Chasing After Him (5 page)

Theo

Saturday nights at Chantelle’s sucked ass without Zane. Sure, available
subs dotted the crowded lounge, but my cock didn’t find a single one
attractive. For the first time, even Sasha with her flaming red hair and
emerald push-up bra and panties didn’t stir my blood.

Kaden, one of my friends and a true sadist, slouched on a leather couch
beside me, eyeing the unattached women still seeking partners. He ran long
fingers through his blond hair, fingers I’d heard could inflict pain enough to
please any masochist. “About time we get some new blood in here.”

I grunted my agreement. Charlene came to mind, but I pushed the thought
away. A children’s doctor in training, she’d probably be horrified by such a
place. Or maybe, she had a private kinky side like Zane’s woman.

One could only hope.

I hadn’t seen her—or her car—all week. Knowing she wasn’t taking a
vacation, I’d dealt with borderline panic off and on. Twice, I called into
Boston Children’s and asked to speak with her. The second her voice carried
over the phone and eased my breathing, I hung up. Safe. At work. That’s all I
needed to know.

“I talked to Mistress Chantelle earlier tonight about lowering the
membership fee to draw more people in,” Kaden said, bringing me back to
reality.

I glanced over to find him peering around the lounge, hungry predator
glint in his light blue eyes. “What’d she say?”

“That a new woman handed over the ten grand last Saturday without
blinking an eye. Too bad she’s not here tonight.”

“Wanna bet she’s a masochist and I’m shit outta luck?”

Kaden chuckled, but didn’t respond as the club’s double doors opened.

Mistress Chantelle took two steps into the lounge and paused, her silk
blouse and black pencil skirt an illusion for the underlying Domme who adored
leathers. Or, so I’d heard anyway.

I craned my neck for a glimpse of the much shorter woman behind her. A
flash of bare hip and long, dark tresses reminded me of Charlene and I groaned.
Get a grip.

“Must be the new blood,” I said, elbowing my friend.

Mistress Chantelle scanned the room. Her gaze landed on Kaden and me,
and her Cheshire cat grin raised the hairs on my neck. We sat unmoving as the
club’s owner strode across the room. “Gentlemen. Seeing as how you’re the only
two Doms sitting on your asses rather than enjoying someone else’s, I’d like
you to meet our newest member.” She stepped to the side, and the air whooshed
from my lungs.

Head bowed, hands clasped in front of her, Charlene appeared like a
submissive little lamb.

I couldn’t tear my gaze off the expanse of bare flesh—her pussy and
small pert breasts covered by tiny pieces of vibrant blue silk. My cock leapt
to attention and strained against my jeans zipper. I wanted nothing more than
to throw a blanket around her shoulders to hide her pale, delectable-looking
skin from the predator beside me.

“What the fuck?” The words grumbled past my lips as I stood.

“Know her?” Kaden asked, rising to his feet.

“Yeah.”

“Theo,” Chantelle purred, “our newest sub is interested in bondage
play.”

“Sure she is.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.

Kaden took a step forward and lifted Charlene’s chin. Her eyes latched
onto his Iceman-like face, and my gut burned as possessive fury lit. “And what
are your thoughts on finding pleasure through pain?” Kaden asked her.

Charlene glanced over at me, and less than a single heartbeat later, I
grasped her arm and strode across the room with her in tow. Growling, I shoved
the double doors open into the reception area and spun to face her the second
they swooshed shut behind us.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Her shoulders straightened as heat simmered in her eyes. “You enjoy
tying women up. I want to be tied up and ‘let it go’ along with a little sexual
gratification. Win win as far as I’m concerned.” She placed her palm against my
chest, burning me through my shirt.

The muscle jumped in my jaw as I glared down at her. “Get dressed, get
in your car, and go home.”

“I can’t.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I didn’t drive.”

I clenched my eyes shut and inhaled a long, slow breath as her hand
slid down across my tight stomach. “Go get dressed and meet me back out here.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m taking you back home, that’s why.” I stared down at her,
determined to win. It took a hell of a long time, but she huffed and turned
away, her ass a beacon for my eyes.

The woman was determined—and brave, I’d give her that. Parading around
half-naked in front of dozens of people, never mind dropping ten grand on a
membership, gambling I’d give in without a fight.

Beneath my anger, my ego preened like a damn peacock, but I didn’t
speak two words to her on the way home. When I pulled into the driveway behind
her car, I left the engine running. “Out.”

“Theo—”

“Get out.” I clenched the steering wheel in both hands so I wouldn’t
reach across the console and pull her onto my lap. “And, stay away from
Chantelle’s.”

“And, why the fuck should I listen to you?”

Fire laced her words, and when I turned, her glare singed me. “Because
I don’t want any man seeing you like that.”

She scowled. “What? You won’t fuck me, and no one else can either? What
the hell kind of bullshit is that?”

“You’re too refined for that place, Charlene.”

“More bullshit.”

I clenched my jaw and peered out the windshield. “Call it brotherly
protectiveness.”

“Bull. Shit. Tell me the truth.”

“Goddamn stubborn woman,” I muttered. “Can’t you just drop it?”

“You know once I’ve made up my mind, I never give up.”

I inhaled until it hurt and closed my eyes. Why not tie her up and fuck
her? Give her one night of release, a chance to let go and just feel for a
change?

Because I want more.
“This isn’t going to happen tonight, no
matter what you say or do. Please. Just go.”

Stoney silence filled the car for a couple of minutes, long enough to
tie my stomach in knots.

Charlene finally threw the door open and hopped out. From the corner of
my eye, I made sure she got inside safe before I sped away.

****

“How the fuck did you say no to her?” Kaden asked me the next night.

We lounged on the same couch as the previous evening, drinks in hand.
“She just wants a quick escape. I want more.”

“So fuck her and build a relationship afterward.”

“Not that simple.” I sipped my Jack and Coke. “She’s got six months
left of her residency at Boston Children’s, and I’m not going to be the ass who
fucks up her lifelong dream of becoming a pediatrician.”

“A med student can’t have relationships?”

“Not saying that.”

“So then what’s the problem?”

I stared unseeing across the crowded room, the image of Charlene in
that damn blue next-to-nothing lingerie filling my mind. “She’s the type who
never wanted to miss a day of school. Straight A’s across the board. An almost
perfect record. I won’t have her showing up late for work every morning all
because I can’t keep my fuckin’ hands off her.”

Kaden chuckled. “Nothing wrong with being late now and then.”

“She’s never late. Never messes up.”

“Come on, man.” Kaden downed the rest of his drink and rested the glass
on his thigh. “No one is perfect.”

I tipped my head back as my mind focused on the memory and scent of her
skin. “She is.”

“Well, shit.” Kaden cleared his throat. “I thought you told the little
lamb not to come back here again.”

His words lifted my head off the couch.

Goddamnit
.

Charlene stood inside the double doors in another tiny blue number,
chin lifted, scanning the crowd. Instant need sprang my cock to life.

“She’s no sub, that’s for sure.” Kaden said, taking the drink out of my
hand as I stood. “Have fun trying to break that spirit.”

“Fuck.” I shoved my way through the crowd, more than one cuss spewed at
my back.

Her damn saucy smirk landed on me, and her body relaxed into a sensual
pose meant to entice.

It fuckin’ worked. I wanted to throw her to the floor and fuck her until
we both found what we wanted.

Drawing deep for my usual control, I grabbed her arm and hauled ass
back out the doors into the empty reception area for the second night in a row.
Once shut in the dim quietness, I spun her around and glared down at her. “What
the fuck?”

“I told you I wouldn’t give up.”

“Well you need to.” I dropped my hold on her and clenched my fists at
my sides. “I don’t want this.”

She glanced down at the bulge in my jeans and smirked. “Liar.” Her
fingers twined in my shirt, and she stepped closer, dousing me in her peach
scent.

Fingernails digging into my palms, I fought back the desire—the fuckin’
need
—to touch her. Lick her lips and
thrust my tongue between them to take possession of her mouth.

Eyes lowered, she stared at her tight grip on my shirt. “Tie me up,
Theo. Make me forget reality for a while.”

“No.” My voice wavered.

“I’m always in control. Needing to have everything just so. I’m tired,
Theo. Exhausted.” She peered up at me, blue eyes wide and pleading. “Please.
Help me escape.”

Christ, the begging.
Did me in every fuckin’ time. “Do you have to
work tomorrow?” I heard myself ask.

She shook her head.

My conscious hollered no, but I nodded. “Go get dressed.”

She hesitated. “Are you just going to drop me off at home again?”

I straightened. “You want this, then you play the part,
sub
—just not here. You know what a safe
word is?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Yellow means you’re unsure, red means stop. Understand?”

Fire filled her eyes as she peered up at me with an
I-will-not-be-defeated stare. “Yes.”

 
“This isn’t a game, little lamb.
Get dressed. Now.”

Charlene lowered her direct gaze and scurried through a side door, a
small smile giving away her triumph and making me realize getting her into subspace
might prove difficult.

Contort her body with my ropes
and send her swinging, or simply tie her up and tease the ever loving shit
outta her?
I tipped my head
back and hissed an exhale through my lips as images of what her petite body would
look like suspended from the ring in my bedroom ceiling flashed through my
mind. Crimson knots against her pale skin …
fuck
.
I adjusted myself and stared at the door she’d disappeared through.

She’d played a good game, but it was my turn to make
her
squirm.

Giving her the release she seemed desperate for would be easy, but keeping
our emotions—the distraction I feared—out of the equation would prove more
difficult. But, goddamn I planned on trying. I needed to try for her sake.

Home wouldn’t be the best or safest place to play with temptation, but
no fuckin’ way would I allow her body to be on display for every salivating
jackass Dom wanting fresh meat to brand.

Charlene

My damn hands shook as I threw on my long, wool overcoat atop the
skimpy lingerie Livi had helped me pick out earlier in the week—blue like the one
I’d worn the night before.

Stomach fluttering and muscles quivering, I strode back to the
reception area. Theo glanced down at my coat and groaned, clenching the keys
tighter in his hand. “All you’ve got on under that are those scraps of silk,
right?”

I couldn’t help my smirk.

He heaved a breath. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” I asked as he held the front door open and
motioned me out into the cold.

“To my place.” He strode down the snow-dusted sidewalk toward the
parking garage. “I suppose you didn’t drive again, did you?”

“No. Livi dropped me off.”

He stopped short and spun, dark fury shooting from his eyes. “Livi?”
The muscle jumped in his jaw, his nostrils flaring as he breathed. “Meddling
little brat.” He spit the last word and turned, stomping away.

As with the first time, Theo didn’t say two words the entire ride home.
His anger filled the car, making my skin tingle.

Livi had claimed he was no sadist, but once he had me tied up, would he
unleash his anger on me or decide punishment was in order? The thought of pain
didn’t light my buttons, but I wanted Theo. Period. If that meant being branded
by his hands or a whip without whimpering, then I’d sure as hell find the
strength to do so. He needed to know I was all in, regardless of what he wished
to dish out.

We pulled into Theo’s driveway, and he turned the Cherokee off. “Are
you sure about this?” he asked, staring straight ahead.

“Yes.”

He exhaled a slow breath. “One rule.”

I waited.

“No kissing.”

“No … what?”

He angled to face me, dark eyes luminous and serious in the full moon’s
light pouring through the windshield. “You want escape from reality through
pleasure, and I promise to give you that. But...” His gaze lowered to my lips
and jerked back up. “What you don’t need is emotional distraction that will
take your mind off what’s important right now. Your dreams are within reach. I
won’t be the one to mess that up.”

I studied his face, surprised to find more than lust in his dark eyes.
Sincerity and something I couldn’t name.

Test to diagnose and find
answers.

“Emotional distraction?” I quirked an eyebrow. “As in more than a simple
fuck?”

His eyes hardened. “There’s nothing simple in what I’m planning on doing
to you, little lamb.”

A tingle of fear lit within my stomach, but a slow smile grew on my
lips as my panties soaked through. His diversion tactic said it all. Time to
make him good on his promise to give me release—and enjoy a taste of the man I decided
I wanted to keep for a long while. “No kissing. Got it.”

His head tipped to the side, eyes narrowing.

I tried for wide-eyed innocence.

“Tonight, I’m the one in charge.”

“Yes, Sir.” I mock saluted.

His lips twitched. “Get your smart ass inside.”

****

Theo had ordered me to go upstairs to his bedroom, strip and sit on the
edge of his bed, legs spread and eyes closed. Heat flushed my skin in the
dimmed overhead lights. My heightened breaths filled the stifling silence and
overloaded my olfactory system with Theo’s cologne and his musk on the bedding
beneath me.

A shiver licked down my body, raising goose bumps in its wake as
footsteps sounded in the hall.

I sat as he’d told me to, legs spread, aching pussy—bare and wet—on
display. Keeping my eyes shut proved a hell of a lot harder than I’d expected.
I longed to see his face, the heat in his eyes as he saw me naked for the first
time.

The door beyond the bed’s foot opened, and his rush of breath brought a
smile to my lips. I couldn’t help myself … I peeked.

 
He stood before me in all his
ungodly hotness. Black rumpled hair. Dark eyes oozing the same need thrumming
through my body as he peered between my spread thighs. A new wave of lust
rocked the ever lovin’ shit out of me.

“I told you to keep your eyes closed,” he said, voice ragged and low as
he lifted his head. “Lucky for you, I don’t redden skin with my hands or
whips.” His gaze narrowed, but his sexy-as-hell smirk eased more moisture from
my body. Need like I’d never experienced swept through me, and I fought the
desire to close my legs and hide my obvious desperation.

His gaze slid downward again. He licked his lips, and my breath caught
as he growled, “Close your eyes.”

I obeyed, lower lip between my teeth. Like a meek little sub, I didn’t
move as he walked around the room, opening and closing another door.

My heart thundered in my chest. My body burned. I couldn’t wait for his
hands to touch me. Caressing fingers. Warm mouth.

A moan passed my lips as I shifted with the desire to rub my thighs
together and find release. Hell, who was I kidding? I wanted to stroke my
throbbing pussy and pulsing clit.

“Since you can’t seem to obey orders, I’m going to blindfold you,
Charlene. Are you all right with that?”

Forced to focus on nothing but his scent, his words, his touch… I
swallowed back a moan. “Hell yes.”

Soft silk brushed across my nipples, hardening them to tight points.

“So responsive.” Theo’s soft tone matched his gentle movements of tying
a blindfold tight around my head.

Something a little less silken slid over my shoulders and down my right
arm. Rope, I realized as he began looping and knotting my forearms together in
a front arm binder, an occasional gentle touch to my straining nipples
heightening my breath. Wrist to elbow, he bound me, his fingertips reassuring
against my skin.

When he finished, I tested the rope and found no give. I swallowed
against the sudden sense of panic lacing through my mind.

“Relax, little lamb. I can free you with a few flicks of my switch
blade.” His low voice soothed me, and I nodded, forcing myself to draw a slower
breath. Theo’s hands, strong and warm, caressed my shoulders and slid down my
arms. “The pale skin of your wrists and slender hands make my crimson rope
beautiful,” he whispered, twining his fingers through mine.

The simple intimate act of holding my hands eased my anxiety, lightened
the tightness in my chest.

He leaned forward, his warm breath tickling my ear and lifting the
hairs on my nape. “Lie back, but keep your legs spread so I can look at that
beautiful pussy.”

Although my muscles quivered, I obeyed without a word. A tremble
rippled through my body as Theo bound my ankles with rope and tied them to the
bed posts. Again, no give, but my anxiety level remained low. He lifted my bound
arms overhead and tied my wrists tight to the headboard.

Silence settled once more. My body tensed again as I waited, tied up
tight to his bed. At his mercy, his control. I swallowed against rising anxiety
over being powerless except for a simple word I refused to allow past my lips.

Deep breath in through the
nose, exhale through the mouth.

The bed dipped on my right. A second later, a soft … something … slid
down my cheek to my neck, catching my breath. Feather? Flower? I breathed deep,
trying to catch a whiff of what it might be, but Theo’s presence overrode all
traces of scent but his own.

Whatever he used to focus my attention on touch swirled around my
breast, hardening my nipples to the point of pain. I bowed my back, arching
upward, all trace of unease dissipating with his gentle touch.

“Lay still or I’ll tie your body down.”

Biting back my groan, I did as told.

The softness rounded my other breast, moving slightly inward with each
pass, but meandered down my midsection without touching my aching nipples. I
squirmed as what had to be a feather dipped into my belly button.

Down, down, down,
my mind chanted as my breath escaped in
pants.
Oh, thank God.
He moved
between my spread legs and took his good old time, the light touch tickling
along my pubic bone, back and forth. Back and forth.

“Christ, you’ve got a beautiful pussy.” Lust laced his words, bringing
a moan to my lips. “I’m going to lick every inch, little lamb. Suck on your
swollen flesh until you come in my mouth.”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Yes what?”

“Yes, Sir. Please.” I raised my hips in offering.