If this was what obedience meant, I’d do whatever he asked.
Chapter 9
Waking up next to Gavin and knowing that neither one of us was going to be rushing off was like something out of a dream. When I was in that place halfway between sleep and waking, I became aware of his body behind mine, his arm around my waist, the scent of the expensive soap the hotel had given us. We’d showered after our explosive orgasms – well, once we’d been able to walk – and spent the rest of the evening curled up on the couch together, watching movies on the massive flat-screen television that hung above the fireplace. When we’d finally gone to bed, we’d changed out of the fluffy robes we’d been wearing, Gavin into a pair of black boxer briefs that hugged him perfectly, and me into a dark red teddy that Krissy had helped me pick out. I knew if we hadn’t both been so tired, another round of sex would’ve followed, but instead, we snuggled together and fell asleep.
Now, I could feel his hard length pressing against my ass and a bolt of desire went through me. I wanted nothing more than to push back against him, ask him to take me right then and there. I could feel the dull ache between my legs that came after a night of intense sex with someone incredibly well-endowed, and knew that going again probably wasn’t a good idea, especially without any prep work, but it didn’t stop me from wanting it. I’d never craved anything like I craved him.
“Mmm.” Gavin made a soft sound and nuzzled under my ear.
He shifted behind me and I couldn’t resist giving him a little backwards nudge. He chuckled, a lazy, sleepy sound that made a familiar heat coil in my stomach.
“Do you know how badly I want to just bury myself in that tight pussy of yours?” Gavin murmured against my ear. “Fuck you nice and slow, feel you gripping me as I move in and out.”
“Yes, please,” I whispered the words as I closed my eyes.
Gavin sighed and his arm loosened around my waist. “Dammit, Carrie. What you do to me...”
I rolled over as he moved onto his back. He put his arm across his forehead and closed his eyes. I propped myself up on my elbow and watched him, curious as to what had prompted that reaction.
He opened a single eye and looked over at me. “Seriously, do you know what you do to me?”
I started to say that after last night, I had a pretty good idea, but something on his face stopped me. Instead, I shook my head.
Gavin rolled onto his side so that we were facing each other. His expression was serious as he reached out a hand and cupped the side of my face. “You asked me once how many lovers I’d had and I told you that it was fewer than you’d expect.”
I was confused. What did this have to do with anything? I really didn’t want to hear about his sexual history at the moment. Still, I stayed quiet and let him continue.
“That was true, but what I didn’t say was that, since Camille died, none of them were anything more than sex. I made sure they knew up front that’s all I wanted. We’d occasionally spend time doing other things, but it always ended the same way. I never wanted to know what they were thinking, what they were feeling, outside the physical. I never wanted to show them beautiful things to see their faces light up.” He twisted a curl around his finger. “I never wanted to wake up next to them, content to have them in my arms.”
My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure he could hear it.
“That’s what you do to me, Carrie,” he continued. “You make me want things I haven’t wanted in a very long time.”
What was I supposed to say to that? I turned my face towards his hand and pressed my lips against his palm. I couldn’t look at him as I whispered, “You make me want things I never knew I wanted.”
He slid his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me towards him, rolling us so that I was on top of him. He was hard beneath me.
“If it was up to me, we’d stay here all day, making love until we were both spent.” His lips curved up in a wistful smile. “But, unfortunately, I have a meeting with Howard’s financial officer in ninety minutes and I can’t be late.”
I gave him a pout that made him laugh and then I rolled off of him. My libido would apparently have to wait. I stared up at the ceiling as the bed dipped, telling me he’d gotten up. “What time do you think you’ll be back?”
“Come with me,” Gavin said.
I sat up, surprised. “What?”
“Come with me,” he repeated. “It’s supposed to be a short meeting and, afterwards, I want to take you out on Howard’s boat.”
“His boat?” I echoed.
Gavin grinned. “All right, it’s a yacht. Doesn’t change the fact that I want to take you out on it.” He held his hand out to me. “What do you say? We’ll order room service, get dressed, then head out to Star Island. You can look around the mansion while I’m in the meeting, and then we’ll go out on the water.”
I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. He didn’t release my hand, but rather used it to pull me into his arms. I tilted my head back. “I say, it sounds like fun.”
An hour later, Gavin and I stood on the sidewalk in front of the hotel as a Bentley pulled up. All right, that was impressive. It was sleek, black, and in perfect condition.
“Howard loves his Bentleys,” Gavin said. He opened the door for me and I climbed in. “I prefer Italian cars.”
He slid into the seat next to me and took my hand. That surprised me. I hadn’t been expecting much physical contact while he was in business mode. Then again, he wasn’t exactly dressed like he was on his way to a business meeting. He was in shorts. Nice shorts and a collared shirt, but still more casual than anything I’d thought Gavin would wear for work. He’d told me that this particular associate of Howard’s tended to wear loud Hawaiian shirts and neon shorts with flip-flops to meetings, so he was dressed up by comparison. The guy was apparently eccentric but absolutely brilliant. He just didn’t get invited to many of the formal gatherings Howard hosted.
I’d followed Gavin’s example and picked one of the simpler sundresses to wear. The rest of our clothes were packed up, currently being loaded into the trunk of the car. We’d be staying at Howard’s mansion for the rest of our trip. I still wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that, but as long as Gavin was with me, I wasn’t going to complain.
The drive to Star Island was pleasant, the scenery beautiful. When we pulled up to the gate surrounding Howard’s property, I leaned forward slightly. I’d seen pictures of the mansion when working on Howard’s case, and had been wondering if they’d done the property justice. As we drove up the driveway, I saw it was even more beautiful than the pictures had shown. Brilliant landscaping, elegant architecture. I had to admit, no matter what else I thought about Howard, he had great taste.
He was waiting for us, a smile plastered on his face. I couldn’t give an exact reason, but I didn’t trust that smile. I plastered an equally fake one on my face and followed Gavin out of the car.
“Carrie! Darling!” Howard held out his hands as his eyes ran over my body.
I resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably under that gaze and took his hands. He pulled me towards him and kissed both of my cheeks. As soon as he released me, I stepped back to Gavin’s side and reached for his hand. I needed something to get rid of the feel of Howard’s hands on mine. Gavin gave me a puzzled look, but didn’t ask what was wrong. That was good. I didn’t want to have to lie.
“Leroy’s already here,” Howard said to Gavin. “He’s in my office.” He turned towards me. “I’ll take care of your lovely lady while you’re busy. I think a tour of the mansion is in order.”
Gavin looked down at me. “I won’t be long,” he said. He took a step forward, stopped, then turned back to me. He took my chin in his hand, tipped my face up, and gave me a slow, thorough kiss.
When he stepped back, I was breathless and my heart was racing. Had he done that for my benefit or Howard’s? If he was staking a claim, I definitely didn’t mind. I didn’t want Howard thinking I was anything close
to available.
“Shall we?” Howard said to me as Gavin headed inside. “I have some wonderful historical pieces that I’m sure you’ll love.”
I started towards the house without giving Howard the opportunity to offer me a hand or arm. He fell in step beside me, already extolling the wonderful qualities of his mansion. I let the words roll over me, nodding and making approving noises. I took in everything, appreciating the beauty of some of the paintings and sculptures, but didn’t let myself get too absorbed in my surroundings. The more time I spent with Howard, the less I wanted to be alone with him.
“And this is the library,” Howard said as he pushed open a door.
I stepped inside first. The bookshelves reached nearly to the ceiling, but it was a table against the wall to my right that caught my attention. I walked over to it.
“These items date back to the turn of the century,” Howard said. “The twentieth century, of course.”
“Around the time your great-grandfather was alive,” I said. I recognized some of the people in the pictures that hung above the table. I’d seen them in pictures of known Mafia members.
“That’s right,” he seemed pleased by my response.
“I read about him.” I kept my voice carefully blank. I wasn’t sure how Howard felt about his ancestor’s criminal activities.
“He was a great man,” Howard said.
I wished I’d been surprised by his words, but I couldn’t, not really. Howard seemed like the type to think organized crime was a noble family enterprise.
“I didn’t know him, unfortunately,” Howard said. “And most of his possessions have been lost over the years, but I do have one item of his.” He pointed at a glass case.
Inside was an ancient-looking book. I leaned closer to try to read the gold-leaf letters.
“The Art of War by Sun Tzu.” Howard saved me the trouble. “It was my great-grandfather’s favorite book.”
Of course it was.
“This is an original copy of the first English translation, printed in 1910.” Howard took a step closer to me, as if he wanted a better look at the book.
I instinctively took a step back, turning so that I was looking at a pistol from the nineteen twenties. I hoped he thought I’d moved to look at it, but I wasn’t going to risk a look up to see if he bought it.
“Carrie, Howard.” Gavin’s voice came from the doorway.
I nearly sighed in relief. I turned towards him, unable to keep myself from smiling. He crossed to my side and leaned down to kiss my cheek as he took my hand.
“Is everything in place?” Howard asked, his tone strictly business.
Gavin nodded. “Leroy has the accounts set up the way you requested.”
“Excellent,” Howard said.
“So, are you two ready to get out on the water?” Gavin asked.
Howard smiled and shook his head. “I have a great many things to do before tonight. Why don’t you and Carrie go out on your own?”
“Are you sure?” Gavin asked.
I bit my bottom lip to keep from telling him not to question our good luck. I didn’t like the idea of being stuck in a confined space with Howard, even if Gavin was there.
“I’m sure,” Howard said. His eyes slid over to me, running down my body again in that way that made me want to take a shower. “I look forward to seeing what stunning attire you’ll be wearing tonight.”
“So do I,” Gavin said. He raised our hands and kissed the back of mine. “I trust Krissy found something amazing.”
I nodded and forced a smile. “She did.”
“Great!” Howard said, flashing that smile I hated. “You two kids run along now and I’ll see you both tonight.”
As Gavin and I left the library, I found myself hoping that I’d find Howard easier to take once there were hundreds of other people around. If not, this was going to be a very long night.
Chapter 10
I’d never been on a yacht before. I’d seen pictures of this one in Howard’s asset file but, as with the house, pictures didn’t do it justice. It was large and gleaming white, nicer than a lot of houses. I couldn’t imagine being able to own something like this. When we went aboard, Gavin introduced me to the two-man crew – Franz and Carlos – and then led me to the spacious deck. The men, Gavin said, would stick with piloting the yacht while he and I enjoyed ourselves.
I was still trying to decide what he meant as he showed me around, and then we were in a bedroom. I’d seen pictures of this, too, since the interior of the yacht had been documented, but what the pictures had failed to reveal were the leather restraints hanging from the headboard and base of the bed. I didn’t need to ask this time what those were for. I remembered Gavin’s explanation back at the club. What I did want to ask was if he was going to ask me to use them.
To my surprise, however, Gavin led me back out of the bedroom and up to the deck. We walked over to a pair of deck chairs and I saw two plastic coolers sitting on either side of them. Leaning against the railing were a pair of fishing poles. Now I was truly confused. Was this some bizarre kink I didn’t understand?
“Have you ever been fishing?” Gavin asked.
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious? Fishing?”
He gave me that boyish grin I loved so much. “It’s relaxing.”
I started to shake my head. “I don’t know, Gavin.”
“We’ll throw back anything we catch,” he said. “And I promise that I know how to do it right.”
I looked up at him, squinting against the sun, then sighed. The things I was willing to do for this man. “All right. What do I do first?”
Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in the deck chair, my fishing rod lightly grasped in my hands, the line in the water. Gavin sat in the chair next to me, looking rather pleased with himself. I wasn’t sure if it was because he’d actually talked me into fishing or because he was truly enjoying it. I didn’t think this was going to become a hobby of mine, but there was something soothing about watching the waves behind us, the wind blowing across the deck, the gentle tug of the pole in my hands.
Thing was, neither that nor the bottle of sparkling water I’d gotten from the cooler next to my seat was able to completely clear my mind. My thoughts kept returning to those leather restraints on the bed below and the comments Gavin had made last night about spanking me. After I’d first discovered what kind of club Gavin owned, Krissy and I had talked about what I would do if Gavin was into the whole S&M scene. I hadn’t been able to give her an answer because I hadn’t known what my response would be. He’d shown dominant tendencies before, but last night had been intense enough to make my previous questions return.
“Your body’s here but your mind’s a thousand miles away,” Gavin said. “Is something wrong?”
I turned towards him and saw the concern on his face. If I couldn’t talk to him about this, how could I ever have a relationship with him? I needed to know, and this was as good a time as any to ask.
“I was wondering,” I began. “In the bedroom, there were those straps on the bed, like the ones at the club.”
Gavin nodded, but didn’t interrupt.
“And, last night.” I could feel the flush threatening to creep up but didn’t let it stop me. “You said you wanted to spank me.”
He went very still, and I knew that if he hadn’t been wearing sunglasses, I’d see worry in his eyes.
“I guess what I’m trying to ask, and doing a bad job of it, is how much into the whole S&M thing are you?” The words came out in a rush. “And I need to know why.”
Gavin leaned forward, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I suppose it is time we talked about this.” He clasped his hands in front of him. “Let me answer the why first. The other is a bit more detailed.” One corner of his mouth twitched like he wanted to smile.
I nodded and tried to make my face as expressionless as possible. I wasn’t sure what Gavin was going to say or how I was going to feel about it. The last thing I wanted
to do was have a knee-jerk reaction and ruin things with him.
“The BDSM scene isn’t about pain or humiliation. Not like we traditionally think about those things. It’s about trust and pleasure.” He was choosing his words carefully. “What brings that pleasure is just different than what people think of as normal. Some people are wired to only experience pleasure in a soft touch, in gentle love-making. They only want tenderness and a slow pace. Other people are wired differently. We crave other forms of sensation, and need different stimuli.”
He paused, then took off his sunglasses so that I could see his eyes. I did the same, understanding that we needed to connect for this conversation.