Knight Nostalgia: A Knights of the Board Room Anthology(20)

“I was surprised I lost control like that, that night,” he said. Coming back to himself, he realized she might have no idea what he was referencing, but from the tightening of her lips and the swirl of emotions in her eyes, he knew he was an idiot for thinking otherwise.

“I’m glad you didn’t say you regretted it. I would have had to hurt you,” she said. “It’s a memory I cherish. Not of your pain; of course not. But it was the night my husband proved to me he knew he could trust me enough to lean. To break.”

“Afterward, I was worried that it had hurt you. To see how much I loved my parents, and how much they loved me.”

She shook her head, shadows crossing her face. “I had a very difficult and cold father, Matt. I’m so glad you didn’t have that same experience. They gave you the ability to love.” Her lips curved slightly. “It sounds like your mom put her stamp of approval on your tenacity about going after the woman you want. Now, are you going to answer my question, or are you deliberately trying to distract me?”

She knew the right moment to tease him. As much as he did trust her enough to have such a mental break, being vulnerable was far from his most comfortable state. Clearing his throat, he made a show of sighing and gazing up at the tented ceiling.

“I can’t remember the question.”

He laughed as she punched his side, and grabbed her wrist, protecting himself from further assault as she made a face at him. “Okay, okay. Give me a second to think about this.”

But he knew a way to answer her that straddled the line between his feelings for her, and information about the past that only mattered because of how it had taught him to pleasure her.

“The very first time I exercised my skills as a Dom, it was on a balcony, with a woman at a party. I told her to take off her panties and give them to me. No ties, no restraints, just feeling that click when I met her eyes and we knew exactly what we wanted and needed from one another. She surrendered herself to me in between one breath and the next.”

He shifted, so Savannah lay under the shelter of his body. Resting his hand on her throat, just above the collar, he bent closer to speak in her ear.

“I’m the kind of Dom that feeds off just this.” His hand constricted. “I close my grip, and I feel your pulse trip. I see your body tighten, then soften, giving way to my will. I hear the whisper of your escaped breath. With only words and touch, I take you over, like the flow of water, carrying you where I want you to go.” He raised his head, met her eyes. “I need nothing but my will to have you, because I know your body and soul better than I know my own."

"How is that possible?" she said, her voice thready, eyes brilliant.

"Because I find yours far more interesting."

She smiled. Releasing her wrist and coaxing her to lie back down, her head on his chest, Matt tightened his arm around her, kissed her head. “I’m okay with the mechanics. Equipment and toys can be lots of fun.” He tossed a glance to the far corner of the bed, where he’d left the ones they used. “But in the end, it’s always been about the mind-to-mind connection. The give and take, psychological reaction. That’s where the charge is, for me.”

“I felt that from you,” she murmured. “From the first time we met. I didn’t know exactly what it was, or why it drew me so, but I can see you doing what you described with that first woman perfectly.” Her lips curved against his chest. “Though I prefer to imagine the woman as me.”

“So do I, no disrespect to the lovely lady who allowed me that honor that night.” He kissed her head again. “I think of it like business skills. You learn as much as you can, so you have a lot of tools in your arsenal, but over time, you find your own style, what’s most effective for yourself.” A smile touched his lips. “Ben, Jon and Peter took my basic understanding of restraints and toys to a higher level, so I could employ them when needed. Or when it added to the pleasure of my partner.”

She became quiet again, but he didn’t sense she was unhappy with what he’d just shared. Instead, she seemed as if she was in a nice, drifting post-coital haze, which he liked, because she was at her most relaxed and trusting, curled in his arms without further questions or worries.

He curled her long hair around his large hand, watching the strands fall. As they did, he inhaled the haunting scents they’d used to clean it. Appropriately, it didn’t overpower the familiar scent of the woman herself.

He thought about buying a place here, a cottage near the beach where they could come back as often as they liked. The Resort had a select number of properties available for purchase on the opposite side of the island.

But in truth, they both loved New Orleans. This would be a nice repeat vacation experience, though.

“I admit, the bathing part took me by surprise,” he said after another long pause. “It’s not every woman who’d have the confidence to let her husband be bathed and massaged by naked women, even if it was to prepare her Lord and Master to be pleasing to her.”

“You’ve had your fun with me, O Lord and Master,” she said sleepily. “I won’t rise to the bait.”

“But you like calling me your lord. Admit it.”

She batted away his tickling hand. “I meant the women. You were in charge of all of this. And you did it…this was beyond my wildest dreams.” She laid her arm over his chest, her hand curling around his neck as she tucked her head deeper under his chin. “I love you.”