Dark Attraction: The Corde Noire Series (9 page)

“Look at me,” he softly demanded.

Sighing with misgivings, she did as she was told.

“You are beautiful, Sam. Always remember that.” His voice reminded her of some smoky, decadent sauce that one would find slathered over some tempting dish in the French Quarter.

“I feel … naked.”

“Being naked isn’t a bad thing. You must learn to be comfortable in your skin.” He retrieved the bottle of oil from the coffee table. “I often have my subs walk around naked for days at a time.”

“Days? Are you kidding me?”

He poured some of the oil into his hands. “As a sub, your job is to please me, and pleasing me means letting me see you naked, at all times. I love watching a woman. I get to admire her body from every angle. Her body is my body.”

“What does that mean?”

Doug rubbed his hands along her right forearm. “Simply that you are mine. Your body is mine to do with as I please.” His hands worked up her arm to her bicep.

“Do you ever have subs tell you no?”

“Refusing me leads to punishment.”

“Yeah,” Sam mumbled. “I can see where that would be a problem.”

He went past her bicep to her right shoulder. The scent of the almond oil drifted to her nose.

“I have a few more questions for you,” he said, running his hands up her neck.

She closed her eyes as he reached behind her neck and kneaded the muscles. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“What do you like best? The anticipation, action, or afterglow of sex?”

Sam tensed, unsure of what to say. She had been living for years with one, but had never known the other two. “Uh, I guess anticipation?”

“You don’t sound convinced. Are you sure?”

She opened her eyes. “Pretty sure.”

He massaged her shoulders. “All right. I want you to make a list of the top ten things that embarrass you. It will help me pinpoint some challenges we must work through during your training.” His hands moved down to her chest. “I already know nudity is one.”

She stared up at the ceiling as he caressed her breasts. “Yep, that and being groped.”

“I’m not groping you. I’m exploring your body.” His thumbs brushed across her nipples. “What else?”

“I really can’t think of anything else at the moment.”

He moved away from her breasts and rubbed along her stomach. “Think about that list. I want you to have it completed when we get together tomorrow night.”

She nodded, getting comfortable on the sofa again. “Yes, Sir.”

“Next question.” His fingers dipped below her stomach and lightly skirted over the tops of her thighs. “What do you think about when you masturbate?”

Sam bolted upright. “What?”

Doug sat back from her. “You do masturbate, don’t you?”

He reached for the bottle of oil and poured a few more drops in his hands.

“What has that got to—?”

“Answer the question, Sam.” He slid his right hand between her legs, cupping her folds.  

She stared at his hand, her insides quivering. “Yes … I, ah, yeah I do … that.”

His fingers eased into her folds, and Sam fell back against the sofa. “What do you think about?”

She slapped her hand over her face as his fingers teased her. “I don’t know … what difference does it make?”

“It makes a great deal of difference to me.” He pressed his finger into her clit. “Knowing what runs through your mind before you climax tells me how to please you. How to arouse you.” She arched her back as his fingers became more demanding. Her hands clutched the cushion beneath her. “When you come, do you fantasize about being dominated by a man? Do you dream of him calling you a slut or whore while he rams his cock into you?” His teeth grazed her right nipple. Sam cried out as the heat between her legs exploded. “Or do you think about being kissed and told how beautiful you are. How a man wants to please you and worship you.”

Sam couldn’t register what he was saying. Her body was screaming for release. She was lost in the rush of sensation. And then, without warning, he stopped.

Opening her eyes, she gaped up at him. “Why did you stop?”

“Answer the question and I will continue.”

She sat up on her elbows. “Why are you doing this?”

He played with her erect nipple, squeezing it between his thumb and forefinger. “I want to find out what you are after in bed. A man to dominate you or a man to romance you.”

She shook her head, unsure of what to say. “I—I honestly have no idea what I want in bed.”

“All right.” He took her hand. “We’ll try something else.” He lifted her right hand to his mouth, and after sucking on three of her fingers, he directed her hand to the valley between her legs. He pressed her fingers to her folds, guiding them along her wetness.

“Close your eyes,” he told her. “Picture the kind of lover you want to be with.”

Closing her eyes, Sam tried to form an image of what Doug wanted, but all she could see was him.

“Tell me what you see a man doing to you.” His hand pressed hers harder into her clit, making her suck in a startled gasp.

“All I can see … is you.”

“I like the sound of that,” he whispered. “What am I doing? How am I behaving?” He moved her hand faster up and down her folds.

That he was there, watching, guiding her hand, only heightened Sam’s experience. “You’re telling me you want me. You want to be inside me.”

“Keep going,” he encouraged. “How am I taking you?”

“How?” she groaned, her muscles twitching.

“Hard or soft? Am I taking you from behind, or do I put you on your back?”

“Oh, God,” she called out, on the verge of coming.

His hand yanked hers away. Breathing hard, Sam’s eyes flew open. Her insides heaved and her brow broke out in a light sweat. She sat up, glaring at him. “What?”

He stared down her naked body. When he raised his eyes again, he was frowning. “I control your orgasms, Sam. You come when I allow it, and only then. Your pleasure is to be focused on my pleasure.”

Flopping back on the sofa, she slapped her hand against the cushion. “I don’t think I like these rules of yours.”

He kissed her stomach. “At least you’re getting comfortable being naked in front of me.”

“After you had your hand in my crotch, being naked isn’t such a stretch anymore.”

He chuckled against her skin. “Ah, another honest answer.”

“Is the rest of our time together going to be this frustrating for me?”

He sat up. “I’m using this time to learn about you. The more I know about your thought processes before and during sex, the better I will be able to fulfill your fantasies.” 

Getting a little self-conscious with him being so close, Sam edged up on her elbows, trying to figure out how to get off the sofa. “I thought this was about control for you, not sex.”

His hand caressed her right breast. “Sex is control. We use it to control our lives, influence others, and Hollywood has been making money off it for years.”

“So is that what you have been doing, controlling me by ….” She blushed. “You know?”

Doug lowered his head to her. “By what?”

“By not letting me ….” Her voice dried up.

“Come.” His hand went to her thigh. “Say it.”

“Come … there I said it.”

His fingers slipped back into her folds. “Now, ask me to make you come.”

Sam crashed back against the sofa when he tapped his finger against her clit. “Please … Doug.”

“Beg me,” he entreated in a husky voice.

Her back arched. “Yes, make me ….” She fought to get the words out. “Make me … come.”

“That wasn’t so hard.” His fingers dipped into her as his thumb rubbed back and forth over her clit.

Sam’s orgasm was climbing upward from her groin. Her flesh tingled, her muscles contracted, and right before she lost all sense of control, a guttural moan escaped from her lips.

The orgasm ripped her in two. Sure, she had experienced a few in the past with Phil, and on her own, but they were nothing like this. As she came back to reality, his arms settled around her.

“I love watching you. It’s like you’re experiencing this for the first time.”

She rubbed her hand over her face. “Technically, I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

“Technically? What kind of sexual experiences have you had, Sam?”

The question awakened all the frustration her orgasm had relieved. “You keep asking me that.” She sat up, itching to cover her nakedness.

“I keep asking because it’s important for me to know how to please you.”

“You just said this was about pleasing you, remember?”

“Pleasing you, pleases me.” He helped her to a sitting position. “So tell me what I want to know.”

She stood from the sofa. “No, Doug. You don’t need to know that.”

Before she could get away, he tossed her across his lap. Bent over his knees, her butt in his line of sight, she was utterly humiliated. Sam struggled to get up, but his arm came down on her back.

“Let me up!”

He rubbed his hand over her right butt cheek. “Tell me about your experiences.”

“What are you going to do? Spank it out of me? I don’t want to tell you about my goddamned experiences.” She stopped fighting him. “If you want to spank me, then go ahead. It won’t get me to open up to you any more than your other methods.”

Suddenly, he let up on her, allowing her to stand. “I will get it out of you eventually, Sam.”

Remembering her nakedness, she tried to cover herself. He got up from the sofa and came up to her, forcing her arms to her sides.

“When you are naked in front of me, never hide your body. Keep your arms at your sides at all times.” He went around her, stopping behind her. “How do you plan on communicating your needs to me, Sam, if you can’t even tell me about your sexual experiences?”

“Don’t you want to leave me some secrets?” she joked.

His hand slapped her butt, making her stagger forward. “I don’t want secrets from a woman, I want openness. Until you tell me everything I need to hear, I will feel that this relationship is not progressing as it should.”

“Just give me some time, okay?”

He came around in front of her, lifting her chin so her eyes met his. “Tomorrow night I want to try something else.”  

She jerked her chin away. “What are you going to do … hang me from the ceiling?”

“I told you, every Dom has different interests. I like to see how far I can push my subs. Test their thresholds for pain and pleasure. Tomorrow, I will test yours.”

She warily studied his cool eyes. “How?”

“If you get to keep secrets, then I get to keep a few of my own.” He motioned toward her bedroom. “Get dressed, and I will take you out to dinner.”

She started for the hallway to her bedroom and was surprised when he followed her. At her bedroom doorway, she turned to him.

“What are you doing?”

He rested his shoulder against the door frame. “Sometimes watching a woman dress can be just as exciting as watching her undress.”

“Am I ever to have a moment to myself?”

Doug gave her a devilish half-smile. “Not as long as you’re mine.”

Dinner was at an intimate restaurant, right around the corner from The Shallows. It was one of those trendy little bistros that Brenda had wanted Sam to try because of the good-looking men who frequented the bar.

“It’s popular with the local crowd,” Doug told her, escorting her through the packed bar to a glass door at the rear.

They stepped out to a covered patio, filled with black iron tables and chairs. The patio was completely empty, and the only sound heard was the gurgling water from the tall fountain in the center.

“I don’t like crowds,” he admitted.

He guided her to a table far away from the glass door. After holding her chair, he unbuttoned his jacket and took the seat next to her.

A woman in black came through the glass door from the bar, carrying two black menus. She was tall, shapely, and Sam was convinced she could drive every man she met wild with desire.

Handing them their menus, she pulled a pad from her black apron. “What y’all havin’ to drink?” she queried, sounding every inch a New Orleanian.

“Two soda waters with lemon,” Doug replied, opening his menu.

“Sure thing, hon.” She jotted down the order. “I’ll be back in five for your orders.”

The lithe waitress sauntered away. Sam was instantly jealous of her long legs and pretty smile.

“Do you like chicken or fish?” Doug questioned.

Sam opened her menu. “What I’d like is a beer.”

“No alcohol. I never let my subs drink.”

“Why? Afraid they might enjoy themselves?”

“I prefer that you not be under the influence of anything when spending time with me. I want no drugs in your system.”

“What if I have a cold? Are decongestants allowed?”

He lowered his menu, snorting. “Yes.”

“And coffee? Caffeine is a drug, you know?”

He loudly sighed. “I should never have picked a nurse.”

Sam opened her menu. “You picked me?”

“I select all my subs.” He tossed his menu on the table. “It’s not some random happening that pairs a sub with a Dom; it’s a well-planned encounter.”

“So how did you plan with me?”

“From the moment we met, I knew I wanted you.”

“You mean the night I told you to stop banging on the wall?”

He sat back in his chair, eyeing her. “You wanted me in that moment, too.”

“I didn’t want you. I hated you for waking me up in the middle of the night, but want … no way.”

He snapped her menu out of her hands. “I saw the way you looked at me, Sam.”

“I was looking at your abs.” She grabbed for her menu but missed. “I couldn’t believe you were so … built.”

He set her menu on top of his. “I believe in keeping my body disciplined, just like my subs.”

She pointed at her menu. “I wasn’t done with that.”

“I will order for you. As your Dom, I am to order for you at restaurants, and when we get further along in your lessons, we’ll have to go through your wardrobe.” He gestured to her clingy, V-neck top. “I prefer clothes that are less revealing.”

Sam self-consciously crossed her arms over her bosom and pouted her lips together.

“And above all, no pouting. I can’t stand that.” He pointed at her face. “Subs who use the silent treatment, or pout, to let me know they aren’t happy are very frustrating to work with.”

“Maybe I should be writing this down.”

Their waitress returned, carrying a tray of drinks. “Y’all ready to order?” She set two glasses of soda water on the table.

Sam listened attentively as Doug ordered dinner. She didn’t know how he did it, but he picked out exactly what she wanted—he even got the salad dressing right. After the waitress wrote down their selections, she sashayed back toward the bar door. 

“Do you think she’s pretty?” Sam asked, watching the woman’s long blonde ponytail sway behind her.

Doug picked up his drink. “The waitress? No.”

“Seriously?” Sam raised her eyebrows. “I thought she would be the kind any man would want. You know … a sexy, slender blonde with long legs and stunning features.”

“What attracts a man like me to a woman isn’t just her looks, it’s her essence: all she is, all that she conveys to the world. I prefer to work hard to get a woman, because once I get them, I never want to let them go.”

Sam lifted her soda water. “You didn’t have to work hard to get me.”

His exuberant laughter was unexpected. “Sam, you have no idea how hard I’ve worked to get your attention.”

Sipping from her drink, she ignored his comment. As far as Sam was concerned, a man like Doug Morgan didn’t have to work hard to get any woman’s attention. He was impossible to ignore. Sam just hoped when their time together came to an end, Doug didn’t end up becoming impossible to forget.

*     *     *

After dinner, they strolled along the quiet streets in the Warehouse District, heading back to The Shallows. Right before they reached the entrance, Sam swore she saw the shadow of a man outside the decorative doors to their building.

“I’m still here.” She heard Nathan Cole’s voice right next to her. “Are you having fun with … Doug?”

“Are you okay?” Doug asked when she hesitated at the doors.

Glancing up, she saw his face lit by the arched cast iron street lamps lining the sidewalk. Was it the right time to tell him about her? Swerving her eyes to the refurbished warehouse with its unassuming façade of large windows, she muttered, “I always get creeped out by this building.”

“Why is that?”

Sam avoided looking at him. “Don’t you know about the history of this place?”

Doug took a step in front of her, making her eyes focus on him. “What history?”

“This warehouse sits on the site of a slave auction house from the early 1800s. Rumor is that graves, collars, and shackles were found under the foundation after Nathan Cole purchased it. Don’t you think that’s spooky?”

He pulled the doors open for her. “It’s New Orleans, Sam. Every building here has a sad history.”

“What about ghosts?” she quickly added. “Do you think all the buildings here are as haunted as people claim?”

“New Orleans is America’s Most Haunted City. I’m sure the ghosts are around here … somewhere.”

“Do you believe in ghosts, Doug?”

The pained smile he gave her was confounding. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? “I guess you could say I’m still waiting for proof.”

Her heart fell. A skeptic. Not what she needed to hear.

“Do you believe in ghosts, Sam?”

Here was her moment of truth. Could she find the courage to tell him? “I—I believe in them. I think we go somewhere when we die. Why not back to the places we loved in life?”

He motioned her inside. “Intriguing concept … especially from a minister’s daughter.”

Stepping inside the building, she heard a man’s chuckle. Thankfully, on the elevator ride up to the fourth floor, there was only the two of them.  

At her door, she wrestled with the lock, and then Doug pushed the heavy door open. Safely in her apartment, Sam thought he would remove his jacket and get comfortable on the sofa, but instead, he stopped right inside her doorway and took her in his arms.

“Tomorrow night, you can cook for me. I’ll bring the wine. What are we having?”

“The chicken I left marinating in the refrigerator.”

“Good. After dinner, we’ll return to our lessons.” He inched forward and kissed her.

Sam was expecting the kiss to be nothing close to passionate, but she was happily surprised. His mouth teased her, his tongue ran across her lips, begging to enter, and when she let him in, she almost crumbled against him. She had never been with many good kissers, except for Tom Fogerty in her sophomore year of high school. Tom had been a good kisser, but Doug was even better. He made her want more, and as his tongue lightly caressed hers, her resistance evaporated. He wasn’t Master Morgan anymore; he was just Doug. A man who wanted her, and made her want him, too.

“You’re getting better at this,” he softly said, pulling away.

“Me?” She lowered her head. “You make me feel so … inexperienced.”

He turned to her door. “I’m hoping tomorrow night I’ll get you to tell me about those experiences of yours. I need to know before we can move on.”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, it does. When you finally tell me your secrets, you’ll trust me. That’s what I want, Sam. Not your secrets, but your trust.” He eased into the hallway. “Lock the door behind me.”

After he shut the door, she drove the dead bolt home and watched his shadow move away.

Facing her apartment, she thought ahead to their next night of lessons. She pictured telling him the truth about what had happened to her in college, and then explaining her ability. She feared he would do what her father had done all her life, whenever she mentioned her gift. Yell at her and claim she was cursed.

But he isn’t Dad,
her inner voice insisted.

“Perhaps not,” she murmured. “But when he finds out the truth, he won’t walk away … he’ll run.”   

*     *     *

Work dragged the next day. The ICU was half full, and Sam’s patients were not highly critical, leaving her a lot of time to sit around worrying about what to tell Doug.

“How is it going with the hot neighbor?” Piper asked, standing next to her table. “Is that who you’re daydreaming about?”

“I’m not daydreaming,” Sam protested.

Piper came around in front of her table. “You’ve been sitting here for ten minutes, staring off into space. I’ve been watching you. I figured our Dom next door finally took away your virginity troubles.”

Sam tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Actually, no. We haven’t done anything yet.”

“Nothing? Not even gotten naked together?”

Sam played with her black pen in her hand. “Well, I’ve gotten naked in front of him, but I’ve never seen him naked.”

Piper reached for a nearby chair and rolled it in front of Sam’s table. “Oh, I’ve got to hear about this. Why were you naked and not him?”     

Sam dropped her pen on the table. “He has this thing … about lessons. He says he’s trying to teach me about being a good sub before we do anything.” She glanced up at Piper. “Did Randy do that to you?”

Piper thought about the question for a moment. “No, actually he just took me out to dinner, told me he was a Dom, and then took me back to his place and tied me up. That first night we fucked like rabbits on speed.”

“I did not need to hear that, Piper.”

Piper’s brown eyes sized up Sam. “So no sex, huh? Does he know about what happened to you in college?”

“No, and he keeps asking about my sexual experience. Actually, he’s been pestering me about it. I can’t tell him.”

“Yes, you can. He’ll probably like that you’re inexperienced.” Piper leaned in to her. “What about your other secret? Have you told him about that, or are you just waiting until you start channeling his dead grandmother or something?”

“I don’t channel … and no, he doesn’t know about that. I can’t tell him. What if he thinks I’m a lunatic, or worse?”

“Hey, none of that. You make it sound like it’s a bad thing and not the miracle it is. Tell Doug about it. He needs to know.”

“I had a hard time admitting it to you, but Doug?” Sam picked up her pen. “I’m not sure I will ever be able to tell him.”

“Piper,” Angie, another ICU nurse, called from across the unit. “Can you check this ventilator for me?”

“Sure thing.” Piper stood from her chair. “Tell him, Sam. Both your secrets. Being intimate with a man isn’t about the sex … it’s about the sharing. Sharing your body, your mind, and all the things that have made you special.”

Piper hurried around the circular desk to the other side of the unit.

Turning back to her patient, Sam thought of ways to share her news with Doug. No matter how hard she tried, every scenario ended with her clamming up.

“Face facts, Sam. The only way the man is going to get you to talk is to beat it out of you.”