Lock and Load (9 page)

“But?” she prompted.

“I feel different with you. A lot. And to be really frank, I’m not sure what it means.”

“Me, too,” she said in a low voice.

“So what do you say we finish this gourmet breakfast”
—
he winked at her—“and go out and have some fun today. I haven’t done anything just for fun in a very long time. Oh, wait. I didn’t even ask. Don’t you have to go to work today? It being Monday and all. And by the way, just what kind of work do you do?”

She hesitated a moment then pushed her chair back from the table. “Sit right there a moment.” Quickly she retrieved the Sunday edition of the paper where she’d left it in the living room, pulled out the sports section and carried it back to the table. She folded it so her story was on top.

‘
Spurs Ready For Final Game of the Series—by Megan Welles
.’

Beau’s eyes widened as he stared at the print. “You’re a reporter?”

She nodded.

“A sports reporter?” His eyes were still glued to the article. “And you cover a major professional franchise?”

“I do.”

He looked up at her and grinned. “Hot damn. A woman who likes sports. And even writes about them. I think I hit the jackpot.”

She didn’t say a word, just stood waiting, expectantly, for whatever came next.

“What?” he asked. “You do like sports, right? I mean, obviously.”

She clenched her fists at her side. “Don’t you want to ask me if I sleep with the jocks? If I have my pick of the locker room?”

“What?” he said again, only this time he nearly shouted. “Whoa. Wait a minute here. Are you shitting me? Who says crap like that?”

Megan shrugged. “Most men I meet. They want to know who has the biggest penis. Then they ask if I can score them some tickets.”

Dark red suffused Beau’s face and a vein at his temple throbbed. “Megan, you are hanging out with the wrong men. For damn sure.” He pushed everything aside and pulled her into his lap, clamping the fingers of one hand beneath her chin. “Listen to what I’m saying, girl.” His Dom voice sent shivers through her. “You have to stop hanging out with assholes, because that’s exactly what they are. And you damn well can demand their respect.”

“Women sports reporters have always had it rough,” she explained. “It’s actually better than it used to be. And the lack of respect doesn’t come from the players.”

“It’s the wannabe jocks, right?” When she didn’t answer him, he nudged her chin. “Right, girl?”

She nodded. “It’s why I confine my social life now to The Edge. There I’m just who I am—Megan, the sub. I don’t have to worry about some guy who thinks he wants to show me how much tougher than me he is, or pat me on the head and tell me I should leave sports reporting to men who know what they’re doing.”

“You’re a strong woman, girl. Very strong.” He rubbed this thumb lightly over her lower lip. “Right from the beginning, from the first time we were together, I felt there were two sides to you battling with each other—the sub who fulfilled my fantasies, who wanted to give up all that control when the door was closed, and a woman who wore a suit of armor for the outside world. I was right, wasn’t I?”

“It’s the job,” she sighed. “If I give an inch, the other reporters take a mile.”

“I’ll bet you earned every damn thing you’ve gotten,” Beau guessed. “You keep that armor in place when you deal with them.” He dropped his hand to cup her breast, pinching the nipple between thumb and forefinger. “But not when you’re with me. You’re my girl, Megan. My sub. Hands off as far as everyone else is concerned.”

She stared at him. The mix of emotions in his eyes told her he might be dealing with as many conflicts as she was. She’d love to know what his were, if only he’d open up. But he’d been willing to put it on the table first. And really, she reminded herself, he was just asking for exclusivity as far as being a sub. Wasn’t he? Could she do it, with him halfway across the world so much of the time?

“I know I’ll be gone a lot,” he went on as if reading her mind. “But damn, Megan. You just rock my world.” He gave her lower lip a slow lick. “Are you willing to agree to this?”

Shivers skated down her spine at the erotic caress.

Was she? Willing to do this? What exactly did it mean?

More than you’ve gotten from anyone else. Ever.

But the anonymity of The Edge was so safe. This meant really opening herself up to him. What if he turned out to be an asshole after all?

“Girl?” His Dom voice was sharp. Commanding.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I am.”

His kiss stole her breath, his tongue plundering her mouth, his one hand kneading her breast while the other pressed her close. Beneath her buttocks she felt his swelling cock press into her body and wondered if they’d even make it out of her townhouse today.

Beau must have had the same idea because he broke the kiss, took a light nip at her lower lip and set her on her feet.

“Breakfast,” he told her. “Then how about showing me some of your city today? All I’ve seen so far is Slade’s ranch and The Edge.” He slid his hand beneath the long T-shirt she’d thrown on and ran a finger the length of her slit, making her suck in her breath. “Then we’ll see if we can come up with some way to pass the evening.”

* * * *

Beau couldn’t remember when he’d spent a better day. For the first time in months—maybe years—he hadn’t felt as if he was carrying a ten-ton load of concrete on his shoulders or had to watch everything he did and said. Megan was a terrific tour guide, taking him to the Alamo and the site of the other original missions. They ate Mexican food on the Riverwalk and took the river tour on one of the guide boats. She showed him where the newspaper was located but refused to go inside “On my day off!” They had drinks in the Chart House on top of the tower in Hemisfair Park.

He took a ton of pictures with his cell phone, shots of Megan laughing and waving, headshots of the two of them, a photo gallery that would keep him sane during his long lonely nights on the next mission. Already the five days they had left didn’t seem long enough to him.

At the end of the day she followed him to the ranch so he could leave the SUV and pick up his gear. He’d already decided he’d hang out during the day while Megan was working and pick up something each night for dinner. And that was the way it worked out. He really wanted to see her at work, get a feel for what she did, what she was when she wasn’t with him. But it seemed important to her to keep that separate, at least for now. He figured it had to do with all the baggage she carried around. At least he hoped so. He stopped himself from borrowing trouble when he didn’t need to. This was still too new to him.

If the days were laid back the nights were anything but. And it wasn’t always just about the sex. Although that was more off the charts than he could have imagined. He was discovering, for the first time, that being a Dom, being in control, was as much about attitude as it was about action. The first couple of nights he’d eased into it, letting her shrug off the day, fixing her a drink. Waiting for her to relax.

But as the week progressed, he realized how much she’d come to accept his control of her with words as well as actions. With attitude as much as anything else. That edge of sassiness was still there, but he began to see her change as soon as she walked in the door. A softening in her attitude. The immediate submissive pose once she’d dumped her purse and briefcase. Eagerly waiting for his instructions, whether he was telling her he wanted her to sit down and let him serve her dinner or that he wanted her to eat it in the nude.

A couple of nights they hadn’t really even played, just hung out like vanilla people. Except for the fact that he wouldn’t let her wear any clothes. And while they watched movies, he drove her nuts playing with her nipples and her cunt. He’d take her to bed, cuff her hands in front of her and tell her if she tried to get herself off after he fell asleep she’d pay for it.

He wasn’t always sure she saw that as a punishment, but then the next night she’d be so wild for him he could hardly control her until they were both naked and he had her restrained in one manner or another.

She was always wet for him and he loved it. Sometimes during the day he’d get so hard just thinking about it he wanted to close his eyes and jack off. He wondered if Megan walked around just as aroused as he was.

On Friday morning he woke her very early, long before she had to leave for an assignment. Reaching across her body that was curled into his, he opened the nightstand drawer and fished out a condom, rolling it on his already thickening cock. Sheathed and ready, he snagged the handcuffs from the nightstand, locked them around one of her wrists then to the bedpost.

“What—?” She roused herself, frowning. “What are you—?”

He touched a fingertip to her lips. “No questions. Only instructions. From me. And you follow them. Understand, girl?”

“I’m going to lift your leg over mine so your cunt is completely open to me.” He moved her leg as he talked to her, his shaft already so thick and swollen it bumped demandingly against the curve of her ass. “Use your free hand to pinch your nipple. Now.”

She nodded, her tousled hair brushing seductively against his chest. The sight of her plump bud pressed between her thumb and forefinger, darkening from the pressure, made his mouth dry up and his balls tingle. He loved ordering her to stimulate herself, commanding her to bring herself to the brink of release then forcing her to hold back until he was ready for her. But this morning he knew they had a time limit so he couldn’t play all the games he enjoyed with her.

The cheeks of her buttocks were warm to his touch, the skin still reddened from the kiss of the leather belt last night. Who knew she’d become so addicted to it, even more than the crop or the flogger. He’d caught onto her game after the first night he’d used it. She knew just how to push his buttons to earn herself a punishment session and last night he’d had to stop himself before actually doing her harm. He never wanted to cause her more pain than the level that took her to maximum pleasure.

But she’d gotten good at pulling her internal trigger that took her into subspace where her entire body was his to do with as he wished. It was his responsibility to make sure that he had control in place.

Quit thinking and get to it.

He pinched the tender skin of her ass, making her jump. But his thigh was suddenly damper where her pussy rested against it. When he pinched the other cheek, right on one of the reddest spots, she tried to move her body to rub herself against him.

“Uh-uh-uh. My rules, my directions,” he reminded her, banding his arm around her waist to hold her in place. “You just concentrate on tormenting that sweet nipple. I’ll tell you when I want you to do something else.”

Her breath quickened as it always did when he used his Dom voice and a tremor ran through her body. Grasping his dick, he rubbed it into the crevice of her buttocks before sliding it along her soaking slit. One thrust and he was inside her, the wet walls of her pussy like a tight fist around him. He wasn’t going to last very long here.

“Keep teasing that nipple,” he ordered.

Megan was already pushing back against him, trying to take him deeper. He pulled her leg farther back over his thigh before clamping his hand over her cunt and taking her clit in his fingers. In seconds he was thrusting in and out of her, rubbing her swollen bud in the same rhythm. He could feel the vibrations already shimmering in her inner walls. She was as close as he was.

“Pinch hard,” he said, doing the same to her clit.

One tug and she was over the edge, already convulsing around him as he stiffened, thrust and fell into his own climax.

He held her tightly against him until the last aftershocks subsided and they both lay limp and panting. He might have stayed there like that all morning except Megan’s soft voice roused him.

“I have to go to work, Sir. May I get up and get ready?”

He buried his face in the curve of her shoulder, nipping the skin before soothing it with his tongue. God, he hated to let her go even for a few hours. Swallowing back the need to keep her just like this, he flicked open the cuff, rolled her to her back and took her mouth in a deep, hungry kiss. When he lifted his head he was stunned at the emotion he saw in her eyes. Then it was gone, almost as if it has never been there. He smacked her ass.

“Up and at ‘em. No lazing around here today.”

She laughed and rolled lithely to her feet. He watched the bounce of her ass as she headed toward the bathroom, forcing himself to stay put and not pull her back into bed with him.

“What are you planning to do today?” she asked, showered and dressed and gathering the things she needed. “Maybe you should call your buddies who are still at the ranch and hang with them.”

“I talked to them again yesterday. They’ve got their own things going right now.” Besides, he had plenty of time to spend with them once they hit the sandbox again.

“When are Slade and Kari due back?”

“Tonight. They wanted one day to take care of some stuff before we have to leave.”

Megan came to stand beside the bed, a tiny frown creasing her brow.

“I haven’t asked and you’ve never said, but do you know when you all need to leave?”

This was a subject he’d kept pushing to the back of his mind. For the first time in recent memory, he wasn’t looking forward to heading back to base. His entire life, for ten years, had revolved around his existence as a sniper. Studying missions, preparing for them, executing them, practicing skills in between. There had been plenty of women, but none had touched him beyond physical satisfaction.

He still didn’t know what this thing was with Megan. It was obvious they both had trust issues. He just wished he had more time for them to work through everything.

“Beau?” Her voice broke into his mental wanderings. “Sir? Is it okay for you to answer my question? It’s not classified or anything, is it?”

He shook himself. Question. When were they leaving. Right.

“Most likely Sunday. We usually only get a week, but Slade worked it out so he and Kari would have a couple of days before the wedding, time for a honeymoon and a little time afterwards.”