EIGHT
Wyatt sat at his kitchen table Friday afternoon and flipped through the profiles of the retreat attendees that his assistant had researched and compiled for him this week. He scanned each guest’s business, hobbies, and personal causes. Hollis Myers: CEO of movie theater chain, plays a lot of cards (blackjack not poker), donates regularly to the American Cancer Society and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Cam Berthelot: head of natural gas drilling company, enjoys deep-sea fishing, has a second home in Florida, and donates to the Red Cross. Belle Pritchard: owner of bridal shop chain and wedding planning business, big into supporting local small business owners, and donates to grassroots organizations and an LGBT legal defense fund.
Wyatt scribbled a few notes, but those were mainly for Kelsey. He knew some of these people already. And for the ones he didn’t, his memory had always been photographic so he wouldn’t need a cheat sheet after reading through the list a time or two. But the more each of them knew about the guests, the better shot they had at making relevant conversation and engaging them. People liked to talk about themselves; you just have to give them an opening and a topic. The hard part for him was always the talking-back portion. He didn’t know how to fill space with airy chitchat. He usually ended up talking business, which made people’s eyes glaze over, or he’d make some obscure movie reference and no one would get it. He’d learned early in life that keeping that shit to yourself was much wiser than getting that what-the-fuck-is-he-talking-about? look.
His cell phone rang, buzzing against the table and breaking through the silence of the empty house. The name of his driver flashed on the screen. He hit the speaker button. “What’s going on, Henry?”
“Ms. LeBreck declined my offer to be picked up,” he informed him with that to-the-point tone of his.
Wyatt glanced up from his paperwork, a sinking feeling in his gut. So he’d been right to worry. Kelsey had changed her mind. “I see. Did she say why?”
“I had informed her of your requested itinerary of dinner out and then a return to your home. She said she had a few errands to run first and wanted your address so she could drive herself directly. She was rather insistent.”
Wyatt blinked. “She’s still coming?”
“Of course, Mr. Austin. I just wanted to inform you of the change in plans. She didn’t give me an indication of what time she’d be arriving. I didn’t want you to be caught off guard.”
Wyatt leaned back in the chair, more relieved than he cared to admit. “Thank you, Henry. I’ll be sure to be prepared for her.”
“You’re welcome, sir. Do you need anything else from me this evening?”
“No, just plan to be here tomorrow to bring us to the airport.”
“Yes, sir. Have a nice evening.”
Wyatt hit the end button, took off his glasses, and ran a hand over his face before putting them back on. So Kelsey had decided to alter his prescribed plans from the very start. The move both perturbed and intrigued him. They hadn’t made the formal transition into the D/s roles yet, but he’d tried to get her primed for the mindset the last time he saw her as well as with his very precise instructions on her shopping trip. He had no idea if her little rebellion tonight was an intentional statement of her independence or just a way for her to hold on to the last of her freedom before she surrendered to him.
He turned toward the triad of windows to his right and stared out over the expanse of his pool and backyard, anticipation rolling through him. Tonight was going to be a test of sorts. For both of them. If it went well, they’d leave for the trip tomorrow with a new confidence. If it didn’t, he’d have to revert to the original plan and pay her to accompany him, no training or touching involved. Thunder rumbled through the quiet kitchen, pulling him back to the view. It’d been raining off and on all day, a cold front coming through. Now the clouds hung low overhead, blocking out the last rays of the afternoon sun, and the wind had begun to rattle the early fall leaves off the trees.
Maybe they’d be better off not going out tonight. Things looked like they were about to get pretty nasty outside. His gaze flicked to the clock on the oven. He grabbed his phone and scrolled through his numbers, looking for the one he’d recently added.
Kelsey answered on the second ring, road noise and pattering rain in the background. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” he asked, skipping past niceties.
“Uh . . . in the middle of a blinding storm at the moment. But if I followed directions correctly, I’m pretty close to your place.”
He frowned, a clap of thunder outside his window signaling the start of the onslaught. “You should have let Henry drive you. I don’t want you out in this.”
“I’m fine. There’s just a lot of water on this road all of a sudden, so I’m taking it slow. I can handle a little storm.”
“Kelsey, if there’s water on the road, you need to turn around. The neighborhoods around here flashflood easily with the lake nearby. There’s no way to tell how deep it is.”
“I think it’s—” There was a strange whining sound in the background. Then a string of curses.
“What’s wrong?”
“Can I take back what I said? I think my car just stalled out.”
“Christ.” He shoved his chair back from the table, almost toppling it in his rush. “Tell me where you’re at. I’m coming to get you.”
“Um, wait, shit, I’m not sure. I can barely see anything,” she said, the pattering in the background now blending with the sheets of rain banging against his kitchen windows. “I think the next cross street ahead is supposed to be Briarpatch.”
Hell, right by the golf course. That spot was notorious for flooding. “What kind of car do you drive?”
“It’s a ninety-nine white Honda Civic.”
“All right. Stay put for now. I’m only ten minutes away. If the water looks like it’s rising, get out of the car and onto higher ground.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to—”
“Not your fault. Just hold tight. And keep your phone close.” He hung up the call and strode toward the garage, grabbing a set of keys off the pegboard in the laundry room and pulling on a jacket. His car wouldn’t be any better than hers in the water, but his housekeeper’s son had been working on an old Jeep and had asked to store it at Wyatt’s. The paint job wasn’t done yet, but Wyatt knew the kid had gotten the engine in shape last month. If this helped him get Kelsey out of this situation safely, he’d buy the guy that paint job.
Visibility was still a challenge as he made his way off his property and toward the cluster of neighborhoods closer to the highway. The sky had gone a weird green-gray, and the automatic street lights were popping on even though it wasn’t even six yet. He kept a hand on the wheel and called Henry to set up and handle a tow for Kelsey’s car. Wyatt didn’t want her sitting out there, waiting for someone to get her car.
It took him a little longer than he hoped to get to her. Other cars besides hers had gotten stuck, so he had to carefully maneuver around them, but luckily the water seemed to be staying at a manageable level. The rain let up a bit as he made his way down the road, and he spotted Kelsey’s car in the right lane, the street lamp above her making the white car look orange.
He pulled up behind her and hopped out, the icy rain soaking him instantly. Kelsey was already opening her door before he got to her. She pushed an umbrella through the crack and popped it open, a bright pink spot in the haze of gray. She climbed out of the car, water rushing over her heeled boots, and grabbed the top of the car to steady herself.
He made his way over as quickly as he could, but he still had on his dress shoes from his trip to the office earlier today and the damn things had no grip. He motioned at her and raised his voice, fighting with the ever-rolling thunder. “Get in the Jeep!”
“All my stuff is still in here,” she called back, taking a careful step in his direction and shutting the driver’s-side door. “For the trip.”
He made his way over to her, locking a hand beneath her elbow and breathing a sigh of relief that she was okay. “I got it. Let’s just get you inside the Jeep first.”
“I can help.”
“And I want you out of this. Inside. Now.”
She gave him the eye but held back another protest. She thrust the umbrella into his hand and now he could see the damn thing wasn’t just pink but also had a pattern of little cupcakes all over it. “Take this.”
“I don’t need—”
“So all the stuff doesn’t get wet.”
“Fine.” He took the umbrella from her and nudged her toward the Jeep, putting the keys in her hand. “Go. And turn on the heat.”
As soon as he verified she was able to get herself through the water without stumbling, he opened her trunk and grabbed her suitcase, but there looked to be two grocery bags in there as well. Dammit. He couldn’t get all of it. He slammed the trunk closed and hurried back to the Jeep, tossing the suitcase in the back, then sloshed his way back through the water for the sacks of groceries.
By the time he climbed back into the driver’s seat, he was soaked, freezing, and trying hard not to shiver. He shrugged out of his drenched coat and held his hands up against the vents, but no warmth was coming out.
“I can’t get it to heat up,” Kelsey said, her voice vibrating with her own shivers. She wrapped her arms around herself, her blonde hair saturated and dripping onto her shoulders.
Crap. Apparently the kid had fixed the engine but hadn’t gotten to the heating system yet. “We need to get back to the house.”
“But my car . . .”
“I’ve already got someone on the way.” He made sure nobody was behind them, then reversed and drove over the median to get to the other side of the road so they could head back. “We need to get home and out of these clothes.”
She glanced his way, an eyebrow lifted. “Not wasting any time getting me naked, are you?”
He chuckled, glad she could still make jokes when her vehicle was about to float down the damn street. “Don’t tempt me. I just walked around with a pink cupcake umbrella. I may feel the need to reassert my manhood.”
She smiled and leaned forward to shrug her way out of her saturated jacket, filling his peripheral vision with an impossibly tempting view. He tried to keep his eyes on the road, but had a hard time focusing on safety or being a gentleman with Kelsey’s now-see-through cream-colored blouse taunting him, the wet material clinging to her skin and molding over the swells of her breasts and her cold-stiffened nipples. Wyatt stopped for a red light and dropped any pretense of politeness to give her a long, assessing view.
She glanced his way, no doubt noticing the heat in his eyes, then looked down as if only now realizing what she’d revealed. Her hands moved to cover herself.
The flash of modesty endeared him, but he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. Training started now. “Put your hands in your lap, Kelsey. No reason to hide from me. You need to get accustomed to me seeing your body.”
She wet her lips and followed his direction, clasping her hands in front of her. He could see the pattern of her lace bra beneath the shirt now and the dark shadow of her areolas peeking through. The sight was enough to have his cock twitching and his good sense evaporating. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t touch her until they negotiated limits. But he hadn’t anticipated this kind of immediate assault on his noble intentions.
The car behind him honked, dragging him from the delicious sight. The light had turned green, and he had no choice but to pull forward. He cleared his throat. “Have you had any second thoughts about our arrangement?”
“No.”
“Honesty, please.”
She sighed. “Yes. But not in the way you think. I’m mostly worried about not being able to pull off a ruse.”
“We’re going to work on that some tonight. I think you’re going to do better than you imagine, though. You’re naturally charming, so people will be drawn to you. All we need to worry about are the little factual details that may come up.”
“Right.”
“Did you remember to bring your passport?” He’d been happy to hear she already had one on hand from a past trip to Mexico. Even with his connections, getting anything moving that quickly through a government office would’ve been tough.
She patted her purse. “Got it.”
They rode along in silence for a while, the pounding rain and bad visibility a good distraction from the siren call of temptation winding through his mind. Control. This was about his self-control. He’d spent an extra long time in the shower this morning, stroking himself to release as he imagined the scene from Friday night, Kelsey tipping her head back and coming against his hand. He’d wanted to prepare himself so that he didn’t jump on her like some horny pervert when he finally got her to his place. But the few minutes with her in the car had his blood heading south and desire pumping through him like he hadn’t climaxed in a month.
Patience.
He took a left onto the long driveway that led up to his place. Kelsey bent forward, trying to peer through the rain-covered windshield. His house was barely visible through the haze of the storm and the trees that dotted his property. “You’ve got a lot of land around you.”
“I like my privacy.” He hit the button on the garage as he took the final turn up to the house. “In fact, you’re going to be my first overnight houseguest. I usually don’t like sharing my space.”
Her brows lifted at that, and he realized too late that he probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. “You should’ve said something. I could’ve come over tomorrow morning. You didn’t have to invite me to stay the night.”
He pulled the Jeep into the garage and cut the engine. “Yes, I did.”
Her gaze followed him as he got out and walked around to her side to open the door for her. He could feel her question before she even voiced it. “Why?”
He offered her his hand, and she took it, her fingers still icy. “Because my home is the place for all of my most precious possessions.” He helped her down from the Jeep and brushed his lips over her knuckles. “And you, love, are about to become the most important of them all for the next seven days.”
He braced himself for her reaction—the implication of ownership a bit of a test. If she was going to truly give herself over to this and shed her domme role for the time they were together, he needed to get her head in the right place from the start. He was in charge. She was his to command. Wyatt had talked to Grant Waters earlier in the week to make sure his training would count for Kelsey’s requirement, and Grant had warned him that Kelsey wouldn’t feel safe if he didn’t immediately prove himself worthy and capable of the role, that she would deftly manipulate a weak dom to hold on to her own control.
Wyatt wasn’t one to take directives from someone else, but on that, he’d agreed wholeheartedly. He wanted nothing more than to have the full experience with Kelsey and to make her feel absolutely safe and protected in his hands. A distilled version had never been in his plans.
“You understand what you’ve agreed to, Kelsey? To be owned by me?”
Her lips parted slightly, and the shiver he felt go through her hand seemed to have little to do with the cold. She managed a nod.
Nice. She liked the idea, and her body was already reacting to him. He glanced down the length of her—the slightly smeared makeup, the lush set of her mouth, the clinging shirt. All of it put together was like some erotic dream come to life. He wanted to yank those boots and jeans off her and lick the rainwater from her skin, chase away that chill in the most decadent way possible, feel her heat up against his mouth. But in his cold garage before they’d discussed a single limit was neither the time nor the place. Mustering up every ounce of restraint he possessed, he set his hands on her shoulders. “Let’s get you into a hot shower so you don’t end up with pneumonia. A sick sub will do me no good.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, a little catch in her voice.
He stared at her for a moment longer, watching the slight glaze go over her eyes. He cupped the side of her head. Was it possible? Kelsey had declared that she’d never willingly submitted before. The word willingly had stuck in his gut like a rusty piece of metal—a grim clue about what exactly may be lurking in Kelsey’s past. But right now, her whole demeanor suggested that she was already sinking a bit, going into that headspace where subs let go.
The achingly erotic sight squeezed the air from his lungs and vaulted his dominance straight to the surface—a demanding, pounding force that could no longer be kept on a leash. He needed her under his control. Right. This. Minute. He tightened his hold on her shoulders, battling with himself. But when she dipped her lashes and her muscles went loose beneath his fingertips, it was all the signal he needed. He wasn’t sure about a lot of things between them. But in this moment he was sure of one thing—for whatever reason, she needed this as much as he did right now, needed him to take over fully. And God did he want to. Without giving her warning, he bent forward and hauled Kelsey off her feet and over his shoulder.
She let out a little yelp, the move apparently breaking her from the spell she’d been in. “Wyatt!”
“Hush.”
“You don’t need to—”
He gave her ass a smack, the sound of his hand against her wet jeans a little too enticing. He had to hold back from giving the other side a similar pop. “It pleases me to carry you. Are you going to deny me that?”
“No, sir,” she said. “It’s just, there are groceries and—”
“It’s cold in here. They’ll be fine.” He shoved open the door that led to the laundry room and then headed into the darkened kitchen. The storm was still splattering against the windows, but he barely heard it as he made his way through the living room and up the stairs. His dress shoes squeaked against the wood, and he knew he was leaving footprints in his wake, but he didn’t care at the moment. All he was concerned about was the woman who had her cheek pressed against his back.
Once they made it into his en suite bathroom, he set Kelsey on her feet. Her cheeks were flushed and her blue eyes wide, but he didn’t sense any fear there. He reached out and turned on the shower to heat up the water. Then he was in front of her again. He clasped her chin, lifting her face to him.
“I need to discuss limits and boundaries with you, Kelsey. I want to know where your lines are so that I don’t harm you. We need a safe word.”
She nodded in his hand, and he released her chin.
“But right now I don’t have the patience for that.” He reached for the buttons on her blouse, pulling them free, and pushing the garment off her shoulders. The material hit the tile with a wet smack. “I’ve spent morning after morning in that cafe, talking to you, watching you, aching for you. I sit there getting no work done because all I can think about are the filthy, deviant fantasies I conjure up about you. You drive me to distraction, love. And I’ve spent one too many nights in this very shower, taking my cock in my hand and imagining it was you around me instead of my fist.”
She closed her eyes, his name a soft whisper across her lips.
He reached for the waistband of her jeans, dragging her against him, his voice low. “And what I’m about to do has nothing to do with training or our deal. I want . . . need to fuck you before I lose my goddamned mind. And I need to do it my way. So if you don’t want that, say so. And if I do something you aren’t okay with, tell me to stop. That’s all the safe word you need right now. Even once we establish one, I will always listen to the word no. Do you understand?”
Something seemed to open in her expression, like a flower unfurling for the sun, and without a word, she met his eyes and worked the button and zipper on her jeans. The slow grinding sound of the zipper’s teeth was one of the sweetest noises Wyatt could ever remember hearing. Then, her cold little fingers were encircling his wrist and dragging his palm down beneath the thin satin of her panties. Hot, damp heat coated his fingers, and he groaned.
“I’m all yours, Wyatt,” she said softly. “I trust you. And you aren’t the only one who’s gotten off on fantasies about the other.”
She reached out and ran her hand along the length of his erection, which was now prominent against his wet slacks. His eyelids went half-mast, pleasure at the simple touch vibrating through him like a sonic boom.
“Take off the rest of your clothes,” he rasped.
“Yes, sir,” she said, her voice heavy with her own desire now.
He slipped his hand from her and brought his fingers to his lips, tasting her arousal as he stepped back to take in the full sight of her disrobing. God, every little part of her was even sweeter than he’d imagined—her taste, the scent of her skin, the soft want in her eyes. He didn’t deserve this, but hell if he wasn’t going to enjoy the unexpected gift.
Her focus stayed locked on him, her eyes flaring as he pulled his fingers from his mouth, and she tugged her boots off. Then, without any hesitation or modesty, she stripped out of her jeans and panties and then unhooked her bra. The lacy scrap fell to the floor. She stood before him, gloriously naked, and lowered her lashes. Waiting. Submissive.
His.
As Wyatt stepped forward, he felt the last semblance of resistance disintegrate inside him, like a flame to parchment. The man he used to be, the one he’d locked away inside himself, rose up from the shadows of his past and grabbed hold of the reins.
Dominant. Determined.
And ravenous.
God help them both.