But when she pulled back to look up at him, he was grinning, clearly pleased with her praise.
“I don’t care,” she said honestly. “You should be proud. You’re so much different…so much more than I thought you were all these years we’ve been working together.”
“I could say the same thing about you, you know.” His voice had gone deep and soft and she could see that his eyes were half-lidded in the dim light. “I think the Ice Queen has finally melted.”
“And it only took a bear attack to do it.” Genevieve sensed they were getting in deep here—they needed to be careful. And yet, part of her didn’t want to be careful anymore.
“In that case, remind me to take you to the bear exhibit at the zoo as soon as we get back home,” Drew murmured. “Or will any large, carnivorous mammal have the same effect on you? Lions…? Tigers…?”
“Drew…” She smiled at him and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear. “And as for thawing me out, you had more to do with it than the bear.”
“Well, that’s good to know. But speaking of Mr. Bear, I think we should stay here for a while—maybe even spend the night. It’s getting pretty dark and I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out with a hungry predator roaming the woods. We might look a little too much like a midnight snack.”
“Staying the night sounds good to me.” Genevieve shivered. “But do you think we can get a fire started in the fireplace? If there is one, I mean.”
“Pretty sure there is. Let me see.” Drew fished around in his jacket pocket and came out with a small flashlight. “Thought we might need it walking back if our picnic ran long,” he explained, switching it on. “Come on—let’s explore.”
It turned out that the little cabin was extremely snug, if somewhat dusty. Drew speculated that it must be someone’s summer home and the owner had gone someplace warmer for the winter. The heat wasn’t working because the electricity had been cut off, but there was a small stack of wood in a basket by the fireplace and a little searching yielded some matches on the mantelpiece.
While Drew started the fire, Genevieve took his flashlight and explored the rest of the cabin. There was a small bathroom and a tiny kitchen but strangely, no bedroom. She did find a stack of somewhat moth-eaten blankets and a few clean sheets in a tiny, narrow closet but it was a mystery as to where the owner of the cabin slept.
“Well, there’s a bathroom and a kitchen but no bedroom,” she told Drew, when she came back from her brief tour. “I don’t know where we’re supposed to sleep tonight.”
“Let me see…”
He had been crouched by the fireplace, where a steady blaze was going by now, but he stood up and went over to the loveseat which was still blocking the door. As Genevieve watched, mystified, he pulled off the cushions and began to hunt around for something.
“Ah—here we go,” he exclaimed. With a tug, he pulled out an ancient looking folding bed with a faded flowery sheet already on the mattress.
“Oh—a hide-a-bed, I didn’t think about that,” Genevieve remarked.
“An old one.” Drew grunted as he dragged the small couch, its unfolded bed sticking out like a tongue poking out of a mouth, towards the fireplace. “Solid iron—that’s why this little baby is so heavy. My grandmother used to have one just like it.”
“So that’s where we’re sleeping?” Genevieve frowned.
“Unless you’d prefer the floor, I’d say yes.” Drew shrugged. “But I’m not sleepy yet. How about it we see if we can scrounge up something for supper since Mr. Bear got our picnic?”
A search of the postage stamp sized kitchen resulted in a slightly stale box of crackers and, inside the tiny refrigerator, a block of gouda cheese that still looked good.
“A feast fit for a king—or at least a couple of refugees from a bear attack.” Drew grinned. “Just slice it up and we’re in business. Don’t forget, we still have our bottle of wine to go with it.”
While he fixed a crackers and cheese platter, Genevieve busied herself changing the sheets and shaking out the moth-eaten blankets on the little fold-out bed. When she was done, she thought it looked quite cozy, positioned as it was right in front of the fireplace. The soft, rosy glow made even the strange little hide-a-bed look inviting and she’d even managed to find a couple of pillows at the very top of the little linen closet. The room was getting warmer now too—she took off her outer coat and warmed her hands by the small fire gratefully.
“Looks like you’ve got it all set up,” Drew remarked, coming in with the cheese and crackers. He had also taken off his coat and was wearing a close fitting navy blue sweater that emphasized his broad shoulders and brought out his eyes. “We’re good to go here too—as long as you don’t mind drinking your wine out of a coffee mug. I don’t know who the owner of this place is, but there’s a shocking lack of champagne flutes in the cabinet.”
“A coffee mug works for me.” Gen settled beside him on the edge of the fold out bed with the plate of cheese and crackers between them and a mug of good red wine in one hand. She started to eat a cracker but Drew stopped her.
“Wait a minute—I thought this was supposed to be our ‘feed-me’ picnic—where we feed each other every bite we take?”
“Oh?” Genevieve looked at him in surprise. “You still want to do that?”
“Just because a bear got most of our picnic is no reason to abandon the whole thing,” Drew pointed out. “Any more than the fact that we’re away from the resort for the night excuses us from doing our exercises.”
“The intimacy exercises you mean?” Genevieve asked in a low voice. Suddenly, her cheeks felt flushed and her heart was beating much harder than it had been.
“Mmm-hmm.” There was a hungry look in Drew’s eyes that had nothing to do with the crackers and cheese between them. “I mean, what if Phillips asks about it tomorrow?” he murmured. “We’ll need to give him the intimate details since he doesn’t have a camera all the way out here to record us.”
“I…I guess you’re right,” Genevieve murmured, feeling her cheeks go hot. “But we’ve done most of the other exercises and we left role playing costumes and the, uh, other props back at the resort.”
“Who says we need props?” Drew murmured, giving her a knowing little smile. “I’m sure we can come up with something here.”
“I…uh…” She didn’t know quite what to say.
“Don’t worry about it for now, baby,” Drew told her. “First let’s have our picnic. Here…” He picked up a cracker with a small piece of cheese on it and put it in her mouth. “Enjoy.”
Genevieve ate it obediently and sipped the expensive red wine from her chipped china mug but she couldn’t help thinking of the night to come and what “exercise” Drew might dream up for them to do together.
Of course, with no cameras around, there was really no need to do anything—they could just lie to Phillips and spin him a convenient fable. But she didn’t want to do that and she was sure Drew didn’t either. The intimacy exercises might have started out as a major embarrassment but now they were an excuse to get close to the man she was beginning to care about very much—probably much more than she should.
Her stomach was full of nervous butterflies and she couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next.
Chapter Nine
“Well, that wasn’t too bad as picnics go,” Drew remarked, popping the last cracker with cheese into Genevieve’s mouth.
She swallowed obediently and took a sip of the potent red wine before answering.
“No, not at all.”
Drew watched her, wondering what she was thinking. Her pupils were dilated in the firelight and when he reached out to cup her cheek, he thought he felt a little tremor go through her.
“So we’ve done most of the other intimacy exercises,” he mused, thinking out loud for her benefit. “And you pointed out we can’t do the role-playing without our costumes. But there are several exercises still on the
table—mutual masturbation, soft bondage…and spanking.”
“Oh, um…” Genevieve’s eyes got wide and Drew noticed that her breathing became more rapid. “Have you…did you read through the packet and find out what…what those entail?” she asked, her voice soft and uncertain.
“As a matter of fact, I did.” He set the empty plate and their mugs of wine away from the bed and turned to face her. “During mutual masturbation we’re supposed to touch ourselves—show each other what brings us the most pleasure.”
“Mmm-hmm.” She nodded, not saying anything. “And the others?”
“Soft bondage is pretty self-explanatory—one of us ties the other up.” He eyed her frankly. “I’d like to do that to you, Gen—I’d like to tie you down, blindfold you, and do all kinds of naughty things to your luscious body.”
“You…you would?” She was nibbling her lower lip in a way that was distractingly erotic. Drew leaned forward and took her soft, lush mouth with his own in a lingering kiss. She tasted like red wine and desire.
“I would,” he murmured. “But I don’t think I have anything to tie you with here. Of course…” He sat back, studying her face in the firelight. “There’s still spanking.”
“Spanking?” Her eyes went even wider and for a moment her breath seemed to catch in her throat. “You…you can’t be serious. I’m a grown woman!”
Drew raised an eyebrow at her. “What does that have to do with it?”
“Well, I mean you…you can’t just spank me like I’m a naughty little girl,” she protested.
But Drew couldn’t help noticing that her breathing had quickened and her cheeks were flushed. He well remembered what she’d told Phillips in their therapy session earlier that day—that she liked it when he was dominant in the bedroom. And she’d certainly responded to it the night before.
“But I think we’ve established that you are a naughty girl, Gen,” he growled softly. “It was your idea for us to take a picnic in the middle of the winter, which almost got us eaten by a hungry bear. And now we’re stuck out here in a shack instead of our nice warm bedroom back at the resort.”
“I…but I thought you didn’t blame me for that,” she whispered, twisting her fingers in her lap.
“I don’t,” Drew murmured, still holding her eyes with his own. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be punished for it.”
“P-punished?”
“Spanked,” he emphasized, making his voice deep and soft and commanding. “I want you out of your jeans and across my knee right now, Genevieve.”
“I…but I…” She started to protest but Drew shook his head firmly.
“Now,” he growled.
* * * * *
Genevieve stared at him—was he really serious? He wanted to spank her? And more to the point—did she want him to do it? Was she going to let him do it?
This will change everything--the balance of power between us will shift permanently. At least in the bedroom it would. Is that what she wanted? To give up her power and control? To give in and let Drew do what he wanted--to give herself to him?
Looking at the frown on his face and the hunger in his piercing blue eyes, she began to think she didn’t have a choice. Drew was in charge here—he had taken control of the situation and she was completely in his hands. The realization brought a rush of something like relief with it. Just as she had the night before, she longed to lose control—to give herself up completely to the man in front of her.
“I…all right,” she whispered at last. Standing on shaky legs, she began fumbling with the button and zipper of her designer jeans. But to her surprise, Drew suddenly knelt before her and brushed her hands aside to do the job himself.
“It’s all right, baby,” he murmured, looking up at her as he swiftly unfastened the tight denim. “I know you’re a little scared.”
“I…I am,” Genevieve admitted as he pulled down her jeans so that she was standing before him in nothing but her green cashmere sweater and her black silk and lace panties. “I’ve never…done this before. Or had it done to me. I mean, not since I was a kid.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Drew promised in that deep, soft, dominant voice that seemed to do all kinds of crazy things to her insides. “I won’t hurt you too much. And I promise, after your spanking…” He leaned forward and placed a hot, open mouthed kiss over the thin silk panel of her panties. “I’ll kiss it all better.”
“Oh…” Genevieve didn’t know what to say to that. Could he mean what she thought he meant? But there were no chocolate body paints here to lick off. Would he still want to—
Before she could finish the thought, Drew was back up on the side of the bed and patting his knees.
“Come here, Gen. Now,” he growled softly.
Feeling hot and uncertain at the same time, Genevieve obeyed. Before she knew it, she was over his knees with her top half resting on the mattress and her ass in the air.
She expected Drew to start spanking her at once but instead, he rubbed one big, warm hand over her trembling bottom.
“God, you have a perfect ass,” he growled softly. “So luscious and soft.”
“Drew…” Her breath was coming in short little gasps and she was trembling all over. She wanted him to get it over with but at the same time, she liked the feel of his big hand caressing her.
And then he was pulling down her panties, tugging them down past her hips to bare not only her ass but her pussy too.
“Oh!” Genevieve gasped as she felt the cool air hit her exposed bottom. “Drew, I…”
“Be quiet, Genevieve.” His voice was low and stern. “You’ve been a bad girl and you’re going to be punished for it. Now spread your legs and get ready to take your spanking.”
“Spread my legs?” She looked over her shoulder at him. “But why—?”
“I said, spread…your…legs.” His voice was a deep, authoritative growl which couldn’t be denied.
Biting her lip, Genevieve did as he ordered, spreading her thighs wide to bare her pussy and ass to him completely.
“Good girl,” Drew murmured, rubbing her ass again. Then, without warning, the soft caress turned into a hard smack on her right cheek.
“Oh!” Genevieve gasped and jerked. God, was she really doing this? Was she really lying over the knees of her much younger assistant getting her ass spanked? But again, Drew didn’t feel like her assistant. And though she had always been in control when they worked together, there was no doubt who was calling the shots now—literally.
“Count for me,” Drew commanded. “You get five more just like that.” He spanked her again, this time on the other cheek.
“Ah! One,” Genevieve gasped. Another blow fell. “Two,” she moaned. She was squirming on his lap now and she could feel his thick cock rubbing against her belly every time his big hand made contact with her bare ass. In response, her body seemed to go into overdrive. Her nipples were so tight they ached beneath her lace bra and cashmere sweater and her pussy was feeling hot and wet and swollen.
God, who could have predicted something like this would turn her on? She never would have guessed it about herself before this weekend—never would have guessed that losing control could be so intoxicating…so addictive. For the first time, here with Drew, she was letting down the walls she’d built around herself for so many years and it felt amazing. Hot and cathartic at the same time.
Drew continued to spank her, making Genevieve count with each hard smack against her sensitive bottom all the way up to five as he had promised. But even when he was done, he didn’t let her go.
“Drew?” Genevieve wriggled uncertainly in his lap but one muscular arm stayed locked firmly around her waist. “Drew?” she said again. “My, uh, ass really stings now. Can you let me up?”
“I don’t think so, Gen.” He sounded thoughtful…and more than a little turned on. Apparently being in control affected him in the same way as losing control affected her. “Not until I see what effect this spanking is having o
n you.”
“What…what do you mean?” She could barely get the words out but she forced herself to ask anyway.
“I mean I want to see if being spanked makes you wet, baby,” he purred softly. “That’s the reason I made you spread your legs before I started.”
“Drew!” Suddenly she was ashamed for him to know how much this had turned her on. She was a grown woman—being held down and spanked shouldn’t make her this hot, this desperately needy. But though she struggled to get off his lap, Drew wasn’t letting her go.
“Hold still, baby,” he growled softly. “Let me see you. Let me feel you.”
Genevieve felt a big, warm hand thrust between her thighs and then gentle, blunt fingertips were spreading her outer pussy lips and sliding over her slippery inner folds.
“Damn…” Drew’s deep voice was hoarse. “You’re so wet, Gen.”
“I…I can’t help it,” she gasped, nearly crying with shame and need. “You…you made me this way.”
“Is this all from being spanked?” he murmured, circling her tender, throbbing clit with one gentle fingertip. “Or is it something else? Maybe it’s finally letting someone else be in charge for once?”
His words mirrored her thoughts so exactly that Genevieve couldn’t deny them. But she didn’t want to admit them either.
“Drew…” she pleaded, avoiding his question. “Please, can’t you let me up now? Let me off your lap?”
“Mmm, it’s sexy to hear you beg like that, baby,” he murmured. “Yeah, I’ll let you off my lap—but that doesn’t mean you’re getting up.”
“What do you mean?” Genevieve looked over her shoulder at him as a shiver of fear and desire ran through her.
“I mean I want you on your hands and knees on the bed with your legs spread. Now,” he ordered, pushing her gently but firmly off his lap.
Genevieve felt like her heart was trying to pound its way out of her chest. God, should she do this? Should she open herself like this for Drew? But again, it didn’t appear he was giving her much choice—a fact that made her shamefully and unspeakably hot.