“Ten it is,” he said as he retrieved the paddle from where it rested on her back. “Count them off.”
Xander didn’t linger, didn’t tease her. He landed ten swats on her ass and the backs of her thighs in rapid succession while she counted them out. And once he landed the last one, he dropped the paddle to the carpeted floor and leaned over her, his cock intimately nestled against her ass.
“Don’t do that to me again,” he whispered, knowing she would hear the torment in his tone. He’d spent the entire day wondering what she would do. Fearful that she would try and back out of their deal because she was feeling too much too fast. He knew Mercedes. She avoided emotion at all costs – at least where intimacy was concerned. She gave all of herself to her friends but little to nothing to her lovers.
Xander wanted all of her.
“Yes, Sir,” she whimpered.
Xander eased off of her, letting his hands slide down her naked back. Gripping her hips, he pulled her so that she would stand. When she was fully upright, he said, “Turn around and look at me.”
When she turned to face him, her eyes were downturned, something he found he did not like one bit. “Look at me.” He wanted to see the emotion in her eyes, to read what she was thinking. The woman would not hide from him anymore.
Their eyes met, and he slid his hand down between her legs, gently teasing her bare pussy lips.
“Kiss me,” he demanded, doing his best to keep his hands to himself. He wanted her to make the first move. If she wanted him as much as he wanted her, she would do as he instructed.
Mercedes didn’t rush forward, and Xander figured she was trying to test him. What he wanted to do was to pull her flush against him and crush his mouth to hers, but ever since that morning, he had realized she was extremely skittish. She just hadn’t told him why.
Yet.
Then again, what happened the last two nights had been monumental, and it’d left him in a state of confusion for the better part of the day. It wasn’t hard to understand that what was going on between them was more than a well-planned strategy to dominate this woman in every way possible. No, this was significantly more.
This perfect woman, this amazing Domme, had, without thinking, handed all control over to him under her own steam. It had been a moment he would remember for the rest of his life.
He knew her. He knew that Mercedes was probably questioning herself, wondering if she was losing her touch. Rather than ask her to embrace this side of herself, he was trying to let her feel her way through it on her own. She’d get there, he knew that much. And it was a damn good thing he was a patient man.
Then again, he fully intended to regain his control of the situation right here, right now.
He sensed what she needed and right now, it wasn’t the aggressive, no holds barred – as she’d put it – sex that they were so good at. As much as he ached to dominate her, he needed Mercedes to give in to this as much as he already had.
Cupping her cheek, Xander locked his gaze with hers as he leaned in close, taking things slower than he might’ve liked. But this was about her. Not him.
When his mouth settled on hers, Mercedes wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing them even closer. As his mouth settled over hers, she surprised him by sliding her fingers into his hair.
He fucking loved when she touched him. When she seemed to need the contact as much as he did.
She teased him with her tongue slowly, and he was cognizant of the way he responded, refraining from pushing her too fast. It was a tremendous effort because, for a large part of the day, he’d replayed the way she had looked leaning over him, riding him for all she was worth right there in the middle of his living room. Then he’d get lost in the memories of the two of them making love in his bed.
She’d certainly thrown him for a loop and Xander was pretty sure he’d gone into this with his eyes wide open.
He knew she could feel the slight vibration of his body as he held himself back, but he didn’t try to press her.
Pulling his lips from hers, he said, “I need to be inside you, pet. Right here. Tell me you need it too.”
“I need to feel you inside me,” she answered, her eyes searching his as though she were trying to look for something deeper.
It was the exact same way she’d been looking at him that morning before she had freaked out and disappeared.
Mercedes’s hands slid around, and she removed his already loose tie, watching his face as she did. Xander made sure she saw everything he was thinking.
Once she was finished, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, keeping his eyes on Mercedes while he did. Once he had the damn thing undone, he shrugged out of it and allowed it to fall to the floor near his feet. Unable to wait long enough for her to undress him because he wasn’t sure he’d survive her sensual touch without going entirely mad, he didn’t waste any time removing the rest of his clothes.