Champagne and Bullets: Book 1 (Military Moguls) (12 page)

“Crazy?” Seb offered. “Darby has issues and I hope he seeks help.”

“How did you know it was Darby who slashed my tires?” She leaned back so she could look into his eyes. They’d gone from cold to warm in moments and she basked in their admiration.

“I didn’t.” Seb shook his head. “Not until I came here tonight and he was ranting on and on. I took a stab in the dark and it paid off. Are you going to tell the police?”

“I guess I should. I don’t want them to expend any resources trying to solve this when we know who did it. I hate to press charges, though. I just feel so betrayed.”

“I know,” Seb nodded, his strong hands stroked her back soothingly. “I would too in your shoes. Why don’t you sleep on it and decide in the morning? You don’t have to call the police tonight. If you don’t want to press charges you can make that conditional on Darby seeking some professional help for his obsession.”

“He shouldn’t have said that about you dying. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t survived being shot.”

Her world would have been very dark indeed if that bullet had taken his life.

“Luckily for us that bullet didn’t have my name on it.” He stepped away from her and their gazes locked. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mandy.”

‡

“I
’ve come to
say I’m sorry.”

Seb’s hands were shoved in his jeans pockets but his soft brown eyes were full of love. Amanda crossed her arms over her chest and lifted the corner of an eyebrow.

“What are you sorry for?”

“Doing it again. Going off alone and not treating you like a partner. I promise I’ll get better with practice.”

She moved toward him so they were standing inches apart and placed her hands on his arms, the skin warm under her palms.

“You’re already getting better. Last time took thirteen years, but this one only took about two hours and forty-five minutes. That’s real improvement.”

“I want to tell you it won’t happen again but it might,” Seb conceded with a grimace. “But I think I can turn it around in less than thirty minutes going forward.”

“We’ll work on it together. You’re not alone anymore.”

“Neither are you.” His hands came out of his pockets and he pulled her back into his arms. “I think you’ll keep me on the straight and narrow, that’s for sure.”

She slid her arms around his middle and gazed up into his beloved face. “That’s the plan, although you had me pretty worried. I thought this might take days instead of hours.”

“I’m sorry I made you worry. What I did was selfish and wrong.”

“Well, there is a way you can make it up to me.” Amanda rubbed her cheek against Seb’s broad chest.

She wanted the heaven of a quiet mind that only Seb could give her after all that had happened.

Seb pressed a kiss to the top of her head and smiled. “Anything. Name it.”

“Make my mind peaceful again. Will you?”

His fingers slid into her hair and massaged the scalp, drawing a contented sigh from her lips. “I will. Poor Mandy. Your brain is going a mile a minute, isn’t it? I think I have just the thing. Go into the bedroom. You know what to do.”

She fled to the bedroom and stripped off her clothes before pulling the covers down on the bed. Kneeling on the rug at the foot of the mattress, she took several deep calming breaths to slow her heart rate. The problem was her quickening pulse wasn’t from Darby’s stunt earlier but from the thought of what Seb might or might not do to her tonight.

She waited in the quiet until finally the sound of his firm treads on the floorboard alerted her to his arrival.

“Good girl,” he praised. “Let’s begin.”

Their rituals were so ingrained they came naturally to her now. She leaned forward so her knees spread wide and kissed the tip of his shoe before touching her forehead to the floor. Her body was already starting to hum as she heard him rummaging through closets and drawers but her sight was limited in the position she was in. That, she was sure, was by design.

Anticipation flared and heat curled in her belly as she felt him draw near once more.

“Stand at the foot of the bed, Mandy.”

His hands helped her to her feet and she positioned herself at the end of the large four poster bed, feet flat on the floor and facing the headboard. Her hands and feet were attached to the points of the footboard with silk rope and velcro cuffs holding her in an X configuration. Her entire body was open and available, vulnerable to whatever he had planned, whatever he desired.

Amanda could feel her mind going blissfully blank, knowing she had no decisions to make. She could simply luxuriate in the feelings and sensations of the night ahead.

Seb didn’t say a word either, letting the silence enfold them.

Instead he ran his rough hands all over her skin, up and down her arms, down her back, over her bottom, then up her ribcage. He paused to cup her breasts and pinch the already hard tips but then slid them down until they just brushed her pussy before rubbing her thighs, calves, and finally her ankles.

His strong fingers wrapped around the muscles and began to knead them until she was shifting her feet and groaning with pleasure. Eventually his palms slipped up to her quivering thighs and did the same there until her legs almost gave way under her. Every now and then a finger or thumb would brush her clit, and by the time he moved his hands to her ass her inner thighs were sticky with honey and she was moaning breathlessly, begging for something but not sure what.

He firmly massaged her backside and then suddenly pulled his hands away, only to have a palm come down sharply on an ass cheek. She jumped and pulled at her bonds, not really wanting to get away but loving the feeling of being helpless, completely in his dominant control.

Seb spanked her bottom until it was toasty warm before reaching down to the side of the bed and bringing back a paddle, long, thick, and covered in leather. Amanda’s stomach tumbled inside of her at the thought of how that was going to feel on her already heated ass. Her fingers curled around the smooth silk of the rope and she closed her eyes as she waited for the first stroke, her pulse pounding wildly in anticipation.

When it didn’t come, she peeked over at Seb who was simply standing there, watching her. He’d stripped off his shirt at some point and her gaze roamed over every muscled inch that he’d revealed. He was the epitome of a beautiful male. And he was all hers.

“Sir?”

“Just enjoying the view. You have no idea how goddamn sexy you are like this. Tied for my pleasure and submitting to my desires. It’s beautiful, Mandy.”

His fingers softly stroked the skin covering her spine. She shivered at the contact as it sent arrows of arousal straight to her pussy. Her nipples tightened almost painfully and she gulped air into her starved lungs.

His hand glided down her body until it lay on one generous ass cheek. He rubbed the sore flesh then removed his hand at the same time his other arm brought down the paddle.

Smack.

It landed squarely across both bottom cheeks, the impact sending her up on her toes. The heat from her ass was already traveling to her drenched pussy and clit and she gasped at the sensations that were running riot through her body.

Smack.

Smack.

Smack.

Each measured stroke found slightly different real estate than the last. Her bottom was white-hot and she was tugging on the ropes but she wouldn’t have stopped him for the world.

“Do you need to use your safeword, Mandy?”

“No, Sir.”

Her voice was strong and sure even as her mind buzzed and whirled at the delicious arousal that had taken control. It was as if Seb was a genius maestro playing her body in any way he wished and she was the instrument. Together they made beautiful music. How had she done without this for so long? He was the other half of her soul.

“Good girl.” Amanda loved it when Seb praised her, loved the feeling knowing she was giving him exactly what he needed. “Let’s try something new, shall we? I think you might like this. But first…”

She didn’t know what he had planned but he wrapped a black blindfold across her eyes and fastened it tightly behind her head. Quivering with an excitement she couldn’t control, a mini-orgasm skipped through her and she heard Seb chuckle in her ear. His breath was warm as he dropped a kiss on her shoulder.

“I should punish you for stealing that little one but I know you were as surprised as I was. Besides, how can I be upset when you’re so responsive? Still, I think I’ll make you wait a while for the next one.”

The small climax hadn’t taken the edge off her arousal in the least. If anything, it pushed her further toward the precipice and he’d promised to keep her there a good long time. She licked her dry lips as she heard the sound of a lighter and then the smell of vanilla begin to suffuse the air. She struggled for breath as she recognized what he had planned.

She’d never experienced it, hadn’t even read about it until a few years ago. Still, the thought of Seb dripping hot wax down her body was almost more than her heart could stand. It pounded so loudly she was sure he must be able to hear. She could hear the whoosh of blood in her ears as it was pushed rhythmically through her veins.

The darkness only made every sound more amplified. She turned her head as he moved behind her and then back as the scraping sound of a drawer being opened pulled her attention the other way.

In fact, every sense was coming stunningly alive.

The aroma of vanilla and sex filled the room. She could hear Seb’s steady breaths as he moved about, and even the ropes her fingers were gripping seemed more vividly smooth.

Seb tipped her head back and took possession of her lips, his tongue demanding. It was the kiss of a man in complete control. His mouth dominated hers and she surrendered willingly, sweetly knowing her reward would be all the greater for it.

He’d barely released her lips when she felt the first heated drop of wax on her shoulder. She drew her breath in sharply and waited for pain but there wasn’t any. The heat had rapidly cooled and the wax had already hardened on her skin.

Two more drops on her shoulders, the warm liquid dripping down and tickling her sensitized flesh. Seb moved to her other shoulder, letting the wax slide down her front but never close to her nipples. He swept her hair aside and dripped the vanilla scented wax down her back, coming close to her sore ass cheeks but not quite.

His fingers rubbed the abused flesh and he placed his lips right next to her ear. “Do you want to use your safeword? It’s okay if you do, sweetheart.”

“No, Sir.” Amanda shook her head. She wasn’t sure how long her knees were going to hold out. They’d turned to water and she’d had to lock them in place to keep from falling to the floor. The room was spinning and her mind was blissfully blank as she felt the hot liquid drop first on one cheek and then the other.

Hissing at the swift pain, it quickly morphed into pleasure, her clit swollen and her pussy clenching. She wanted to beg him to fuck her but this waiting came part and parcel with submission. This was about him being in control. They would move at his pace, not hers.

A hand was at her waist, holding her firmly, and she stiffened for a moment until he murmured softly, “Relax. Lean back for me.”

She knew what was coming next. Arching her back, she sucked in a breath as wax dotted her torso here, there, and everywhere. There was a long pause and then she moaned as the fiery liquid dropped onto her hard nipple.

“Oh God!” she gasped as the other point was lavished with the same treatment, both now coated with wax. Her hips jerked and she moved restlessly, wanting and needing what he could give her but afraid of it too. She wasn’t a masochist but he’d found that she liked some pain with her pleasure.

Sometimes the pain
was
the pleasure.

His hand brushed her abdomen and she could feel the glowing heat from the candle as he held it above her pussy. He waited there, giving her ample time to safeword if she wished but it was more than that. She knew what he wanted. She had to ask for it.

“Please, Sir,” she whispered, purposefully relaxing all the muscles in her body, surrendering to his dominance.

She wanted to give him everything. All of herself. There was no room for questions or fear. Only trust and love.

*