Vulnerable (16 page)

Ross had looked incredibly sexy in his leathers and loose white shirt, his hair tied back in a queue. Elise had chosen a little black dress to wear to what she called the cocktail hour, no pun intended, although not a drop of liquor had passed her lips or Ross’s. She knew it was to ensure that she was able to give total consent and for Ross not to be impaired in any way, but she would have sold her soul for a glass of wine, except her soul already belonged to Ross. She also wore another item beneath the little black dress, an item that Ross had put inside her after an anal douche and a syringe of lubricant. Elise didn’t find the butt plug terribly uncomfortable, although she was certain that everyone there knew she was wearing one. Olivia seemed to be moving and sitting in a similar manner, and the other woman had winked at her when their eyes met. Elise knew Ross would be taking her ass that night and that he wanted to ensure that he didn’t harm her in the heat of any moment.

Madi circulated with trays of amazing little finger foods and whispered that Ross had arranged for Chef Haley Chalmers to prepare them, although she was already on a flight back to San Francisco. It never failed to warm Elise’s heart, the way Ross could be so thoughtful. She knew that this ceremony meant far more to him than the civil one, and she only hoped she could play her role well.

She and Ross had amazing dominant sex. He had definitely corrected her and then rewarded her on several occasions, but aside from that one night when they’d first met, Elise didn’t think she had totally met his Dom side. Well, tonight was the night. Her sex dripped with the thought, and she glanced up to see him watching her with dark intent. He stood and offered his hand. Elise took it and felt him pull her to her feet, and the conversations around her faded and halted. She followed him out of the room and heard the others begin to move. It was time.

As soon as they had entered the member room, Ross ordered her to strip and put on a little silk robe he had obviously purchased for the occasion. It was in the golden-brown shade he favored for her to wear. Elise had instantly obeyed his command, and his eyes had glowed with approval. He leaned her over the vanity in the attached bath in order to remove the plug and was pleased with the result. He seemed larger, taller, more imposing tonight somehow, and she trembled with arousal and anticipation. The silk robe chafed her nipples, and Elise longed to tear it off. When he offered his arm, she placed her fingertips on it and felt the strong muscles contract. He escorted her down the hallway and into a room that took her breath away. Their friends stood around the periphery of the square-framed cross that was lit from the ceiling, in direct contrast to the muted lighting of the rest of the room.

All eyes turned to them, and Elise let her gaze drift across the intent faces before dropping her eyes submissively. Ross guided her to the structure, and she tried not to tremble as he slipped the garment over her shoulders and off her body. She felt her nipples react even more to the cooler air and was glad she couldn’t see all those people looking at her, and then it became just about her and Ross. He ran his hands over her with what felt like reverence, and she gloried in his touch. Her wrists were restrained first, and Ross took care not to tie them too tightly or stretch her arms too high. Elise tightened her core once he fastened her ankles in order to stabilize herself, but Ross was quick to wrap a leather strap around her waist and secure it to either side of the frame, effectively taking up the strain.

She felt stretched, exposed, and absolutely at home in this strange position, in this strange place, albeit with like-minded people bearing witness, people who were not strangers to her. It was where her husband, her Dom, wanted her to be, and as long as he was with her, Elise was content. Ross pulled her nipples out and away from her breasts, and she hissed as he slipped a silver circlet over each of them, pinching them to a level of just-bearable pain. She breathed through it and was rewarded with a tiny kiss on either nipple. She looked into Ross’s eyes and saw the true alpha male about to claim his female. It exhilarated her and terrified her at the same time, an arousing, exciting fear, and Ross recognized it, to judge by the look that crossed his otherwise impassive features. He left her then to move behind her, and Elise waited.

The first stroke of the flogger landed right between her shoulder blades and felt like a tiny stinging kiss of a dozen static charges. Ross picked up the cadence and Elise lost track of where it landed, given the number of strokes and their varied placement on her body. Her skin sang, and when Ross began to address her breasts with the soft, supple leather, the clamps seemed to tighten and pull all the little pulses to that spot. Elise tried to stay present, in the moment, but felt herself drifting on the sensations, her brain overwhelmed by the effort to process it all. When the flogger landed on her upper thighs and naked folds, actually slipping against the copious moisture gathered there, Elise heard herself calling out for Ross.

He was there in a heartbeat, and she felt his heat against her back, the reassuring press of his cock at her opening as he took her by the waist to hold her steady against his invasion. He seemed to merely flex his knees to drive up inside of her, and she climaxed instantly, without clitoral stimulation, and came again as the nipple clamps were magically removed. Ross pulled out and pressed into her anus, prepared as it was to receive him. She clung to the fringes of her sanity and rode the residue of the intense orgasms, only to feel Ross begin to work her clit as hard as he labored within her. Elise screamed in protest at the threat of yet another orgasm, and vaguely heard his murmured reassurance against the background whispers of the spectators. She fell off the cliff again just as Ross fairly bellowed his release, and knew no more.

* * * *

Elise finally cracked her eyes, but she still looked intoxicated, drunk on sex, her features slack, her body boneless. She squinted at him and promptly screwed her eyes shut. Ross couldn’t help but laugh, and the sound had her eyes popping open again.

“How are you, honey?”

Her lush mouth opened, but no sound came out, and she cleared her throat. Ross slid an arm under her shoulders and propped her up before holding the bottled water to her lips. She drank eagerly and then sagged back.

“Elise?”

“That was too much.”

“I gave you what you could take, my love, and you were totally stunning in your submission. Thank you for that.”

“Too much,” she mumbled.

Ross felt a tinge of worry. Had he hurt her? Been too rough when he fucked her ass? He had been flawless with the flogger, and there wasn’t a mark on her from that, although she would be feeling the results for a few days, but in a good way. He drew the robe from her breasts and looked at the nipples. She would be tender, but that was all. He eased her over onto her belly and pushed away the fabric to pull her buttocks apart to check her bottom hole. She appeared to be fine.

“Jesus, Ross, could you give it a rest? You and my ass.”

He laid his head beside hers, nose to nose, and she blinked like a little owl. He could see that she had come back to herself and asked again if she was okay.

“I’m fine, Ross,” she said wearily. “I loved it. You must know that, considering how many spectacular orgasms I had.”

“So what was too much, honey?”

“What?”

Ross patiently repeated himself, but Elise just looked at him blankly. Ross had heard of it happening before on occasion, but never thought that he would be gifted with a submissive who shared from the deepest part of the brain so long after a dissociative experience. He briefly envisioned the heights he could take her to, although would take care to do so sparingly. For a moment, he regretted the medical procedures that lurked just around the corner. He pressed a kiss on her nose and her eyes drifted shut again. It appeared they were staying the night. Ross got up and stripped and then efficiently removed Elise’s robe. She didn’t move when he got into bed and pulled her to spoon against her back, her body still slack and replete.

* * * *

They were having a light breakfast the following morning in the atrium restaurant at the Club when Elise asked. She looked slightly out of place in her elegant black dress, and Ross supposed his leathers wouldn’t appear any more appropriate during the light of day on the drive home, but he hadn’t brought a change of clothes for either of them. He hadn’t thought they would be staying overnight.

“Who took the clamps off?”

Ross shrugged and instantly regretted it. Elise hated it when he shrugged, seeing it as rude and evasive. He quickly answered. “Patrick.”

“Oh, okay.”

He waited, but Elise said nothing else. He was bothered for some reason.

“Patrick and Jordan touch subs all the time, honey. Part of the job, and Madi is fine with it. Emily might not be so comfortable, seeing as she and Jordan…” Ross heard himself talking too much while Elise applied herself to the fruit plate.

He shut his mouth and stared at her, waiting. She looked up and smiled at him, the smile that Adam probably saw, right before the apple was offered. “Not Jonathon though?”

Ross ground his teeth, and then saw the teasing brilliance in Elise’s eyes. The bear hadn’t gotten laid that morning, and thus wasn’t sated or inclined to overlook that little challenge. Then the laughter bubbled up and out of his chest, and she smiled delightedly at him and winked. Point to her. So he was jealous. After what his friends had witnessed last night, he would need to guard his sub carefully.
Mine.

He reached down into his toy bag and unzipped the outer compartment, taking out the long, slim box. He placed it on the table between them and enjoyed the look that came over Elise’s face. It could have held an anal wand or a pen, anything, because she appreciated whatever he gave her, large or small. Ross flipped off the lid and lifted out the heavy white gold chain, crafted with Greek key shapes. He stood to place it around Elise’s neck and her hands came up to lift her hair out of the way, trembling in reaction. The tiny lock snicked shut, and he placed a kiss on her nape, relishing the soft skin. It was a perfect fit and style for his Amazon who needed a collar of significant presence. She touched it with a fingertip and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Ross felt complete and needed to hear it from her.

“We’re totally joined, Elise. I love you so much, honey.”

She gave him another smile, this one devoid of laughter but fraught with love. “We are, Ross, and I think I’ve always loved you.”

“The next while is going to be difficult, honey, so I’ll be thinking about last night and looking forward to the next one in the distant future. I’m glad for the experience.”

“I won’t forget it either, Ross, and if we are lucky, the medical stuff won’t take too long.”

He heard the tentative hope in her voice and surreptitiously crossed his fingers behind her back.

Ross took a deep breath and composed himself as he watched Elise stomp from the room. They had just moved into their new home a few weeks previously, and he ruefully admitted that it probably hadn’t been the best time to buy, but in his mind, the economy had dictated it. Everything had happened in the past year. He and Elise had married and had their other ceremony at the Club, he and Jason had resigned from the financial conglomerate and started R & J Associates, Elise had undergone three surgeries in an attempt to repair and reconstruct her fallopian tubes, and they had embarked on a house hunt before settling on this one.

God save him from hormonal women. Elise was even tempered and rarely became upset without significant provocation. The chemical therapy, on top of the surgeries, had changed everything. It was apparently necessary to stimulate egg production and encourage fertilization if the surgeries proved to be successful, but Ross wondered if he would survive it.

This morning’s difficulty had taken place because he had mentioned the fact that he preferred scrambled eggs to poached. Elise had carefully folded up her napkin and laid it precisely beside her plate before bursting into tears and informing him that he was a brute. Ross sighed. She had probably calmed down by now, and he should go find her and reassure her that he was happy however she chose to cook his breakfast.

The schedule they were on to enhance procreation would have rivaled any production factory, or indeed a military operation geared to invading a small country. Elise had gone so far as placing a calendar beside the bed, checking off each time they had done the deed, recording the time and date. It was a good thing that Ross wanted sex as often as his woman could possibly request it, but sometimes it lacked spontaneity and the intense or joyful element their play had brought to the act. All the same, even if it was a tough job, someone had to do it. He tried to ignore the fact that he had another appointment with the fertility specialist on his own later in the day, something he had decided not to share with Elise for fear of causing her further worry. He shoved back his chair and went in search of his wife.

“Elise, honey, come finish your breakfast.”

“I’m a mess, Ross,” she replied, from her position facedown on the bed. It was his favorite stance, and his cock twitched. He sat beside her hip and rubbed her back, then slipped his hand beneath her blouse and worked the clasp of the bra she wore free. Elise tensed under his touch, and he wondered how much time he had, and then went for it. He straddled her waist, pushing her skirt up and then tore her panties, the delicate lace shredding beneath his big, determined hands. Elise was pushing up against him, and Ross dearly wanted to take her ass, but making a baby was far more important. He felt between her legs and was rewarded with her wet heat. Sliding back to kneel between her legs, forcing them to spread wide he ordered her into position.