’t know I harbored until the first time I gave in to you.”
Did that make Sam proud? Yes. Did it titillate her? Yes. She would never forget the day she gave in, too.
And now we’re moving to Southern California together. So Bianca could start the next phase of her life—a life that was hers to choose, to control. That was what a young woman like her wanted, after all. The power to be who she wanted, to live her life as she pleased.
Sam knew that drive well. It was the same drive that set her on the path that had eventually led her to the love of her life.
Sam pulled Bianca onto her lap. “You’re looking pretty smug. Life’s really going your way, hm?”
“I like to think it’s going your way, too.”
“Absolutely. God knows I’ve been wanting a bossy princess to dictate my life. Where we go, where we live, what we do…”
Sam’s smile contradicted her words, but Bianca pouted all the same. “You don’t mean that. You could say no if you wanted.”
“Oh, please. As if I could say no to you. Especially when you look at me like that. Besides…” Sam slid a hand down Bianca’s waist, grabbing her hip firmly. “We both know I’m the boss where it counts.”
Bianca swung her leg over Sam’s lap, straddling it as she teased her with a kiss. “You like to think that, but we both know it’s me running the show.”
“Oh, yeah? I’d like to see you try to boss me out of what I’m about to do to you.”
Bianca didn’t get a chance to protest before Sam slid them both off the stool and carried her across the room. Sam reveled in the thrill of having Bianca clinging to her shoulders, legs wrapped around her waist, putting all her faith in Sam’s strength.
It wasn’t until Sam tossed her onto the couch, causing an irritated Spike to wake up from his afternoon nap and scamper away, that Bianca seemed to realize her girlfriend wasn’t going to let her simply roll onto her back and accept a kiss of defeat.
Sam pushed her onto her stomach and flipped up her skirt at the back, exposing her panties. “As much as I love you, you can still be a real brat at times.” She spanked Bianca’s ass firmly, eliciting a muffled yelp. “I don’t know how you’re going to make it through grad school when you don’t seem to learn a single thing I teach you.”
That same hand grabbed the flesh it had spanked only a moment ago. So soft. So pale. So on the verge of having Sam’s hand permanently imprinted upon it.
“Maybe it’s not me who’s the problem,” Bianca said. “Maybe I just have a shitty teacher.”
Sam pinned Bianca to the couch with her forearm and pulled aside her underwear with her free hand. “You want to say that again?”
She toyed with Bianca’s entrance with a finger, but only enough to torment her. Bianca exhaled softly in anticipation. But Sam refused to give her what she so obviously wanted.