All too soon he was focused on me again. “Think about me. Us. Remember everything I did to you when we were together—my mouth on every part of you, my dick inside you. How close are you now?”

  By him talking alone, he held enough power to bring me to the edge at a lightning-fast rate, but combined with the memories, I was hanging by a frayed thread. “Close. S-so close. I need to come so badly.”

  “Good.” His honeyed baritone voice purred the single word. “Now stop.”

  Every cell in my body screamed as my hand immediately stilled. “What?”

  I frowned at his answering chuckle. He was kidding with this. It had to be some kind of test. No one could possibly be this cruel to someone they claimed to care about.

  “I promise every decision I make has your ultimate best interest at heart, but for now, for tonight, you will stop.”

  And I did. I slid my pants back up over my aching erection as he continued with our conversation as if he hadn’t talked me to the edge of blissful release, only to deny me.

  “I miss you.” It tumbled out in the middle of a story he was telling about one of the extras on set having an allergic reaction to shellfish the food service company had provided.

  The intensity of his gaze wasn’t minimized in the slightest through the device connecting us. “I miss you too, baby. Is there any chance you can fly in Friday night instead of Saturday morning? I’ll have my assistant reserve your ticket tomorrow.”

  I didn’t want him to foot the bill for us, but I knew he had the pull to make a flight appear out of thin air—and I was greedy enough to want every extra minute I could get. “I’ll make it work.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Erik

  I should have bought a ticket for a flight I would never take so I could be on the other side of security when Kyle got off the plane. Next time. Because for the next two months while I was shooting this film, we’d be doing this long-distance thing.

  Then we’d have two weeks together…somewhere—two uninterrupted, blissful weeks of solitude. The locale was entirely unimportant.

  After that, we would have bigger decisions to make. Because, in less than a week, it had become crystal clear to me that my juvenile crush was well on its way to becoming something bigger, stronger and much more permanent.

  Alternating travel between our homes on weekends and video chats on the intervening days were fine in the short run, but I wanted my man in my bed when I got home at night. Every night.

  My man. Damn, I loved the sound of that, more than I should in the early days of our relationship. My man. My boyfriend. My lover. My submissive. They all culminated into being just fucking mine.

  Uninhibited possessiveness coursed through my veins, tempered by something deeper and more insidious that I wasn’t fully ready to recognize. Too soon. This was just too soon to be entertaining those kinds of notions.

  His dark head and well-groomed beard made him fairly easy to spot in a crowd of fresh-faced, bleached blonds. The standard board shorts and mini dresses milling around him were in sharp contrast to his dark blue jeans and faded shirt. A band wrapped itself around my chest as he walked toward me, then tightened to a painful degree when he caught sight of me and his brown eyes lit up.

  Kyle jogged toward me, his well-worn black duffel bag bouncing against his shoulder, but he stopped a few feet before reaching me. His smile disappeared and he lowered his head. “Sorry… At least I caught myself before—”

  I closed the distance between us and pulled him into my arms. “Caught yourself before what, baby? Before you did something like this?”

  He melted in my embrace, pulling me even closer. “I didn’t know if it was okay. If I would embarrass you…the paparazzi and all that.”

  I slid my hands from his neck to his face, cradling it between them. “I don’t give a damn about them, other than wanting to keep that insanity far from you.” The truth of the words hit me harder than I’d expected and I swallowed back the emotions. “I signed up for this crazy life, but you didn’t. Not one bit of you is embarrassing. I’m so fucking proud that you’re mine.”

  He trailed his tongue along his lower lip. He reached up to grip my wrists. “Are we, um, going to find a bathroom again?”

  Waves of desires crashed against me at his innocent tone voicing a decidedly not innocent question. I released his face and laced my fingers with his, all but dragging him behind me through the sliding doors. “No, baby, you’re not getting off that easily.” I turned to throw him a wink over my shoulder. “Literally or figuratively.”

  Normally the drive from LAX to my house in Santa Monica was an hour at the height of traffic. With an exceptionally affectionate and very handsy Kyle sitting right the fuck next to me, it was a distracting eternity. His every movement stilled as I rounded the circular driveway and parked in front of the concrete stairs leading to my front door.

  His reaction to my house was far more pronounced than the one to the luxury hotel we’d spent the weekend at in Seattle. This time, thankfully, I was prepared and managed to not gloss over it. “Look at me.”

  When his gaze remained fixed on the Mediterranean-style home through the passenger’s window, I squeezed his hand. “Eyes, Kyle. Now.”

  His obedience summoned an involuntary smile, but the intimidation reflected back at me wiped it away. His brows were knitted tightly together over tempestuous chocolate irises. He’d pressed his full lips into a thin line.

  “Stop. Every thought you are having right now? Just stop.” The protective beast that lay dormant within me was roused at the very idea that he might feel less than worthy. “This is just a house. Yeah, it’s a big fucking house, but it’s just a house. You know me. You know where I’m from…”

  I made circles on the back of his hand with my thumb and focused on the point of our physical connection while trying to find the words to show that our mental and emotional bond was far more precious to me. For the first time since I’d discovered the stronger side of me that was reserved for my personal relationships, I was unable to maintain eye contact with my partner.

  “You knew who I was before…before I moved here, before the personal trainers and the skin care experts and the fashion designers laid their hands on me.” I found his searching gaze. “And you’re the only one to really see both sides of me, baby. So don’t think you don’t belong here just because of what this place looks like. You belong wherever I am.”

  An adorable flush colored his cheeks. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out. With zero warning, he stretched across the console of my sports car and devoured my lips. He darted his tongue inside, stroking, teasing and taunting my own. His grip on my neck was desperate and firm.

  When we finally parted, our heavy, labored breathing had left a dusting of fog across the windshield. He ducked his head and offered a cheeky grin. “Didn’t you say something about getting off?”

  A low growl rumbled the back of my throat. I pointed at the red door. “Go inside, up the stairs and turn left. The very last room is the master suite. Take everything off, lie on the bed and wait for me.”

  He pushed out his lower lip. “Aren’t you coming in?”

  I readjusted the evidence of my arousal. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Otherwise, this is going to be over far sooner than either of us wants.”

  Kyle rolled his eyes and huffed. “Not soon enough for those of us who had to wait a whole fucking week.”

  I smacked his denim-clad ass as he climbed out of the car. He jumped and spun around to face me. All my self-control was poured into keeping a straight face. I arched my brow, loving the look of total compliance he gave in its presence. “I told you I was taking notes.”

  Crimson once again stained his face and he offered a brief nod before closing the car door and heading inside like a good fucking boy.

  I leaned my head back and glanced down at my watch. I’d lied. This wasn’t just about keeping my own desires under control but about heightening his. As he lay there waiting for me, the need that had been building each night when I’d instructed him to stroke himself nearly to release before commanding him to stop would multiply further.

  He didn’t get it, not yet, but this was an important lesson in trust. I issued directives that didn’t make sense and I knew he saw them as torture rather than pleasure. But his obedience would pay off immensely and he’d gain a strong understanding of the weight of my promise to always make decisions with his best interest at heart.

  That was, if he didn’t black out with the force of a deprivation-intensified orgasm.

  The curtains in my bedroom window fluttered, indicating someone had entered the room, and I grinned. My boyfriend, my lover, my submissive… He was all mine and he was waiting for me.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kyle

  Should my hands be at my side? Oh, please, not over my head. It was pretty damn clear he wasn’t coming in any time soon and I was beginning to suspect that needing to get himself under control line was utter bullshit. If he expected me to hang onto the headboard this entire time… I was used to working over my head, nailing two-by-fours and hanging drywall, but none of that meant my arms were capable of being stretched out for an indeterminate length of time.

  And where in the ever-loving fuck is he, anyway?

  The plaintive cries of each nerve ending begging for relief must have finally reached him. Erik swaggered through the door, latching it behind him. He stood at the foot of the bed and folded his arms across his chest.

  Damn, that was a glorious chest—one that had ‘just so happened’ to be bare each night when we’d chat and when he’d tell me all the things he wanted to do to me as I stroked my cock, as well as each time the command to stop came as I hovered on the precipice of what had been building into an earth-shattering orgasm.

  He lowered his hands to his sides, reached out and languidly stroked the inside of my calf. “I am so, so proud of you, baby. You did exactly as I told you.”

  Ecstasy, nearly palpable and overwhelming, washed over me. A shiver ran the length of my spine, just from hearing him tell me I’d made him proud. “Thank you, Sir.”

  I’d spent the week we’d been apart delving deeper into the true practice of BDSM rather than the socially sought-after version. It held a beauty I’d never before understood and, while I was far from an expert after just a few days’ research, I saw it in a new and glorious light and found myself with an insatiable desire to explore this dynamic…with Erik.

  He knelt on the bed between my partially opened legs, kissing from my ankle to my knee and along my inner thigh as he moved his way up. He gripped my wrists that were on either side of me and pressed them into the mattress. “No matter what I do, these stay here.”

  I closed my eyes, dragging in a shuddering breath. “Yes, Sir.”

  His groan vibrated against my aching dick as he leaned forward, making a trail from my belly button to my neck, pausing to lavish attention on each nipple. He sucked my neck and I was certain there would be a hickey left behind. Thank everything good for that. Looking in the mirror and seeing the evidence of Erik on my body was nearly enough to throw me over the edge that he’d kept me hovering on.

  Erik sank his teeth into the tender flesh of my shoulder and I gasped. The flash of pain was quickly followed with a warm stream of pleasure curling through every cell of my body.

  “You are learning so quickly, baby.” He stretched over the length of me, speaking close to my ear and rubbing his cock against mine. The friction of the material barrier between us offered a delicious but frustrating sensation. “Watching you embrace this side of yourself and give it to me has been driving me insane.”

  A laugh choked the back of my throat.

  Erik levered up on his elbows, grinding against me harder. “What? Do you think you were the only one who has been salivating for this?”

  I whimpered and he dropped his forehead to rest against mine. He continued to rotate his hips into mine and amplify my agony. “Y-yes, Sir.”

  He claimed my lips with a soft, gentle kiss. I desperately wanted to reach up and hold him, to stroke his back, play with his hair, pull his weight more firmly against me. But…orders. And trust.

  Far too soon his mouth and entire being abandoned me. He stood beside the bed, made quick work of removing his clothes, retrieved a condom and bottle from the drawer and settled between my gaping thighs once more. “Hand.”

  I offered my right hand as instructed and he squirted a generous dollop of lube onto my palm. He donned the latex, then wrapped my fist around his thick shaft. His head fell back and he groaned as I moved my hand up and down his cock at a maddeningly slow pace.

  After a few minutes, he pinned me with a heavy-lidded stare and coated his own hand with the oily lubricant. He teased my tightly puckered hole with one finger, circling the rim before briefly dipping in. Soon a second digit joined it, twisting and turning with each entrance and exit.

  As he slid a third alongside the others, he bent at the waist, pulling my balls into his mouth. He sucked and tugged, occasionally punctuating his movements with an assault against my prostate. Moisture collected in the corners of my eyes from the overwhelming need taking over me.

  “Please…” The word was ripped from the back of my throat on a sob. “Please, sweetheart, Sir, I… I can’t take this anymore. I need you. Please!”

  He sat back on his haunches, removed my hand from his dick and placed both of mine on the backs of my thighs. “Pull them up, as far as you can.”

  I held my knees against my chest and arched my back off the bed as he filled me, deeper than he ever had before. Relief drew out the tears threatening to fall. An animalistic sound erupted from somewhere deep in my chest.

  Erik closed his fist around my cock as he pumped in and out of me frantically. I told myself it was because he was as desperate as I was, but that was impossible. His deprivation game over the past few days had driven me close to madness. The extended teasing tonight had thrown me over the edge. I was wild with desire and need and—

  “You can come, baby. Come for me. Let me see how good it is.”

  The switch flipped and all my conscious thought fled. My cries were endless and turned my mouth into the Sahara. Somewhere in the distance I thought Erik’s low roar mingled with mine, but the spiral of euphoria consuming me made judging the difference between reality and fantasy impossible. Instead, I allowed the freefall into delicious oblivion to carry me as wave after wave of indescribable pleasure flooded my body. Pinpoints of light danced before my eyes, impossible behind closed lids but present, nonetheless.

  My entire being shook from the force of my orgasm long after we were done, even following the dip and lift of the mattress that heralded his departure. A warm cloth washed across my abdomen, then my cock, then my ass.

  My heavy lids refused to raise, even after Erik returned, gathered me close to his side and tugged the comforter over us. He tucked my head beneath his chin and created designs along my spine with the tips of his fingers.

  The pull of sleep was strong, tempting my brain to fall into a blissful, dreamless slumber, but I needed… “I have a feeling I’m going to be saying this a lot.” I struggled to keep my mind conscious long enough to form a complete thought.

  He pressed his lips against the crown of my head. “What’s that, baby?”

  I snuggled deeper against his chest. “You were right. I trust you.”

  Erik’s breathing stilled and his grip on me tightened. A rumble of his chest indicated he was talking, but I was quickly lost to the overwhelming call of enveloping darkness.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Erik

  Sunday came quick…too fucking quick. My real life inserted itself smack into the fairy-tale cocoon surrounding Kyle and me, the only place I wanted to exist.

  A registered letter showed up a few hours before I had to take Kyle to the airport. Another one, thanks to my co-star’s latest antics, no doubt. And they seriously expected me to make another film with this joker? I would, because I believed in the film franchise and had been with it since the beginning, but biting my tongue was getting harder and harder.

  Kyle slid his strong arms around my waist as I scanned through the documents, paying attention to the spots my lawyer had flagged. The heat as he pressed his lips against my shoulder blade sang through my veins. Every drop of excitement was chased away by the icy dread of reality clawing at my gut. Tomorrow he wouldn’t be here.

  “What’s that, sweetheart?” he asked.

  I’d told him I loved it when he called me ‘sweetheart’. That was a massive understatement. The easy affection that had grown between us was breathtaking and terrifying, all at once. Our past selves, the brief interactions, the—apparently mutual—admiration from afar, the adolescent lust… It all seemed to culminate in a very adult relationship that was just so fucking easy.

  And so fucking dangerous.

  I had been entertaining thoughts of buying a house on an island outside of Seattle, sweet-talking Kyle into quitting his job, moving in with me and traveling with me on location to all my shoots. Money wasn’t an issue for me, but suggesting something so radical was certain to get a ton of resistance.

  Instead, I tossed the papers onto the table beside me and turned in the circle of his arms, wrapping my own around his neck. “This is the side of showbiz no one talks about.”

  He frowned and I couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and kiss the crease between his brows. Even though I put on the swagger of a confident, in-control Dom, where Kyle was concerned, I could resist so little. Each touch, each kiss, each moment was exceedingly precious to me, knowing we were on a limited timetable and faced with a gaping chasm of loneliness that would stretch between now and Friday.

 

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