Perception (35 page)

I love
you.

Another
rush of tears filled her eyes, but she let them fall.

It didn’t
take long before they were naked, their bodies in perfect tune with one another
as Xander hovered above her on the bed. He was still kissing her, and she was
still hanging on for dear life. In fact, Mercedes wasn’t sure she was ever
going to let him go.

Not
today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

“Love me,
Mercedes,” Xander whispered against her mouth as he slid inside of her.

Wrapping
her legs around his waist, she urged him closer, trying to feel the full length
of his body against hers. But Xander was on to her because he shifted
positions, lifting her right leg up which changed the angle, and he penetrated
her deeper, making her moan.

He
stopped kissing her, his eyes locked with hers as he slowly thrust forward,
pausing. “You’re my everything, Mercedes,” Xander whispered.

Mercedes
couldn’t stop the next wave of tears. But he must’ve realized they weren’t from
fear or pain. They were tears of hope and love. Tears she never expected to
cry, but for this man, she realized anything was possible.

Mercedes
still couldn’t speak, her heart lodged in her throat. The best she could do was
breathe and fight to keep her gaze locked with his. She wanted him to see
everything she felt, to know exactly what he meant to her. Dom or sub, it
didn’t matter. Just like he said.

“Mercedes,”
Xander growled softly, his hips moving, his strokes deepening until she felt
all of him. “Baby.”

When his
eyes closed, Mercedes reached up and cupped his face. “Look at me,” she begged.
Although she’d meant it as a command, it came out more as a plea, but Xander
opened his eyes. “I love you,” she whispered to him and Xander stilled. Right
there, lodged deep inside of her he went stone still.

“Aww,
hell,” he growled. “Say it again, Mercedes. Tell me you love me.”

Mercedes
thrust her hips upward, trying to drive him deeper. The movement elicited
another groan from him, but then he was moving again, never looking away from
her face.

“I love
you, Xander Boone. I love you so much.”

“I can’t
hold back, baby. I need you too much.”

Xander
growled, his release clearly taking him by surprise. And her too because as
soon as he came, Mercedes saw everything she’d been hoping to see right there
in his beautiful eyes.

And
that’s when she tipped right over the edge with him.

Six
months later, January…

At
the grand opening of Alluring Indulgence Resort

 “I
hope you know what you’re doing,” Mercedes said, a pretty pout on her lips.

“I always
know what I’m doing,” he assured her. Granted this time he wasn’t quite as
confident. He’d already attempted this once, and he wasn’t exactly sure what
made them think it would work a second time, but here they were.

Acting as
Mercedes’s submissive for this one last scene was going to take a certain set
of skills he didn’t think he even possessed. It wasn’t all that much different
than the night at Devotion, but he remembered clearly how that had turned out.
A total fucking disaster.

And to
make it worse, the Walker brothers were hanging around which didn’t make him at
all eager to take those stairs down to the first floor.

In truth,
after the way that night had turned out, he hadn’t expected Mercedes to follow
through with the second request, but it had inadvertently come up in
conversation just a week ago. At first, he thought she was going to try to talk
herself out of it, but Xander had insisted.

It didn’t
mean he was at all happy or that he didn’t hate that he would have to pretend
to submit once more. But he did know, with absolute certainty that he could not
go back on his word. They’d had an agreement. She would submit to him if he
submitted to her.

It didn’t
seem to matter that she’d submitted to him completely for all these months
either. A deal was a deal.

However,
he was glad to see that there was a significant difference between this scene
and the one they’d done at Devotion when she had successfully restrained him
and blown his mind with her dominance, even though she had considered that
night a failure.

First, he
wasn’t wearing a collar.

Second,
he wasn’t weighed down by wrist shackles.

And
third, they’d talked and come up with a plan ahead of time so there wouldn’t be
any surprises.

He’d
appreciated all of those points considering they were at Alluring Indulgence,
and the Walkers would be present. Based on what they had predetermined, if
things went accordingly, he wasn’t even sure people would realize what they
were seeing. He knew what they would
expect
to see though, so it would
probably work out in both of their favors.

It was
all about perception.

His.

Hers.

And
everyone else’s.

It was
true, people only saw what they wanted to see. In this case, it didn’t matter
whether they believed the man was always the Dom, or that the Dom wielded all
the power. There was a drastic difference between what they wanted to see and
what reality was.

“Since
you’re so confident, then what are we waiting for?” Mercedes asked him – he
knew it was rhetorical – as she turned toward the sweeping staircase that would
take them to the main area on the first floor.

It wasn’t
like it was a death march, but Xander preferred to pretend not to think about
what they were doing or where they were going. Instead, he busied himself with
checking out the beautiful woman who was now leading the way. He was supposed
to be playing a part, keeping his eyes forward, not ogling her, but the woman
was absolutely breathtaking, and he found himself devoid of any and all
willpower where she was concerned.

They were
in costume, as Mercedes had put it. He wore nothing more than a pair of leather
pants, his shit kickers and sterling silver hoops in his nipples. He’d traded
the titanium bars for the hoops at the last minute and the way Mercedes had
eyed him had given him the courage to go through with this.

No one
ever said you had to be submissive to seek approval from the person that you
loved. Xander was certainly no exception. To know that she was going to enjoy
this as much as he was made it all worthwhile.

Then
again, he wasn’t the main attraction. Mercedes was. It wasn’t what he was
wearing that would catch people’s attention anyway. Especially not with a tall,
willowy, curvy in all the right places, incredibly beautiful woman at his side.

Tonight,
Mercedes’s body was showcased in a ruby red baby doll nighty that did little to
hide the stunning body beneath. Her nipples were visible through the sheer
material, and her long legs were accentuated by fishnet stockings with those
sexy fuck me heels on her feet.

But when
she turned away from him, that’s when Xander’s mouth went dry. Her luscious ass
was on full display, a tiny G-string doing nothing whatsoever to shield her
glorious backside. 

It was an
outfit very similar to the one he’d had her put on the very first night she
submitted to him at Devotion. He couldn’t help but wonder whether that was
intentional on her part.

The view
definitely made what was about to happen a little easier.

Apparently
someone had been thinking ahead because, as they began to descend the stairs,
Erotica
by Madonna began playing on the overhead
speakers.

Interesting choice.

Doing his best to stay focused,
Xander allowed Mercedes to lead him to the center of the main room, straight to
the oversized, black leather, circular sofa that was the focal point of the
open space. Luckily no one stopped them to chat. Xander could tolerate a lot,
but tonight, he had no intention of making small talk.

At least not until this was over.

When they stopped at the sofa,
Mercedes mumbled, “I hope you’re ready for this.”

Taking his seat, he looked up at
her, met her beautiful gray gaze and said, “Baby, you have no idea. But just
wait until later. I fully intend to make your pretty ass blush with my hand.”

His words seemed to have taken
Mercedes by surprise, but to her credit, she didn’t show any outward reaction.
Rather than waiting to see what she’d come back with, Xander got into position
on the couch, lying flat on his back. Because of his height, he stretched from
one side to the other, but nothing was hanging off, which was good.

He couldn’t help it, he looked over,
tracking her with his eyes as she came around the sofa to stand near his head.

“Eyes above you. Not on me,” she
commanded.

His cock jerked in response. He
might not submit to her by choice, but he did enjoy her demanding side from
time to time.

As the song continued, Xander freed
his cock from the confining leather, stroking himself ever so slowly as he
waited for Mercedes to get into position. She had strictly instructed that he
was to tempt her, but he wasn’t allowed to come. For a scene, this one was
incredibly tame, especially for Mercedes, but again, he hadn’t complained.

It sure beat the alternative.

 When she kneeled over him, one
knee on each side of his head, he sucked in a sharp breath, praying he would be
able to control himself. As with anytime he was with her, the rest of the world
receded. The only person who mattered was her, and this time wasn’t any
different.

Knowing that she was intimately
watching him, Xander continued to jack his cock with one hand, the tension in
his balls intensifying as her sweet scent flooded his senses. Keeping his other
hand resting at his side and not touching her the way he wanted was the hardest
thing about tonight. But somehow he managed.

That’s when Mercedes blew his
fucking mind. She reached one hand between her legs, sliding her thong to the
side as she lowered her pussy to his mouth.

He could imagine what people saw
when they looked at them. A wonton woman sprawled over him, ready to ride his
face for all she was worth. While her obedient sub focused solely on her, his
one and only goal was to make her come. With his mouth.

With her orgasm his full priority,
Xander licked her.

Slowly at first, teasing gently
before sucking her clit. It wasn’t long before she was grinding her pussy
against his mouth, her soft moans vibrating through her body, not heard over
the sound of the music.

His cock was throbbing, his balls
drawing up against his body as he continued to stroke himself, wishing like
fuck that her mouth was on him, but that wasn’t the way it was planned.
Instead, he fought the urge to come while he ate her pussy, relishing the way
she was riding his face.

It wasn’t until she came, her body
shuddering above him that Xander realized just what he’d do to make the woman
come undone.

Even if it meant she would withhold
his release from him. Which she evidently intended to do.

Once she was sated – even if it were
just the beginning of their night together – Mercedes crawled down him, making
her way to the opposite end. When she paused, grinding her hot cunt against his
straining erection, he sucked in air. Even with her panties acting as a barrier
between them, he felt the wet heat and it was enough to make him nearly come in
his hand.

“Not yet,” she demanded as she
glanced back over her shoulder. He could barely hear her over the music from
the loud speakers and the people talking around them, but he knew what she
said.

With a dangerous chokehold on his
cock, an attempt to keep from losing it right then and there, Xander started
counting slowly to himself. It was the only alternative to grabbing her hips
and pulling her down on top of him.

She surprised him when she stood up.
Instead of asking him to get up, like they had planned in advance, Mercedes
offered him a wicked grin. One that spoke of promises and retribution.

Figured.

He was in a position that he
couldn’t very well get out of because he’d agreed well in advance, but that
didn’t mean he didn’t want to.

No, Xander reached deep inside and
latched onto his control, while Mercedes came around near his head once more.
He was looking up at her, she was looking down at him. When she knelt on the
floor, he couldn’t imagine what the hell she was doing, but he waited.

“Put your cock away,” she told him.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to be quite
as easy as it looked. But she probably knew that. His dick was throbbing, and
the leather pants were going to cause a significant amount of discomfort. But
he did it anyway.

Managing to tuck himself back in his
pants, he still didn’t move.

“This is for you,” she whispered
near his ear and she retrieved something from beneath the sofa.

Son of a bitch.

He wanted to laugh, but he didn’t.
It wasn’t part of the scene.

None of this was.

“Raise your head up.”

He did.

Mercedes proceeded to buckle that
goddamn collar around his neck once more.

“Sit up.”

Xander sat up, swinging his legs
around and over the side of the sofa, his painfully hard cock causing a
tremendous amount of discomfort, but he didn’t say a word.

“Stand up.”

Rising to his feet, he kept his gaze
fixed on her.

Mercedes stood, coming to stand
directly in front of him and that was when he realized she was holding
something else.

It wasn’t until she reached up and
buckled it to the D ring on the collar that he figured out just what it was.

The wicked woman had leashed him.
She’d actually clipped a fucking leash to the fucking collar around his fucking
neck.

He took a deep breath. Let it out.

Mercedes stepped closer, went up on
her toes and brushed her mouth to his. “I’m just making sure there is
absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind exactly who you belong to.”

He nodded, still not saying a word.
He was supposed to be playing a part. And he had to hand it to himself… he was
doing a damn fine job.

Because, in less than five minutes,
he was going to have the collar off, and the leash would be used to redden her
backside nicely.

Right before he fucked her until she
didn’t remember her own name.