Desert Surrender (10 page)

“I can do that.” She nibbled on her lower lip, and his cock pulsed. “Maybe.”

“Try, very hard.” Inside the elevator, he inserted a key for the top floors. Another couple already on there smiled, and he inquired about their trip.

“Not too bad,” the man said. “Not exactly raking in the dough, but I haven"t lost that much either.”

“Good,” Maddox replied. He gave them several suggestions for places to visit before they got off on the eighth floor. The elevator started back up, and he turned to her when she laughed.

“I would think you"d want them to lose money. It would mean more money for you.”

“I don"t want them to lose their shirts,” he said. “Then they wouldn"t come back.

Yes, I make most of my money from the gambling. I want people to continue to play, so that means they need to win a little.”

She nodded. “You want them to spend their money gambling. That"s why you have cheap food and why drinks in the bar are only four dollars, right? Because you want them to spend their money at the tables.”

“You learn fast.” He leaned against the wall. “The bigger players—the whales—

get comped. Which means they get freebies, and save their money for the tables.”

“Which means more money for your pocket when they lose.” She leaned close to him, and the smell of her sweet perfume wafted toward him, making his groin tighten even more. “How capitalistic of you.”

He shrugged. “If it helps, I donate lots of money to charity, and I pay my employees more than some of my competitors.”

“I suppose I"ll cut you some slack then.” She leaned closer, putting her lips right next to his. “I want to suck your cock.”

“I think I already knew that.” He moved his head just enough to gaze down at her.

“And if you"re a good girl tonight, I might let you.”

The doors opened on their floor, and he held his hand out in front of him. “After you.”

He watched confusion light her eyes. “We"re not going out?”

“No.” She stepped out of the car, and he put his hand on her arm right after the doors closed. “Take off your dress.”

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“Here? What happened to the man who didn"t want to do anything to jeopardize his gaming permit? The door to any one of these rooms could open, and one of your guests could come out.”

He watched her face. The idea excited her; he could tell. It still made her feel vulnerable. “There are four rooms on this floor. So the odds are high that someone might come out. I want you to do it. Now.” He didn"t tell her that he"d checked the security before she"d arrived, seen that the rooms had been empty most of the day. He"d told them to buzz him if anyone went upstairs. And they hadn"t, so the rooms were empty. The real danger was someone coming up in the elevator, and he was willing to take that chance.

“The longer you wait, the more chance you have of being discovered.” He watched her process the probability of being discovered. “Do this for me. It"s not like you"ve never been naked before. I read about Rome.”

“I wasn"t totally naked there, just down to bra and panties, and I"m not wearing any panties, if you remember.” Before he could say anything, she said, “Oh, what the hell.” She handed him her purse and wiggled out of her dress. His cock pounded with each jiggle, and he considered putting her up against the wall and taking her right there.

He shook the idea away as he picked up her dress. “It"s nice to see you followed my instructions about not wearing panties. Good girl. Take your bra off. You can leave on your shoes and those lovely thigh-high stockings. We"ll have to find you a garter belt before we go to Laughlin.”

“Maddox!”

“The longer you wait, the more chances there are of discovery.”

Her gaze focused on a camera as she reached behind her back. “If one of your security guards posts this on the Internet, I"ll never forgive you.”

Maddox took her bra and nodded. He didn"t need to tell her that he"d ordered the cameras on this floor to be turned off from six twenty to six forty-five. He glanced at his watch. That meant they had six minutes to get to his suite without her being seen.

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a long silver chain, much like the ones he"d used on her the night before.

“No!”

“Spread your legs.”

“No! Maddox, please, not out here.” She shook her head violently, and her refusal confused him. This certainly wasn"t the daredevil who had stripped in Rome while cameras rolled. “Listen, I was drunk that night, and that video made it everywhere, and my parents hated me, well, even more than they already hate me, and some people"s reactions, well…”

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“This is me and no one else. Do as I say.” She waited a long minute and then nodded slightly. He leaned over to attach the chain to her clit ring, then tugged it gently. “Come along.”

A glance at his watch as they walked showed there were four minutes to spare. He unlocked the door and led her inside, shutting it firmly behind them. “Talk to me,” he said, turning to her. “This wasn"t about your parents being upset. What sort of bad memories did this dredge up?”

“Well, I"m not exactly Twiggy, and the comments on blogs and such were less than complimentary. If someone sells that footage… I don"t want to be called a pig all over cyberspace again.”

“I promise you that won"t happen.” He stroked her hair. “I had the security cameras disabled for a short time frame. We were within that time frame; I swear it.”

He could almost see relief surging out from her pores. Then anger set in. “That was mean.”

“Was it?” He tugged on the leash. “Your pussy"s wet. I can tell.” He cupped a breast, then pinched a nipple. “And these little buds are nice and hard. You enjoyed doing as I asked.”

He dropped the clothes and pulled her close and claimed her lips, holding her tight as his tongue darted into her mouth. Her soft moan made him want her even more, but he would not rush things. He"d made careful plans for this evening, and they would go exactly as he wanted them to.

A hard tug on the leash made her gasp, and he savored the sound. “Now let"s eat; I"m starved.”

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Chapter Seven

His calm announcement that it was time to eat made her want to throttle him.

They could have been discovered out there in the hall. And while she"d gotten partially naked in Rome, on a bet, getting totally naked and being led down a hallway with a chain attached to her pussy was a whole new ball of wax.

The real problem, as far as she could see, was that he was right. She liked it. A lot.

Her pussy was drenched, and her nipples throbbed like there was no tomorrow.

Maddox moved toward a long table that sat empty in the middle of the room. He pulled out one chair and set it so it faced the other one. Then he patted the seat.

“This one is for you.” He tightened the slack on the leash. “Come along.”

“You like saying that, don"t you?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

She sat down, the wood cool against her bare skin. “Am I going to be tied to this chair?”

“No. Tonight"s scene will be a little different. If you don"t follow the rules, well…we"ll discuss consequences later.”

Clarissa nodded, still a little shaken from walking down the hallway naked. She sat down in the chair. “What are the rules?”

Maddox leaned over to caress her cheek. “You look very delicious sitting there.”

“Oh, does that mean you"re going to eat me for dinner?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Things are definitely looking up.”

The smile he gave her made her nipples tighten. “Food first, play later.”

“Good. I"m starving.” She squirmed a little. “Are we going to order something?”

He sat down in the chair opposite from her. “I"ve already ordered. You"re going to eat what I tell you to eat. It"s a very simple thing.”

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This wasn"t exactly what she"d expected for tonight. She remembered reading about this in books, where the Dom controlled what the sub ate and drank. She remembered thinking it would be a cold day in hell before she allowed someone that much control over her.

Yet here she sat, naked and not objecting. Why would this bother her, she wondered, when being tied last night hadn"t bothered her one bit? Was it because the bondage had led to sex, and she knew it would? This seemed so strange, to allow complete control like this.

“Has the idea soaked in yet?”

“Yes. Basically you"re taking away my right to choose what I eat.”

“Exactly. I have total control over what goes in your mouth tonight.” He leaned toward her. “We"ll see how well you follow directions.”

“Although you might not guess it from what you"ve read about me, I can follow directions with the best of them. Bring it on.”

“Stay right where you are.” His lips curved in a slight smile, and then he stood and walked through another door and disappeared from sight. She took advantage of his absence to look around. The room they were in contained an oval table and six chairs. Parts of the books she"d read had talked about people being used as tables, which worried her a bit. She didn"t exactly have a flat surface on which to place a glass or plate.

“Don"t get ahead of yourself,” she whispered as she glanced at the living area.

Decorated in a contemporary style, the furniture was white leather and seemed very stark. Throw pillows of dark blue added the only color. The tables in that room were all glass and brass. No knickknacks or paintings showed Maddox"s interest in southwestern art or the lifestyle.

This room, unlike his house, had definitely been done by a decorator. She wondered what the bedrooms looked like. Curtains lined the far wall. She imagined a glass wall behind them. The wall would overlook the strip, but she didn"t remember seeing any balconies on the building"s facade.

She tapped her shoe against the floor. What was taking him so long? Or she supposed the better question should be, what was he doing in there? Somehow she didn"t think the kitchen was in that direction. She glanced around, found another doorway. Through it she could see a refrigerator. She supposed there was a stove in there too, or at least a microwave.

Becoming restless, she slid her shoes off, then put them back on. Waiting wasn"t one of her stronger points, and she wanted nothing more than to go and see what was happening in the other room.

Or was he waiting for her to do that? Was this a mind game? Was he testing how long she would hold out before giving in to her curiosity? He"d told her to stay in the seat, and she would. That didn"t mean she had to like it.

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He hadn"t, however, told her she couldn"t talk. “Maddox? Did you get lost? This is your house, you know. I didn"t think you"d need a road map to make it back to the dining room.”

No answer came, and she tapped her feet again. She wanted to stand, to move around. She hated just sitting. And just sitting here naked made her feel very vulnerable. She was sure that"s what he wanted. She drummed her nails on the table, then slapped the heel of her shoe against the hardwood floor.

“Relax, Clarissa.” She turned to watch him push a covered cart into the room. He stopped beside her and sat down. “You act as if you"ve been sitting here for hours.”

“I thought maybe you had to go to the market or run out and kill the fatted calf or something.” She eyed the tray. “What happens if I don"t like what you"re offering?”

“You already said you don"t have any food allergies.” He shrugged. “I don"t see what the problem is.”

“Well, if you"re going to make me eat something gross like liver, then there"s a problem.”

“A good submissive doesn"t question her Dom. She does what he asks, when he asks.” He pushed the lid of the tray up, revealing several plates. One of them held shrimp, which made her mouth water. There was also crab, shredded chicken, and cubes of steak. Besides the meat, there were plates of vegetables: carrots, zucchini, celery, mushrooms, cauliflower, and broccoli. There were also two dishes that both contained unidentified substances, one brown, the other white, that made her cringe slightly.

“There"s no dip for those raw vegetables,” she said. “Perhaps we should send for the waiter.”

He gave her a sly smile but remained silent.

“I"ll take some shrimp and some carrots. I don"t really care for celery.”

“Then eat a piece.”

Clarissa opened her mouth to ask if he"d heard her, then clamped it shut. Tonight, he"d said, was all about seeing how well she followed orders. She reached over, picked up a piece of celery, and moved it toward her mouth, pausing when he held up a finger.

“Only a small bite, for now.” This was strange, being told what she could and couldn"t eat and how much of it to eat. She"d much rather have a bite of shrimp than the celery. Hopefully that tasty morsel would come later.

She bit off a piece of the celery, chewing slowly, then swallowing. “I always thought this was like eating cardboard, except with strings.”

“Take another bite, a larger one.” The sound of the crunch filled the room, and she felt like every time she moved her teeth it echoed. “You may put that down now.”

An empty plate sat on the tray, and she put the celery on there, then turned her gaze to him expectantly.

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He nodded, then ordered her to pick up a carrot. They went through much the same movements with it as with the celery, then followed with mushrooms and broccoli.