“Beautiful.”

Her gaze dropped and he tipped her chin up. “Mmmm. Can’t deny it, gorgeous. Beautiful. And mine. Like I’m yours, and that’s good too. Makes me hard.”

“Would you like me to do something about that?”

She knew that he found her attractive, yes, but there was this way she had, she got right to him. It wasn’t coy, it wasn’t practiced, and though she certainly wasn’t innocent, the way she got to him was.

He shoved his pants down and off, kicking them to the side. “Now you can. Suck my cock.”

She gave him one last look. “Can I move my hands? This angle will make it hard to keep from falling off the bed.”

“Yes.”

She bent forward, kissing his belly and over to his hip bone before doing the same on the other side. He watched her back, the shock of how alluring she was ricocheting through him.

With one hand braced on the bed, she grabbed his cock at the root with the other and held him out so she could take him into her mouth. First she sucked slow, keeping him really wet. She licked around the crown, sucking hard and then soft, enough to bring a grunt and a flex of his hips, demanding more.

She slid her fist down, holding the skin taut as she followed, taking him deep. She stretched her fingers out to stroke his balls. Up and down. Over and over. It was so good he let it go longer than he should have. He was right up against climax when he put a restraining hand on her shoulder and stepped back.

He struggled for breath as he looked down at her.

She licked her lips and he grinned. “Goddamn. I’m going to fuck you.”

The choker was cool against the skin of her neck. It was wide enough that she knew it was there. It wasn’t a piece of jewelry she’d forget about, which she guessed was the point after all. It made her feel . . . it anchored her, the solid weight of it, the way it seemed to caress her throat the way he held her throat in his palm at times.

It made her pussy slick, hardened her nipples and her clit. She wanted him to fuck her so badly it had taken all her control not to beg him, to keep sucking his cock the way she knew he liked. Knowing he’d take care of her.

It was a big step and one that had scared her spitless. Trusting anyone else to put her needs first and foremost wasn’t something she did often. The number of people she trusted like that, she could count on one hand.

But this man, this reason she broke her rules, well, there seemed to be nothing else she could do. She was still scared enough to shake a little. But she was so sick of being scared and alone.

“I want you facedown on the bed. One leg bent, knee up. I want you open.”

She did it quickly. Placing her hands high, like she knew he’d tell her to.

He hummed his satisfaction and she knew she’d made the right choice.

One cuff slid over her hand and to her wrist where he tightened it. He hooked it to the strap on his bed. A few ticks later and she was stretched. Not painfully so, but certainly very aware she was giving over to him.

The other wrist, same movements, and she had to close her eyes against it. Nothing in her life had ever felt like this. She wasn’t even sure what this was. Only that it kept her from floating. His hands on her, his attention and focus made her feel beautiful and desired. Not as a thing. Not as some white-trash whore as she’d been regarded for many years. But as this man’s woman.

A shiver ran through her as he ran covetous hands from her fingertips, down her arms and back. He stopped at her hips and held on, his fingers digging in.

“You’re so fucking beautiful. It drives me out of my mind to see you this way in my bed.”

She heard the condom wrapper tear and knew he’d be in her soon. Even so, she couldn’t help but arch as much as she could to take him deeper when he finally nudged her open with the head of his cock.

He swore under his breath and she loved it. His fingers tightened on her hips and she loved it. She did it again, taking him deep, and he let go, slapping one ass cheek so hard she could picture the red mark he would have left. It burned against the coolness of the room, burned against his skin when he adjusted, fucking her in earnest now.

His weight pressed her into the bed, limited her range of movement. And she loved that too.

“More,” she managed to gasp out.

He let go of her hip and she waited for the slap on her ass. But he slid a hand between her body and the bed and found her clit. He managed to squeeze her clit with the tips of his fingers as he continued to fuck her deep.

“You can’t come until I say so.”

She wanted to argue. It was ridiculous after all to order such a thing. She’d come when she wanted to, damn it. It wasn’t as if she was a yogi with that sort of mind/body control.

But she knew it would be a lie. Knew she’d do her damndest to make it happen however he wanted it to.

He kept thrusting and she sort of floated awhile, the pleasure flooding her system, lulling her even as it excited. She wanted to come. Wanted him to come. Wanted to please him.

She squeezed her inner muscles over and over and he hummed. “Well now, that’s quite lovely.” And then he growled as she kept it up. His fingers on her clit sped up a little, squeezed just a little harder. “I’m ready. Come around my cock.”

Like he hit a switch, orgasm burst through her with alarming speed. Brilliant. Sharp shards of pleasure seemed to slice through her as she heard him say her name, knew he was coming too.

It went on and on for some time until he pressed a kiss to her shoulder and pulled out gently. The bed moved as he got up, but she was content to keep lying there, her arms up above her head, wrists bound. On display.

All the noise quieted when he touched her. What all it meant she didn’t really know, only that it made things better.

“What’s your plan for the rest of the day?” He asked her this as they sat at a diner, their breakfasts piping hot on the table in front of them.

“I promised Erin I’d go out to Bainbridge to a Halloween party thing. They’re doing a costume parade and Miles—Gillian and Adrian’s son—his band is playing. I tried very hard to get out of it, but she guilted me.”

He smiled at her. “Why try to get out of it?”

“It’s exhausting trying to behave all the time.” She poured syrup on her stack of pancakes.

He laughed then. “Oh, gorgeous, you’re something else.”

“Hm.”

“Behave how?”

“They’re all so nice. Perky. Everyone loves everyone else and they’re close and blah. I go because Alexander will look adorable in his little costume and I’m sure Martine and Poppy will too. Rennie tells me she’s too old for that stuff, but she’s old enough to get a little giggly around Miles’s friends who, thankfully, are old enough to think she’s an annoying-little-sister type instead of make-out material.”

“I notice you’re talking about the kids and not the adults.”

“I like children better.” She chewed for a while, sipping her coffee, before she spoke again. “Though some adults do all right.”

“I never really pegged you for an earth-mother type.”

She laughed. “Stop, you’re going to make me choke. I’m not. Not in a million years. But I’m a decent aunt. And Alexander, Martine and Poppy are too young to judge me for anything but the quality of snacks in my cabinets and how many of those tiny board books I’m willing to read.”

“Just when I think I’m getting you figured out, you go and prove me wrong. Do you ever, you know, think about having a child of your own someday?”

“I’m getting older. I come from some fucked-up stock. My family was enough. What kind of person would I be to do that to a kid?”

“I had a child and my mother . . . well, you’ve met her.”

“Your mother loves you. She’s a hard-case bitch with her nose a little too high in the air, don’t get me wrong. But I can guarantee she never left you alone for ten minutes, much less dropped you off at the corner convenience store and didn’t come back for nearly two years.”