Satisfaction Guaranteed (11 page)

"The why is pretty simple. There wasn't anyone I wanted, and I didn't try very hard to change that," he answered. "I'm willing to bet that you went the same route I did. Lived in your intellect, because that was your strength. Focused on goals. Had a long-term plan. Achieved everything on it. And then suddenly something changed and you looked around you and wondered why it wasn't enough."

"That pretty much sums it up." Rachel closed the space between them and pressed into his body with hers, sliding her arms around his waist. "Why wasn't getting everything I thought I wanted satisfying?"

"Because there's more to life. More than you might even know you're missing until the moment it falls into your arms." He tucked her head under his chin and cuddled her. "Emotional needs." His hand roved down her hip. "Physical needs. Connection."

"Um," Rachel agreed, feeling very aware of her physical needs. "About that
more
. . ."

"This counter is a nice height," Chase observed, and she found herself torn between laughter and the urge to find out if the counter was, in fact, an accommodating height for satisfying certain physical needs.

"Chase." She shook her head and burrowed into him, not sure what came next but positive she didn't want to let go.

"I'm asking you to give us a chance, that's all." He placed his hands on her hips and lifted her onto the counter, slid his hands between her thighs to urge them apart, and stepped between them. His arms closed around her, and his lips searched hers out. His body rocked into hers, and Rachel didn't want to think anymore.

She broke the kiss long enough to find the knot she'd tied the sash into and loosen it. That done, she pulled open the robe and sat there, baring herself to him.

Chase cupped the sensitive undersides of her breasts with his hands, rubbing his thumbs across her nipples. "I take it this means yes?"

"Yes." Rachel felt her belly tighten and her breasts swell in his hands, nipples growing pebble hard from his attention. "We'll give it time. Date, I guess."

"Exclusively." Chase freed one breast to plant his hand over her mons in a possessive hold. "If you want to take it slow, put the sex on hold after this weekend, that's your right, but no other men, Rachel."

"There weren't exactly hordes of sex fiends beating down my door before," Rachel managed to say. It was getting harder to focus on the conversation when his hand was cupping and squeezing between her legs and all she wanted to say was
more
.

"That's because they never saw the real you." He found the sensitive bud of her clitoris hidden under its protective hood of flesh and stroked it in a gentle, coaxing caress. "The
woman who wanted to be handcuffed and taken, the one who makes love like a goddess, the passionate, uninhibited you."

"I never thought I was that person." Rachel tilted her pelvis forward, arching into his hand. "I might not be. This could be an aberration. You might be really bored with me once you get to know me and the initial novelty wears off."

"I'll take the chance." Chase drove a finger into her, and Rachel gasped. "Right now I'm going to take
you
. I'm going to fuck you right here on the kitchen counter, and I'm going to do it hard and fast."

She gulped in air. "There's a problem with that."

"What?" He froze into rigid control.

"Your pants. They need to come off."

Chase relaxed again, the tension easing from his body. "That's not a problem."

"Well, actually, it is." Rachel reached down to fumble at his button and zipper. "Because it takes two hands and one of yours is really busy. But I am pretty good at problem solving." She tugged down the zipper, and Chase laughed.

Then her hand closed around his shaft and the laugh turned into a groan. "Rachel . . ."

"Maybe they don't have to come off," she panted. She needed all of him filling her, and she needed it now. "Open is good enough. Fuck me, Chase. Right now."

"And you think I'm going to get bored with you." He gave her a look of disbelief, then pulled her closer to the edge of the counter and guided himself to her opening, replacing his fingers with the thick head of his cock. He gripped her
hips and thrust forward. Rachel wound her legs around his waist and held on.

Six months later, Rachel stared blindly out the windows of her corner office. It was bright and sunny out, and she was itching with spring fever. Over breakfast that morning, Chase had suggested spending the weekend at the cabin, and she'd been distracted by the idea all day.

Images of her naked lover and fantasies of all the deliciously wicked things he might want to do to her and with her kept intruding as she struggled to keep her mind on business. Not easy to do, when Chase had found so many creative ways to demonstrate that her taste for handcuffs and unconventional sex wasn't a temporary aberration.

He'd been right all along: He'd seen the real her that first weekend. It had taken her time to adjust her image of herself to include a kinky streak, but Rachel no longer had any worries that they'd prove mismatched over time or that she'd disappoint Chase in bed. She wasn't nearly as conservative as she'd thought she was. She'd just needed the right partner.

By the time the clock read 4:00, she wanted nothing more than to shut down her computer, abandon the reports waiting for her, and leave early. She'd found what she'd been looking for six months ago, and she wasn't missing anything now except Chase. There was something she wanted to tell him.

A pair of arms came from behind her and closed around her in a hard, uncompromising grip. A low, masculine voice rasped against her ear, "Get up, nice and slow, and come with me."

Her pulse leaped in her throat, and her breath went away. The man holding her pulled her into a standing position. Once he had her upright, he tightened his grip to pull her hard against his body. The unmistakable bulge of his erection pressed into her ass. He thrust his hips into her, blatantly showing her what he wanted. Rachel felt traitorous heat stealing through her body. He brought one arm down her body to cup his hand over her sex through the thin fabric of her dress.

"Leave with me now, or I'll bend you over that desk, bunch your skirt up around your waist, and tear off your panties. Then I'll touch you until you're so hot, you're squirming. I'll use your skirt to tie your hands behind your back so you can't fight it, can't get away. And then I'll fuck you. Right here. If anybody comes into your office, they'll find you bent over your desk with your bare ass in the air and your legs spread open, taking every inch of my cock."

She whimpered and felt her knees folding, her sex swelling, growing slick and hot at his erotic threat. "Chase . . ."

"I'm taking you captive." The hand cupping her between her legs squeezed her mons, and Rachel rocked her hips into his hold. "You've been working long hours all month. So have I. Work will still be here waiting Monday morning. Right now, it's playtime."

She wet her lips with her tongue. "I want to play."

"Then come with me." He moved his hands up to cup her breasts, and she made a low sound of pleasure. They felt heavy and aching, needing his touch. "Like that?" He rubbed his palms in teasing circles over her nipples, making them swell and harden.

"Yes." Rachel let her head fall back on his shoulder. "I like that."

"You don't seem to be moving, though."

"That's your fault," Rachel complained. "You come in here when I'm staring out the window, all distracted, thinking about being at the cabin with you. Then you grab me and rub your hard-on into my butt and threaten me with unspeakable things that make me hot, and now I can't walk."

"I could carry you, but it might look funny." Chase slid his hands away from her breasts, down to her arms, and stroked her from wrist to shoulder in a soothing caress.

"Just give me a minute and I'll get control of my knees back." Rachel grinned and leaned against him, letting him support her. She knew he wouldn't let her fall. He'd caught her the first time they'd met, and he'd never let go. She'd been certain for months that she never wanted him to.

"Take your time, as long as you're aware I'm going to take
you
." He lowered his head to kiss the vulnerable nape of her neck, exposed to him since she wore her hair swept up in a clip. "Every way I want to. Standing. Sitting. Bending. Kneeling. Lying. Hard and fast, then slow and deep. Again and again."

She shivered at the erotic promise in his words. His lips on her bare, sensitive skin made gooseflesh dance down her shoulders, and the combination made her melt into him. "That isn't helping. I'm going to collapse in a heap of mindless lust if you keep this up."

"Just lust?" He caught her earlobe between his teeth and scraped them lightly against her skin, making her shudder in reaction.

"No." Rachel closed her eyes and hoped he'd catch her as she fell this time. "I love you."

"Ah." Chase wrapped his arms around her again and held her tight. He rubbed his chin against the top of her head and let out a long breath. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited to hear you say that?"

"I wanted to be sure." She gave a slight shrug. "It's not like we met under conventional circumstances, and we really haven't known each other all that long."

"Long enough. I've been sure since the first week." Chase took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "I started falling in love with you the first time we met."

"In that conference room? When I was wearing business clothes and granny panties?" Rachel sent him a look of amazed skepticism. "I was so not dressed for seduction. I had to buy something sexy to wear for our date because I didn't own anything I wanted you to see underneath."

Chase laughed out loud. "I didn't know about the granny panties, but I promise you I wanted to take them off you no matter what kind you wore."

Rachel shook her head. "Granny panties are the direct opposite of sexy, Chase."

He gave her an interested look. "Maybe you should wear them for me and let me judge. Just the panties. Nothing else."

She blinked. "That might be enough to make you overlook the style."

"We'll have to find out. In the meantime, I have something else I want you to wear."

"Really?" She blinked at him and reached up to fit her
thumb into the dent on his chin while she came up with a guess. "Handcuffs?"

He shook his head. "Something you can wear in public." He reached into his pocket and took out a small box, and Rachel felt her heart flip over.

Then he knelt in front of her, and she bit her lip as tears pricked her eyes. "Chase."

"Very good." He raised a brow at her. "You should always know the name of the man who's proposing to you."

She held her breath as he took out the ring and slid it over her fingertip. "I love you, Rachel. I want to keep you forever. Be my wife."

She blinked a shimmer of moisture from her eyes and whispered, "Yes." He slid the ring all the way on, and Rachel pulled her hand up to look at it. The marquise-cut diamond sparkled in the sunlight. "It's beautiful, Chase."

"So are you." He stood and took her hands in his. "It looks very right on your finger."

"It feels right." She smiled at him, feeling light and happy and certain that he would never stop surprising her.

"This is the part where I steal you away and have my way with you," Chase informed her.

His mouth claimed hers in a hard, hot, thorough kiss, and Rachel surrendered to it, ready to be taken.

Sabrina Daniels breathed in the cool morning air and felt the spray misting her face as she stood at the bow of the ferry. Bainbridge Island was already in view. As she watched, hands buried in the deep pockets of her thick wool coat to ward off the winter chill, it loomed larger. More detail emerged as the ferry neared its dock. She could see the sailboats and yachts in their slips. Which one was her destination?

One of those bobbing masts represented her goal. The
Rebecca
, which struck her as both a romantic name and a good omen. She had a date with a pirate. Or at least with a man who wanted to play the part while she played his captive. Excitement bubbled up inside her, and she found herself grinning, almost hugging herself with happy anticipation.

Maybe it was silly to have gone to such lengths to fulfill a fantasy. She didn't care. She was entitled to be silly if she wanted. And she had gone to some lengths. Engaging the services of an exclusive dating agency that catered to clients with capture and bondage fantasies. Going through all the
agency paperwork, tests, and requirements. Meeting her prospective match to see if they hit it off.

Sabrina curled her toes in her deck shoes at the thought of that first meeting with Kane.

Her first impression had been that he didn't look at all like her usual type. He wasn't an executive, with one of the three variations on the conservative male haircut. He wore his wavy black hair long, secured with a leather thong at his nape. The hairstyle showed off a solid gold hoop dangling from one earlobe.

His blue eyes framed by thick black lashes were almost pretty in contrast with his very masculine face. His skin showed the signs of long exposure to sun and wind. He'd worn jeans and a bone-colored fisherman's sweater instead of a suit, deck shoes instead of polished dress shoes.