Beg for It(43)

“No, edging your cock won’t make a difference in this, because you like that,” comes the retort. She turns, peeler in hand. “After the two hundredth line, when your hand is cramping and you’re sure you can’t do another one, maybe you’ll remember the next time to keep your word.”

“This is ridiculous!” He writes another line.

She laughs. “Yes, it is.”

He does it anyway. When he has finished, she rubs his sore hand with warm oil and blows him, off and on, for an hour or so. That is a different sort of punishment and torture, but it is not discipline.

They both know the difference.


“Did you?” Corinne asked again. “Get what you wanted?”

He cleared his throat and looked at the desk, then back at her, amused to see that she was blushing a little. “Yes.”

“It’s been a very long time since I did anything like that. Actually, I’ve never done anything like that.” She smoothed her skirt over her knees.

They stared at each other for a few minutes in silence, but it wasn’t awkward. If anything, sitting quietly in her presence reminded him strongly of when they’d been together, when they’d needed no words. When simply being with each other was enough.

“The night you came to my house…”

She smiled. “Yeah?”

“Did you mean what you said?”

Corinne looked scared for a moment. Then slowly, she nodded. “Yes. I did. Everything. Did you?”

“Yes.”

She looked down for a second, and when she looked up, the smile was back, this time with a glimmer of tears in her gaze. “Things are not the same as they were back then. I’m not the same person.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to be.”

“You,” she said firmly, “are not the same person.”

“I hope not.” Reese inched a bit closer, not reaching for her, though he wanted to.

Corinne cleared her throat. “You were very clear when we met in the restaurant that first day to talk about the offer. You are not my boy.”

“I was being a dick—”

“No,” she interrupted. “No. You were right. You are not my boy, and I don’t want you to be.”

His stomach twisted. Shit. All this, and he’d made an ass of himself for nothing. He could buy and sell a company, but he couldn’t buy or sell her.

“I don’t want a boy,” Corinne continued. “I want a man. Someone strong. Capable. Mature. Willing to be a partner. I have a life and responsibilities and children now. They’re my priority. And as much as I love f*cking you, I have to put my kids first.”

“I understand.” He did reach for her hand this time, linking her fingers in his. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“So if you just want to f*ck around—”

Reese shook his head. “No, Corinne.”

She cleared her throat. Then nodded once, carefully. Her fingers tightened around his. “We have to set some ground rules.”

He leaned to offer his mouth to hers, waiting for her to take it. “I love ground rules.”

“Mmmm.” She brushed his lips with hers, not pulling away but not letting the kiss deepen, either. When he tugged her hand, she moved onto his lap, her skirt too tight to allow her to straddle him, so she sat sideways. “I think the first rule should be, no fooling around at work.”

“That’s a terrible rule.”

When she took his lower lip between her teeth, nipping, Reese groaned, already getting hard again. His balls still ached from unreleased arousal.

She didn’t let go. The sting increased, though she stopped just before it would’ve become actual pain. She knew him. After all this time, she still knew him.

Her tongue flicked over the sore spot. “Are you going to argue with me about everything?”

“Not about everything. No.”

She laughed with a hitch in her voice and put her arms around him to tuck her face against the side of his neck. She spoke into his ear, soft feathering brushes of her lips on his skin making him shiver. “I’d like to do it right this time around.”

He hesitated, then pushed her back enough so he could look at her face. Reese brushed a strand of hair off her face. “What was so wrong about how we were, before?”

“Obviously something, since we broke up.” She shifted on his lap, easing the pressure on his growing erection.

He nuzzled her neck, loving the way it made her sigh and arch to give him better access. “You think we need something more formal? A…hell, a contract or something?”

She laughed again, this time pushing him away to get a good look at his face. “Oh, my. That sounds formal.”

“People do it. They lay it all out, get it notarized, the works.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Get out of here. That serious?”

“They do. It’s usually a master/slave sort of thing, laying out the exact details and responsibilities…” He broke off at the sight of her expression. “What? No?”

“I thought that was something in books. Not for real life.”

“One of the businesses I own is a travel company that caters to people in the lifestyle, planning vacations that incorporate kink.” Reese shrugged. “There are lots of things in books that really happen.”