Reluctant Surrender (22 page)

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The light roamed over her neck, collarbone, one shoulder, the other shoulder and back again. “Nice. You’re doing really well. Let’s get your arms done and then you can bring them down.”

He bent his head and followed the path of the beam along her left arm. From shoulder to fingertip and back again as she experienced the cool wave of tiny hairs rising over her skin. She stood at attention when he murmured, “You’re doing beautifully. Now the other one.” As he walked behind her, she was hit with a breeze that brought home her near-nakedness. The taunting reminder caused her to shiver.

“Let’s see…” He examined that limb the same way as the other and when he was done he gave her a tap. “Put your arms down. Now, clasp your hands behind your back so I can finish looking over the front of you.”

Again he walked around her, making sure to position himself so that the two men in the booth had a clear view of her. She kept her eyes on him, even though she felt as though she were posing. With her hands behind her, her shoulders back and her chest predominantly displayed, she was thrust forward.

“You have a beautiful body, Colin. These?” He nudged her right breast up and shone the light underneath. “These are the nicest tits I’ve seen in a good, long while. Firm,” he gave her flesh a squeeze and let go, “round with tiny, pert nipples a man could bite on. Nice.” He paused to look into her eyes. “Really nice.”

Before she caught her breath, he moved on to the other one and despite the fact that he was lifting it and passing the light from the flashlight underneath it in the most impersonal way imaginable, her pulse hummed. Her skin heated and her body was melting under his touch, into his hands.

“Ethan?”

“So far so good, Colin. I’m proud of you. Let me finish.”

The light swept across her stomach, lower to her belly and landed at the apex of her thighs with a telling hover.

“Damn. What?” He touched his earpiece and said, “No. Absolutely not. I know, but…that much I’ll do, but not the rest. No, fuck that. You stay where you are, I’m doing this.”

She tried not to react, but it was hard. Her fight-or-flight instinct was kicking in. Obviously they wanted him to do something more than he was prepared to do to her. He’d said no, though, and looking into his eyes she gained back a large measure of previously deserted composure. His look said that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. She read this truth in his expression and that alone eased her nerves and caused her to trust him all the more.

“I need to pull your panties down. Just a little. To make sure that the mark isn’t hidden beneath.”

She took a deep breath.

“Do you trust me enough, Colin? Can I take hold of the sides of your panties and bring them down so I can look at you?”

She closed her eyes and swallowed. “Yes.”

“Hey, no hiding, baby girl. Not from me.” He tapped her on the nose and for some reason she was instantly swamped with an internal blanket of comfort. Until she heard the husky tone in his voice, as he said, “I want your eyes open and watching me while I look at you. Focus on me.”

When she did as he told her, her surroundings blurred. The mirror with the men behind it was forgotten. All she saw was him, slowly inching her panties down. One gentle tug at a time. With each pull her stomach fluttered, making her inner muscles contract and squeeze while she worked to control her breathing. Her air intake had automatically increased, which got her blood rushing and her pulse beating. She was lightheaded and wobbly, totally enthralled by him and what he was doing until he positioned her panties halfway between her hips and knees. Leaving the most private part of her fully exposed for his view.

“Beautiful.”

He didn’t hesitate as he used the flashlight in the same manner as he’d been doing. The fact that he didn’t call special attention to that part of her allowed her to endure the intimate perusal without collapsing.

“There, that wasn’t so bad.” After he adjusted the flashlight, he pulled up her panties and said, “Now turn around so we can have a look at the back of you.”

Her blush was scalding her, but she did as ordered because his expression said,
Trust me, I’ll be quick
. When she’d turned he told her to lift her hair off her neck and she had. She didn’t know how long she’d stood there with her fingers linked at the back of her head, corralling her hair, yet it seemed as if three full minutes had passed. Then instead of telling her she could put her arms down, he’d taken hold and pulled them apart, putting them into a rested position.

“No crossing your arms over these,” he whispered, brushing a hand over one breast before he moved to the other and gave her erect nipple a tweak. “So far so good.”

She willed herself to remain calm, focused, until she heard the bleep of static and a muffled voice coming, no doubt from his earpiece. The reality that there were men watching him doing this hit her hard and she gasped.

“Easy.” He steadied her because she’d also swayed. “They only want me to turn you slightly to the right. That’s all. There’s the cutest little beauty mark on one of your killer hips and they want to get a better look. Relax.”

This time when he took down her panties she fought the surge of nervous adrenaline that snaked through her and gave herself over to him completely. She expected to feel guilt or remorse, maybe even shame, but all she felt was blessed freedom. An exhilarating rush of pleasure knowing there was nothing she could do about her situation. That he was in charge of it and taking care of her. She didn’t need to think. Worry or stress. All she needed to do was pay attention to what he wanted, because what she wanted at the moment was just that. To give him what he wanted and to please him.

“There.” The elastic of her undies snapped against her thigh and when she startled he ordered, “Stay still. You’re doing very well. We’re almost done.”

And so was she. She’d never been more turned-on in her life. Breathing became an erotic experience as the air filling her lungs was expelled, warmed from being inside her, the molecules caressed her lips as they departed. She feared if he touched her again she’d fall apart. Just knowing he was behind her, examining every naked inch of her, except the area on her thighs where her panties clung, did it for her in an integral way that was humbling.

“Very good, baby girl. I’m so pleased with you right now,” he whispered as he righted her panties. “It seems you were telling the truth all along.”

“Yes.” She quivered and then sighed when his big, strong hands grasped her hips. “Please…”

“Please what?” He pulled her sharply up against him. The heat, the hardness of him was intoxicating. But then his hands let go of her and his arms banded around her. Imprisoning her. Holding her. Securing her. Her back melted into his front.

“I don’t know.” It was the truth. She should be demanding he let her go. Let her get dressed and leave the room with some sense of her pride still intact, yet she didn’t want to leave him. She didn’t want to go. She wanted something. Something more than his frank but distant attention. Something more personal and to prove it she restlessly shifted her bottom against his groin in blatant invitation.

“I know. I know what you want.” He dropped his arms and she almost cried out until he took hold of her hips again and leaned in low saying, “Touch yourself. I want to watch you slide both your hands into the front of your panties and do it.”

Her heart skipped a beat and her knees wobbled. Lord knows she wanted to but the reality was… “I-I don’t think I can.”

“Do it. For me. Only me. Trust me.”

She quaked with those words and leaned more fully against him.

“They can’t see.”

Her palms rested awkwardly against the front of her thighs because she was hesitant and unsure. She tried to imagine herself doing as he asked and every time she thought she could handle it some internal
no
button buzzed, defeating her.

“Do you need my help?” He breathed in her ear. The words electrifying and intimate. As if they shared a secret connection that was theirs and no one else’s. And, he was offering his help to her.

“Yes.”

“Lean your head back on my shoulder. That’s right.” He curled down over her and his hands captured hers. “Let me show you how good it can be.”

His skin was rough against hers. His fingers powerful, precise, as he guided. Up her thighs to her hips and down into her panties. Slowly, he pushed both her hands lower and lower still until her fingers met between her legs in an erotic press that dug into her moist and thrumming flesh.

“Trust me, baby girl.”

She groaned.

“Easy. We use this hand to create better access. Like this.”

He moved their left hands in such a way that she was spread and open.

“And we use this hand to stimulate. Like this. No, not so hard. Light and slow. Really slow. Give your wicked little body time to heat.”

Heat? She was on fire and almost ready to explode. Never. Never in all her life had she ever reached these acute contractions so quickly. Nor had they clenched and burned so badly. Making her breathless. Boneless. Blood rushed and her heart pounded. The air was getting thin and the delicious scent of him wrapped around her while he whispered in her ear.

“That’s right. Move into it. Beg for it. Work it. You’re doing so well.” His words fueled the ache that swelled and built from her toes to her knees, landing with an exhilarating ache right underneath her fingers. “Feel that slide. You’d be a slick ride if I…”

From a distance she heard static. With a muffled swear he eased his hands from hers. She held her breath until it burst out the moment he stepped back and spoke, but not to her.

“I know. You’re right. Give me a minute.” He sighed. “I will.”

“Ethan?” She refused to turn around, keeping her back to the mirror while her arms covered her chest. “What’s the matter?”

“Here, Colin.” Handing over her clothes, he asked, “Do you need help dressing?”

“N-no.” When she was done, she faced him. Her tone was glacial as she glared. “That was mean.”

“Mean?” He came forward and pulled her into his arms. “You bring out the best in me, baby. I want to do nasty, filthy things with you. I probably would have if my two buddies back there weren’t into it too. Would you do all three of us, Colin? One at the front, one at the back and one of us buried balls-deep in your mouth?”

She gasped. “Let go of me.”

“No.”

“Yes.” She couldn’t believe he actually said no. Truth be told it gave her a thrill, but she still had the auto-reflex to challenge him.

“Aren’t you mad right now because I did let you go? Isn’t that why you’re angry?”

She tried to turn her head aside. She didn’t want to look at him, but one hand captured her chin and forced her to meet his gaze.

“Let me go.”

“I’ll never let you go. Now that I know the truth, we’re going to do things my way. When my boys aren’t with me and we get some serious alone time together, understood?”

“What?” In a panic she realized she’d forgotten they were acting out this whole scenario. That this wasn’t Ethan, Ethan, this was tapas that she’d mixed up with real life. Real feelings and real emotions. Wonderful emotions. Liberating ones.

He bent down and kissed her collarbone and neck. “I saw the mark. I know it was you.”

His tongue was paying some serious attention to the shell of her ear. His breath annihilating her willpower as each raspy exhale released against her lobe and made her quiver. “No, I-I—”

“Give it up. You’re mine now and every filthy thing I’ve dreamed of doing to you—with you—I intend to do, but not with an audience. At least not yet. So here’s how this ends. You leave and I’ll square up with my buddies who are satisfied that you weren’t the one who betrayed Allen. Tonight? Expect company. Leave your back door open and we’ll pick up where we left off.”

He released her and she fell back a pace or two. “I—” Looking at the mirror, she decided. “Okay. All right. I’ll go. But I want to be clear about one thing. I’m no snitch.”

“I know. Leave your back door accessible tonight.”

She stumbled to the door and fought with it. The damn lock was stiff.

“Colin?”

Opening it, she stopped. She didn’t turn around though.

“I want you in nothing but those panties when I get there.”

She was hyperventilating when she made it out into the brightly lit hall. Her head and heart swirling with all kinds of possibilities, discoveries and theories. The most prominent one? She could easily fall in love with a powerful, commanding and self-possessed guy like Ethan White. How had this happened?

“Colin?”

She looked up and inwardly groaned. He was to-die-for and she was ready to slit her wrists and do just that. “Uh-huh.”

“Are you doing okay? That wasn’t too much for you was it?”

She shook her head. How could she tell him it wasn’t enough?

“You did a great job. You’re really getting the hang of this.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. She needed time. She needed some distance so she could process everything that just happened and how she felt about it. She was ready to tell him so when he said it for her.

“Let’s go back to the boathouse. I’ll make you some lunch and then I want you to write down how you’re feeling about all this. When you’re done with that we’ll read it together and discuss it.”

She nodded, even though there was a little voice inside her head screaming,
Read it together
? Not in this lifetime! She figured she’d cross that bridge when she came to it and let the matter drop. She had more important things to worry about. Like how not to get lost in the experience and exactly how many people besides the two of them were privy to their arrangement.

“Come on.” He held out his hand and smiled that killer smile. “Let’s go.”

Her feet literally dragged as he pulled her along. She couldn’t help it. She was ready to bite the bullet and deal with her anxiety. “W-what about your friends? Are they coming for lunch too?”

God she hoped not. She’d die of embarrassment. She was so caught up with the possibility she didn’t see him stop and bumped right into him.