“You have it.”
“And I’m going to give you a safe word.”
“Whatever you want.”
I opened the door and allowed her to enter my apartment. “Your safe word is black.”
“Your name?”
“My last name, yeah.”
“What if I call out your name in passion?”
“Then you’ll call out my first name.”
“No. I want to call out Mr. Black.”
This was getting creepy now. “Do you have some kind of daddy fetish or something?”
“Don’t be silly. You’re way too young to be my daddy.”
“I am, but I’m not into that. You will not call me Mr. Black. Understand?”
She smiled again. “Of course. Whatever you want, sir.”
Sir. Hmm. I could live with that. “Good. Call me sir. And your safe word is black.”
…
A safe word. A fucking safe word.
I gave Addie a safe word, but she didn’t use it. Maybe I was too young, too inexperienced. Maybe I should have seen that we’d gone too far, regardless of whether she used the safe word.
Maybe, maybe, maybe…
“I’m done talking about this, Skye,” I say abruptly.
“But I—”
“I said I’m done. What’s in the past has nothing to do with the present. With you and me. I love you, Skye, but I have my limits.”
“I love you, too,” she says.
Warmth flows through me. As angry and sad as I am, just hearing those words in Skye’s sweet voice helps.
But she’s not getting off that easily.
“Good.” I grip her shoulders. “I ought to take you violently, right here in the office. I ought to make you scream so loudly that my employees think I’m torturing you in here.”
She inhales sharply, but she doesn’t move. Her eyes burn.
She wants it. She wants it as much as I do.
But I loosen my grip. “That’s not who I am, Skye. I like having control in the bedroom. I like taking women to their limits. And yes, sometimes that involves some violence. But only with consent.”
“I…give you my consent, Braden. Take me. Take me now, as violently as you want to.”
God, so fucking tempting… “Don’t think I don’t want to. I’m hard as a fucking rock, but I will never take you in anger.”
“But…you’ve been angry with me before, and we’ve—”
“Never this fucking angry, Skye. This isn’t you coming in and copping to stealing a piece of useless mail. This is you going behind my back. Trying to find out something that’s none of your business, that isn’t even me anymore. It’s you thinking I could do something…” I rub both my hands over my forehead. Still, nothing helps the angry throbbing inside my skull.
“But I don’t think it, Braden. I just want the truth.”
“Then we have nothing more to discuss. Until you let this go, we don’t have a future. Just goes to show you that I was initially right. I shouldn’t do relationships.”
Whatever was I thinking?
I let myself fall in love against my better judgment.
Except that’s dishonest. I didn’t let myself do anything. It happened. It fucking happened, and I had no control over it.
No control. Me.
I must take back that control now. This instant.
Losing Skye may break me, but I have to be strong. If she can’t let this go, we have nothing together.
She doesn’t move.
She doesn’t speak.
“Why are you standing there?” I ask. “There’s nothing more to discuss, and I have work to do.”
“What if I refuse to leave?”
Silence penetrates the room. I don’t move. Neither does she.
Stalemate?
Neither of us will give up control—until I stalk toward her, grab her shoulders, and crush my lips to hers.
Her lips are already parted, and I dart my tongue into her mouth. The kiss is raw and frantic. Raw and frantic and, yes, angry. I’m fucking angry. My passionate anger exudes out of me and into this kiss.
Into her.
God…her nipples against my chest.
I inhale, and I swear I can smell her. Her tangy citrusy scent. Her wetness. She’s already ripe and ready for me.
I rip my mouth from hers. “Fuck it,” I say. “Take off your shirt, Skye. Take off your shirt and sit down in my chair.”
She inhales a sharp breath and walks to my chair on wobbly legs. She unbuttons her shirt, moving quickly. I didn’t ask for her bra, but she removes it anyway and tosses it onto the floor. Her breasts are plump and rosy, and they fall against her chest.
I suck in a breath. “Damn, Skye, you have the most beautiful tits in the free world.”
I unbuckle my belt, unzip my pants, and pull out my hard cock. “I’m going to fuck those tits, Skye. I want to come all over your chest and give you a goddamned pearl necklace.”
I walk toward her and slide my dick up between her breasts. It’s hot, so hot, and when the head of my erection comes toward her lips, she sticks out her tongue and licks the tip.
“Fuck,” I say. If she does that again I may explode. I pull my dick back down and then slide it upward once more. “Crush your tits together, Skye. Crush your tits together and play with your nipples while I fuck them.”