SHE came hard enough to almost break his fingers with the force of her muscles clamping down. No wonder his poor cock didn’t stand much of a chance when he was seated fully inside her, he thought in admiration.
Over Caera’s shoulder, he saw Tess shiver in unison with Caera and smiled. Mac’s submissive was turning into quite a handful these days; he knew for a fact Mac had doled out punishment on the woman’s rear end for insubordination at least half a dozen times this week.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in the naughty corner, little sub?”
Tess blinked at him and then her lips twitched. “You’re not going to tattle on me, are you, Master Saul?”
“That depends. Are you going to help me?”
Interest showed over her pretty face. He knew Caera saw it; he felt the delicate shudder roll through her. He ran a soothing hand down her side and his love for her swamped him when she relaxed, trusting and pliant, into his touch.
“What would Master Saul require?”
“First things first. Go find Mac and tell him I need you to help me with what we discussed yesterday. If you have his permission, come back. If you don’t, stay with him. You have ten minutes.”
“Yes, Sir!” Eager as ever, Tess wriggled out of the bed and scampered away.
“What’s going on, Saul?”
He kissed the back of Caera’s neck softly and then shifted so that while he stayed on his side, she lay on her back beside him. To gauge what happened next, he needed to see her face.
“Do you trust me?”
She gave him a puzzled smile. “You know I do. We had this conversation right before the first time we…oh.” Apprehension flashed through her eyes, sparking the green. “It’s…it’s time, then?”
Saul cupped her breast, teasing the bud with his thumb. “Are you ready for us to take the step, Caera? Is it what you want? There’s no right or wrong answer, baby. There’s only what you want.”
Caera swallowed hard. “It’s what we’ve been working towards, isn’t it? All the toys and your fingers and…” She swallowed again. “It seems odd talking about it.” Her breath shuddered out on a rough exhale. “Why do you need Tess?”
“Distraction. If you don’t want her here, just say.”
She grabbed his hand, clutched it tightly. “Please. Just you and me, this time. No audience, no eyes but yours. I don’t want her to see me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Screaming, crying?”
“Baby, you should know me better than that by now.” He rolled over and used the room phone beside the bed to call Mac’s office. When the big boss answered, he simply said, “Tess’ services are no longer required. Please thank her and tell her I’ll make it up to her.”
Saul hung up and then turned back to his woman. “There will be no crying, sweetheart. I promise you. And as for screaming, well, I do expect some vocal acknowledgement of how good I make you feel.” He kissed her then, a kiss of promises, sweet and gentle. “Would you feel better if we did it as Dom and sub, or would it make it easier to be just who we are, right now?”
“Just us. As we are.”
“Well, okay then.” He had no intentions of rushing; if she wanted to back out, he would give her plenty of room to do so. This was not about force or mind games. He needed Caera to find the right headspace before they even drew close to the finale.
In one smooth move, he whipped the covers clean away and straddled her thighs carefully. She was a dainty shadow, lean and easily hurt if he did something wrong. “If I do anything, anything, you don’t like, you tell me, okay?”
She looked up at him, guileless, trusting. He read the nerves simmering beneath her skin and smiled gently. She nodded her understanding, and Saul knew he’d never get tired of the clutch in his chest whenever she gave him her complete surrender.
There was responsibility for him in her capitulation. He couldn’t bear to break her trust. So his hands were feather light when he stroked her face, thumbs smoothing over her cheekbones until her eyes fluttered closed.
They skimmed down, brushing over the flushed skin of her throat and chest, tracing the line of her shoulders, the lean muscles of her arms, even down to her fingers. Back up on a leisurely trail to cup her lovely, small breasts in his palms. Her nipples beaded against his palms, and he could feel the rhythm of her breathing pick up pace.
He pinched her gently, rolling each nipple carefully, squeezing the slightest hint of discomfort from them until her hips bucked under him in silent demand.
Leaving her needy, he dragged his fingernails across the flat landscape of her belly, smiling to himself when her stomach muscles jumped and quivered. Rimming her navel with a single nail elicited a desperate plea.
Sweat sprung over her flesh, tiny droplets of moisture that aided the slow slide of his hands over her pelvis. She was so small, he thought in wonder, spreading his hand in the space between her hip bones. So small and delicate despite her inner strength.
Saul rose onto his knees, widened them. His hands were firm on her hips as he urged her to turn over. “Over you go, precious.”
Those sexy eyes opened a fraction, just enough for him to catch a glimpse of blurred green. “Hmmm?”
“You heard me. Over you go,” he coaxed.
Caera rolled with the slight pressure from his hands, shuffling in place to stay within the cage of his knees. Face turned sideways on the pillow, she sighed happily. “Anything else you need me to do?”
She’d be asleep if he wasn’t careful, he mused. Limp, happy, and on the edge of oblivion, she was just about where he wanted her. No stress, no worry, just floating along for a little while.
He started again at her shoulders, tracing her prominent blades, the curvature of her ribcage and spine. She’d filled out considerably but still needed more flesh on her bones to cover what protruded unhealthily. He loved her narrow waist, the way his hands spanned it.
Still on his knees, he lifted her hips and encouraged her to hold herself in the required position. As she was as pliable as a Barbie doll, it didn’t take a lot of encouragement.
There was something to be said for doggy style, he decided as he leaned back slightly to study the picture she made. Pert buttocks made to fit his hands. The quick glimpse of pink from the parting of her pussy lips, blossoming like a rose in her arousal.
“Fuck, you know how to strain my patience,” he muttered.
“And your pants,” came her sleepy retort.
Saul grinned. Just for that, she was due a wake-up call. Without warning, he gave her a slap on her right cheek that could have woken a comatose patient. She yowled and used her arms to push herself upright, wide awake and spitting nails. “You always strain my pants, baby.”
“Sonofabitch!”
He captured her wrists behind her when she reached back to touch the red mark he’d left on her pale behind. He held them loosely enough she could have pulled them free at any point. “Language, baby.”
“Kiss my ass, you bastard! That hurt!”
“Well, if you insist…”
Saul released her wrists and bent down until his mouth touched the smooth skin of her bottom. He traced the red hand print he’d left with his tongue and then licked tenderly across the heated mark.
“No fair,” she moaned.
“Tell it to your Dom, little sub,” he growled playfully and scraped his teeth down the path his tongue had taken. Her near-orgasmic groan was music to his ears. “Now, shoulders to the bed, hands flat on the mattress, and that sexy little mouth firmly closed.”
She obeyed with only the slightest grumble under her breath, presenting her gorgeous ass again.
“Spread your legs for me, baby.” He sat back on his heels, hand fisted around his cock and absentmindedly stroking it as he admired the gift in front of him. “So fucking beautiful and all mine. Every last inch of you, to touch and stroke, to kiss and lick, to suckle and fuck. All fucking mine.”
Caera whimpered in agreement. “All yours, Saul. All yours.”
“Damn right.” He cupped her pussy, grunted in immense satisfaction when slippery fluid coated his fingers before he’d even delved between her lips. “My little submissive would like my cock, wouldn’t she?”
“Yes! Please, yes!”
“Where would she like my cock?”
As he knew she would, she balked a little. “In my…in my…”
“Where, Caera?”
“In my ass,” she whispered.
His fingers drew moisture up, circled gently around her anus. “Here?”
A high-pitched whine squeaked out of her. “There. There.”
One lucky digit pushed inside her, breached the strong ring of muscle guarding the velvet softness beyond. Saul moaned, echoing Caera’s identical one, and pushed deeper. “My cock is going to slide right in here, baby, so deep.”
“Please, Saul, don’t tease me.”
He withdrew, using two fingers to drive back into her. She thrust back at him, urging him deeper with a drawn-out hiss of exhalation. “I see how it is. My beautiful girl likes it rough and dirty, so that’s how she’s going to get it.” He added a third finger carefully and gave her a moment to adjust. This was about the furthest he’d pushed her when it came to anal play. “Do you feel okay, baby?”
Her hands gripped the bedsheets. “More,” she choked out.
Christ, she was going to be the death of him. Saul leaned over and opened the drawer on the bedside cupboard. He rummaged through until he found what he needed. The sound of the drawer shutting made her flinch and he soothed her with a hand down her spine.
He lathered his cock liberally with lube and then gave his full attention to making sure Caera was ready to take him fully. Lube, lube, and more lube. He refused to take a chance he’d hurt her more than necessary by being tight with the lubricant.
“Okay, Caera, I want you to do exactly what I tell you, okay? I’m going to be gentle.” His erection strained in his hand like a divining rod chasing water. He felt the shudder run through her when the head pressed against her, notched just inside her. “Breathe in for me, hold onto it. That’s it. Breathe out for me. Good girl. And again.”
Her hands kneaded nervously in the sheets as she followed his instructions. On the second deep exhale, Saul pushed forward, edging further into heaven.
“Oh my God,” Caera said, her fingers no longer kneading but gripping hard. “Jesus, how can you feel so big?”
“Just breathe,” he murmured. His hips took on a rhythm of their own, miniscule thrusts that worked his slickened cock in and out until, on an almost exultant shout of pleasure, the resistance against him gave way and he surged straight into ecstasy.
Tingles wrapped around his balls as effectively as Caera’s rear passage wrapped around his shaft. Muscles clenched hard, pulling him deeper even as her body fought to expel him. Murmuring endearments, he leaned forward and hooked an arm around her waist, pressed his lips to her back. “Fuck, Caera, you feel so fucking…fuck.”
He could hear her cursing, the words muffled and indistinct. Probably, he realized guiltily, because her teeth were biting viciously hard into the pillow. Her hands were knuckle-white, the sheets in her grasp on the verge of ripping.
“Take all of me,” he said in his dominant voice. “Take all of me, Caera.”
She nodded and moaned softly.
He gripped her hips, pulling her back onto his cock as he drove forward. She stiffened for a moment and then collapsed fully beneath him, sweat dripping and breath ragged. Then there was nothing left for her to take, every inch trapped within the confines of her body as he pinned her with his weight.
“Stay with me, baby,” Saul crooned, running his hands up her sides and dragging his nails lightly down either side of her spine. “Talk to me.”
“Too much…so big…” She writhed weakly and said, “I never imagined it would feel like this.”
Concerned, he kissed the nape of her slender neck. “What do you want me to do, baby?”
Her chuckle was strained, dirty. “Fuck me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a cocky wink.
He started slow, letting her adjust. When he felt her relax, saw the strain smooth out from what features he could see, he moved harder, faster. Long driving thrusts, slow withdrawals. Sharp, deep lunges that drove the breath from her lungs in rapid pants and made his pelvis connect with her buttocks in rhythmic slaps.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” became her mantra, punctuating every wicked penetration. “Fuck me, Saul!”
Well, it certainly seemed as though his woman had found her voice. Amused by her hoarse order, he shifted slightly, caging her with his body and his hands on top of hers. His shoulders took the brunt of his weight but it was worth it to feel the indescribable sensation of her most private channel surrounding him like the tightest, most luxurious glove known to man.
And in the grip of that glove, he felt his orgasm barreling down on him like a freight train, unstoppable force and the knowledge that, when the fucker hit him, it would end him.
“Come with me, Caera. Fucking come with me!” He snarled it against her shoulder, fighting the train and losing, feeling her ripple and contract around him on that same terrifying journey. Lost in sensation, he bit down hard on the curve of her neck and shoulder.
Caera screamed, her slender body jerking and bucking beneath him, ripped apart by the same entity that tore through Saul’s composure with every spurt of release inside her welcoming body.
When the last tremors passed, Saul collapsed back down on her with a gratified groan. He pressed a lazy kiss to the bite mark he’d left in her flesh. “You’re going to kill me one of these days, baby. You okay?”
She mumbled something he couldn’t quite catch. She repeated it when asked, and he was stunned to hear one single word. Then he started laughing and reversed their positions so he wasn’t crushing her.
“Say that again, precious, one more time.”
She sighed sleepily. “Again.”
* * * *
She sure as hell wasn’t thinking “again” when she woke up. She vaguely remembered being tended to—lifted and carried to the bathroom, Saul bathing her gently and murmuring endearments, being tucked into bed and taking the pills he gave her—but, oh dear Lord, her body knew how well it had been used.
Saul’s arm was snug around her waist, anchoring her to him firmly as though she might slide away down the bed without him noticing. His unconscious gesture made her smile even as she cursed the tenacity of his hold. When a woman needed to pee, she needed to pee.
Wiggling, she discovered, made her aches and twinges throb. Muscles she’d never known existed pulsed into life with malice. Her ass, or more accurately, a certain part of her ass was incredibly tender. If she recalled correctly, and how embarrassing was that memory, Saul had spent a bit of time cleaning her, applying something cold and soothing to the source of the soreness.
Mortifying.
Shaking off the memory, she managed to ease his arm from around her just enough to slip under it and leave him sleeping. Fairly desperate for the toilet, she tried to get off the bed without too much movement, and then made a run for the bathroom with bare feet.
Well, she supposed, bare everything.
She hissed out a breath of relief as the pressure on her bladder abated. At least she wouldn’t wet the bed and make a joke of herself. Once finished, she decided a shower would be nice to start the day with before she dressed and headed downstairs. She leaned into the shower and turned the water on to warm up.
“I have to say,” Saul said in a sleepy, deeply sexy tone from the doorway, “I’m very much liking the view from where I’m standing.”
Caera jumped and spun, her hand cupping her throat in alarm. “Jesus, Saul!”
He smirked, and God help her, he sauntered toward her with his erection at half…no, make that full mast. His grin flashed wickedly when he realized where her eyes were focused. “You have to meet Mac in his office this afternoon. I do believe we have time for a quick meeting of our own first.”
Her buttocks clenched automatically. “Not anal, right?”
All humor fled from his face, replaced by concern. “Did I hurt you this morning? Did you not enjoy it?”
“No, no, I loved it.” Way to go, Caera berated herself. You’ve dented his ego now. “I just…I don’t think I could take that”—she gestured to his cock—“there again in the next few hours. I’m a little bit…” She knew she blushed brilliantly by the way heat exploded over her face like a supernova. “I’m sore, okay?”
Some of the tension in his shoulders visibly relaxed, and Caera found herself gazing at his form with new appreciation. Perfectly proportioned muscles from the neck down, firm pectorals and a taut, well-defined six-pack. He was well-built all over and as for well-hung, well, no one could deny that.
There was a wealth of love in his eyes when he stepped up to her and cupped her face in his strong hands. Soft as butterfly wings, he brushed his lips across her forehead and nose, worked his way across her cheekbones and down her jawline until the only place he hadn’t kissed was her mouth. “I’ll put some more aloe cream on when we’ve finished in the shower.”
Ever the caring, conscientious lover. Caera smiled and reached up to hook her arms around his neck. As if she’d commanded them to, his hands gripped under her thighs and hoisted her legs around his waist. “My ass might be sore,” she murmured silkily against his ear, “but there are other parts of me that aren’t.”
His growl reverberated through her like thunder. “Careful, sweetheart.”
She pouted, content to play the game. “Does Daddy not want to play?”
It thrilled her to lean back slightly and watch emotions run riot over his beautiful face. Desire, frustration, dominance. Those wondrous eyes of his, nearly black with speckles of silver, were alive with ferocious needs. If she wasn’t careful, she knew he would devour her whole.
His teeth flashed white in a feral grin. “Daddy plays games his little girl doesn’t even know about. If we had the time, I’d show you my favorite, but right now…” He shifted until Caera felt the head of his cock fit snugly into her pussy. “Daddy’s going to teach his baby about manners, and what happens when Caera teases the main man in her life.”
Oh shit, she had time to think before he let her drop. His erection cleaved through swollen tissues like a knife, ramming into her cervix like a battering ram. She threw her head back and cried out, relishing the subtle bite of pain radiating beneath the sudden crack of pleasure.
“Caera’s not going to tease her daddy anymore, is she?” Saul grunted, lifting her easily. Her pussy clenched in anticipation, waiting for the next swift plunge. He didn’t disappoint, and her vision blurred as he filled her in one stroke to the core again. “Because Daddy gets angry when he’s teased, and when he’s angry, somebody gets fucked.”
The dirty talk did her in, pushing her over the edge with a howling ah-ah-ah! The Daddy-daughter act she’d initiated and they were both continuing left her feeling aroused and just a little bit dirty. But bouncing helplessly on Saul’s shaft, limp and clinging to his neck, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
His mouth fixed on her throat, suckling over the pulse point. Riding high on orgasm, Caera allowed her head to tilt and give him better access. His teeth scraped lightly over her skin and she whimpered for more.
His pace slowed and her brain turned to mush. The frantic lift and drop turned to a gentle thrust and retreat. Her head dropped onto his shoulder. Saul’s arms wrapped around her back, leaving her legs to anchor his waist.
“I love watching you come. Knowing that I can do that to you, that you’ll give yourself to me without reservation. I love how you trust me to take care of you, no matter what we do or try. I wish you could see what you do to me when my name falls from your lips in the thrall of passion.” Saul’s breath came in pants, the muscles under her hands quivering and rigid. “And moments like this, locked together, my cum only seconds away from filling you, I treasure them. Because you’re mine, Caera.” His spine stiffened and on a throaty growl, he pushed deep inside her.
“Oh, God.” She clenched around him, shocked to feel every twitch of his cock, every spurt of semen burning inside her. Briefly, she wished nature would take its course and bless them with a child, but dismissed it as pleasure overrode her mind.
She wouldn’t be a fit mother. She was content as she was; submissive, welcome in the bosom of her new family, surrounded by good friends. What more could the pathetic young girl she’d been only a few months beforehand ask for?
“I love you, Saul,” she whispered in his ear as the last shudders faded.
He staggered toward the shower, where steam rolled. He disengaged from her, much to Caera’s disappointment, and adjusted the water temp. “There’s nothing in this world I love more than you. Never forget that.”
“Even when I’m old and gray and can’t remember my name?”
He chuckled, pushing her gently under the stream of water. He stepped in behind her, curling his arms around her waist from behind and nuzzling the ticklish spot beneath her ear. “Even then. Because I’ll be older, grayer, and I’ll always remember your name.”
Everything within her swelled with love. He made her feel like this with just a few words. It didn’t have to be poetry or clever lines; when he told her the truth, his truth, her world was complete. “Promise.”
“Absolutely promise.”
Content, she leaned back in the safety of his hold and let herself dream.
* * * *
An hour later, dressed presentably and twisting her fingers nervously in her lap, Caera averted her eyes to the smooth, gleaming wood of Mac’s desk and tried not to wonder why she’d been summoned to his office so soon.
“So, little one, Saul tells me you’re still living off your inheritance, even though we all told you not to. I do believe Saul offered to make sure you were looked after in that respect.”
Yeah, she was definitely in deep shit. “Yes, Sir, he did.”
“And why haven’t you listened to any of us or accepted his offer?”
She looked up sharply. “You’re a self-made millionaire, Mac, and you can ask me that question? I can’t live off someone else’s generosity, especially not when we’re…in a relationship. I don’t want to be a whore. I want to earn my keep, and be proud of it. I’ve lived on Grandmother’s money because I had to; I was so pathetic for so long, I couldn’t function. Things are changing because of Saul and what he’s turned around inside me. Until I find my feet, I’ll live off my own money, not Saul’s.”
“That’s honest. Under no circumstances, however, would anyone consider you a whore.” A dark edge lurked beneath Mac’s calm tone. “If I ever hear you refer to yourself in that way again, I’ll flog it out of you.”
Her insides shriveled; immediately her gaze dropped back to the desk, any hint of fiery spirit tamed again. She flinched when Mac touched her cheek, urging her to meet his eyes.
“Don’t do that, little one. This isn’t about the lifestyle, this is a conversation between a man and his employee.” There was a smile gracing his mouth when she gaped at him. “That’s better. I know some of your history, Caera. No hand will be raised to you out of temper. Now, let’s excuse this little sidetrack, shall we, and get back to the topic at hand.”
What the actual fuck was going on? Employee? God, she was confused. “You’ve lost me.”
“Quite the opposite,” he said, dropping his hand. “The way I see it, you need to stop living off your inheritance before it’s gone. I’m in need of a bartender. I pay well, I look after my staff, and if your feet drop out from under you occasionally, it won’t be held against you.”
“You want me to…work for you?” she said slowly.
“Yes. For some reason, my workforce at Crack the Whip is depleting. As you know, the Whip is my newest baby but as she’s across town, and Fothergill House takes up the majority of my time, I’ve had to entrust her to a babysitter in the form of two managers. My problem is the bartenders there are barely giving me a week’s notice before leaving. I want to know why, and I need to keep the bar staffed. I’d like you to be my undercover agent, as it were.”
Suspicious, Caera ran it over in her head. “Won’t everyone know I’m Saul’s submissive, and therefore connected to you? Wouldn’t that negate the point of me working there?”
“I have my reasons,” Mac countered easily. “The first of which is that all the bartenders who have left the club have been female. Under a male manager. That you’re Saul’s submissive might tie you in nicely; if we were to spread around the club that Saul’s trying to expand your social horizons, no one’s going to question the daytime manager, are they?”
“Daytime manager?” Caera half expected her world to implode.
“I told you I’d find him another place in the company, so to speak. This way, you learn the ropes of the bar through the quieter daytime hours, under the supervision of Saul. Who, I might add, is quite happy with the arrangement. And on an evening, you both have time to play here—either in the playrooms or your living quarters—if you want to.”
Okay, that might work. But…“So if Saul’s taking over as daytime manager, doesn’t that mean your problem will be solved anyway, if you suspect the current manager is the one driving your staff away?”
Mac grinned and then threw back his head and laughed. “Fucking A, I knew you had smarts tucked beneath that shyness. Good lass. Saul’s taking over the daytime manager job to weasel out what information he can find about the night manager, Craig. Your job’s going to be the same, but you’ll have a better shot at it, being a tender and not management. All bases covered.”
“So we’re double-teaming the club to find out what’s going on. Would it not be smarter to put me on the night shift to work with the bad manager?”
Mac shook his head, his eyes dark and somber. “You’ll not be put at risk that way straight off the bat. You need to find your way around a bar first, learn the drinks and how to make them. I want you to make friends with the other girls, the waitresses and servers. Be amicable with the clientele. Some come to the club through the day for business meetings, to watch the floor show. Then they come back for the evening festivities.” He sighed. “They’re your back-up, Caera, when Saul’s not there. If something happens, I want to know there’s someone at your back.”
“So it’s dangerous?”
“No. I wouldn’t ask this of you or Saul if I thought the situation would turn dangerous at any point. I wouldn’t risk my friends, my family, for business.” Mac took her hands and squeezed them. “I have high suspicions that Craig is a sadist. Which in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing—to each his own. But if he’s abusing the power I’ve given him to satisfy his sadism, that’s out of order and it won’t be tolerated.”
It must be difficult, she mused, holding the well-being of so many people in your hands. Putting up with their quirks and insecurities, keeping them happy in order for your businesses to run smoothly. Maybe as a Dominant, Mac was better prepared.
After all, he was doing a damn good job with her.
Caera tugged her hands free, ran them over her face. Taking the job meant facing some of her biggest insecurities. Her fear of failure. Her sense of ineptitude. Her social anxiety. To name just a few.
“Okay. I’ll try.”