Confidence, Corinne thinks. She owns this. She will ask him, and he might say yes or he might say no, but at least she can ask him. This is Reese, her good boy—no matter what he answers her, she doesn’t need to worry about him thinking she’s some kind of freak or sexual deviant.
Does she?
For the most part, Corinne has never worried about her preferences. She knows what she likes and what she wants, and if previous lovers helped her hone those interests, Reese has been the one to expand them. To help her explore. Hesitating now, she understands more than ever why Reese has often seemed more reluctant. When you open yourself up to someone about your deepest desires, it becomes so much easier to be afraid they will reject you.
She opens the box and takes a deep breath, holding it out as she waits for his reaction.
“Oh,” is all he says.
She closes the box, preparing to back away and return it to the shelf. No, to put it straight into the trash. Already the heat of embarrassment is creeping up her throat into her cheeks; there have been few times with him when she hasn’t felt in control, but all the times when he must’ve felt this way are circling around now to bite her.
“No, don’t do that.” Reese reaches for her. “Come here.”
She does, pressing one knee to the bed to hold the box out to him. He opens it and sets aside the lid. He lets his fingers trail over the smooth rubber dildo and matching harness, then the bottle of lube nestled beside the toys.
“You want to fuck me. With this.”
She nods. “Very much.”
He closes his eyes for a second or so, head bowing slightly. When he speaks, it is in a voice so quiet she can’t hear him. His uncomfortable cough seems enough of an answer, though. When she starts to withdraw, he catches her wrist.
Again, as before, not to stop her but to urge her on.
“Yes,” he says. “Please.”
That simple answer, the “please,” the way his eyes meet hers without cutting away—she is completely lost to him in that moment. And forever will be, Corinne thinks as she leans to take his mouth with hers. He has agreed to give himself to her, and she is going to take him.
“I don’t know…I’m not sure…” Reese adds when the kiss breaks and their foreheads press together. “You’ve done this before?”
“No, honey. Never.”
He grins and looks relieved. “No?”
“No. You’re the first. I’ll be careful.” She slides her hand between them to grip his cock, still hard as iron. She passes her thumb over the head to feel the wetness and revels in how he shudders at the caress. “We’ll go as slow as you want.”
His rough kiss takes her by surprise, and more so when he pushes her back onto the bed to roll on top of her. His belly presses her clit, urging a gasp from her. He kisses her so hard she’ll be bruised, later. The tip of his prick slips inside her, not from any effort but because his body fits so naturally with hers that in this position, that is where his cock wants to be. It goes no further than that. Reese keeps himself from sinking all the way into her by pushing on the bed with his hands.
Corinne waits to see if he’s going to move. She can tilt her hips. He’ll be balls-deep inside her in a second. Then there will be no stopping it—they will move together until they both come. She can let him have this, if he’s going to take it. She can let them both slide away from what she’s asked from him and what he moments ago declared he would give.
Reese doesn’t fuck into her. He kisses her again. He shifts to let the tip of his cock slide over her clit in a few steady, even strokes that have her craving to be filled. His tongue strokes hers. Then he moves from her mouth to her throat, pausing to sample each of her nipples until she cries out and tangles her hand in the back of his hair.
He moves back to her throat, nipping and sucking. Then her ear. His breath, hot, caresses her, and his tongue flicks at the tender earlobe until she writhes beneath him. She tilts her body, but he shifts so he slides along her cunt without pushing inside.
“I want you to fuck me,” he whispers in her ear. “I want it so much, I thought about it, I never thought you would…I didn’t know. I want it so much it hurts.”
He quiets, breathing hard against her neck, still supporting himself on his arms. Corinne turns her face to kiss his cheek. She embraces him, urging him to cover her with his full weight.
“Get on your back,” she says after a second or so, feeling his heart pounding so hard against her she is surprised it doesn’t leap right out of his chest.
They roll. She gets off him to slip into the harness, which requires only a few adjustments of the buckles at each hip to fit her just right. She strips away the protective film at the bottle’s opening and uncaps it, then coats the shaft with a thick layer of lube.
Kneeling between his legs, she puts her hands beneath his knees to support them. She settles the tip of her cock against him, not pushing. Not rushing. After a second or so, she uses a hand at the base of it to guide it, pressing slowly. It’s different than when she uses her fingers. Harder to judge his comfort level, because she has no sensation in the rubber phallus.
“More,” he says. “I’m okay.”
Inch by inch, she enters him, until she’s seated to the base. The dildo has been designed to press her clit, though the sensation surprises her. His eyes lock on hers. Their fingers link, gripping the outsides of his thighs.
Corinne moves, withdrawing as slowly as she’d pushed forward. Then in again. Out. His body accepts her, and better than that, his cock has gone as dark a purple-red as she’s ever seen it. Every sound he makes urges her on, a little faster. A little harder. The pressure on her clit builds and she tries to hold off, tries not to go mindless with it, because she doesn’t want to hurt him, but oh, fuck, oh yes, it feels so good, she’s so close, she’s going to come from this and can’t believe it.
She’s not even stroking his cock, but Reese is making those noises she knows mean he’s going to come soon. Corinne slows the pace, teasing herself and him. Fascinated by the sight of his face. She’s never seen him look quite like this. His eyes are open but glazed. If he sees her, she thinks it must be through the same fuzzy glow that surrounds him.
“I’m gonna come!” His cry echoes, tipping her over the edge.
Orgasm tears through her. Her pace stutters from the pleasure. She can’t concentrate on anything but riding this, wave after wave of ecstasy. She fucks into him with short, jagged motions and he shouts hoarsely, coming in thick, white spurts.
“I love fucking you, Reese,” she says. “I love you, oh, fuck…I love you.”
The words are out of her before she can stop them, but if he hears them he doesn’t say anything. They’re both caught in the tsunami of orgasm, tumbling and rolling with it, incapable of doing anything but letting the waves take them. With the aftershocks still coursing through her, she slows the thrusting. Her nails have dug marks into his thighs. His cock is spent but not yet soft.
Carefully, Corinne eases free of his body, noticing how he winces. She goes to the bathroom and stands for a moment, weak-kneed and semidelirious with what has just happened. The rubber cock juts from between her thighs, and she no longer feels ridiculous. She feels powerful and grateful and, in the aftermath of her outburst, a little bit anxious.
She shouldn’t. Still naked but without the accessories, she slides into bed so he can spoon her, and the press of his kiss to the back of her neck beneath her hair is familiar and cherished.
“I love you too,” Reese tells her.
Chapter Ten
“It seems like a lot of cash to throw at a failing business, and I’m far from one to look a cash cow in the mouth, so to speak, but it seems too good to be true.” Lynn said this in his careful, measured voice. “Can I ask, Mr. Ebersole, what prompted you to change the terms of the offer?”
Corinne sat in stunned silence. She’d arrived early to this morning’s meeting to find Tony and Reese already in the conference room. New paperwor
k. New terms.
A brand new offer.
“After discussing some things with Ms. Barton, I came to the realization that I’d vastly undervalued Stein and Sons.” Reese steadfastly did not look in her direction. “With some more research, I’ve determined that there’s a lot more potential here than I’d previously thought, and with my contacts in the greater metropolitan areas, I’m thinking I could really turn this business around.”
“Instead of just selling off the pieces of it?” Patty asked with a look at Lynn.
Ryan shifted in his chair. “You think you can get us in the hands of customers who like what we’re selling?”
“And the mouths,” Reese said. “Which is where you really want to be, right?”
Everyone laughed except Corinne, who managed a smile that strained the corners of her mouth. She’d tossed and turned every night since Friday, caught up in the memories. Only this time instead of sweet and sexy melancholia, she’d been fighting a slowly rising fury. With Reese for showing up this way, for this fuckery, but also with herself for the way, even now, she still wanted him.
At least she wanted what he had been.
Within half an hour, the deal was done. Signed, sealed. Delivered. Hands were shaken. The sense of relief in the room was palpable.
Corinne stayed back after everyone had filed out to take Reese and Tony on the factory tour. She should’ve been relieved, the way everyone else was. The board would be paid enough to make giving up their family business worthwhile. They could all retire. She would be getting a raise big enough to make her suspicious. Big enough to make sure it was going to be really, really hard for her to find another position to match it.
In her office, she tidied her desk and called the kids, who’d just gotten home from school. Last year she’d been paying an after-school sitter, but now that Peyton was nearly twelve, Corinne allowed them to say home alone until she could get there, usually no later than five. It helped that Auntie Caitlyn could be there for them in case of an emergency. Still, Corinne liked to text or call them around this time to make sure they were okay.
“Hey, buddy,” she said when Tyler answered the phone. “How was school? Anything exciting happen?”
“Not really.”
“Anything bad happen?” It was the same series of questions she asked both of them every day. Sometimes there was an answer. Sometimes not. Today Tyler told her a long story about how a kid in his class was getting in trouble for posting an unflattering picture of their teacher on one of his social media accounts.
She spoke with her son for a few more minutes, then with Peyton. By the time she got off the line, she felt much better. At least until she looked up to see Reese standing in her doorway. Seeing her disconnect the call, he stepped through.
“I thought you were going on the plant tour,” she said.
Reese closed the door behind him. “I’ve seen a barn and milking stations plenty of times. I didn’t need to go.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” she told him with a lift of her chin toward the door.
“Yes, I did. I need to have a private talk with you, Corinne.”
She gave him an arched brow. “Hmm, let me guess. New management says no personal phone calls allowed on company time? Sorry, bossman, I’ll be better about it next time.”
“Don’t.” He stood in front of her desk, his gaze dark. Stormy.
Corinne had seen Reese angry a number of times. Their relationship, despite the power and control issues at the core of it, had still been one of the most emotionally open ones she’d ever had. Probably exactly because of that dominance and submission component. She could see that now, although at the time she’d just thought it was the way things should go with all relationships. It had taken her a lot of failures to see how rare it was to have that level of connection.
“Don’t what?” she murmured.
“Don’t act like I’m the bad guy.”
She laughed without much humor. “I could hardly say that, could I? I mean, you’re practically a white knight, am I right? Riding in here on your charging steed to rescue us all? Save us?”
“I haven’t saved this company yet,” he said. “But I can. I will.”
“So, you think you just saved me?” The question slipped out of her, unbidden but brutally honest. She wanted…no, needed, to know.
His hands went flat on the desk as he leaned forward to look at her. His fingers curled on the smooth wooden surface. He took a breath, then another.
“You don’t have to worry about taking care of your kids now, do you?”
She swallowed a rush of emotion. “Is that what this is all about? Me and you?”
She watched the pulse throb in his throat. She got up and went around the desk to stand in front of him as he turned to face her. This close, she could smell his cologne.
“What are you wearing?” Corinne asked in a low voice.
His tongue swept along his lower lip, leaving it glistening. “Something by Armani. It’s called Code.”
“I like it,” she said.
Something glittered in his gaze. She should walk toward him, she thought. Or he should take those two steps to her.
Neither of them moved.
“I don’t like that cologne, whatever it is.” Corinne takes a long, deep breath of the skin of his throat, then bites. She holds his flesh between her teeth, teasing him with the idea she might actually take out a chunk, leave him bleeding. She knows she never would. She’s not sure Reese does, though.
He groans. That noise, guttural and helpless, makes her lose her fucking mind. It makes her want to hurt him and heal him all at the same time.
She releases his skin but can still taste him. “Don’t wear it again.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
She puts a hand on his shoulder, pushing him down to his knees. Inches her skirt up to reveal the edges of her panties. Her boy moans again. When she buries her fingers in his hair, tangling them tight, pulling hard, he looks up at her with a dreamy, blurred gaze.
“Tell me what you want,” Corinne murmurs. Her voice sounds thick and sweet as syrup, dripping off her tongue.
Her boy smiles. “To make you happy.”
Her finger traces the line of his jaw. Her fingers curl lightly around his throat. She could choke him, but she doesn’t. Even so, he closes his eyes, still smiling, and leans almost imperceptibly into her embrace.
“Hurt me,” Reese whispers.
“Why did you buy this company, Reese?”
He didn’t look away from her. “Because it’s what I do.”
“It wasn’t to…” Her breath hitched. It was hard to swallow, her throat tight. Too much emotion. She took a step toward him. “To protect me? To take care of me?”
She was wrong; she saw that immediately in the twist of his lips and the way his gaze shuttered. He took two steps back from her, far enough to be certain there was no way she could reach and touch him. His look of utter disdain hit her like a stone through a glass window.
Shattered.
What had she really thought? That after all this time and all that had passed between them that any decision he ever made had anything to do with her at all? How could it?
Hadn’t she learned already that she wasn’t worth the effort of being cherished?
Hadn’t Reese been the one to teach her that very painful lesson?
She’d seen it at once written all over his face and could have gone the rest of her life without hearing him seal it with his words, but of course he said them anyway.
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea,” Reese told her. “I’m not your boy anymore.”
Chapter Eleven
Before
“He’s going out again, Mother.” This is what Reese’s father says while looking directly at his son. “Look at him. What are you wearing? Girls’ clothes?”
The hot pink skinny tie had been a gift from Corinne, true, but it’s still from the men’s section of the store. The soft cotton panties
he’s wearing under his dark jeans, though—those are girls’ clothes for sure. His dad would have a heart attack if he knew his son was wearing panties. Reese is pretty sure that’s a big reason Corinne has asked him to. She’s never met his father, but she knows exactly how to push every single button Reese has.
“When you’re wearing my panties, it reminds you constantly that you’re mine,” she had told him two days ago as he knelt between her thighs to press his cheek to her skin. Her hands had stroked, stroked through his hair. He could smell her pussy, so close and yet denied him for the sole purpose of making him crazy with desire.
“I could never forget that I’m yours, Ma’am.”
She’d never asked him to call her that. It had slipped out of him the first time they were together, an automatic expression of polite address, and her reaction had been electric. He didn’t call her Ma’am all the time. Just when he wanted to watch her eyes grow dark with arousal and see her nipples grow tight. It was his version of her asking him to wear panties.
“Answer me,” his father says with a thump of big fists on the table, drawing Reese’s attention back to the present.
Reese shrugs. “I’m not wearing girls’ clothes, Dad.”
“You’re wearing makeup.”
“It’s just…a thing.” Reese shrugs.
“You look like a fairy.”
“I’m not wearing wings.” Reese grins, but his father doesn’t. There’d been plenty of times when Dad had been able to take a joke, but it seems more and more like he’s set on turning into a grumpy old man who never laughs at anything. “Dad, c’mon. It’s a pink tie and a little eyeliner. Not a big deal.”
“You’ll be out all night in that pink tie, doing what? Wasting your money and your time.”
“It’s fun, Dad. That’s all.” Reese tugs at the knot of the tie. “Here, I’ll take it off, if it offends you so much.”