Her fingers danced over the delicate ballerina, and then she dropped her hand and faced him.
“How did you get your money? Where do you work?”
“I’m a broker for Morgan Stanley.”
She nodded, and then lifted her head and said, “I won’t stay if you’re not going to fuck me tonight.”
He shook his head and crossed to the hall table, opening the top drawer. “I understand you need something from me, but that isn’t it. You don’t determine whether I fuck you or not. You won’t push me into it. But I will give you this and a promise.”
He held out a medium-sized silver box. She took it and looked at him with a curious expression before tearing into it. He almost laughed at her eagerness. She held up the whip he’d wrapped carefully in tissue.
“What’s this for?”
“It’s my commitment to you. My figurative signature on our contract. You bring this to me anytime, anywhere, and I promise I will deliver what you need. That’s what I’m offering to you.”
Her eyes had gone wide, and her nipples pebbled under the bodice of her dress, begging to be sucked on. “Any time?”
“Yes, sweetheart. That’s the promise.” He let his gaze stray up and down her body. This dress was much better than the tight one, but the woman seriously needed a new wardrobe if the best choice she could come up with that had a flared skirt was this or a costume. He moaned inwardly, picturing how much sexier the tight cotton dress would be without the bra at all. Her tits were smokin’ hot, high and full. Her nipples weren’t well concealed by the bra, but they would be perfect puckered nubs without it.
“Why would you do that?” The vulnerability in her voice almost felled him. God, she needed to be treasured, this girl.
“Because then you won’t push me into being angry with you. I don’t want to be angry. I want to give you what you need and have you give me what I need.”
She licked her bottom lip, and he couldn’t stop himself from slipping his middle finger in between her lips so she could suck on him. Her cheeks hollowed, and her greedy tongue lapped at him with just a hint of teeth. His cock went steel hard, and he held back a groan, imagining those lips around him. He pulled his finger out, and she whimpered.
She stared at him with wide, kohl-lined eyes. “What do you need?”
He considered for a moment, wondering how much truth he should give her. But she’d proven herself to be fearless, and he wanted her to know his appetites. “I need to fuck the hell out of you. I need to take every hole of yours and drill into you until you scream. I need to spank you and beat you and choke you and have you beg me for more. I need rough, raw sex and someone who can keep up with my appetite. I need you to crave what I can give you and give me everything you have, everything you are. I will not go easy. But nothing I do, ever, will be done in anger. Am I clear?”
She handed the whip to him with shaking hands, her gaze cloudy, already starting to drop into subspace. “Play with me now, Master.”
∙•∙
Lucinda released the black leather whip into Theo’s hand and ducked her head.
She waited as he stepped around her body slowly, clearly examining every inch of her until a flush climbed up her cheeks. She wasn’t even naked, and his gaze penetrated her anyway as though he could see through her façade and knew every one of her secrets.
“Take the dress off, sweetheart. And the bra.”
Her fingers shook as she lifted the soft material over her head and let it flutter to the floor beside her. They kept shaking as she reached behind her back to unclasp the black lace that barely served as a bra. It was her favorite, and wearing it was intentional.
“Kick off your heels too.”
She did as he demanded. Nerves ate at her, but not because she was scared. She’d been flogged before. She enjoyed it. But not by this man. And the true reason she was anxious was because his ability to wield that whip would