“Why are you sorry?” I asked suddenly as I turned back towards her. My tone was harsh.
She blinked. “You’re mad at me. I’m mad at myself. I did something stupid and look...” The words trailed off and she looked down. “Dominic, what do you want me to say?”
“How about the truth?” Taking a step closer, I asked, “Why do I get the feeling there's something you’re not telling me?”
Aleena looked up at me and then away, the elegant line of her jaw bruised from where Pence had backhanded her. “Because there is. But first, I have to say that I'm sorry for how things happened and for not talking to you about it first. I knew you'd have stopped me.”
“Damn right I would've,” I snapped.
She met my gaze, the look in her eyes apologetic but firm. “I handled it badly, but I’d do it again.”
I sucked in a breath through my teeth, glaring at her. “You will never do something like this again, Aleena. Do you hear me?”
“Oh, I hear you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin.
All contrition was gone, replaced by that stubbornness that had kept her with me, kept her working when a lesser person would've quit.
“Now hear me. I submit to you in the bedroom. Outside of that, you can’t control me, so don’t try. I’m my own person, Dominic. I think for myself and sometimes, I do stupid things, and I have to live with the consequences. But they're my consequences.”
“They're mine too!” My hands curled into fists so she couldn't see how they were shaking. “I have to see those bruises on your skin and know that if you would've just trusted me for a damn minute instead of running off and doing something on your own, none of this would've happened. If you would've just let me handle it like...”
Abruptly, I stopped as I realized what I'd intended to say next. If she'd just let me handle it like a good Sub would have. Like Koren or Maya or any of the other women who'd Subbed for me over the years.
But I didn't want that. I didn’t want her to be anybody but who she was. If she’d cared less or if she was less determined, she wouldn’t have gone to Pence alone, but if she'd been anything less than that, I wouldn’t love her. She wouldn’t have stayed with me and fought with me. Fought for me.
“Okay,” I said slowly. I had to take a couple of deep breaths before I could manage anything but that single, harsh word. “Okay. Look, we have to get past this.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “That’s why I was apologizing.”
“But you aren’t responsible for him putting his hands on you. Maybe you shouldn’t have done...” I shook my head. “No, you shouldn’t have. Period. But if Pence wasn’t an evil son of a bitch...”
Aleena took a slow step toward me. “Well, if it helps, should anything like this ever happen again and I think I need to do something stupid, I’ll keep Vincent with me the entire time. He was like the Incredible Hulk, beating the shit out of Pence.” She gave me a tentative smile.
“That’s my job.” I cradled her cheek and rubbed my finger over the bruise. My heart squeezed painfully and my voice softened. “Don’t do this to me again, Aleena. Don’t scare me like this. I can’t...I couldn't...”
She slid up next to me and pressed her lips to mine. “What do you need me to do to fix this?”
The willing, open honesty of the question ripped me open. I curled my hands around her waist and tugged her in close. I rested my forehead against hers.
“As much as I want to turn you over my knee and paddle your gorgeous ass, I can’t. You were right. You told me from the beginning that you'd submit to me when it came to sex, but not everywhere else. I won't punish you for not acting like a Sub when you'd already set those boundaries.”
“Maybe it would make us both feel better.” She nipped at my lower lip. “And I’d enjoy it, so it wouldn't really be a punishment...”
I was tempted. So tempted. But that card in my pocket, it might as well have been smoking.
“There’s something else I need you to do first.”
I tugged the card out and slid it into her hand. She looked down, puzzlement on her features.
“I want you to come with me to the police station. I want you to press charges against Pence. They won't let me do it for you.”
Her mouth parted and after a moment, she nodded. “Okay.” She kissed my cheek as she smiled, her eyes sparkling. “But just so you know, I was only waiting until you came back because I wanted you to go with me.”
I shook my head and smiled. Of course she'd already planned on going. There was no way in hell this amazing woman would let Pence get away with what he'd done. She might've been a Submissive, but she wasn't weak.
She picked up her phone. “Listen.”
She hit a button and I tensed as I heard Pence’s voice. Then, despite everything, I started to laugh.
“You caught the whole damn thing on the voice memo.”
Aleena shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
***
The rest of the day seemed to consist of cops, rage and frustration. I had to listen again while Aleena recounted what had been done. I had to watch as Alvarez took notes and asked polite but personal questions that made me want to hit him. He was just doing his job, I knew, but I saw in Aleena's eyes how much all of this hurt her. And all I could do was sit there and hold her hand.
By the time we got to the penthouse, that angry red haze had settled in my mind and my entire body was taut, ready to explode. Still, I was in control. I’d no sooner closed the door before I reached for Aleena, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling me to her. She looked up at me and I studied her face, looking for signs of exhaustion, signs that I shouldn’t do this.
She reached up and touched my mouth.
I caught her wrist, keeping my touch gentle. I pressed my lips against the bruise there before drawing it behind her back. “I have to have you.”
She nodded, understanding my unspoken question. “I trust you. Let me show you.”
She did understand. My heart swelled, love replacing dark anger. I was still tense, still needed a release. Needed her. But this wasn't about punishing her for what she'd done. This was her showing me that she did trust me, that her actions hadn't been lack of faith in me.
I kept my kiss soft and easy, lashing down on the instincts that wanted more. I led her to the playroom and had her stand in the middle of the room while I stripped her down to the skin. Her breath shuddered out when I bent my head to kiss the bruise on her breast. I wasn't planning on being gentle, exactly, but I was going to avoid doing anything to those bruises except giving them light kisses.
She cupped the back of my head, running her fingers through my hair. I let myself enjoy her touch for a moment, then moved her hand away. I had things in my head that I wanted to do, but if she touched me, I was done.
I took out a soft rope made of velvet. I had her climb on the bed and lie on her stomach, putting her arms behind her back. Because of the bruises on her wrists, I bound her elbows, leaving her enough give so that her shoulders weren't in pain. This was about restraint, not putting pressure on her joints. Once I was finished with her arms, I twined another rope around her legs from her knees down.
Leaving her there for a moment, I stripped off my own clothes and tossed them to the floor. I was already half-hard and we hadn't even started. I retrieved my favorite crop from one of the chest drawers and set it on the bed next to her legs before I settled myself on the other side of her.
She whimpered as I traced my fingers along the curve of her ass. Soft, so soft.
I brought my palm down on the golden skin and watched as it went pink. She gasped, but it wasn't a sound of true pain. I did it again, again, again, again until she was shivering, her body vibrating with the need for more.
I switched to the other cheek and brought it to the same bright pink. It wouldn't bruise, but her skin would be sensitive for a while, even after I rubbed lotion in after we finished.
I picked up the crop. I didn’t use it to spank her though. Turning it around, I used the wide, blunt handle to penetrate her. It wasn't quite as big as me, but it was bigger than my finger which meant it was stretching her much faster. She cried out as I pumped the handle inside her, twisting it so she could feel every hard, unyielding inch. She struggled to move, to meet the slow, lazy glide.
Tangling her hair around my wrist, I turned her face towards me. “Did I say you could move?”
“No, Sir.” She looked at me with passion-drugged eyes.
“Good girl.” I left the handle inside her as I moved up to where her head was. “You move when I tell you, you come when I say. Now, you’re going to apologize for jumping ahead by sucking my cock.”
My cock bobbed in front of her, eager to be inside that amazing wet heat. Her tongue slid out and I caught her chin, pressing my thumb to her lips. She lightly nipped the pad of my thumb and I could barely contain a moan.
“You’ll lick me. You’ll suck me. And if you do a good job, I’ll let you come as much as you want.”
That said, I used my fisted hold on her hair to guide her mouth to my cock.
It was the hottest sight I could imagine, bound in front of me, her ass glowing, while her mouth closed around the head of my cock. Shifting my weight around, I eased my hips closer to her and thrust deeper. She shuddered, her throat tightening up as the head nudged against it. “Don’t pull away.”
Her nostrils flared as she tried to suck in a breath.
“Swallow me.”
She made a low keening sound under her breath, but did as she was commanded and I shuddered at the feel of her lush mouth, at the tiny muscles that gripped and relaxed around my dick as she took me deep, deep, deep inside.
“Good girl,” I breathed as my balls bumped against her chin.
I pulled out and then did it again, keeping the strokes slow and smooth. The inside of her mouth was so soft, so hot, that I just wanted to bury myself in it, to take her mouth as hard and fast as I did her pussy.
Suddenly, her teeth scraped against my cock and I pulled out, using my grip on her hair to force her head up to look at me.
“Biting, Aleena?” I slid my free hand underneath her to cup her uninjured breast. I pinched her nipple and she squirmed. I did it again. “Well?”
“I’m sorry, Sir.” The words came out in a pant.
“Good girl.”
I put her head back down and moved back to her legs, kneeling on either side of her thighs. The handle of the crop was still inside her and I took a moment to appreciate the sight.
“You're already so tight, but fucking like this, with your legs pressed together is going to be so much more.” I kissed the dip in her spine as I opened a bottle of lubricant. “What do you say we keep that handle in there for a bit longer?”
I pressed my thumb against the tight hole between her cheeks. She gasped, trying to push back on my hand. I gave one cheek a firm smack and she stilled. I worked my finger into her ass even as my free hand began to stroke my cock. Her entire body jerked as I rubbed the handle of the crop through the thin membrane that separated her ass from her pussy, causing the handle to shift inside her.
Fuck that was hot.
I glanced up and saw her watching me in the mirror, saw her eyes following the movements of my hand. I tightened my fist and dragged it back down to the base of my cock, then back up again.
“One day, I want us to watch each other pleasure ourselves. Would you like that?”
Her tongue came out to wet her lips as she nodded.
“Where do you want me?” I asked. I eased the handle out of her and she made a strangled sound as it slid free. “You get to choose. Where do you want me to take you?”
In our reflection, I could see her thinking it over. It was going to be tight either way and her pussy was definitely more stretched than her ass, but that initial penetration was going to be a bit painful either way. Her eyes met mine.
“Whatever you want, Sir. I trust you.”
A sigh escaped me.
I'd taken her pussy last night, her mouth just minutes ago. I wanted her ass this time. I bent back over her, one hand gripping my dick, the other at the base of her spine. I pressed against her, rippling hot pleasure twisting in me as she yielded, the mouth of her ass stretching wide to take me. She was so wet, I could feel it against my balls. The sheets were going to be soaked.
“Tell me you like it,” I demanded as I began to thrust into her ass. The muscles gripped me, squeezed me, with every stroke.
“I like it, Dominic. Please...oh, please...” Her voice rose higher when I drove into her again, harder this time.
“Tell me you want to come.”
“I want to come. Please, Sir, please let me come.”
I tugged on the rope holding her elbows and pulled her up so she was on her knees, her back against my chest. I tugged on the knot and it fell free so she could move her arms. I caught her hand and pressed it between her legs.
“You do it. If you want to come, you have to do it yourself. You’re such a big, strong woman. You want an orgasm? Take it.”
She started to rub her clit and I thrust up inside her, pausing each time to nudge deeper. Then I felt her slide a finger into her pussy and I groaned. My eyes found the mirror and I watched as she fucked herself with her finger, as she used the palm of her hand to rub her clit. She was so fucking gorgeous.
She broke the fifth time I drove up into her and I felt the wetness of her orgasm running down her thighs. And still, I didn't let up. I couldn’t get enough. I couldn’t mark her deeply enough. Her head fell forward, lips touching my forearm where it was pressed against her upper torso. Without warning, she sank her teeth into my flesh and pushed back against me.
I came. An unending, hot flow spilled out of me to flood her.
For the first time in too long, peace reigned in my head.
Chapter 19
Aleena
If there was ever a way to wake up, it was like this.
Dominic’s mouth brushed along my hipbone, my belly, then lower. When he started to move lower still, I caught my breath. Slowly, hesitantly, I reached out my hands and curled them in his hair.
He didn’t stop me. Instead, he flicked his tongue against my clit and I whimpered, lifting up to meet those tempting, taunting brushes. I looked down and saw him watching me over the lines of my body. I wanted to say something, beg, plead…but the words wouldn’t come and all I managed was a moan.
He scraped his teeth against my clit and the sensation was like having lightning poured inside my body.
“Please!” It tore out of me in a broken sob and then I was saying it over and over again as he pushed two fingers inside my pussy and twisted them.
He scissored his fingers and dragged them out slowly, driving me crazy in a dozen different ways. He brought me to a shuddering climax and when my breathing calmed, he settled between my thighs.
“One more,” Dominic said.
I wrapped my legs around him as he sank inside, inch by slow inch.
The demand, the command that I had grown so used to hearing from him—that I loved hearing from him—was gone and all he had for me that morning was gentleness and slow, lazy sex. He worked me towards another climax, this one less an explosion and more like a smoldering fire, heat licking along my skin as it spread through me and over me and around me.
When it ended, he rolled to his back, taking me with him and pressing my head to his chest.
“I love you,” he said roughly.
I kissed the flat circle of his nipple. “I know. I love you too.”
***
I had to talk to the police again. They had questions about my attack and they were kind even if they did push me hard. And even if they did think I'd been foolish. Not that they said anything, but I recognized the look in Alvarez’s eyes.
He was a decent cop, I’d bet. He went from being nice and understanding to a nosy ass bastard I wanted to hit within t
he blink of an eye. I was glad he was on my side.
“I take it there was no love lost between you and Ms. Rittenour.”
I bared my teeth at him in a bitter smile. “None at all. She’s a shrewish, egotistical bitch.”
Immediately after those words left my mouth, I clapped my hand over my face in horror. I never said things like that. I might think them, but I’d learned there was a time and place for…well. This wasn’t the time or place.
But Alvarez didn’t look fazed. “I’ve heard the word bitch before.” Then he grinned, catching me off-guard. “Afraid your mama will wash your mouth out with soap?”
I gave him a look. “No. My mama’s dead.”
“Sorry.” He seemed sincere, but he didn't ask how long or what had happened. I appreciated that.
I started to add something and stopped, a yawn cracking my jaw. “I’m sorry,” I said, flushing. I hadn’t been sleeping well for the past week—actually, a bit longer, and everything going on now made it worse.
“Let's wrap this up so you can get home.”
As he bent back over his notes, I asked, “Will this be the last time I have to come in over this?”
“Not enjoying our lovely station?” He flashed a smile at me and shrugged. “I can’t say if I’ll need you back in or not, but I have to make sure all the t’s are crossed, the i’s dotted. Being an assistant to a guy like Dominic Snow, I imagine you know all about covering the little details.”
Did I ever. Nodding, I settled back as he went over the same things we’d covered three days ago. I had a feeling he wasn't just making sure he had everything, but that my story hadn't changed. That was the good thing about telling the truth. I didn't have to try to remember what I'd said before. When the questioning ended, he held out his hand.
I shook it and glanced around. “Lovely station or not, I am kinda tired of being here. I hope you don’t need me again.”
“Well…” His eyes strayed past my shoulder and I looked back, almost stumbling in surprise.