Serving HIM: The Complete Series Box Set Read online

  “We’re not. We never––”

  I nodded. “I’m getting that.” Smoothing my hands up the solid length of his thighs, I leaned in and kissed his cheek. He tried to follow, but I moved away. “I was stupid. She got to me. I shouldn’t have let her.”

  He fisted his hand in my hair and tried bring my mouth to his, need written across every line of his face.

  Again, I pulled back until he released my hair. I needed him to hear this before things went any further.

  “Relationships.” I pressed my mouth to his once he’d eased up on my hair. It was a quicker kiss than I liked, but I couldn't lose myself before we'd finished the talk we should've had a while ago. “I get that you need to be in control and I understand it more than ever now. But, with relationships, it’s a give and take. It can't just be about me having to trust you. You need to trust me too. Let me in. Can you do that?”

  His eyes locked on mine, and I saw the struggle on his face. Then, slowly, his hand fell away.

  The ache in my heart deepened. The bruised look in his brilliant blue eyes was going to haunt me for a very long time. Right now, though, I was going to do my best to take it away.

  “You said something earlier. Before we left.” Leaning in, I tugged on his neck until he lowered his head and I could whisper in his ear. “Do you remember?”

  He turned his face into my hair.

  “Yes.” The single word was ragged.

  “Good.”

  I stood then and untied the belt to my robe. I rolled my shoulders, letting the heavy cotton fall to the floor. When I sank to my knees in front of him, I felt the slow glide of his gaze on me as if it was a caress.

  Sliding my hands up his muscular chest, I dealt with his tie, his shirt. He helped strip them away, tossing them in a tangle somewhere off into the room.

  When I went to tug at his pants, he rose and I sat back on my heels to watch him. Under the heavy fringe of his lashes, he watched back.

  His blue eyes glowed, the fire in them oddly banked as he removed the rest of his clothes. I knew now, without having to know the details, where the marks on his body had come from; the ones I’d always just seen as part of who he was. I’d always thought him beautiful, and now, as I realized all the scars he hid inside, he seemed even more beautiful.

  He stood there in front of me and I placed my hands on his thighs, skimmed them up, felt the light growth of his hair tickling my palms as I stroked up, then down, then up.

  His erection pulsed, beating in time with the blood flooding his veins. The thick shaft stiffened, rose, another beautiful part of his body. The vein that ran along the underside of his cock caught my eye as I sat back on my heels. I flicked a look up at him before I leaned forward.

  Slowly, I rose up. His eyes remained locked on me as I closed my mouth around the swollen head. A harsh noise ripped out of him and he lifted a hand. It hovered at his side for a second and then, without saying a word, he lowered it.

  “Will you lie on the bed?” I asked, my voice a low whisper.

  It was quiet. I was almost afraid to speak, afraid to shatter the odd spell that had fallen between us.

  His gaze never left my face as he slowly sat down, then pushed himself back on the bed. He didn’t lie down though, but propped himself up on his elbows, watching me as I stood, then climbed onto the bed, moving between his legs.

  Was it hard, I wondered, for him to do this?

  As the thought came to me, I caught sight of the muscle throbbing in his jaw and knew the answer. It was hard for him.

  Yielding control, even for something as simple as this, would be almost impossible. I put my hand on his thigh again and felt the muscles tense and tighten under his skin. I wrapped my free hand around his cock and stroked up, then down.

  A groan rumbled out of him.

  I did it again, then leaned down to swirl my tongue across the head. I sucked gently, rolling my eyes up to look at him as I increased the suction. He swore and thrust his hips up, shoving his cock deeper into my mouth. My eyes started to water and I pulled up.

  He made a move as if to grab me, but again, he stopped and swore, falling back flat on the bed this time and flinging an arm over his eyes.

  One hand curled into a tight, desperate fist. His jaw clenched and his cheekbones jutted out against his skin. And when I took him back into my mouth, he made that same raw sound, followed by my name as he rocked up to me.

  I did it again and again.

  The world shrank down to us, that bed and the rhythm of his hips as he rose to meet my mouth as I sucked on him.

  Need burned and twisted inside me but I ignored it.

  I needed this more—and he needed me.

  I could feel it in the restrained way he didn’t let himself reach for me, in the desperate way he didn’t let himself take over.

  He growled my name and fisted his hands in the thick comforter, twisting at the material as he started to pump his hips in hard, rapid circles. My mouth ached, my lips stretched tight around his width, but I took as much as I could. He started to come, the taste of him salty on my tongue. My eyes watered and I needed air, but I didn’t let myself pull away, determined to swallow it all.

  Not until the tension left his body and not until I had milked the last drop of semen from his cock, only then did I lift my head. His eyes were on me, dark and burning, his face so full of emotion that I could barely breathe.

  I crawled up onto the bed and curled up next to him. He immediately pulled me up against him, his arms wrapping around me and holding me close. His hand threaded through my hair and then trailed down my bare shoulder. “Aleena…”

  “Hmmm?”

  He didn’t say anything else.

  Just my name.

  Closing my eyes, I snuggled closer and closed my eyes. “I have to tell you something,” I said softly. “I…”

  I licked my lips, tasting him again. I was terrified to say the words that were trapped inside me, but I had to. I couldn’t keep them locked up anymore and I was dying, bit by bit, day by day, living like this. I couldn’t tell him that we needed to trust each other if I wasn’t being honest.

  Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at him.

  His lashes lifted and I could see the shield ready to slam back into place.

  I touched his cheek. “I…”

  Just do it. Do it and be done.

  “I love you.” I tried to smile and failed. “I didn’t mean for it to happen and I don’t expect anything from you.” I looked away. “But I can’t pretend anymore and whatever we’re doing, how we’re doing it…Dominic, it’s killing me. I either…”

  I sat up. His arms fell away and I felt terribly cold, suddenly all too aware that I was naked. Staring towards the window, I blinked away the tears.

  “I can’t be the kind of woman Penelope is, or the kind of woman your mother is. I don’t want to be some pretty little piece you tuck up in your room.” Hollow, I drew my legs up, trying to get some warmth. “I…look, I understand that relationships aren’t easy for you and I can…I understand and I don’t want to push you on anything. But if you…I just…”

  Now I felt pissed off and angry with myself. I should have just let it go. I made a move to shove off the bed.

  Dominic caught my wrist and tugged me back, pulling me on top of him. I caught my breath, ready to have him roll us and pin me under him. To put himself back in control.

  But he didn’t. He held me.

  “You just what?” he asked, his voice calm.

  Through my tears, I stared at him.

  “You just what?” he asked again.

  I blinked, uncertain of what I’d meant to say or what I’d even been thinking.

  “I told you, Aleena,” he said, his voice patient. “I don’t know how to do this, so if you want something, you have to tell me.”

  “I want you.” My voice broke and I was furious with myself for it. “But if I can’t have all of you, then I’d rather we…”

  His mouth c
aught mine.

  Now he rolled and pinned me under him.

  He was naked and hot and smooth and I gasped as he pressed against me, hard again. “All of me,” he said against my lips. “You’ll have all of me, Aleena. And you better be ready for it, because dammit, I’ll have all of you, too.”

  He braced his hands on the bed next to my shoulders and stared down at me. I gasped as he thrust, deep and hard and high.

  “Take me,” he said, watching me. “All of me.”

  I clung to him. “All of you…”

  As though he’d just been waiting to hear my affirmation, he started to move quicker, harder, faster. There was no finesse, no games, only heat and friction and pleasure. He drove into me hard enough that it should’ve hurt, but I only wanted him to go deeper. He didn’t tease, but I still begged, the need I had for him twisting with the fire inside me until I exploded. He swore as my pussy tightened around his cock but didn’t stop. Over and over he slammed into me, pushing me higher and higher until he came again, calling my name.

  We clung to each other even as we came down, our need not merely a sexual one. We needed each other in ways I wasn’t quite sure I fully understood yet. But it didn’t matter. We had time.

  I fell asleep smiling, my body still entwined with his.

  Chapter 2

  Aleena

  A camera flashed in my eyes and I blinked away the spots.

  Dominic guided me away from it and I instinctively followed.

  A couple of weeks ago, I’d wanted this, I reminded myself. And, okay, it had been nice to have Dominic call from the office while I was working at home and ask if he could take me out to dinner.

  It had been nice indeed.

  No, I admitted, it had been more than nice.

  The entire past week had been great. Even with people shoving cameras into my face, I wouldn’t have traded it. It happened whenever Dominic and I went out, twice without him even around. Fortunately, his drivers knew how to handle things and had been able to get me away without too much trouble.

  Tonight, though, he was around and more than a few seemed to think there was blood in the water. That was a shark thing, right? And the media was very shark-like. They moved after people in a herd, attacked together though each one was desperate for their own pound of flesh. They thinned out the weakest and then focused on those left standing after the melee.

  It was an unsettling and disconcerting sensation, one I didn’t like at all.

  “Ms. Davison! Ms. Davison! Is it true your mother broke up a happy relationship back in Iowa?”

  That voice rang out from the crowd and I came to a stunned stop. Surprised, I turned my head, trying to find the one who’d asked the question. While I’d been photographed and speculated about, this was the first time someone had singled me out for a question that wasn’t just about my relationship with one of the city’s most eligible bachelors.

  Dominic tugged on my hand. “Come on, Aleena. Don’t give them what they want,” he said, bending his head to murmur in my ear.

  Holding his blue eyes with mine, I took a deep breath and nodded. I let him lead me to the curb where the car waited, door already open. Maxwell gave each of us a nod as we ducked inside, into blissful, sweet silence.

  “Where did they come from?” I asked, looking out the tinted window. “And how did they get my name?”

  “Barracudas can find anything, baby,” Dominic answered irritably. Then he shot me a look that said he knew how he’d sounded. “I’m sorry. I wanted to have a nice evening with you.”

  “It was nice.” Leaning against him, I stared out at the city as it drifted by in a slow sprawl of lights and motion. I loved New York. I loved it more all the time. Barracudas notwithstanding. “Maybe some camera-welding fiends interrupted it, but I still had fun.”

  Dominic curled his arm around me and brought me in closer. I snuggled in against his strong body, feeling the muscles firm beneath his shirt. His fingers trailed along the low neckline of my dress and I shivered. My nipples hardened against the silk and lace of my bra. When he pressed his lips against my temple, warmth raced through me.

  “The night’s not over yet.” The words held the promise of pleasure...and pain.

  “No.” Heat slid through me in a slow, easy glide. “It’s not.”

  ***

  “You can’t speak.”

  Dominic brought the flogger down on my ass.

  I bit my lip to hold in the words as the sting spread across my skin, joining with the heat already there. I’d once fallen asleep outside while sunbathing on my stomach and when I’d woken up, I’d been burnt. It had been the only sunburn I’d ever had—with skin like mine, it took a lot more to burn—but I remembered that feeling now. My ass felt like it was on fire.

  “You want to speak, don’t you?”

  I jerked my head in a nod, taking a short, gasping breath. He brought the flogger down again and a new burst of painful pleasure went through me. My head fell back and I curled my hands into fists, my nails biting into the skin of my palms.

  “Spread your legs.”

  I didn’t. I was afraid to. He wasn’t using the softer cat that he’d used before, so even though he wasn’t hitting me hard, the pain was more intense.

  “Spread your legs, Aleena.” There was a bit of coaxing to his command, but I still resisted and this time, instead of speaking, he used the handle of the flogger and nudged it between my thighs. It rubbed between my legs, back and forth, back and forth. There was a hint of teasing laughter in his voice as he said, “I could make you come like this. Should I?”

  I didn’t know what I wanted. To come. To end this torture. To let him take me to new heights in ways I didn’t understand. I did know one thing though. He’d told me not to talk. I bit down on my inner cheek hard enough to taste blood and he rewarded me by twisting the handle of the crop, scraping it against my clitoris. I gasped, jerking against my restraints.

  My wrists were bound. He’d used velvet ropes, and they had felt soft against my skin at first, but now, the material cut into my skin with a delicious bite. The velvet was looped through the metal circle at the top of the pole, high enough that my arms were stretched out, but low enough that I was able to stay flat-footed, even when bent at a slight angle.

  He rubbed the handle against me again. Then again. I shuddered and tried to twist away. The sensation was too much. Intense and erotic. Clamping my legs together didn’t do much good though. It only served to trap the handle of the flogger between my thighs and when he twisted this time, I felt every exquisite nuance. Something very much like a strangled moan fell from my lips.

  He sighed and I could almost hear his amusement. “You’re going to be difficult tonight, aren’t you?”

  “No,” I gasped out the word, and the very second I did, I knew I’d messed up.

  A finger trailed down my spine and I knew Dominic was smiling. I could feel it.

  He turned me to face him. “I was hoping you’d disobey at some point tonight,” he said, his tone soft, as though he was confiding something.

  I shivered when he ran his hands down along my ribcage, his thumbs caressing the sides of my breasts.

  “Because you see, there’s something I want to do. Something I’ve been wanting for a while.” He pressed the handle against me again, harder this time, moving it in a deliberate fashion that had me rocking against him, against the firm, rounded, ridged grip that felt entirely too good.

  I could feel the orgasm building inside. So close. Just a little bit more and—

  He stopped.

  I sucked in a breath and lifted my head, glaring at him as he strode across the room.

  “From the first moment I saw, I’ve had this image in my head,” he said over his shoulder. He paused and looked at me, as if waiting for me to ask.

  No way in hell. I pressed my lips more tightly together. He chuckled and I knew he’d seen the answer in my eyes. I was a mass of writhing nerves, anxiety and anticipation mixed into one
. But I wasn’t going to break the rules again, not when I knew he was going to tell me anyway.

  Struggling to regulate my breathing, I watched as he opened the closet and reached inside. He pulled out something long and slim. It sort of looked like a curtain rod except there were loops on the end. When he met my eyes, he smiled and lifted one of the loops...no, not a loop exactly. It was a cuff.

  “This is a spreader bar,” he said softly. “It does exactly what it sounds like.”

  Oh shit.

  My breathing started to hitch as he knelt between my thighs. I could feel his hot breath on my skin as he leaned down and grasped my ankle. First the right, his fingers lingering on my calf as he finished. His touch became firm as he moved my legs further apart, then fastened the second cuff around my left ankle. He caressed my calf for a moment, then sat back on his heels.

  “Now you’re completely open to me,” Dominic said. The satisfaction in his voice sent heat rushing through me.

  Heat and a tinge of embarrassment and all sorts of vulnerability. The stance was slightly uncomfortable, but I barely noticed because I was all too aware of how visible everything was now.

  I jerked as he ran his fingertip between my lips.

  “And so wet.” He looked at me as he stood, sliding his finger into his mouth.

  That shouldn’t be so hot.

  He turned me back around, the ropes untwisting as I went. It was awkward, trying to move with my legs spread like that, but I managed, shivering as cool air moved over my wet, sensitive skin. Once I was in place, he slid the flogger up between my thighs and I felt each of the tassels. It made me shiver. It made me quake.

  And then I cried out as he brought it down on my ass.

  A moment later, a softer blow followed, but not on my ass. This one was straight between my thighs on my exposed pussy.

  Whimpering, I jerked against the restraints.

  Dominic said, “You came once before with the other cat. Do you think I could bring you to climax with this one as well?”

  I was panting, unable to answer even if I’d thought he wanted one.