His mouth kicked up at the corner. “Forever.”
“I mean for this visit.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her wedding band. “Same answer.”
She frowned. “What?”
“Same answer. You have me here for good. I helped the band hire a touring drummer. I’ve been getting him up to speed over the last few weeks and tonight he did a few songs in my place. He’s going to take over fully for the rest of the shows. I don’t have to go back.”
Her stomach dropped. “Oh, Pike. God, you didn’t—We talked about that. I didn’t want you to change things for me. This isn’t—”
“Shh.” He put his fingers over her lips, tenderness in his eyes. “I’m not doing it for you, mama. I’m doing it for me. From the start of this tour, my heart hasn’t been in the process. I loved doing it over the summer while you and Rae were there with me, but I’m not built for being on the road like this anymore. I don’t want that life. I want this life. You. Reagan. Waking up in the morning and seeing each other every day. Farm breakfast on Sundays and movie nights on Friday. Going to bed every night and feeling you next to me.”
“Pike …” The picture he was painting sounded so damn wonderful, but this had been her fear from the start when he’d proposed. She didn’t want him giving up his dream to accommodate her. “Drumming is your life.”
His hands slid down to her shoulders, his gaze holding hers. “I’m not giving up drumming or even my spot in the band. I’ll still make music with them for the albums. But drumming is not my life. Not anymore. I want to be in my studio. I want to discover emerging artists and mold them into something better. And I want to be at home with my wife and family. That is, if you won’t get too sick of me being here every day.”
She shook her head, tears coming to her eyes. “I’ve missed you so damn much. I can’t imagine getting to wake up with you every day.”
He pulled her to him and hugged her to his chest. “I always thought nothing would beat the thrill of being on stage in front of thousands of people. But now I know without a doubt that something does. This does.”
She leaned back and pushed up on her toes to kiss him slow and soft, savoring the feel of him here in the flesh. When she broke away, she gave him a saucy grin. “Guess I can get rid of that dildo now. I’s got me a real man.”
His lips curved, a dangerous spark coming into his eyes. “Well, I don’t know if I’d go throwing stuff out. I can think of a few creative uses.”
She lifted a brow. “Oh?”
He gripped her waist and drew her against him, his hardening erection brushing against her panties. “A month away is a long time. And seeing you look so luscious in one of my shirts is making me want to do very bad things to you.”
She shivered in his grip, heat rushing downward where he pressed against her. “Guess it’s a good thing it’s Rae’s night at Devon’s then, huh?”
“Mmm,” he said, tilting her head to the side and kissing her neck. “No one to hear you scream? Excellent.”
He slipped his hand beneath her shirt and gripped her breast, his thumb grazing over one of the nipple rings she’d gotten while they were on tour. She groaned, the tight feel of the little tweak he gave the ring making her sex clench. She loved that secret they had between them. Looking at her, no one would suspect that nice mom down the street would have done such a thing. But with Pike she’d discovered just how effective a bit of pain was for her. Sometimes she felt like she could come just from him tugging and sucking on the rings. She could enjoy herself in bed with Pike no matter what the situation was—vanilla, kinky, or in between. But she’d found that her desire amped up to another level when Pike dominated her and exploited that newly discovered masochistic streak of hers.
One night on tour, Pike had taken her to a kink club while Reagan was hanging out with one of the crew members and her daughter. He’d given Oakley the reins that night, keeping his promise of taking the submissive role if she was interested in switching things up sometimes. Pike had looked like the most sinful gift ever. Arms chained above his head, chest exposed, his tattoos beautiful and harsh under the spotlight, and only the briefest of black briefs on. But the sexiest thing had been the look in his eyes—dark and full of challenge. Try to tame me those eyes had said. A cocky slave for her indulgence.
She’d tortured and teased him with her mouth, licking at his ink and biting his nipples, tracing her fingernails over his erection through the thin briefs. He hadn’t been obedient at all. A terrible submissive in that respect. But she’d found his defiance hot as hell. When he’d told her to stop teasing, she’d backed away from him, sat on a chair and spread her knees. She’d been wearing nothing beneath her skirt and when she’d touched herself, Pike had lost his cool, yanking at the chains and telling her how much better he was than her fingers.
She’d wanted to let him take over, but instead she’d gotten herself off in front of him, enjoying the way his eyes had gone hooded and hungry. Then she’d strolled over to him and had gotten to her knees. She’d slid his briefs off, exposing him fully, and had warned him that he wasn’t allowed to come. Then she’d put her mouth on him and tasted exactly how much he wanted her. She’d licked and laved and then when she’d worked up the nerve, she’d grabbed the lube and dragged her fingers back to his opening.
Pike had jerked in his bindings, but had groaned deep and low when she’d breached him. The sensation had been new and exciting for her. Never before had she penetrated a man in any way, and there’d been the surge of power with it—Pike clenching around her fingers, his cock leaking salty fluid onto her tongue, and dirty threats spilling out of his mouth. She’d fucked him with her fingers and sucked him until her thighs were slick with her own arousal.
But even though she’d found it to be one of the most erotic experiences of her life—Pike putting that kind of ultimate trust in her—she’d found herself wanting him to wrestle the control back from her. So she’d loosened his cuffs and then had teased him and goaded him until he’d broken free. When his hands had broken free, he’d charged across the room, eyes wild and body aroused. He’d grabbed her with rough hands and kissed her hard. Then he’d spun her around and pushed her down to the floor on her stomach. For a second, she’d caught sight of the faces peering at them through the window to the private room. They hadn’t pulled the shade and knowing that others were watching had only ratcheted up her arousal.
Pike had pinned her arms above her head, nudged her legs wide and shoved up her skirt. The floor had been cold beneath her, but the hint of discomfort had only made it better, more untamed. He’d entered her without warning and had rutted into her like a man possessed—slick with sweat and grunting—and she’d found her mind slipping into a place she’d only flirted with, that sense of calm surrender. She would’ve happily lay there forever, taking what he wanted to give her. He’d come deep inside her, gripping her wrists tight, his weight heavy on her. And even without orgasm, she’d felt this humming sense of satisfaction. That’s when she’d felt the truth. Submission nourished her. Pike’s dominance nourished her.
But, of course, Pike hadn’t been finished with her. He’d pulled out of her, lifted her onto a nearby bench, and then had put his mouth between her legs, heedless of the mess he’d just left inside her, and had brought her to a screaming orgasm right in front of the window.
The whole thing had been rough and sloppy and untethered. And it had showed them both what they needed to know. She could tell Pike had never felt completely legit taking the role of a dominant in the past—that he’d compared himself to the strict standards of his friends. But with her, he could own his brand of it. It wasn’t neat. The lines were blurred. She’d never be the polite sub that called him sir and he’d never take on that cool, stoic persona—there was too much open passion in both of them. But their version was exactly right for them.
So when Pike tugged off her T-shirt and told her to go to the bed and brace her hands on the edge of it, she went without
question.
“I brought some new toys home from my trip,” Pike said, his footsteps heavy on the floorboards behind her as he went to his bag and unzipped it.
“Shopping at stores other than Wicked? Jace is going to be jealous.”
Pike walked over to her, heat radiating off him even though he hadn’t touched her yet. Something traced over her spine. “I had to order this one from one of his suppliers directly. Special order.”
He shifted whatever he had in his hand, and soft, supple falls of leather coasted over her backside. Goose bumps broke along her skin. Pike had flogged her before, but this leather felt softer, more luxurious. “Ooh, what is that?”
Pike let the tails of the flogger tease between her spread legs. “Doeskin. It’s a gentler sting than the elk hide we already have.”
“Gentler? Going easy on me tonight?” She closed her eyes, the soft material tickling over her back entrance.
“Maybe,” he said, wickedness in his voice. “Or maybe I’m just going to torture softer parts.”
“Oh.” Everything went molten inside her.
He laid the flogger to the side, putting it in her peripheral vision as a warning, then his hands reached beneath her and tugged both of her nipple rings, sending a shot of sensation straight downward. “I also got something for these.”
The sound of metal on metal sounded and she looked down to see his hands working a small chain through the rings. Two sparkly weights hung at the base of it. He fastened the clasp and the chain pulled downward and swayed, making her breasts feel heavy and sensitive. Pike gave the chain a tug and she groaned.
“You look so fucking hot right now, mama. I got half hard in the store when I picked that out and pictured you wearing it, but reality is so much better than I could’ve imagined.” He coasted a hand over her backside then down her leg. He locked something around each ankle—a spreader bar. He kissed her inner thigh. “Now, all you need to do is to feel what I’m doing to you and enjoy. You can come as many times as you want. But I’m not letting you go until I’m done with you.”
Arousal was already making her slick and needy. She shifted in the ankle cuffs, not sure how long she’d actually make it before orgasm. Having Pike here in the flesh instead of the phone had every part of her ready to burst.
She heard him tugging off his boots and chucking them to the side, and then the flogger disappeared from her view. She only had a second to prepare before the thing came down over her backside. She gasped. The impact was impressive. Yes, not as stingy as the other flogger, but that delicious thud still made her rock forward and shudder with pleasure—a hundred velvety tongues sliding over her skin.
But Pike was just warming up because after a few hits to the back of her thighs and ass, he landed one home, right between her spread legs. The shock of the sting on the tender flesh had her rearing up, but Pike pushed a hand to the center of her back and shoved her top half back down to the bed.
“Still think I’m here to be gentle on you?”
“No,” she panted, her pussy tingling with the unfamiliar stinging sensation.
“You have the sexiest cunt, baby,” he said, gravel in his voice as he slid his fingers into her. “All those long nights on the road, hearing your voice on the phone, this is what I pictured when I’d fuck my hand—you bound and spread for me, that pretty pink flesh sliding over my cock, that voice of yours calling my name.”
She sighed and rocked back onto his hand, shameless. “Yes.”
“I’ve neglected you.” He twisted his fingers inside her, lighting her up. “I can see how ready you are for me. But the night is young.”
The pressure from his fingers disappeared and she heard her bedside drawer open. Soon, Pike was back with a hand on her hip. Then something breached her opening—the dildo she’d bought at Wicked. The feel was familiar, the toy her go-to for her and Pike’s phone calls, but having him insert it drove up the pleasure of it.
“Here, baby, this will help fill you up. You can use your hand to play with it.”
She reached between her body and the bed and grasped the base of it and pumped it into her, getting a shred of relief.
Now it was Pike’s turn to grunt, and the sound of his zipper cut through the air. “Fuck, baby, you should see the view from here.”
She peered back over her shoulder to find him with his pants open and the heel of his hand rubbing his cock over his underwear as he looked at her. “Yeah, the view’s mighty nice.”
He smiled her way and lifted the flogger in his other hand. He swatted it across her pussy again, the tips brushing over the hand she had on the dildo. “I didn’t tell you to lift your head.”
She smirked and turned her head to face the bed again. “It was worth the punishment.”
“Yeah? I must be going too easy on you.”
That’s when the real flogging began. Pike hit her across the backs of her thighs, her ass, and between her spread legs over and over again until all of her skin was burning and tingling. All the while, she used the toy to counterbalance the pain. All of it working in tandem. But she was breathless and sweating by the time he gave her a break.
She pressed her forehead to the bed, panting.
Pike put his hand over hers and pumped the dildo for her, a slow in-and-out drag that made her moan. His other hand traced over her back entrance. “Need to come, baby?”
“Please.” The word was muffled by the sheets, but she couldn’t lift her head.
Pike slid the hand on the dildo higher, leaving her to it, and found her clit. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the swift pleasure the simple touch ignited, but before she could fully process it, Pike’s mouth was on her backside kissing and biting, getting precariously close to a zone they hadn’t traveled yet. A choked sound caught in her throat.
Pike’s teeth clamped into the flesh of one ass cheek, hard and unyielding, then he backed off and soothed it with his tongue. Oakley couldn’t think, the pain/pleasure combo making her knees weak and arousal coat her fingers. But then his tongue moved to her most forbidden spot and she damn near jumped off the bed.
Pike’s tongue traced over her back entrance, hot and wet and oh-my-God amazing. Her back arched. “Pike …”
His fingers stroked over her clit, his breath balmy against her sensitive opening. “Every part of you is mine, Oakley. I want it all. Everything that can give you pleasure, I’m going to find and use. Nothing is safe from me.”
She squeezed her eyes shut—some weird combination of desperate need and ingrained shame coalescing. She wanted him to continue, but she couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about it. “I’ve never. It’s—”
“Sexy as fuck,” he finished and gave her another slow lick. “You should see how your legs are trying to spread wider, how you’re wanting to open to me. Come for me, baby, and I’ll show you just how good this can feel.”
He went back to rubbing her clit, and his tongue and lips lavished her most secret spot with sensations that made her whimper and gasp. She pumped the dildo hard inside her, riding his hand with the rock of her hips, and then Pike’s tongue breached her and everything exploded behind her eyelids.
Her back arched and she cried out, every inch of her seeming to contract at once and then release in a flood of pleasure. She called out his name and came hard and loud.
Pike didn’t back off until she was squirming and overwhelmed with all the sensations. But he only paused in order to unlatch her from the spreader bar and to take the dildo out. “Get all the way onto the bed. On your back.”
“I’m not sure if I can.” Her knees wobbled and her body felt ready to give way.
Pike grabbed her by the waist and hauled her up on the bed. When he flipped her onto her back, she lost her breath for a second. He was looming above her—naked and aroused and beautiful. His lips were puffy and slick from what he’d done to her, his gaze pleased. And that was all she needed. Any shame or awkwardness that kind of act might’ve caused in another situation faded away
with the unabashed desire she could feel rolling off him. With Liam, she’d had to be the innocent, sweet girl—the girl who’d want the “correct” things. But with Pike, nothing was off limits. Everything was safe. They could explore things without fear of judgment or weirdness. Both in the bedroom and out of it.
Pike reached down and cupped her face. “You take my breath away, mama.”
“You should come up for air when you’re doing that to me then.”
He smirked and gave the chain between her nipples a tug. “Never an inch.”
“Never.”
“Thank God.” He lowered himself down to his forearms, the look of love on his face breaking her wide open. “Did you do what we talked about?”
She looped her arms around his neck, feeling the most at peace she’d ever felt in her life. “Haven’t taken one in a month.”
He touched his forehead to hers in that way that made her feel so cherished, and pushed inside her, filling her and making her sigh in pleasure.
“Then let’s make a baby, Mrs. Ryland.”
The smile on his face was one she’d never forget.
She felt it in her heart and filtering through her blood.
Fast and reckless and crazy. That’s what the press had called their romance.
But she just called it perfect.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Call on Me. I hope you had fun with Pike! Before you go, I have a few more things for you. First, included in this edition is “House Call,” a special bonus short story about Dr. Theo Montgomery.
Theo first appeared in Fall Into You as the physician who helps Charli when she’s in a car accident, and then he nudged his way into Nothing Between Us when he examined Keats after a fight. We’ve gotten to see a little of the to-the-point, confident doctor who rules the ER but happens to be a submissive when he visits The Ranch. But “House Call” is finally going to give you his real story.