Love Ever After: Eleven All-New Romances! Read online

  “And that would bother you?”

  “No,” she said quickly, not wanting to come off as insecure as she felt. “I…I was just disappointed…I’d been expecting to see you. I thought maybe you were done with…” She let her words fall off as his face softened with her honest admission.

  “I was out of town visiting my mother,” he explained.

  “Oh.” Okay, she hadn’t expected that.

  “She had a fall and I needed to be there for her.”

  Her heart hitched and she hated herself for thinking the worst about him. “Is she going to be okay?”

  “She is.”

  Rebecca pictured him with his mother and looked down, feeling a pinch of loneliness. Having been abandoned by her mother when she was a toddler, she had no memories of her. A lump gathered in her throat, a tug of longing in her gut as she thought about his relationship with his mother. How she wanted what he had. His thumb slipped under her chin and he lifted her face until their eyes met.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Nothing. I just think it’s nice.”

  “What else?” he asked, reading her like she was an open book.

  “I just…I never knew my mother.”

  He paused, like he was waiting for her to continue, but she didn’t want to travel down that road, not ever again. Reliving the nightmare of her early teen years, when her foster mother had locked her away in a dark, rat-infested basement for hours on end wasn’t something she wanted anyone to know. There’d been no window in the dank, claustrophobic room, just disease-infested rodents—and her. Every sound, every fear was amplified without the sense of sight, and it had taken her full mental capacity to get through those days. She fought off a shiver and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, determined never to put herself in a situation where she’d experience something so horrific again.

  When she pinched her lips tight, Quinn didn’t press for more and for that she was grateful. Some things were too painful to share with another person, and better left buried in the past.

  He finally broke the quiet and said, “You’re under my care now, kitten. And I promise, you’ll never feel alone or frightened again.”

  Something inside Rebecca’s chest squeezed. She swallowed the lump pushing into her throat. When Quinn said things like that, it was so easy to forget this thing between them was only about sex. She’d be wise to remember, however, because soon enough, when he had his fill of her, he’d move on to someone else, which only gave credence to her logic to keep her emotional distance.

  A noise sounded in the hall and unease moved through her as she looked toward her locked door. Quinn dipped a hand under the hem of her dress. The feel of his warm palm on her leg thrilled her. She’d only been with him one weekend but there was no denying that she’d missed his touch. Craved it.

  His thumb and forefinger slipped between her closed legs, and he widened them to gain entry to the spot that needed him most. She inched her thighs open, giving him better access. His hand slid along her skin, barely touching, but making her aware of him all the same. Warm fingers climbed higher, and the softness on his face disappeared when he felt the silky barrier.

  His nostrils flared and his voice took on a hard edge. “You haven’t followed my instructions.”

  His thumb brushed her clit through her panties, and her eyes slipped shut as a moan caught in her throat. God that feels good. He quickly pulled his hand away and the movement pulled her thoughts back.

  Her lids flew up. “Quinn…”

  “Stand up.”

  Her knees wobbled slightly as she pushed off his lap and stood before him. “I told you when I come to you, I don’t want you wearing panties.”

  “That was Monday,” she shot back, having spent all week torn between wanting to obey and coveting the punishment that came with defiance. “I couldn’t go all week without panties.”

  “I want you to be ready for me at all times.”

  “But—”

  “Take them off.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “Rebecca,” he said, holding his command as his eyes hardened.

  “I did as you initially asked, but you can’t expect me to go bare all week in the off chance that you decided to show up.”

  His shoulders squared, but she remained insolent, even though he wasn’t a man who took disobedience lightly.

  “Give them here.” His tone was deeper, the warning clear.

  “Fine,” She peeled them off, scrunched them in her hand and took a step toward him. He held his hand out and she looked at it for a moment before giving in. He curled his palms around them and stuffed them into the front pocket of his dress pants. He leaned back, sinking into the sofa. “You remember what happens when you don’t follow my rules, don’t you?”

  Her thoughts raced back to when he put her over his knee, the sting of his palm against her flesh, the burst of lust that had followed. She wanted that again. God help her, but she wanted it.

  “Yes,” she said.

  He nodded as something passed over his eyes. His brow furrowed briefly, then smoothed out again. “It has occurred to me that you have so much to learn about the lifestyle.”

  She thought about the research she’d done. He was right. She had so much to learn. “Yes, I do.” She looked down, a little uncertain. Her teeth scraped over her bottom lip, then her glance met his. “Will you teach me?”

  A look she couldn’t identify crossed his face, making her feel a little more tentative. He waved his hand over his lap. “All in good time, but first…”

  She lifted her dress and, on her stomach, she laid over his lap, reveling in the feel of his warm hand caressing her backside. For a minute she thought he was just going to touch her, stroke her softly, but then the first hard smack came and she yelped in surprise and pleasure. She quickly clamped her hand over her mouth. Her door might be closed and locked but that didn’t mean anyone still in their office down the hall couldn’t hear her or know what was going on. He rubbed his hand over her ass, soothing the sting he left behind, then his palm came down again, a little more force behind it this time.

  “Widen your legs.”

  She did so with pleasure, and the next strike hit her clit. Yes…

  Quinn ran his fingers over the slope of her cheek, then dipped them between her legs. He brushed against her mound, coming perilously close to her swollen nub. He parted her with his fingers, and when he dipped into her liquid heat, he made a noise, something that sounded like a tortured growl.

  “Wet,” he said. “You really have missed me.”

  She bit her lip, wanting to beg for it, but knowing better than to ask. Of course, there was another way to show him what she wanted. She tipped her ass in the air to entice him, to tempt him to touch her.

  “I know what you’re doing.” Smack. “And that’s enough.”

  Oh God!

  A moment passed, and he said, “Normally I wouldn’t let you come, kitten. There is no reward for straying from my instructions, but since my unexpected absence has left you so needy, I could be convinced to change my mind.”

  “Please…” she murmured shamelessly. Wanting to entice him even more, she lifted her ass up higher, hoping to make him as crazed as she was, except he wasn’t a man who lost control easily. In fact, she’d yet to see him come undone.

  “Stay still,” he commanded, and his hand came down again. Heat moved through her and she wondered what it would be like to be hit with something harder. A flogger on her backside would surely send her to subspace—a place where the world disappeared, and euphoria was reached. At least, what she’d read had promised something of that nature.

  She stopped moving, and he gave her pussy a whack. She stifled a moan and tuned everything out. The sound of cars on the road below were now nothing but a distant buzz as she concentrated on the pleasure racing through her body. His finger found her clit, and he brushed it ever so gently as another finger dipped inside her. He pushed deep, and
because her body had been so ready for his touch after a week of waiting, she knew she wouldn’t last much longer.

  She could feel his hardness pressing into her stomach and her mouth watered to taste him again, to feel him swell as she drew him to the back of her throat. He plunged deep, then drew his finger out, only to sink it inside again. Her heart raced, her skin came alive, and even though she wanted to buck against his hand, she held herself still, the way he’d taught her.

  Infused with lust, she sucked in a quick breath, catching the tang of her arousal as it saturated the air. He applied more pressure to her clit and her muscles quivered.

  “Poor kitten,” he murmured as her body thrummed. He worked his finger faster, running the pad over the sensitive bundle inside, and her breath grew shallow. “Have you been touching yourself?” he asked.

  “No,” she said breathlessly. “I’ve been waiting.”

  “Such a good girl.” A second finger joined the first, and her pussy squeezed around him. “I’ll see to it that you’re never left in such a state again.”

  “Quinn…” she cried out.

  “Not yet, kitten. Not until I say.”

  Her body flared hot, the delicious pressure between her legs coming to a peak. He continued to stroke her and she concentrated on her breathing, to keep herself from tumbling over.

  Her body rippled, need gripping her hard. Her fingernails raked over the leather sofa, then curled into fists.

  “One more second, kitten. Just one more.”

  She made a whimpering sound, the intensity in his touch taking her higher and higher, until her vision blurred and nothing existed but this man and the way he was touching her. Reaching for control, she bit down on her lip.

  “Come for me.”

  “Yes!” Her muscles clamped hard around his fingers as she tumbled into an orgasm so powerful it stole the breath from her lungs. Pleasure swept through her, pulling all her focus. Quinn kept his hands between her legs, drawing out her orgasm, and when her pussy finally stopped quaking, she sucked in a breath, trying to refill her lungs. She unfurled her damp fingers, stretched like a cat, and pressed them into the soft leather.

  With unhurried movements, he trailed his wet fingers over her inner thighs and pulled her dress down to cover her bare ass.

  “Come here,” he said.

  Pressing her palms into the soft leather, Rebecca pushed up. Her arms trembled under the weight of her upper body. She wobbled there for a second, but Quinn’s hands were there, helping her up and onto his lap. She was drained, physically and emotionally. Drawing her knees up, she cuddled into him, pressing her face into his neck and drawing from his strength.

  His thumb brushed her hair behind her ear. “Come home with me.”

  Rebecca pulled back and her mouth parted as she looked up at him. From the expression on his face, he appeared as surprised by the request as she was. “I…I…”

  He cleared his throat and tightened his arms around her. “It’s not a suggestion, kitten. My absence has been hard on you, and I want to give you the care you need.”

  She nodded, and absorbed his sensual warmth. “Okay, I just have to let my friends know. They’re expecting me.”

  One brow arched. “These are the friends that sent you on a trip to Freedom?”

  “Yes. They’re foaming at the mouth to hear how my trip went.”

  “And what will you tell them?”

  “That it will have to wait until tomorrow, because tonight I’m going to be with you.”

  His hand stilled on her face. “I won’t keep you from your friends, but there are some things we need to discuss, sooner rather than later. Especially if I’m going to take you to Freedom, so we can explore your deeper needs.”

  “You want to take me to Freedom?”

  “Of course, if you’re in this, then you’re in it all the way. There will be no middle of the road for me, understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, but first we need to go over your limits. If I’m going to take you down a path to full sensual freedom and properly care for you, then I need to know your boundaries and just how far you’re willing to be pushed.” She considered the research she’d done on limits and nodded. “Know this—I’ll respect your limits, but I’ll take you to the very edge, and then push you just a little farther. Only then will you experience the true and complete freedom of submitting.”

  She’d had a taste and wanted to know more, but the way he was looking at her spoke of full mental surrender and that was something she couldn’t…wouldn’t do. She was a strong woman, but could she really do this and keep her personal and professional life separate from the D/s lifestyle she was so curious about? She tossed that around for a while, then settled on yes, she could hold her own independence.

  “Rebecca?”

  Chapter Two

  Quinn saw the flicker of uncertainty in Rebecca’s big blue eyes at the mention of boundaries. Fierce protectiveness moved through him, because the last thing he wanted was for her to fear him, or her deeper needs. As she shied away from his gaze, he clenched down hard enough to break teeth. The muscles along his jaw ticked as he gave further consideration to her moment of hesitation.

  Everyone had limits, yes, but he didn’t want fear holding her back. No, he wanted—needed—her to give herself over to him completely, body and mind. He brushed his hand over his face and tapped his finger on his chin. He could understand her need to cling to control in her personal life. He admired her for it and would be sure to ease her into the lifestyle carefully. Good thing he was a patient man.

  But a relationship with her, or any woman outside of sex, wasn’t in the cards for him. Thanks to three generations of unfaithful Montgomery men who’d thrived on infidelity, neither Quinn nor his three brothers had been inclined to enter into a serious relationship. Better off to remain uncommitted than to risk that the asshole gene had trickled down the genetic bloodline to them.

  He didn’t want to be that guy, so he satisfied his needs in the dungeon and returned to his Manhattan home sexually sated and alone.

  Always alone.

  He’d never asked any woman to come home with him. Until tonight.

  The question was, why? Why now? Why her? It went against his rules. Rules he had carefully put in place to protect not only himself from becoming a typical womanizing Montgomery, but to assure he never caused a woman the pain and heartache he’d watched his mother, and other Montgomery women, suffer.

  Quinn rose from Rebecca’s leather sofa and pulled her up with him, sliding his hand around her body to rest at the small of her back. Slipping his thumb under her chin, he tipped her mouth up. Her lips parted and she made a breathy little sound as her eyes fell shut.

  Surrender. Sweet and pure.

  For him.

  This. This was what drove him to rip down his rules, shred them to pieces and take the risk. The driving need to capture, claim and possess pulled at him with a force he’d never felt before, leaving him shaken and raw.

  “Look at me.”

  She did as requested, her eyes round with uncertainty. His gaze moved over her face and the almost frightened way she looked at him.

  “Quinn?” she asked as he continued to stare at her.

  “You do know you have nothing to fear, right?”

  “I know. It’s just that…this is all so new to me.”

  “And my promise to you is that I will never let anything happen that you’re not ready for.” She relaxed in his arms, and when her phone pinged, he looked at her desk. “Your friends?”

  “Probably. They’re at Onyx waiting for me. I was supposed to meet them after work.”

  “Perhaps I should meet them before we go away for the weekend.”

  A smile touched her mouth. “You want to meet them?”

  “Of course. Friends are important and I want yours to meet me and get to know me so they know you’re in good hands when we go away together.”

  That brought a smile to her face. She s
tepped from the circle of his arms and walked to her desk. “I think you’ll really like them.”

  “I know I will.”

  She fished her purse from her bottom drawer and picked her phone up. Quinn put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet as her fingers raced over her screen. When she looked back up at him with equal measures of anticipation and nervousness, he stepped toward her, wanting to reassure her that she was in capable hands.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  He guided her into the hall, and in an office nearby he could hear someone chatting on the phone. Rebecca turned in the direction of the sound, then back to Quinn. She gave him an apologetic look.

  “We keep late hours.”

  In an attempt to lighten her mood, he said, “Believe me, I know just how hard you work. I was on the opposing team once, remember?”

  She cringed. “Right.”

  “That’s all you have to say?” he teased. “If you weren’t so good at what you do my company wouldn’t have had to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

  “I think I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

  “You should. It was meant to be one. I admire your dedication and that smart brain of yours.” She beamed at the compliment.

  “My friends think I need to loosen up and live a little more. That’s why they gave me the ticket to Freedom.”

  Her friends were right. Quinn knew all about working hard, but he also knew how to balance that with playtime—something Rebecca desperately needed to learn. He took in her flushed cheeks as they made their way to the elevator. He stabbed the “down” button.

  She pushed her hair off her shoulders as they entered the elevator, and the sweet scent of berries reached his nostrils. His cock hardened, and, for a moment, he considered taking her right there against the back wall. But he needed to slow things down with her and introduce her carefully.

  She was strong, yes, but there was a vulnerably beneath the surface, one she went to great lengths to hide. It was that vulnerability that brought out the protector in him. When he’d whisked her away to his summer villa last week, it had been with the intention to awaken her submissive side, but she’d also unleashed something in him, and he knew he had to have her in his life. Being away from her this week had been as hard for him as it seemed to be for her. But now that he was back, he had no intentions of letting her out of his sight.