“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know,” she said.
Reese sighed. “The first woman was a casual lover who’d expressed interest. She was more into the Daddy dynamic, which didn’t do anything for me at all. We didn’t see each other again after that trip, nothing nasty about it. We just didn’t bother with each other.”
“And the second?”
“Her name was Amber. We dated for about eight months.”
“Why did you break up?”
Reese sighed. “She found someone with a bigger bank account.”
“No small feat, I take it.” Corinne laughed. “But before that, you took her on the kinky sex vacation.”
“She wheedled her way into coming with me. She liked to be put on display. Paraded around. She was very proud of her body. She liked to be called a slut.”
Corinne puffed out a breath he could feel on his face. “Oh, my.”
“I didn’t think she was a slut,” Reese said. “What she wanted to do with her body was her own business.”
“What else?” He could hear the approval in her voice, but he didn’t open his eyes.
He nudged against her stroking hand until she started up again. “When she got…unruly…I disciplined her.”
“How?”
“I made her write lines,” Reese said after a moment, holding back a laugh. “She didn’t like it.”
“Did you like it?”
He didn’t open his eyes. “I didn’t hate it— Ouch!”
She’d dug her nails into his scalp. “Don’t smart mouth me.”
Corinne didn’t sound angry, only firm and a little amused, but the tone of her voice…fuck, it made his cock twitch. It always had. He looked up at her.
“I felt disconnected from it,” Reese said.
Her brow furrowed. Then she nodded. “Yes. I understand.”
He smiled and closed his eyes again. “The whole point of the company is for kinky people to be able to visit these places that have everything set up for them to get their kink on. It was very much a scene thing. Lots of ritual and stuff. Very gothic. Naked people eating from dog bowls, that sort of thing. Amber got off on it. I didn’t.”
“Wow. That sounds intense.”
He looked at her. “I could take you. If you want.”
“Just because I call you ‘puppy’ sometimes doesn’t mean I want you to eat from a dog bowl off the floor, honey.”
“I could take you somewhere else. Anywhere you wanted to go.”
She gave him another of those thoughtful looks. “You really got used to having money, huh?”
“It’s better than not having money.”
She laughed. “Yeah. I guess so.”
“I couldn’t take care of you back then,” Reese said. “I know it was a problem.”
Again, that thoughtful, contemplative look. “We had a bunch of problems, back then.”
“We had a lot of good things too, Corinne.”
“Yes. We did.” She smiled, then said, “I said I would bring you a list of rules.”
He nodded, thinking he should sit up, but not moving. Her fingers stroked through his hair, her nails scratching lightly on his scalp. “Yes.”
“It’s a short list,” she told him.
Reese closed his eyes, smiling. “Okay.”
The feather-light touch of her fingertips over his face traced his eyebrows. The bridge of his nose. Each lip, though when he opened his mouth to try to nip at her fingers she laughed and put her palm against his mouth.
“Bad boy,” she whispered, and he looked up at her. Her eyes gleamed. She traced his lips again, and this time he resisted biting against the tickle. When she tucked her forefinger inside his mouth, he sucked gently on the tip; she withdrew it to paint slickness over his bottom lip. “The list has one rule on it.”
“Only one?” He tried not to sound disappointed, but did anyway.
She laughed. “Yes. Only the one.”
He did sit this time, shifting on the couch to face her. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Corinne cleared her throat, looking a little nervous before she smoothed her expression with an obvious effort. She shook the hair off her forehead. Squared her shoulders. She looked him right in the eyes.
“Don’t let me down.”
He paused before answering, surprised at the simplicity of the single rule. “That’s it?”
“That should be enough, shouldn’t it?”
“I just thought…” He stopped himself.
“I know what you probably thought,” Corinne said. “I think I know what you probably wanted.”
He smiled. “Yeah? What did I want on the list?”
“You wanted rules about how you should address me. Yes?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said with a grin.
“Here’s the thing about rules, Reese. If you make a list of rules for the sole purpose of defining what has to happen when you break them, doesn’t that sort of dilute the impact of the rules to begin with?”
He frowned. “Not sure what you mean.”
Corinne took him by the front of the shirt and pulled him closer, her gaze tracing all the places her fingertips had touched only moments before. “It means that I don’t want this to be about jumping through hoops. It’s hard enough to find someone you like, much less someone whose kinks align. And ours align, don’t they?”
Her fingers tightened in his shirt, digging into his chest beneath. Her mouth brushed his, but when he tried to kiss her, she pulled away. Reese’s laugh had an edge to it.
“Yes.”
“It means that I want a relationship based on mutual desires. Also respect and responsibility. It means that I’m going to take this seriously, and I expect you to do the same.” The tip of her tongue flicked his chin.
“Yes. Of course.”
“It means that I want us to take our time and relearn each other,” Corinne continued. This time, instead of her tongue stroking him, her teeth nipped at his skin. She nudged his head back to get next to his throat.
Fuck, his cock was hard enough to break brick, just from the subtle pressure of her fingers on his chest and the brief, tempting sting of her teeth. “Yes, Ma’am.”
She laughed, sweet and throaty, against his skin. “I love when you call me that. I always did.”
“I know. See? I know a lot about you already. I know you like this,” he added, sliding a hand between them to cup her breast and let his thumb pass over her nipple, already erect and taut through the thin material of her shirt and bra.
Her hissing gasp sent a slow, rolling bolt of desire through him. He wanted to bury his face between her breasts and pull up her shirt to get at her flesh beneath, but he kept his thumb just barely stroking over her nipple. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the sound of her breathing.
When she tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled his head back, he didn’t move his hand. Corinne licked her lips. “This is not going to be all about sex.”
“No, Ma’am.”
“I expect you to actually take me out. On dates.”
He grinned, letting his thumb stroke, stroke, stroke. Her nipple felt about as hard as his dick; he hoped she was starting to ache the way he was. “Absolutely. Anywhere you want to go.”
“I…oh.”
He pinched lightly then, sending a shudder through her that had her giving him a stern look. “Yes, Ma’am? You were saying?”
She put her hand over his, then removed it firmly. “It’s late. I don’t know about you, Mr. Bazillionaire Boss, but I have to work in the morning.”
“Call in sick.”
“Up.” She pushed him until he moved away, then she stood. “I’m going home.”
“But—” At the warning look she shot him, Reese gave a muffled groan. “Fine.”
She laughed and bent to kiss his mouth, letting it linger until he grabbed for her hips. Then she slapped his hands lightly. “Nope. I’m going. And you’re going to wait until I’ve left, and then you’re going
to take that pretty cock of yours, and you’re going to stroke it until you’re just about to come. But you’re not going to.”
“No?” He couldn’t help grinning, even as the thought of it sent a wave of heat sizzling through him. His cock nudged the front of his jeans, beginning to throb.
“No.”
“How many…how many times, Ma’am?”
She tapped her forefinger on her lips. “Fifteen. One for every year since we broke up the first time.”
Shit.
“You want me to edge fifteen times?”
“Yes, puppy,” she breathed, leaning to speak directly into his ear. “I want you to edge fifteen times for me. I want that cock hard and leaking and craving me.”
“I already am…”
She laughed and nipped his earlobe, then danced away from him when he again foolishly tried to grab her. “No, no, no! It’s late. Do as you’re told.”
He fell back onto the couch with a loud groan of protest, a hand on the bulge in his pants. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He cracked an eye open at her. “Really? Fifteen?”
“Now it’s twenty,” she told him, her expression going from playful to stern and her tone matching. “Keep arguing with me, I’ll have your balls so blue you won’t be able to walk for a week. Twenty times, and I want a photo each time you stop. They better be waiting for me when I wake up.”
Reese got off the couch to go to her. “Anything you want.”
“Uh-huh.” She tipped her face to his for a kiss. Her hands snaked around to grab his ass, pulling him against her. “Sleep tight.”
“I’d sleep better if you were with me,” he said, risking the addition of another set of edges. As far as punishments went, it was worth taking the chance at changing her mind.
Corinne shook her head. “I can’t. I have to get the kids up in the morning, and I do have work to do tomorrow. Unless you plan on running me ragged with a bunch of bullshit reports.”
He winced. “No.”
“You sure?” She gave him a steady look. “You’re not going to turn arrogant on me again? Maybe you got more of a taste for it than you’ll admit.”
“Maybe I was just an ass,” Reese said.
She kissed him again. “Yeah. Maybe that. Goodnight, puppy. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He walked her to her car, making sure she’d pulled all the way down the driveway before he went back in the house. His dick hadn’t softened much—and in moments it was brick-hard again as he stroked, getting closer and closer to the edge.
He stopped, thinking of her. Fumbled with his phone. Took a picture. Texted it.
Good boy, came the reply, and he almost came right there.
Nineteen edges to go, he thought. It was going to be a long, long night.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Here. I figured you’d need this.” Corinne offered the mug of hot coffee to a sleepy-eyed Reese as she entered his office. She slid it across the desk, but kept out of kissing distance. As sexy as fucking in the office was, she was not going to succumb to the temptation. She’d woken to a series of increasingly hotter pics this morning, each photo sending another sizzle of arousal through her that still lingered, though she wasn’t going to show it. “How was your night?”
“Long. Hard.”
She laughed. “Uh-huh.”
Reese leaned back in his chair. “C’mere, let me show you how long and hard.”
“I already saw it.” She sipped from her own mug, savoring the sweetness.
He drank some of his with a sigh of pleasure. “Thanks. I did need this.”
“Of course. I know. I’m going to get back to my office, but if you want to grab lunch?”
Reese frowned. “Tony’s on his way, babe, I’m sorry. I need to catch up with him on some things. And I have a meeting with the realtor who’s going to take over the listing of my parents’ house.”
Corinne paused. “You’re selling it?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s not in the best shape; it’s going to need some work before someone’s going to take it off my hands. I might just dump it though. I’m not sure I want to bother with a lot of work on it.”
“Right.” She kept her voice light, not wanting to make a big deal out of things. Of course he didn’t want to live in the old farmhouse. A man with his kind of money and houses all over the place would find the old farmhouse beneath him.
“I can change my plans,” Reese said.
She shook her head. “No, you don’t have to. You do what you need to do.”
“Dinner tonight?”
“Can’t. I have stuff with the kids.” She hesitated. “You could come over to my place for dinner, if you want.”
Reese looked surprised. “Yeah? You want me to?”
“My sister kind of already outed me. Us. So…yeah. I think it would be good for you to meet the kids without it being a huge deal. I’m making meatloaf and baked potatoes. Nothing special.”
“My favorite,” Reese said.
She laughed. “We’ll eat about six thirty, after trumpet lessons.”
“I’ll be there.”
She wanted to kiss him, then, but didn’t. “I’ll let you get back to work.”
“Corinne…” His voice stopped her at the door, and when she turned, he was there, one hand moving past her shoulder to keep it closed.
Instant heat.
“Yes?”
He took her hand and pressed it to his crotch, his cock hard beneath. “I want to come for you.”
“No,” she said in a low voice, rasping and rough. “Not yet. I want you to suffer a little for me, first.”
She didn’t pull her hand away, though he was moving it up and down on the hard bulge. She held her coffee out to the side, so it wouldn’t spill. When he tried to kiss her, she turned her face.
“Later,” she told him.
Reese chuckled and stepped back, adjusting himself with a wince. “I forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“What it was really like,” he said, no longer laughing. “To obey.”
She was going to drop her mug and throw him down right there, climb him like a tree and ride his face, no matter how unprofessional or inappropriate or… Corinne gave herself a mental shake. It had been a long time since her buttons had been pushed with such expertise.
“I didn’t forget this, ever,” she said. “I dreamed about it for years.”
Reese swallowed hard. “Let me change my lunch plans. Let’s go somewhere…”
“No,” she told him with a small, determined shake of her head. “What did I tell you already?”
“This is about dating. Getting to know each other again.”
“Yes. Which means we don’t fuck in the office.”
He smiled. “That’s why I said we should go somewhere.”
“You’re making this very hard for me, Reese,” she told him, and wagged a finger before he could reply with an innuendo. “Do not even say it. Get back to work.”
He ran a hand through his hair, rumpling it, and nodded with a glance back at his desk. “Yeah. I have a bunch of things in motion. Tony’s bringing updates on some new distribution resources. It means we’ll be getting the product into some of the bigger markets. Not just Philly, also out toward Pittsburgh.”
“Yeah? That’s fantastic. You’re really good, Reese.”
He cocked his head to give her a look. “Did you think I couldn’t turn this around?”
She had, in fact, wondered if his reasons for buying Stein and Sons might’ve clouded his actual ability to save the company from totally swirling down the drain. “Not because I didn’t think you were good at what you do. But let’s face it. Artisanal yogurts and ice cream…you’d have been better off just selling off all the pieces.”
“I didn’t want to do that. I made the commitment, so I want to make this company work.” He backed up a few steps and pivoted to head for his desk, saying over his shoulder, “Not
just to impress you, either. I don’t usually hang on to companies I don’t think I can fix.”
She watched him settle into his chair. “I believe you.”
He looked up. Smiled. How was it, she thought as she let herself out of his office and headed for her own, that in all this time, she had never stopped loving him?
She must have, she scolded herself as she forced herself to face her computer. Whatever love they’d had back then had been young, fluid, immature. It hadn’t been meant to last. She was fooling herself to think that what she was feeling now was more than rekindled lust—it might become more than that. But it was not yet love.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tony had already snagged the back corner booth by the time Reese made it to the diner. The meeting with the realtor had run a little longer than he’d expected. The woman had been full of opinions about what he needed to do in order to make the house even close to salable, and while money certainly wasn’t a problem, he did wonder how much effort would be worth the payoff. As he slid into the booth, Tony craned his neck to look past him.
Reese looked around too, already guessing what his assistant wanted to see. “She’s not here today?”
“Damn it,” Tony said. “I don’t think so.”
“She heard you were coming in and called in sick.” Reese grinned at Tony’s scowl.
Tony shrugged, looking at the menu and not at Reese. “You text a woman a few dirty pictures and then suddenly she ignores you.”
“Dude. You did not.” Reese held back laughter, but barely.
“Hey, she sent hers first,” Tony said, indignant.
“Did you tell her you’d be here today?”
“No.” Tony frowned. “I wanted to surprise her.”
“How long has this been going on?” Reese scanned the menu, already knowing he was going to order breakfast, but not sure if he wanted a veggie omelet with tots or his standard eggs over medium.
Tony’s sigh trailed into a groan. “A week. But I was going to try to take her out while I’m here. I booked a room at the Arts Hotel, by the way. You’re covering the cost.”
Reese raised his eyebrows.
“Hey, it’s a business expense,” Tony said with a grin. “I figured you didn’t really want me cramping your style by staying in your parents’ house, anyway.”