Serving HIM Vol. 5: Alpha Billionaire Romance (2 page)

Chapter 2

Aleena

A camera flashed in my eyes and I blinked away the spots.

Dominic guided me away from it and I instinctively followed.

A couple of weeks ago, I’d
wanted
this, I reminded myself. And, okay, it had been nice to have Dominic call from the office while I was working at home and ask if he could take me out to dinner.

It had been nice indeed.

No, I admitted, it had been
more
than nice.

The entire past week had been great. Even with people shoving cameras into my face, I wouldn’t have traded it. It happened whenever Dominic and I went out, twice without him even around. Fortunately, his drivers knew how to handle things and had been able to get me away without too much trouble.

Tonight, though, he
was
around and more than a few seemed to think there was blood in the water. That was a shark thing, right? And the media was very shark-like. They moved after people in a herd, attacked together though each one was desperate for their own pound of flesh. They thinned out the weakest and then focused on those left standing after the melee.

It was an unsettling and disconcerting sensation, one I didn’t like at all.

“Ms. Davison! Ms. Davison! Is it true your mother broke up a happy relationship back in Iowa?”

That voice rang out from the crowd and I came to a stunned stop. Surprised, I turned my head, trying to find the one who’d asked the question. While I’d been photographed and speculated about, this was the first time someone had singled me out for a question that wasn’t just about my relationship with one of the city’s most eligible bachelors.

Dominic tugged on my hand. “Come on, Aleena. Don’t give them what they want,” he said, bending his head to murmur in my ear.

Holding his blue eyes with mine, I took a deep breath and nodded. I let him lead me to the curb where the car waited, door already open. Maxwell gave each of us a nod as we ducked inside, into blissful, sweet silence.

“Where did they come from?” I asked, looking out the tinted window. “And how did they get my name?”

“Barracudas can find anything, baby,” Dominic answered irritably. Then he shot me a look that said he knew how he’d sounded. “I’m sorry. I wanted to have a nice evening with you.”

“It was nice.” Leaning against him, I stared out at the city as it drifted by in a slow sprawl of lights and motion. I loved New York. I loved it more all the time. Barracudas notwithstanding. “Maybe some camera-welding fiends interrupted it, but I still had fun.”

Dominic curled his arm around me and brought me in closer. I snuggled in against his strong body, feeling the muscles firm beneath his shirt. His fingers trailed along the low neckline of my dress and I shivered. My nipples hardened against the silk and lace of my bra. When he pressed his lips against my temple, warmth raced through me.

“The night’s not over yet.” The words held the promise of pleasure...and pain.

“No.” Heat slid through me in a slow, easy glide. “It’s not.”

***

“You can’t speak.”

Dominic brought the flogger down on my ass.

I bit my lip to hold in the words as the sting spread across my skin, joining with the heat already there. I’d once fallen asleep outside while sunbathing on my stomach and when I’d woken up, I’d been burnt. It had been the only sunburn I’d ever had—with skin like mine, it took a lot more to burn—but I remembered that feeling now. My ass felt like it was on fire.

“You want to speak, don’t you?”

I jerked my head in a nod, taking a short, gasping breath. He brought the flogger down again and a new burst of painful pleasure went through me. My head fell back and I curled my hands into fists, my nails biting into the skin of my palms.

“Spread your legs.”

I didn’t. I was afraid to. He wasn’t using the softer cat that he’d used before, so even though he wasn’t hitting me hard, the pain was more intense.

“Spread your legs, Aleena.” There was a bit of coaxing to his command, but I still resisted and this time, instead of speaking, he used the handle of the flogger and nudged it between my thighs. It rubbed between my legs, back and forth, back and forth. There was a hint of teasing laughter in his voice as he said, “I could make you come like this. Should I?”

I didn’t know what I wanted. To come. To end this torture. To let him take me to new heights in ways I didn’t understand. I did know one thing though. He’d told me not to talk. I bit down on my inner cheek hard enough to taste blood and he rewarded me by twisting the handle of the crop, scraping it against my clitoris. I gasped, jerking against my restraints.

My wrists were bound. He’d used velvet ropes, and they had felt soft against my skin at first, but now, the material cut into my skin with a delicious bite. The velvet was looped through the metal circle at the top of the pole, high enough that my arms were stretched out, but low enough that I was able to stay flat-footed, even when bent at a slight angle.

He rubbed the handle against me again. Then again. I shuddered and tried to twist away. The sensation was too much. Intense and erotic. Clamping my legs together didn’t do much good though. It only served to trap the handle of the flogger between my thighs and when he twisted this time, I felt every exquisite nuance. Something very much like a strangled moan fell from my lips.

He sighed and I could almost hear his amusement. “You’re going to be difficult tonight, aren’t you?”

“No,” I gasped out the word, and the very second I did, I knew I’d messed up.

A finger trailed down my spine and I knew Dominic was smiling. I could feel it.

He turned me to face him. “I was hoping you’d disobey at some point tonight,” he said, his tone soft, as though he was confiding something.

I shivered when he ran his hands down along my ribcage, his thumbs caressing the sides of my breasts.

“Because you see, there’s something I want to do. Something I’ve been wanting for a while.” He pressed the handle against me again, harder this time, moving it in a deliberate fashion that had me rocking against him, against the firm, rounded, ridged grip that felt entirely too good.

I could feel the orgasm building inside. So close. Just a little bit more and—

He stopped.

I sucked in a breath and lifted my head, glaring at him as he strode across the room.

“From the first moment I saw, I’ve had this image in my head,” he said over his shoulder. He paused and looked at me, as if waiting for me to ask.

No way in hell. I pressed my lips more tightly together. He chuckled and I knew he’d seen the answer in my eyes. I was a mass of writhing nerves, anxiety and anticipation mixed into one. But I wasn’t going to break the rules again, not when I knew he was going to tell me anyway.

Struggling to regulate my breathing, I watched as he opened the closet and reached inside. He pulled out something long and slim. It sort of looked like a curtain rod except there were loops on the end. When he met my eyes, he smiled and lifted one of the loops...no, not a loop exactly. It was a cuff.

“This is a spreader bar,” he said softly. “It does exactly what it sounds like.”

Oh shit.

My breathing started to hitch as he knelt between my thighs. I could feel his hot breath on my skin as he leaned down and grasped my ankle. First the right, his fingers lingering on my calf as he finished. His touch became firm as he moved my legs further apart, then fastened the second cuff around my left ankle. He caressed my calf for a moment, then sat back on his heels.

“Now you’re completely open to me,” Dominic said. The satisfaction in his voice sent heat rushing through me.

Heat and a tinge of embarrassment and all sorts of vulnerability. The stance was slightly uncomfortable, but I barely noticed because I was all too aware of how visible everything was now.

I jerked as he ran his fingertip between my lips.

“And so wet.” He looked at me as he stood, sliding his finger into his mouth.

That shouldn’t be so hot.

He turned me back around, the ropes untwisting as I went. It was awkward, trying to move with my legs spread like that, but I managed, shivering as cool air moved over my wet, sensitive skin. Once I was in place, he slid the flogger up between my thighs and I felt each of the tassels. It made me shiver. It made me quake.

And then I cried out as he brought it down on my ass.

A moment later, a softer blow followed, but not on my ass. This one was straight between my thighs on my exposed pussy.

Whimpering, I jerked against the restraints.

Dominic said, “You came once before with the other cat. Do you think I could bring you to climax with this one as well?”

I was panting, unable to answer even if I’d thought he wanted one.

Another lash on my bottom.

Then the backs of my thighs.

Then
between
my legs.

A river of heat lit up from that delicious, tormenting blow. Pain and fire and pleasure and so many overwhelming sensations that I couldn’t even begin to describe.

One blow to my butt.

Thighs.

Between.

Again.

Again.

I started to shake, feeling the climax building inside me. I found myself pushing back towards him, wanting, needing...

And then he stopped.

I tensed, my breath locked in my lungs—was he…a test. He was testing me. Toying with me. A test of trust. My trust in him that he’d make this good for me.

Something landed on the bed in front of me, brushing against my thigh as it went by. I looked down and stared, dazed, at the flogger that lay on the mattress. Dammit! Frustrated need twisted in my gut, a fist there.

“Please,” I whispered.

He turned me around more easily than before by simply lifting me off the floor. No need to walk. Gentle hands cupped my face, lifted my lips for a kiss. His mouth was soft against mine, a surprising contrast to his prior ministrations. My body throbbed with need. The need to feel him, to feel the flogger, to feel those lashes between my thighs…something. Anything that would relieve the pressure inside me.

I felt a tug at my wrists as he broke the kiss. As he lowered my arms, I couldn’t suppress the groan of relief. Pins and needles rushed through my veins. He reached around me and when he straightened, I saw a bottle of lotion in his hand. He opened it and I smelled vanilla. Without a word, he massaged the cool liquid into my chafed skin. The sharp need inside me softened and spread. With just this gesture, he reminded me that I could trust him, not only for my pleasure, but to take care of me as well.

When he was finished, he tossed the bottle back where he’d gotten it, and shifted me so that I was standing a few feet further from the bed.

“What are you…?”

“Quiet.” It was a command, no matter how softly spoken.

I nodded my understanding. He helped me down onto my knees, then pressed on my back. I leaned forward until I was resting on my elbows. He still had the spreader bar in place and I caught my breath when I realized just what other purpose it served. I was face down on the floor, my butt high in the air, every part of me spread apart and ready for the taking.

Before I could even think, he was inside me and I screamed at the fullness of his invasion. Too much, too fast. He withdrew and surged back inside, bringing another raw, rough noise to my lips. I was wet, but not stretched and he was big, rubbing against every inch of me.

He brought his hand down hard on my ass and then—

I froze, every muscle in my body instantly tense. Waiting. Afraid. Not afraid.

He cursed as my pussy tightened around him, but he pressed his thumb against my asshole again. I twisted away, or tried to, but I was caught. He fisted his free hand in my hair and tugged me up, holding me in place. My palms were flat on the floor, taking most of my weight, but pain still radiated down from my scalp. Between the spreader bar, being impaled on his cock and the grip he had on my hair, I couldn’t move.

“I want you to be still for me now, Aleena,” he said, his voice even, as if he wasn’t buried balls deep inside me. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.” I couldn’t breathe.

He pressed harder and I could feel my muscles working to keep him out. “Do you remember the word you use if you want me to stop?”

I tried to nod, but couldn’t. The grip he had on my hair was too tight. Forcing the words out through my tight throat, I said, “Yes. I remember.”

“If you use it, I’ll stop and we’ll be done. But if you don’t…” He made a strange little twisting movement with his thumb, the tip of it popping past the ring of muscle.

I cried out, falling forward as he released my hair. Scrabbling at the floor, I tried again to pull away and I opened my mouth, ready to say it, ready to say the word that would make him stop.

“Does it hurt?” Dominic asked. His voice was calm, but I could hear the undercurrent of emotion in the question. Concern, but also desire. Need. Need not only to do this for his pleasure, but for mine. Need for me to trust him. “Aleena...”