Please, please touch me. Make the burning ache go away. I know you can.
I chanted the words in my mind. They were stuck there like a song I couldn’t get rid of. He was in my head, but was I in his?
My eyes were fixed on my pretty heel, which bounced incessantly at the end of my calf, giving away my nerves, and I didn’t miss Duke’s obvious examination and approval as he stared at my black-stockinged leg.
Jackpot.
Things were different now. Whereas before, his home seemed a shelter away from the storm that swirled behind me back in Porterville; the air was now knife-edged and dangerous.
I didn’t have the slightest idea how to seduce a man, so I bit my lip, trying to ignore the incessant wet throbbing between my legs while waiting for my father’s best friend to spank me.
God, what was he waiting for? The ache in my pussy was overwhelming now, as if it had a life of its own and was on the prowl. My clit thrummed in anticipation.
At the moment, he riveted his gaze on my face, and my heart leapt.
If we actually went through with this, it would be my first spanking, ever. Getting with Duke was like going from peewee to major League, and suddenly, the smoldering flame I saw in his eyes startled me.
Could I really handle this? Letting a man twice my age get kinky with me? I freaked myself out sitting there and grabbed for my mug of tea, swallowing too much and hacking through a super sexy coughing fit.
When it subsided, I snuck a glance at him.
Slowly, he arched a single brow at me. “Second thoughts?” he asked, and that one slight gesture of his made something silky, warm, and sensuous snake through my body.
“Never done this before.” I rubbed my hands on my thighs, avoiding his eyes. “Not sure if I’m ready.”
He was such a beautiful man, emanating a raw and primal strength even sitting there still on the couch. His intelligence and self-certainty were superior to any I’d ever encountered, and it at once put me at ease and unnerved me so my insides were like a soda can someone had shaken up.
“There’s no such thing as being completely ready,” he said, his fingers traveling down my arm to pick up my hand. “You’ll never feel you’ve got everything figured out, Clover. But when you get to the place where you feel a little more excited than afraid, that’s when you bet the farm.”
In a moment of bravery, I clutched his arm. “Do I excite you?”
His fingers tightly gripped my wrist where I held on to him. “Immeasurably so,” he replied.
As he spoke, I felt a strange lurch of my heart.
Duke continued. “I know something that might put you at ease. Something so you know, even if I’m spanking you, there is a select word you say if it becomes too intense, painful, or is overstepping your sexual boundaries. You have control and the power to make me stop.”
My stomach muscles fluttered as I pondered his words. I was so outside my comfort zone, but his gentle confidence steadied me. “What kind of word?”
“You always have the right to stop whatever we’re doing to each other for any reason. Whatever word you pick, it’s like an immediate eject button from sex, and you don’t have to explain why.”
It came to me suddenly, the perfect word. “I got it.” Nerves rippled down low in my stomach as I spoke the words. “Cattle prod.”
He laughed, as if delighted with me. “Perfect. Like you.”
My heart pounded in my chest, and heat flushed my cheeks when he came to stand in front of me. His fingers seized my shoulders and held me in place, his gaze more intense than anything I’d ever won from a man, and I realized he was the most reassuring person I’d ever been around. It was his easy composure, and the impression he gave—he knew exactly who he was, and he wasn’t trying to impress anyone by being anything different.
Duke pulled me to standing, my face now close enough to his for a kiss. His breath was hot and heavy against my forehead, and his lips grazed my ear, his hands pulling me to him, as if claiming me. He whispered in my ear, “You’re so pretty, Clover. Thank you for dressing up for me tonight.”
I felt the strength of his arousal against my belly, the heat of our bodies scorching the air between us, the masculine scent of him filling my nostrils and turning me into pure animal. I wanted to down him like a cinnamon roll, but instead, melted into his chest.
“So, I do get you excited,” I said, and the room became a blur of colors, spinning and whirling around me in a vortex, sweeping me up and away from the world I’d known, landing me on planet Duke, where the only color I could see was him. As he breathed against my neck, his tongue flicked out to explore my skin. His teeth raked across my flesh as he nibbled and tasted me, and I gasped at the thrill.
His fingers once again slid down my arm, leaving their warmth on my skin, getting my attention, and he pulled me with him towards his bedroom.
As we walked towards the place where we were about to get kinky for the first time, his voice was resonant and impressive. “Just remember your safe word, Clover. Let’s go do some we-shouldn’t-be-doing-this things.”
Duke walked to the bookshelf above his bed, and the candles he lit cast dancing shadows on the walls, making it awash with warm light, which gave the entire room a soft warmth.
“Nothing quite like a cozy ambiance for a good spanking, no?” I quipped.
The only other light came from a wide window stretching the length of the entire wall. The moonlight streamed in and cast a soft glimmer on what I could see of his room. It was masculine, lots of dark wood and furniture, with a king-size bed.
His voice was a low growl as he pulled me across the room to the bed. I felt alive and tingly when he kissed my neck. The feelings coursing through my veins were almost unbearable.
Suddenly, he pulled back. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice low and earnest.
A wave of guilt washed over me for having let things go so far with a man who my father would never approve of, but it wasn’t enough to quell the force driving me ahead. That force being lust, pure lust, and nothing but lust.
“Yes,” I said, my voice feeling strange in my throat. “I’m fine.”
He nodded, his eyes still studying my face. “Good,” he said, “because I want to respect you and your wishes, no matter how much I want to keep going.” He smiled down at me and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Please, proceed,” I quipped, sounding much braver than I felt.
Duke sat on his gigantic bed, still fully dressed, thank goodness, and patted his thigh, bidding me to sit on his lap.
I did as he asked, feeling overly large while perched on his thighs. I couldn’t help myself, and so I leaned in and took another whiff of his delectable smell. Did the guy bathe every day in fudge, or was it his natural scent that made me want to lick him like chocolate frosting off the spoon? Dear God, it made me crazy.
Still sitting on his lap, I leaned against his sturdy chest, and he ran his fingernails up my side, making me shiver as pulses of pleasure throbbed in my veins with a steady beat.
I whispered, “Cattle prod.”
His body stiffened beneath me, and his formidable erection was the most rigid of all. I counted to five and felt bad to see his brow creased in concern.
“That was just a practice run. I wanted to see if the safe word would really work.”
He pulled away, and a wry smile played on his lips. “You’re too much of a tease, Ms. Clover.”
“I’m sorry. Are you going to punish me for being bad?”