Vulnerable by Allyson Young Read Free Book Online Page A

You’ll earn your share of punishments. Some you won’t like very well, so be careful what you wish for. I won’t tolerate you putting yourself at risk or challenging my authority.”
    Elise fought arousal and annoyance in equal parts. They needed to clear some things up. The authority thing in the bedroom was okay, and it felt nice to have someone worry about her well-being. But if Ross pushed her in areas where she felt he was out of line, well, they would just have to see. Once again Ross garnered her thoughts.
    “Communication, Elise, remember? As you pointed out, we just met. We’ll learn about one another, sweetheart, don’t worry. Now, let’s put some food together. We’re going to need the fuel.”
    Elise hoped that meant more sex and took the shirt Ross offered her.
    “I’d prefer you naked, and for the most part you will be when you are here with me, but it’s hard to cook naked, Elise. I’ve found that out by experience.”
    Elise laughed at Ross’s grimace and followed him to the kitchen. He didn’t expect her to cook for him, he had bathed her, and he worried about her safety. So far the trade-off for his dominance and her submission was balancing out. Her heart gave a little jump to remind her that maybe this wasn’t all about sex. Elise ignored it. She wanted to enjoy herself and not worry about getting hurt. She wanted to be able to leave, with nothing to hold her, if things turned sour.
    They put a decadent chicken salad together, working well as a team, decadent primarily because Ross deliberately dribbled poppy seed dressing on her chest, right at the opening of her shirt, in the hollow of her throat and then unbuttoned it, ostensibly to clean it off. Only he had licked it from her, using his tongue in wicked ways, working down her body until he knelt between her thighs, spreading her folds to suckle at her clit. That little bundle of nerves had been poking and ready for him when he’d arrived there, and Elise forgot all about her empty stomach as her climax overtook her. Ross had grinned up at her, her arousal coating his lips and chin, and Elise’s heart flip-flopped. Whatever she felt must have shown on her face, because he had surged to his feet to pull her to him and take her mouth in what felt like a heartfelt pledge. Elise didn’t dare question it but hugged the moment to herself, even as that reaction actually worried her, and the little niggle got a bit louder.

Chapter Five
     
    For the first time in his entire working life, Ross felt the hours drag by, and he checked his watch obsessively. He had taken Elise home midevening, after their meal and a couple of hours of cuddling and talking on his couch, for despite his urging her to stay overnight with him, she insisted she had to prepare for her Monday classes. Ross suspected that, while it might have been partly true, she also wanted some time away from him again to process their relationship. Relationship. Now, that was a word he was altogether unfamiliar with, truth to be told, but one he was rapidly becoming comfortable with. He didn’t have her landline number, but had already called her cell twice and had to be content with the sound of her voice on her message. He couldn’t tell anything much from those brief words. You’ve reached Elise Cooper. Please leave your message.
    The sound of her voice made the little hairs on the back of his neck prickle, and Ross couldn’t think of a thing to say the first time he called, instead fumbling to punch the phone off before he was caught sucking air like some kind of breather stalker. He was initially proud of the message he left the second time, advising her it was Ross Lassiter and to call him, and then immediately after he hung up and reflected on it, felt like an ass. As if she had more than one Ross in her life! Ross Lassiter . As if she might have forgotten his name! Shit, he hadn’t said anything hot, or sweet, or even Dom-like. He didn’t know where she worked either so