Treasured by Lexi Blake

Chapter Six

David closed the door behind him and felt his body hum with awareness.

“I don’t understand how people here can eat so late.” Tessa strode over to the closet where her suitcase had been placed and toed out of her shoes. “But I will admit the conversation was interesting. I can’t believe you figured out all those numbers.”

It was late, the moon illuminating the balcony, and he wondered if he could coax her into going outside with him.

The day had gone by in a flash. One minute he’d been putting together the puzzle that had led to a book in the very library he’d spent hours and hours in today, and the next he found himself here with her. He knew he should be tired, but there was a restless energy running through his veins because he finally got to be alone with her. “Once I figured out how the numbers and letters related, it was fairly easy. It was making the connection that was hard.”

He’d figured out he was looking at Dewey decimal classifications, and from there he had to find the right books in the library to lead him to Montez’s ultimate hiding place. The present for Eddie had been a baseball card. Sammy Sosa.

Eddie had studied that card with wonder, as though he could still see his father putting it there, waiting for him to find it. He’d explained that he’d loved American baseball as a kid, and one of his fondest memories of his father had been going to New York with him and seeing a Yankees game.

“Well, it was easy to see that they were all impressed with your deductive powers. They were talking about it in the kitchen earlier,” Tessa remarked.

He’d been surprised that she hadn’t been in the room when he’d come to take a shower and change for dinner. She’d shown up in time to walk with him to the dining room, but they hadn’t had a chance to talk. “Is that why you’re pretending to not speak Spanish? You wanted to be able to listen in?”

She wore a pretty gold sundress that showed off her toned arms and shoulders, her hair in a neat bun at the back of her head. “If they don’t think I understand, they’ll speak more freely around me. I want them to think I’m nothing more than a pretty piece of fluff the professor gets to bang.”

He frowned at the thought. “You’re far more than that.”

“I don’t need you to build me up. It’s a convenient cover. I know you don’t think that. You’re practically perfect,” she said, her nose wrinkling. “You even caught all my cues. It was a seamless performance.”

“Oh, like the not speaking Spanish?” He’d simply allowed her to lead.

“Yes, some men would have corrected me,” Tessa explained. “I’ve met the type. They don’t like to be wrong, and they’re always putting in their two cents.”

“I can be wrong. I’m wrong a lot. So what did you actually do when you said you would be reading and taking a nap?”

“After I made sure there are no listening devices in our bedroom, I walked around the place, into some of the rooms Luis didn’t show us.”

“I’m sorry, listening devices?” he asked because that statement had surprised him.

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure we can speak freely in here. I didn’t find anything. We’re good. What I did find was a stairwell that leads into the staff quarters. I was shown out of there quickly,” she said. “I don’t like the butler.”

“How can you know if you like him?” He wasn’t going to argue that Eddie had no reason to listen in on them. It was her job, and he was going to let her do it. He hated that they were chatting about inconsequential things when all he wanted to do was ask her if she’d changed her mind about playing with him. “He barely said two words to me.”

The big guy had been around though. He’d been waiting outside the library when they’d taken a break. David had been surprised since there had been a staff meeting Eddie had been called away to, but he’d figured Mateo was there in case he or Luis or Tessa needed something.

“I wasn’t talking about a personal level, though I doubt we would have much in common,” Tessa said. “He wasn’t in Kyle’s notes, and he’s a recent hire. I heard two of the gardening staff talking about how he took someone else’s place, and they don’t understand why Eddie would replace the old butler since he was nice and Mateo apparently is not. They also said he’s lazy and should go back to the city if he doesn’t want to work.”

“You know the rural urban divide is pretty much the same everywhere. The people from the country think the people from the city are lazy and don’t know how to work hard.” He wasn’t sure why she’d focused in on Mateo, but she was smarter at this than he was.

“I suppose, but I don’t like the timing of his hire. He came down with Eddie a few days ago after the old butler decided to retire suddenly. I find him suspect until such time he proves he isn’t. Does he look like a butler to you?”

“What’s a butler supposed to look like?” He bet most people would think of some elderly English dude, but the wealthy had butlers all over the world.

“Well, they don’t usually look like they can lift two twenty and eat nails for breakfast,” Tessa said with a frown.

“Eddie mentioned he’s ex-military and he trained with an academy when he got out.”

“All of that should have been listed in a report,” Tessa pointed out. “Kyle should have checked to make sure Mateo’s credentials are real. I don’t even know the dude’s last name.”

“Kyle focused more on the people we would come in contact with before we got to the island.” He pulled his tie off and slung it over the nearest chair. They’d been given a large suite of rooms with a living area, bedroom, and massive bathroom with a shower big enough for the both of them. They would fit in the tub, too.

He couldn’t help but think about the fact that the bed was big enough for a whole lot of play if she decided to say yes. That bed was big and soft, and after they were done with play they could cuddle together all night.

It had been a long time since he’d slept with a woman. Sex had become something perfunctory for him, an itch he and his partner needed to scratch and then move on with life. He didn’t want that with her. He wanted to indulge with her.

He wanted to study her. To read her like a book, savoring every line, closing the book only to open it again because he’d probably missed some subtext. He was fairly sure it would take a long time to become an expert on Tessa Santiago.

“Kyle was being lazy. He should have checked out every single person who works here or we might come into contact with,” Tessa complained.

“He’s not lazy. He’s going through some stuff right now. He’s still adjusting to being out of the military, and I think something bad happened to him. He has some terrible dreams he won’t talk about.” David felt the need to defend his brother. “And he came on the job very late. He was basically doing a favor for me. I told him everyone on the island was okay, and he believed me.”

She seemed tense. He’d noticed all the way through dinner her smile hadn’t once reached her eyes, and she seemed to be watching every move the staff made. “It’s not a favor. It’s a job, and he should have taken it more seriously. I spent the afternoon and early evening getting a lay of the land. I spent some time in the kitchens while they were making me some tea. They’re surprised that you brought a woman with you instead of your brother, but I heard Mateo say that would make it easier. I have to wonder what he meant by that. I only caught the end of the conversation.”

There was a simple explanation. “Kyle would have required another room. I think they’re happy they didn’t have to clean another one every day. This way they’re responsible for three rooms instead of four. And if they knew anything about my brother they would be happy because he’s pretty much a slob.”

She frowned his way. “David, this isn’t something to joke about.”

“What has you worried?” He didn’t get it. He’d had a nice day. The staff seemed competent if not entirely friendly. The food had been tasty, and the conversation at dinner had been entertaining.

She seemed to think about what to say next. He rather thought she was trying to decide how to deal with him. “I don’t like how they look at you.”

He hadn’t been expecting that. Tessa seemed like such a logical woman. “How do they look at me?”

“Like they know something you don’t,” Tessa replied.

“What would they know that I don’t?”

“I get the feeling Eddie wants to use you for something,” she admitted. “How many of those puzzles did he give you?”

Eddie had given him two notebooks filled with Montez’s notes on codes and puzzles. Eddie’s father had deeply enjoyed games. He’d been known to throw elaborate treasure hunts during his parties that could go on for days. “They want me to take a crack at finding Montez’s treasure, the one he hid somewhere on the island.”

She pointed his way as though he’d made her argument. “The one that’s rumored to be worth millions of dollars.”

She was forgetting that looking for the treasure was already on their agenda. “I was planning on taking a crack at it. It’s why we’ve got the camping gear. They don’t have to use me for it.”

“And if you find it?” she asked.

“I would give it to Eddie. It was his father’s.”

She stared at him as though trying to figure out if he was being honest. “Millions, David. The person who finds it is supposed to keep it. That’s the whole point of the challenge.”

The actual treasure was the least interesting part to him. “I don’t need the money. The reward for me is the history I’ll find. I’ll honor Montez by returning the treasure to his family.”

She sighed and strode across the living area. “I don’t get you, Hawthorne.”

Ah, they were back to Hawthorne. She was trying to put distance between them, and he didn’t want that. He caught her arm, gently stopping her. “I think you do. I think that’s what bothers you. Tell me if you’ve changed your mind.”

Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him. “I should. This situation is more complex than you’re making it.”

“And it won’t get less complex if we sleep together.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said softly.

She obviously hadn’t thought this problem through the way he had. All through dinner he’d thought about how to argue his position. “I’m not. If you choose not to play with me tonight, I’ll still have feelings for you in the morning, and we’ll still be right where we are now. We’ve got a couple of days and then you’re determined to never see me again.”

“I’m not that dramatic.”

“Then you’ll date me when we get back?”

She shook her head. “I won’t avoid you, but I still think a relationship is a bad idea.”

“Then nothing changes by playing with me tonight,” he said, his voice going low. “You’re not going to protect me less because we slept together. You’re still going to give the job everything you have. You’re not going to let yourself catch feelings for me. So you’re safe to indulge. Tell me you don’t want to indulge, Tessa.”

Her chin tilted up, and there was a light of challenge in her eyes. “I’ll feel safer if you promise to keep your eyes open around here.”

“Are we negotiating?” He should have known she would try to get something out of it. Of course the fact that the thing she was trying to get was him to be more serious about his own safety was a mark of what kind of a woman she was. Smart. Capable. Protective. A little sneaky.

Her hands went to her hips, and he could see her steel herself. “Yes. I think we are. You’re right. Spending a restless night isn’t going to fix things. And having sex isn’t going to change things.”

He hoped she was wrong about that, but he was going in with his eyes open. “I promise I will be more careful. I’m not going to give you hell about protecting me.”

“There’s a reason Big Tag almost never puts a female bodyguard in charge of a male client.”

He could imagine. “Because some of us are assholes who think we can do any job better than a woman. I’m not that man, Tessa. You’re the expert here. If you think it’s too dangerous, then we go, and I won’t fight you on it.”

“Seriously? If I told you my gut thinks something’s wrong here, you would pack up and go with me?”

The whole idea of leaving gave him a headache because he might never get this chance again, but there was one correct answer here. “I trust you. You say the word and we leave.”

“You are too good to be true.”

He thought that was part of the problem. She didn’t want to trust this thing between them because it felt too good and therefore had to be false. He needed to show her how wrong she was. “Then I will inevitably disappoint you, but it won’t be by questioning your authority when it comes to our safety. So let’s play. I trust you to keep us safe. Trust me to bring you pleasure.”

A soft sigh came from her mouth, those full lips of hers parting slightly. “I worry I’ll think more about you than I will the job if I sleep with you.”

“I know I won’t be able to think about anything but you if we don’t.”

“You seemed to do okay today.”

He’d wondered if it bugged her that he’d gotten lost. He released her arm. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realize where the time had gone.”

She shook her head and moved back. “That didn’t bother me. I know what you’re here to do, and I’m glad you had fun with it. It’s my job to make sure you can do yours. And it was cool how you put all of that together. But I have to admit I’m nervous about moving forward. I do want you.”

He could compromise. “How about you go and take a shower and get ready for bed. I’m going to go out to the living area and make a couple of notes on the things I learned today. I’ll close the door between us. If you come through the door again, we’ll start a scene and play. If you choose to go to bed then I’ll see how you feel in the morning. This is not an all or nothing offer. If you change your mind, I’ll be here. But you have to promise me something. When you’re in the shower, think about me. Think about what we could do if I was in there with you. If you decide you don’t want to go through with this, leave the door closed. You take the bed and I’ll sleep out here on the couch.”

“That doesn’t seem fair to you.”

“Fair doesn’t matter. What matters to me is that you feel secure and comfortable and you make the decision you need to make because if you do want to explore this chemistry between us, I’ll be in charge.” He moved to the door that separated the bedroom and that decadent bath from the living area where his laptop was already set up.

She stood there, watching him with wary eyes. “All right then. I’ll think about it.”

He closed the door between them and prayed she found the courage to open it again.

* * * *

Tessa stood in front of the door and realized she was being a coward. She’d taken way too long in that shower, and the whole time she couldn’t stop thinking about how if she’d been a little braver, he might have been in there with her, his hands moving over her body.

He was too fucking good to be true, and she’d had that before. She’d been in this exact place with a man who should have been forever and just wasn’t, and what if that was her fault?

It had seemed like such a perfect idea on the plane. She’d had hours to think it over, to come to the conclusion that they could find mutual pleasure and walk away satisfied. One night to get David out of her system had sounded like a logical, practical thing to do. Then he’d turned the tables on her on the boat. The minute she’d realized her buttoned-up professor was kind of a freak, she’d known she was in serious trouble. In some ways it still didn’t compute for her. The tops she knew were men who were dominant and dangerous even outside of Sanctum. She was sure her friends would tell her she needed to hang out with people who didn’t take bullets for a living, but that was her experience. She equated tops with alpha males.

Or was she equating alpha males with military men. There were other types of alpha men. She would bet David could take charge of a classroom easily. Why did a guy have to carry a gun to be an alpha?

She was stalling again. She wasn’t this woman, damn it. She wasn’t a woman who worried over every decision. She wanted David, and she was going to have him. They’d made their deal, and everyone knew the score, so this was easy-peasy.

She opened the door and stepped into the living area. And stopped because he was sitting at the desk, his face illuminated by the laptop screen and the soft light coming from the lamp. He had his glasses on, and he was staring at the screen intently with that look she’d quickly come to associate with him being lost in thought.

He was beautiful, and she wasn’t sure how she could fit in his world. Was his world as far from her as Michael’s had been?

His head came up, and suddenly it wasn’t the screen he was studying. “Hello, Tessa. Come here.”

The smile might have been friendly, but his tone was lower, the hint of a command in the words. She resisted the urge to lick her lips and stepped into the room. The door made a heavy, final thunking sound as it closed behind her. As tense as she’d been before, now she found her shoulders relaxing, the calm she normally felt in the changing room at Sanctum starting to slide over her.

She was suddenly so much more aware of her body, of the way the silk of her pajamas felt against her skin, the cool breeze from the fan overhead caressing her. Her feet sank into the thick carpet of the rug, and she could smell the soap she’d used.

She shook herself out of those thoughts and back to the problem at hand. They had things to work out. “We need to talk. I meant what I said about throwing down, but also—”

“No.” David tucked his hands into his pockets and smiled. He was wearing the same khakis with a brown belt and a white dress shirt he’d worn to dinner, though he’d lost the tie and jacket. The top two buttons of the dress shirt were open and the sleeves rolled up. He was barefoot. It was a far cry from the leathers and boots she was used to. So why did she find it so fucking sexy? Even his glasses were hot. Hot professor.

Wait. He’d said no.

“No?” She crossed her arms. “No you don’t want to have sex tonight, or no—”

“No, we don’t need to talk.” He picked up the straight-backed wooden chair he’d been sitting in and moved past her. He opened the door to the bedroom again, walking through.

She watched as he settled the chair near the foot of the massive four-poster bed. All the furniture in the villa was well-made, if simple in design. It looked like most of it had probably been made here on the island and assembled in the rooms given the size of the pieces. If he tied her down to that bed, arms and legs spread, there’d be no way of getting away. She could pull on the ropes all she wanted. That bed wasn’t going anywhere.

She would be at his mercy. No arguing. No fighting her own wants. All she would be able to do was take the pleasure this man could give her.

If tonight was about throwing down, maybe she should do exactly that. Tackle him and use a soft takedown move to get him on his back on the floor. Then she could straddle him and—

“Tessa, I asked you to sit down.”

With a start she glanced at him, then backed up a few steps and sat. She’d missed that first command. The second hadn’t been given in Dom voice, that had been teacher voice. A reprimand mixed with an order and all coated in a slightly disappointed tone.

“Damn,” she said in admiration. “You’re a college professor. I didn’t think you’d have that pissed-off teacher thing happening.”

He grinned, his lips quirking up in a smirk she shouldn’t find so sexy. He stepped in front of her, just close enough that she had to tilt her head back to see his face. Just enough to let her know who was in charge.

“I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen.” He stared her down. “We’re going to address the issue of your preconceived notions about what qualifies a man to be a Dom. I sensed that you were surprised when I told you, and I think I know why.”

She was getting a lecture? She hadn’t expected that, but then she was starting to get the idea that David was way more of a mystery than she’d imagined. “I don’t think that you can’t be a Dom. I was just—”

“Please do not interrupt.”

Tessa closed her lips, eyeing him from under her lashes.

He fiddled with his glasses, adjusting them slightly on his nose. He started to circle around the chair, looking down at her. It was like a predator circling his…

No. It was like a curator looking at a newly acquired piece of art. An archaeologist examining an artifact. He was looking at her as if she were unique and special. Treasured.

He stopped in front of her then dropped to a crouch. “I might not have an ex-soldier’s instincts to take command, to give orders, but I have something better.”

“And what’s that?” Tessa asked, happy that she managed the question in an even tone and not filled with the breathless anticipation she felt. This wasn’t going how she’d thought it would, how her other scenes had gone.

It didn’t feel like a scene at all.

“Curiosity. I like to learn. To study.” Dropping to one knee, he wrapped his hand around her ankle, sliding his fingers under the fabric of the loose pajama pants she was wearing. “And then I take that knowledge and I apply it. I develop theories.” His hand pushed her pant leg up to her knee, exposing her lower leg. “I test those theories. I seek out evidence to support them.” He ran his fingertips up her calf, then gently teased the skin at the back of her knee.

All he’d done was touch her leg and her whole body was on fire with need. She could feel her pussy getting wet and soft and wanting. She usually needed time to get ready. It was one of the reasons D/s had been good for her. D/s had taught her that whatever she needed to make sex good was all right. That she could go at her pace and expect her partner to be okay with it. D/s had taught her to take sex seriously, to be thoughtful.

She didn’t want to think with this man. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have to.

“You have a theory about me?” She tried to make the words flippant, but they didn’t come out that way.

David kneaded her calf muscle for a moment, then stood. When he held out his hand, she took it, responding to the unspoken command and letting him pull her to her feet.

“I do.”

Was that all she was getting? “What’s your theory?”

“If I tell you it will skew my study,” he said almost absently since he was staring down at her like he was trying to memorize her face.

“You’re going to study me?” She wasn’t sure she would be able to handle all that intensity focused her way. When David was fascinated with a subject, it held all of his attention. What would it be like to have this gorgeous, smart man give her every bit of his focus?

“Yes. I am.” He reached out and put two fingers under her chin, tilting her head up and forcing her to look into his eyes. “You want that, don’t you?”

“Yes.” The word was almost a plea. She was so turned on that each breath felt heavy and wet with need.

“Do you think that’s an appropriate way to address me?” The question was asked on a soft tone, but there was steel beneath it.

“You want me to call you ‘Sir’?”

“While that would be appropriate, what we have is special, so I think we’ll use a different, special, term.”

She winced, briefly pulled out of the moment because the word special was too close to home. She was afraid what was happening between them was special, and that scared her. “David, I told you. This is just sex. Maybe we shouldn’t be so…”

“Professor,” he said, ignoring her outburst. “You will call me Professor when you’re submitting.”

“Professor.” She’d been sort of hoping he’d make her call him “Master Hawthorne.” She was more than willing. But then she’d called a lot of tops Master this or that. She’d never called one Professor and never would in the future. Even if she never touched him again, David would always be her professor.

“You called me professor as a joke before. Tonight the word is going to have a different meaning.” David once more touched her chin, but this time he slid his curled fingers back, grazing the sensitive skin below her ear. Then his hand slid under her hair, around the back of her neck, sending a shiver of anticipation down her spine.

“But before we go any further, there’s something we need to do,” David said.

They should talk about limits, safe words. If they weren’t simply going to go at it hard, they should—

“Something I’ve needed to do since the first night I met you,” he murmured.

David closed the distance between them and sealed his lips over hers. Tessa’s eyes widened before fluttering closed. His kiss was sure and strong but not forceful. When his tongue touched the seam of her lips, it was a request not a command, and she yielded to him, opening her mouth to let his tongue sweep inside. She tasted him as he tasted her, and the arousal he’d kindled to life in her both flared hotter and burned deeper, touching parts of her soul that a simple kiss shouldn’t be able to reach.

The first time they’d kissed, she’d made the move. It had been good, but this was something more. This felt like a beginning.

David broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment. His breath washed over her face as he sighed.

“That…that was just for us,” he said as he straightened.

She met his eyes and realized this was going to be everything she’d feared. She wasn’t going to get what she wanted—a quick and easy getaway from feelings she didn’t want. She was going to fall for this man, and her heart would break when she forced herself to leave him.

But she couldn’t stop. She would take the pleasure and she would take the heartache.

His hand on the back of her neck had turned soft, his fingers sliding into her hair in a massaging caress while he kissed her. But now they clamped down once again, a firm, controlling hold that brought her right back to the kink moment that amazing kiss had interrupted.

“You’re to call me Professor. And from now on, any time you hear anyone call me professor, you’re going to remember everything I’m about to do to you.” His fingers tightened, and he jerked her forward.

She fell into him, his chest hard against her breasts, their faces so close that he could have easily kissed her again. He didn’t. Instead, she felt the puff of air from his next word.

His next order.

“Strip.”

Tessa looked up into David’s eyes. What she saw there made her want to submit. What she saw there made her want to forget her gloomy-fucking-Gus philosophy of life and try with this man. Made her want to hope that maybe this time it would be right. This time it would be forever.

She dropped her gaze to his chin and reached for the waistband of her PJ pants. He kept ahold of her, that unequivocally dominant grip on the back of her neck as she wiggled out of her pants.

She hadn’t bothered with underwear. She’d hadn’t seen the point since some part of her had known exactly how this would end—with her naked and in his arms.

Still holding her close, David dropped his free hand to her hip, fingers tracing a slow, circular pattern up her waist until they slipped under her fitted cotton T-shirt.

“I’m going to release you and then you’re going to finish taking off your clothes. Once you’re naked, go stand by the post at the corner of the bed. Do you have any issues with being tied up? Any restrictions you want me to honor?”

“No, Professor.”

“Very good.”

David released her and took a step back. Tessa quickly stripped off her shirt but hesitated when she reached around behind her back for the fastening of her bra.

“Hesitating in hopes of earning a punishment?” he asked with that same disappointed and commanding teacher voice.

Why did she find that so hot? Oh, because she was kinky as fuck and David was her Professor Hottie.

Professor. Damn it. That word did things to her and they’d barely even started.

“If you need to be bent over my desk and have a ruler taken to your ass to improve your performance, I’m more than happy to facilitate your learning in that manner.” David crossed his arms. “But I won’t be manipulated into doing it. Finish taking off your clothes and go stand at the post.” He pointed to the bedpost closest to her.

Tessa unhooked her bra and stripped it off, tossing it aside. She straightened her shoulders, prepared for him to look her over. She was in good shape—she had to be—but that didn’t mean that she didn’t have her self-conscious moments, especially being naked in front of someone for the first time. Especially when that someone was too gorgeous for words.

But David wasn’t looking at her. He’d turned away and was shuffling through the bag he’d carried with him the whole trip, which was on the dresser against the far wall. He pulled out a piece of paper and started reading it. Was he seriously getting distracted while she was standing here naked?

Outrage, and a little bit of hurt, flooded her. And yet at the same time it was almost…endearing—in a very irritating way—that her professor could get distracted in the middle of a BDSM scene. She stood for a moment, her emotions cycling. In the end outrage won.

She eyed the chair, considered throwing it at him. No, breaking the client was bad business. Maybe she should punch him. Big Tag would understand.

She took a step toward him, and David whirled, as if he’d been waiting for her to move.

He raised a brow, glancing from her to the bedpost. The step she’d taken had been away from the bed, not toward it.

Shit.

“Tessa, your inability to follow simple instructions doesn’t bode well.”

“A trap?” She gestured to the dresser. “Trick me into disobeying so you can spank me?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m down for a spanking, clearly. You don’t need to trick me into it.”

His jaw tightened, eyes going hard. “Rest assured that if I want to spank you, or if you need to be spanked, I will—”

The brat that lived inside her welled up. She’d been taking this way too seriously. “Said that before. Promises, promises, Professor.”

“—put you over my knee, the chair, the dresser, the bed…”

Her breath caught as he stalked forward. He held the piece of paper in one hand and a necktie in the other.

“But that was not a trick.” He gestured toward the pack. “I went to get my list.”

For each step he took she retreated, until she backed into the bedpost, the hard wood colliding with her backside. “List?”

“Yes. While you were out listening in on the kitchen staff, I was making a list.”

Tessa eyed him. Had he been prepping and planning for their scene? Had he sat in this room and carefully plotted out all the things he wanted to do to her? Damn it, that was hot. She could still save this. She bit her bottom lip and gave him her widest-eyed look. “What’s on your list, Professor?”

“It’s a quick outline of my study.”

“Your study?” Her brain was addled by the sight of the tie in his hand.

“Yes, Tessa. Like I explained before, I’m going to study you. If you let me, I’ll study you all week long.” He held up the piece of paper, and she got only a glimpse of a few words before he tossed it so it fluttered down onto the bed behind her.

Nipple play preferences? Pinch, twist, pull, suck, flick, abrade.

How many fingers can she comfortably take in her ass?

The idea of having David working his fingers into her ass was so hot she was light-headed with need. Tessa licked her lips. “David, no more playing around. Fuck me.”

She reached for him, prepared to use that takedown move she’d been considering earlier to get him on the bed.

But he was fast—faster than she thought he had any right to be. He grabbed her wrists, forcing them above her head, backs of her hands against the bedpost. He wrapped the tie around both wrists and the bedpost, securing them. It wasn’t enough to actually restrain her…at least it wasn’t until he added his belt.

When he whipped his belt from his pants, she froze. He smirked and ran the cool metal buckle over her nipples. Tessa hissed out a breath and arched her back.

“I don’t have proper cuffs, so using the tie in conjunction with the belt, to be sure I don’t put pressure on your nerves, will have to be enough.” He climbed on the bed behind her, kneeling and wrapping the belt over her wrists and the post, buckling it in place. The bondage was still loose enough that she could get out if she wanted to, and the fact that he knew better than to try and use the belt by itself due to the physical risks it could pose told her everything she needed to know about the quality of training at The Club.

She expected him to get off the bed and come around to face her once she was bound, but his hands slid around her from behind. Broad, warm palms cupped her waist, then moved north along her sides. His fingertips brushed the outer curves of her breasts, and all she could think about was what she’d seen written on that piece of paper. The things he was planning to do to her. In particular her nipples.

“I think I’ll start my study here. At these lovely breasts.” He cupped them, lifting with a gentle reverence that reminded her of the way he’d looked at her earlier. As if she was some precious piece of art or an artifact to be treasured. Some fascinating work he wanted to study, to understand.

His thumbs flicked her nipples, and she was so ready, so needy, that she cried out.

“Pleasure or pain?” He whispered the question against her ear.

“Pleasure.” She could barely breathe. “I’m so fucking turned on.” She arched her back. “Professor, please…”

David gently grasped each nipple, applying enough pressure to hold them. “Please hurt you? Play with you? Fuck you?”

“Everything. Give me everything.” She was past the point of arguing with herself. She was going down this particular rabbit hole, and she wasn’t going to be able to turn back. When they got home, when the job was over, she would be able to go on with her life, but for now she wanted to belong to him in these dark hours. They had six nights together. Why shouldn’t she spend them with him? Study him the way he was studying her?

His fingers clamped down on her nipples, a vicious pinch as tight as any clamp. Tessa moaned and arched up into his hands, needing, wanting, more. He released her and she cried out in protest, but he didn’t leave. Instead, he jumped off the bed and when he faced her, there were spots of color high on his cheeks, his eyes glittering with a need that matched her own. It was good to see that desire stamped on his handsome face, to know she wasn’t alone in this.

He reached out, caressing her breasts, squeezing them gently, and then contrasted that sweet touch with a vicious flick to her nipples, hard enough to have her up on her toes. Hard enough to send a straight line of desire to her pussy. She was wetter than she could ever remember being, could smell the musk of her own arousal.

When she arched her back as he rolled one nipple, David let out a tortured groan. His head dropped to her breast, and he took her other nipple in his mouth. The warm heat was wonderful, yet not enough. She needed so much more from him.

Needed everything.

“David, Professor,” she moaned.

“I wanted to go slow,” he panted against her breast. “But you tempt me.” He bit her nipple, a small punishment.

In response, Tessa wrapped one leg against his hip and tried to jerk him forward. That earned her a bite on the other nipple that had her groaning her frustration. But as he soothed that hurt with his tongue, his hand slid down her body and finally, finally between her legs.

She knew she was wet. Every time she shifted her weight from foot to foot she could feel how wet the insides of her thighs were getting. Her clit was pulsing in time with her heartbeat, and when his fingers found the nub and started to circle it, the spike of pleasure was so sharp she thought for a moment she’d orgasm from his mere touch.

No man had ever made her feel this needy this fast. If he could do this to her with no more than his words, a piece of paper, and some men’s accessories, what would it be like to submit to him in a club? Where he had access to toys and tools.

She’d probably explode.

She was going to explode now.

“I’m close,” she panted.

“Damn it, me too. I want…I want to do more to you. I want to take my time but I…” With a groan David jerked back. Before she could protest, he was yanking a condom from his pocket. She got only the barest glimpse of his dick as he pulled it out of his pants and rolled the condom on. Then his big body was pressing her back against the bedpost. Trapping her, but she didn’t want to escape.

“Tessa…” Her name was a benediction on his lips.

“Please.” It was the only word she could manage, but it was enough.

David grabbed her hips, lifting her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. The head of his cock bumped her clit then slid down the valley of her pussy.

“I’m not going to be gentle,” he warned her.

“Fuck me, Professor.” She didn’t want gentle. She wanted him raw and hard and male. She wanted this side of the man every bit as much as she was coming to need the intellectual, thoughtful side.

David surged into her, his big, thick cock filling her with one hard thrust. The sudden penetration. The fullness. It was nearly enough to take her over the edge.

She twisted her wrists, wiggling them out from under the strap so that instead of holding her wrists in place she was using it as a handle, her arm muscles tense as she held on tight.

David hitched her further up the smooth post and adjusted the angle of their bodies enough for him to slip a hand between them. His thumb touched her clit, and that was all she needed.

Tessa’s back arched as she screamed between gritted teeth. The orgasm was sharp and hot. As sudden and fierce as a summer storm, and every bit as powerful. Her pussy clenched down on his cock, and she heard him groan, felt him speed up his thrusts. She wrapped her legs tighter around him as her orgasm went on and on, intensified and bolstered by his own.

She could have stayed in that moment, locked in his arms, knowing, feeling that he was just as affected by her as she was by him, but nothing lasted forever. Not even the best orgasm of her life.

David let out a long, groaning breath, leaning his temple against hers.

“Holy shit,” he muttered.

“Mmm,” she agreed.

“Give me a second and I’ll untie…”

She released the makeshift strap and wrapped her arms around him.

“…or you can get yourself out,” he finished with a chuckle.

To her surprise, David grabbed her ass and, with the head of his cock still inside her, took two steps to the side and flopped back onto the mattress, her on top.

“That…didn’t go exactly as planned. But it was really, really hot.” He peered up at her, clearly waiting for a response.

She could still feel him inside her. “You didn’t even get out of your clothes.”

“Well,” David said at last. “I think it’s clear we’ll have to do that again, since what just happened didn’t satisfy either of our objectives.”

“What are you talking about?”

He grinned, shifting easily from the hard-voiced top to the adorable, sexy, cuddly man she’d known he would be. “You said throw down…but we had sex standing up. Doesn’t count.”

“Semantics? Really?”

“And I…well, I barely even got to start my study.” He slid a finger down her bare side, and it lit up every nerve ending in her body. “I’m not ready to give up on my study of Tessa.”

She started to move, letting his cock slide in and out again.

She wasn’t ready to give up on him yet.

She might never be.