Playing for Real: Paolo's Playhouse, Book 5 (9 page)

She narrowed her eyes, but only nodded, shifted her focus back to the clamps in his hand. She couldn’t see them very well, but they looked similar to little silver clothespins. Paolo pulled at one of her nipples, sending quivers of pleasure over her skin. Then he quickly snapped a clamp on the nipple, and she sucked in a loud breath as a shock of pain shot through her.

“Very good,
cara
,” he whispered. “Keep breathing. It will get better.”

The immediate pain started to fade, but then he repeated with the other nipple and when the clamp bit down tears sprang to her eyes. But she didn’t cry out loud.

“Good girl,” he said. He brushed his lips over hers, licked away a tear drop that escaped and trickled down her cheek. “I am proud of you. You will get used to this, the more we use the clamps.” He kissed her again. “Better?”

She nodded. Her nipples throbbed but it wasn’t unbearable. In fact, an answering throb echoed in her pussy. It was so hard not to squirm.

“Good.” He tugged on the chain then, sending pain shooting through her nipples again. He dipped his head and licked at one red nipple tip visible from the clamp. The sensitive tip seemed even more so.

“Oh, that feels good,” she murmured.

He moved to the other breast and laved that nipple as well. Sensations shot through her body and concentrated at her clit. When he scraped his teeth along the tip, she gasped and arched her back. “Pain?” he asked.

“Yes,” she cried.

“Ssh,” he warned. He brushed his cheek against hers. “Pleasure?” His warm breath tickled her ear.

“Oh, yes,” she whispered.

“Good.” She heard the smile in his voice. “You never considered your safe word, did you?”

“Never.”

“I knew it. I’m going to lay you down now.”

Julianne nodded. Her fingers hurt from clasping together so tightly. She stretched them out as she loosened her hold and let her arms fall to her side. She let the straps of her sundress fall and join the bodice around her waist. Paolo’s hands gripped her shoulders as he helped her stretch out on the blanket.

“Lovely.” Paolo looked down at her. Soon it would be too dark to see each other well. The air was cooling down but not enough to worry about covering up yet. He ran his hands along her arms until he reached her wrists. “We need to get these out of the way again.” He stretched them up over her head.

He stripped his leather belt from the loops of his jeans and folded it in half. Was he going to slap her with it? But he leaned over her, wrapped her fingers around the doubled-up leather.

“Hold on tight.” He pressed her wrists into the grass. He didn’t need to tell her not to move them.

“Someday I want to touch you all over,” she told him. He was so close she could smell his unique scent and feel the heat from his body.

“I will keep that in mind,” he replied with a small smile. “Perhaps one night I will give you control.” He ran his hands down her arms, along her shoulders and across her breasts. “But not tonight.” He tugged on the chain again, stimulating her nipples once more. He dropped the chain and continued his exploration with his hands.

When he reached her hips, he pulled her skirt up. Julianne felt the cooling air more strongly on her bare intimate flesh. His fingers skimmed her slick folds and she tilted her hips to get closer to him. “You are so wet,
cara
.”

“You made me this way,” she said. “It’s all for you.”

“I am glad.” He grasped her tightly between her legs. “This is mine, yes?”

She nodded. Closed her eyes. She couldn’t see much anyway.

“Answer me, Julianne. This body. All of it.” He kept the one hand cupping her pussy. He collared her throat with his other hand, pinning her to the blanket. “This body is mine to do with as I wish. Yes? You are giving it to me.”

His words rolled sensuously over her skin. “Yes,” she whispered. “Take me, sir. I’m yours.”

“Wonderful.” He released his hold on her throat and she whimpered at the loss of the light pressure that reminded her of his dominance. “I am going to take care of you,
cara
.” He lowered his body to the blanket and replaced his hand with his mouth. A long, wet lick brought her hips off the blanket. Too soon the licks and nibbles brought her close to orgasm. Her panting grew louder and he had to stop what he was doing to remind her to keep quiet.

“Sorry,” she whispered. She ran her tongue over her lips to get some moisture back into them. Her clit was throbbing. Her blood was pounding in her ears, and she couldn’t hear anything but her pulse and her panting. Her universe had narrowed down to her body and what he was doing to her. What was he doing now? When he didn’t return his attention to her pussy, she moaned.

He chuckled lightly. “Patience.” She glanced up and saw that he’d unzipped his jeans just enough to release his cock and was rolling on a condom. He shifted between her legs and set his mouth on her again. It didn’t take long for him to bring her to the brink, but he must have been able to tell when she was close, to read her body and her reactions so well that he knew when to pull away before she could climax. She moaned, her eyes still closed, her lips parted as her breathing grew heavier, louder.

Then he licked her again, lightly drawing his tongue along her sensitive flesh. Too lightly. She was almost there. Almost.

Then Paolo rose up and thrust into her in one long stroke. In the next moment, he yanked on the chain attached to the nipple clamps and her orgasm exploded. He must have known what would happen because he captured her mouth with his and muffled the cries of completion she wasn’t able to stop.

He continued his thrusts, building a rhythm that matched hers. His heavy breaths fed hers, his long strong strokes kept her climax from falling off completely. Her fingers clutched the leather belt, but even though she longed to throw her arms around him, she kept them above her head where he wanted them to be.

He tugged on the chain attached to the nipple clamps she’d almost forgotten about. “Don’t scream.”

Don’t scream?

He picked up the speed of his thrusts, momentum building, strokes becoming rough and jerky. Then he released the nipple clamps and as blood rushed back into her nipples, Julianne gasped so hard she lost her breath. Fire shot from her nipples into her chest and down to her clit. The second orgasm hit her by surprise and the violent contractions from the climax squeezed him as he thrust deeper, harder, faster.

Paolo stiffened and groaned, her mouth muffling his cries this time. She couldn’t resist any longer and let go of the belt, then threw her arms around him, holding him close. Even through his shirt, his back was hot against her palms. His chest hard against hers. Their breaths mingled as the kiss lingered and their bodies moved as one.

Eventually he pushed up and off of her. She lay there while he took care of the condom and zipped back up. He looked as put together as always while her dress was shoved down and pushed up. But she never considered moving, adjusting, or covering up. She stayed in place and waited.

But Paolo didn’t help her up, didn’t tell her she could get dressed. He stroked her shoulder, swept her hair back from her face. He picked up his belt where she dropped it. “Relax,” he murmured. He brushed his hand along her bare skin, cupped a breast and ran a finger over her thigh, along her throat before he slipped the belt back through the loops.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“No.” Julianne felt she could never be cold when she was with Paolo. The heat from his body, the fire from his gaze, would always keep her warm. Still, he helped her straighten her dress, button the bodice and pull down the skirt while she was still stretched out on the blanket.

It was very dark now where they were surrounded by the tall trees. If the moon was out, she couldn’t see it. Paolo stretched out beside her on the blanket and took her hand. “Look at the stars,
cara
.”

She looked up through the small clearing in the branches and gasped softly at the sparkling lights against the dark sky. “Oh how pretty.”

Paolo squeezed her hand. “Not as pretty as you.”

Her heart melted from the simple words, the soft squeeze. So many times her body had melted for Paolo, but now her heart was getting in on the act. Her heart wasn’t supposed to get involved.

“I used to watch the stars with my father,” he said softly.

“You mean like this? Or with a telescope?”

“With a telescope. He built a deck up on the roof of the house so he could bring the telescope up there. He can sit for hours up there and when I was younger I would sometimes keep him company. He can tell you the name of all the constellations, and I can probably tell you many as well, just from listening to him.”

“Did you like looking at the stars too?”

He chuckled softly. “Not really. I just liked to spend time with him.” Paolo picked up their joined hands and dropped a kiss to her fingers. “Tonight I am enjoying looking at the stars. With you.”

And her heart melted a little bit more.

By Sunday afternoon, Julianne had written up her estimate for The Finishing Touch and emailed it to Ingrid. Then she dug into Olsens’ project. The dining room was almost finished. She’d found a sleek shelving unit for the one blank wall. It should be delivered on Tuesday and ready to be filled with objects the Olsens had collected over the years.

She’d managed to fill her mind with so much work that she didn’t think about Paolo for several hours. But there was still that empty space above the sideboard in the Olsens’ dining room and she remembered the unique artwork at the Playhouse. She’d mentioned to him earlier that she might contact him about buying some of his work for clients. That was before she knew she’d be seeing him so often. Before she agreed to play dates and dinner dates. Before safe words and rituals.

Before he seduced her with a picnic dinner and sex beneath the stars.

She could talk to him about the painting when she saw him tomorrow. But Monday night was a play date. Julianne still didn’t want to mix her real life with her sessions with Paolo. She reached for the phone.

He answered immediately. “Julianne.” Just the sound of him saying her name sent a wave of calm over her body, relaxing her. And she hadn’t even realized how frantically she’d been working all day. And how much she wanted to hear his voice.

“Hi. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

“Not at all. Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. I’m doing some work and—”

“You are working on a Sunday afternoon?”

“Um…yeah.” What else would she be doing?

“It is a beautiful day. You should be enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. Or visiting with friends or family. Sunday should be a day of rest.”

“Paolo, nobody rests on Sunday anymore.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. “So what day do you take for rest?”

“I rest. I just don’t take a whole day for it. You must understand how it is when you run your own business. You have to work constantly to keep up.”

“Not constantly, Julianne.” The soft reprimand in his voice made her stomach clench.

Defensively, she lashed out. “Look, I called to ask about a painting for a client, but if you’re going to judge me, never mind. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“
Cara
. Let me pick you up and we will take a drive and you can tell me what you need.”

She wanted that way too much. “I don’t know if I should. I have too much work to do.”

“A drive. To get you out of that apartment and away from work for a little while. And I will admit to being selfish and wanting to see you again.”

“Monday night seems like a long way away, doesn’t it?”

“I will take that for a yes.” She could hear the pleasure in his voice. “I will be there soon.”

“Okay.” She disconnected the call and had to wonder if that wasn’t what she’d hoped for, deep inside. To see him again. She shouldn’t be looking forward to being with him again so soon. What about her decision to keep her time with Paolo separate from the rest of her life? All those boxes she’d tried to stack so neatly? What did she want out of this relationship? Only bondage sex or did she want more? Did she want lazy Sunday afternoons with Paolo?

When she buzzed him in and opened the door, his commanding presence called to the submissive inside her. Then he smiled at her and her heart stuttered in her chest. Yes, she wanted more time with Paolo.

She liked him. She might even be falling for him. But how did she know if what she felt was for the man? Or the Dom?

The warm, sunny afternoon was perfect for another ride in his Jeep. Julianne seemed to relax before his eyes as they drove out to the park again. He hadn’t felt so light-hearted in a long time as when he took her hand and they strolled lazily down the path to the river.

He found conversation with her easy as well. He’d never talked with anyone else about sharing time with his father looking at the stars. He’d never taken another woman on a picnic dinner to the park. Julianne made him want to find ways to spend time with her outside of the Playhouse.

They walked in silence for a while, then Julianne cleared her throat and softly asked, “So tell me how you came to start a business like the Playhouse.”