Training Tess (5 page)

“Oh. Yes Master. Do it. Fuck me. Fuck me hard.”

At her whispered demand, fire ignited in his gut. He wanted her. He wanted her so bad. And had for so long. To have her beneath him, around him, was nearly more than he could stand. He pulled out and shoved in again.

She constricted around him with a warbling cry. “Yes! Yes!”

“Do you like this? Do you like it hard and rough?”

“Yes.”

He pinched her nipple and then sucked it into his mouth. She whimpered and wrapped her legs around his waist. He changed his angle, heading for the spot he now knew, the spot she couldn’t resist.

“How about this?” He found her, stroked her. He could see it in her eyes, the descending bliss. Ruthlessly, he nudged her there again and again. “No coming, Tess,” he whispered. “No coming.”

“Oh, please, Jared, please. You feel so good inside me.”

He ignored her small infraction because frankly her words were so sweet. “How good?” He nuzzled at her neck, nipped and she writhed around him. He thrust in again and again. “How good does it feel?”

“Wonderful.” She wrapped her arms around him and rubbed her nipples against his shirt. He suddenly wished he’d removed it. He wished they were flesh to flesh from head to toe. “You fill me up. So. Completely. Ah!”

“No coming. Hold back.” He found another angle, another rhythm, and pummeled her until she was panting, groaning, nearly insensate with desire. He could tell in the tightness of her muscles, the quivering of her form, she was desperately trying to hold back. Desperately trying not to come.

Then again, so was he. It was a battle with no loser.

He tightened his balls against the burning desire to explode, to release a firestorm into her sweet, welcoming womb. And he renewed his attack, deliberately dragging the sensitive head of his cock against the bundle of nerves at her core.

She gasped, groaned. “Please! God, please!”

“Do you want to come, sweet?”

“Yes! Yes!” she cried.

He sluiced in and out, tormenting himself, tormenting her. Need crawled through him with lashing claws. His muscles tightened. Tingles, deliriously agonizing aches, stabbed at him body and soul.

His toes curled and he had to reposition himself to get better traction. He increased his pace, reveling in her panic, her desperation. She clutched around him in an attempt to coerce him but it was her undoing. Her mouth opened and her eyes flew wide and she spasmed. A wordless cry.

The vise around his cock tightened. Indescribable agony lashed him and then…and then she came. And with her orgasm, a whole new welcome. Her cunt walls quivered and clenched and opened. Opened to him and he sank in deeper, forging through a slick flood of her arousal to the deep recesses of her body. He came on contact. When the head of his cock nudged the mouth of her womb, he released.

All the anger, all the frustration, all the wanting, flooded from him into her, baptizing her with wave after wave of hot juice. And she took it. Her cunt clutched at it, drank it up, absorbed his essence in a scudding, stormy gulp.

She was still twitching, still mindless and moaning, when he came back to himself. He pulled from her body and drew her into his arms, kissing her repeatedly all over her face. Gently, he released her from the belt, the bra and the girdle.

The collar, however, he left on. He couldn’t bear to remove it.

After she recovered, he led her to the bath, where she soaked as he lathered and rinsed her hair. And then he bathed her.

After he toweled her dry, paying special attention to her rosy nipples and still-hard clit, he clipped on her leash and led her to the kitchen, where he fed her morsels with his fingers. She became quite adept at licking him clean.

After this respite, he led her to the bedroom and tied her hands to a ring high on the poster at the foot of the bed. He arranged her clit over the specially carved protrusion of wood and he whipped her again, as he had promised.

With each carefully placed lash, her body rubbed against the carved striations, enhancing her arousal. When her ass was red and tender, when her body wept with need once more, he bent her over the footboard and took her from behind as she stared into his eyes through the mirror.

It was an exhausting escapade. No wonder she fell asleep in his arms right after they finished. He loved having her there next to him in his bed. Her body, warm and heavy, curled against him. Her sleeping breaths, wafting over his skin, reminded him of the gift she’d given him. The trust she had placed in him.

Still, before he drifted off he gently tucked the covers around her and wound the end of her leash around his fist. So she couldn’t slip away in the night.

Chapter Five

Tess awoke to a strange sensation. No, it wasn’t the heavy warmth of the arm holding her so possessively that was strange, although it was certainly unfamiliar.

And it wasn’t the aches in her arms and legs—and cunt.

It was the feeling in her gut, her heart. A lightness. As though she had given up a heavy burden and been cleansed of its onus.

She gazed at the man sleeping next to her and her heart stuttered. Jared was always gorgeous, but sleeping his features were imbued with a vulnerability that tugged at her heart.

She could hardly bear to look at him.

But then his eyes flickered open and she couldn’t bear to look away. Nearly drowned in the warmth she saw there.

“Good morning, Tess.” His voice was scratchy with sleep.

“Good morning, Jared.” The prickles of his beard fascinated her. She couldn’t resist dragging a finger over his chin. The heat in his expression made her swallow, which reminded her of the collar she still wore tight around her neck. His constant caress.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.” She couldn’t help remembering the things he’d done to her the night before. The things she’d done to him. What must he think of her? What
did
he think of her? Had she pleased him? A red tide stole up her cheeks.

“Are you hungry?”

“A bit.” She turned her head away as awkwardness swelled into her soul. He tipped her chin back with a gentle finger and once he had her full attention, pulled her closer. She shouldn’t have been surprised the leash was still attached to her collar but she was.

He wound it tighter around his fist as he tugged her nearer. Their lips met.

Sensation slammed through her and as easily as that—one warm, wet kiss—all the passion, all the yearning of the night before, rose within her again. Her clit began to thrum.

When he broke the kiss by gently tugging on her leash, disappointment raked her. But she couldn’t complain about the direction he led her. At the same time he lowered her head with one hand, he swiped away the covers with the other, revealing his magnificently turgid cock. It lurched as she neared.

Though his hand was tight on her leash, she needed no urging to give him what he wanted. She wanted it too. Desperately.

She let her desperation lead her, first drawing in his scent as she licked her way from the base of his cock to the head. She suckled the delicious pearl of cum, licking and lapping and pleading for more until he shifted restlessly and gave the leash a tug. She shot a grin up at him but he wasn’t smiling. A harsh hunger limned his face. He opened his lips to say something but snapped them tightly shut and tugged again.

Tess obediently lowered her head.

And she consumed him. She licked and sucked and nibbled and purred around him, drew him in and tormented his glans with her tongue. She toyed with his balls and teased the sensitive spot behind them until Jared was writhing and sweating and swearing beneath her. And then when she sensed he could take no more, she enrobed him. She took him into her mouth and swallowed him whole. Pulling him deep into her throat, she worked at him with her muscles, clutching and nuzzling until he fisted his fingers in her hair and groaned.

She felt the cum. Felt it working its way up his cock, desperate for escape. She sucked harder and he whimpered, moaned. Just as he was about to erupt, she slipped her hand beneath him and nudged—just nudged—at his asshole.

He came off the bed. He came off the bed and came in her mouth, but she followed, stayed with him as he flooded her with jet after jet of salty cream that tasted so uniquely of Jared.

It was delicious. He was delicious. She drank down every drop and then nursed him for more.

He collapsed on the bed in a boneless heap and allowed her to finish her ministrations. When she crawled back up to the head of the bed—he’d long ago lost his hold on her leash—he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

“God, you taste wonderful.”

She laughed. “I taste like you.”

“You taste like pleasure.”

They lay in each other’s arms for a while and then he stirred, grumbling something about how he had to get her to work or you-know-who would have a fit. Tess glanced at the clock and started. It was after eight. Marla would have her ass on a platter.

She leaped from the bed and then remembered she didn’t have any clothes. She could hardly go to work wearing Madame Monique’s contraption.

But Jared didn’t let her panic. “Don’t worry, darling,” he said. “I’ve prepared for this.”

That he said it with a twinkle in his eyes did not alleviate her trepidation. Not in the least. Not to be hurried, he bathed her again and fed her and styled her hair. Then he dressed her with care. First came a skimpy black bra with rough lace, which sent havoc across her nipples. Then a sultry black silk blouse and a tight tulip skirt. He even had shoes for her, naughty stilettos that made her wobble with every step. No panties.

“Never any panties,” Jared murmured. “Besides,” he added enigmatically, “I have something else in mind for you to wear.”

He didn’t tell her what it was. Not yet. He let her wonder.

Once she was dressed, Tess studied her reflection in the mirror. The outfit was something she might have picked for herself, but darker. She looked different. Classy and sexy and…well-fucked. She wondered if Marla would notice.

Hell. Of course she would.

Jared stepped behind her and removed her collar. He kissed the red marks it left before replacing it with a tight velvet choker.

Tess’ belly roiled. “Jared, I can’t wear this to work.”

His expression scorched her. “You can. And you will. You will wear one every day.”

Her heart stuttered. “Every day? You mean this wasn’t a one-night…thing?”

He stilled. “Did you want it to be?”

She shivered at the thought. “No.”

His body relaxed as though he’d blown out a tense breath. He tipped her chin up until their gazes met. “Then you will wear one. Every day. This collar marks you as mine. No one else will know it, but you will.” He kissed her. “And I’ll know it.”

“No one else will know?”

“No one else will even notice.”

* * * * *

Marla noticed.

That she sat in Tess’ chair drumming her fingers on the blotter as Tess rushed through the door didn’t help. Marla’s sharp gaze flicked over her and when it settled on the choker around Tess’ neck, her nostrils flared.

Then Jared stepped into the office behind Tess and Marla’s eyes narrowed into frigid shards of stormy blue. “Well, fuck.”

“Good morning, Marla.” His tone held a warning. A warning Marla ignored.

“Goddamn it, Jared! How many times have I warned you to keep your sordid little sex life out of my office?”

Jared grinned. “It’s hardly little.”

“I’m not joking.” She whirled on Tess. “You’re fired.”

Tess’ belly lurched. She opened her mouth to respond but Jared beat her to it. He put a hand on her shoulder and steered her toward her desk. “You’re not fired, sweetheart. Marla, your office. Now.”

Marla turned purple. Her lips worked but no sounds came out. No human sounds anyway. Finally she sputtered, “You dare order me around in my office, in front of my staff?”

“Yes. I do. And she’s not your staff. You just fired her.”

This only made Marla sputter even more. Jared took her hand and tugged. “Come on, my darling sister. We need to have a talk.”

Tess was stunned to see Marla—commanding, intransigent Marla Mittlebank—comply. But then Jared could be quite commanding too.

She gingerly sat at her desk and switched on her laptop, not quite sure if she still had a job or not.

“I am so furious I could spit nails!” Marla slammed the door and stormed over to her window and assailed it with her fury.

“I see that.” Jared leaned against the abused door and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Damn it, Jared! Tess was the best assistant I’ve ever had and now you’ve gone and ruined her!”

“She’s not ruined. Maybe a bit sore…”

“Arrgh!” Marla bared her teeth like a wombat. At least the way Jared imagined a wombat would bare its teeth. Wombats were hardly his specialty. “It’s almost as though you don’t want me to succeed!”

“You know that’s not true.” It wasn’t. He would do anything to make Marla’s business thrive. So she could smash her success in Derek’s face like a shit pie.

But he wasn’t giving up Tess.

“I lost Trish because of you. And Anna and Sylvia.”

“Not the same thing.”

“Exactly the same thing. You seduced them. They became worthless.”

“Tess isn’t like them.”

She glared at him. “No. She’s not. She’s better. I need her, Jared.”

“
I
need her.”

Silence crackled between them. “Come on. You go through women the way a nunnery goes through toilet paper.”

“Interesting analogy.”

“Oh, shut up.” She uncurled her fingers and forced her features into a conciliatory expression. Jared could see it was an effort. “Admit it, Jared. You only want to play with her. You’ll only keep her for a while. And then you’ll let her down easy with diamonds and roses and waltz away like it was nothing—”

“Are we talking about me here? Or you? When are you going to get over Derek?”

“Don’t try to turn this around.” The wombat was back. Spitting and hissing.

“You were far too good for him. I always said that, you know.” Inspecting his cufflinks probably wasn’t the best move. His nonchalance infuriated her.

“God. Damn. You. Jared. I want you to keep away from Tess.”

“What do you care? You fired her.”

“You know I didn’t mean that. I need her.” Her voice rose until she sounded like Veruca Salt from
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
.

“I’m not taking her from you.”

She put out a lip, stomped to the window. “You will.” He couldn’t see her face but he could see her shoulders. They drooped even though she tried to hide it. “It will go to shit. Everything always goes to shit.”

Aw, hell. Was she crying? He stood behind her and found a way to put his arms around her, even though she tried to make herself all prickly. Marla was prickly. But he loved her. After jabbing him a few times with her elbows, she allowed him to hug her.

“It won’t go to shit.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“She’s different, Marls.” He’d spent one night with her and he knew it. He knew it to the depths of his soul. Tess was his forever.

Marla stilled. “Oh, hell.” She spun around. Prickly wombat that she was. “Are you in
love
with her?” She spat the word as if it were poison.

“I think so.”

“I’m firing her.”

“No. You’re not. You’re going to put up with her and you’re going to put up with me and you’ll see. Everything will be all right.” It would be. He knew it.

She put her hands on her hips and frowned, reminding him of a ten-year-old Marla in a snit taking the exact same stance. “You’re not the boss here.”

He drew in a deep breath and said it. Said the one thing he’d sworn to himself he’d never say. “Marla. I own fifty-one percent of this company.”

She paled, stepped back. Her lips worked. “You’re pulling rank? You never pull rank.”

“I’m pulling rank.”

“I won’t have my staff used as playthings.”

“I ain’t playin’.”

She nibbled on her lower lip. “You really want her?”

“Really.” He did. Really.

Her face crumpled and he knew he’d won. He could only hope this victory wouldn’t come back to haunt him. He was sure of himself but he wasn’t entirely sure of Tess. Not yet. And it was too soon to ask.

“Fine. But this relationship had better not interfere with my business.”

“It won’t.”

Clearly she didn’t appreciate his charming grin. She growled low in her throat. “Now get out of here. I have work to do.”

Tess couldn’t hear what was going on behind the thick door to Marla’s office but the bellowing had died down. She allowed herself to relax and opened the day’s calendar, quickly reviewing Marla’s schedule. There were meetings all morning, a conference call at one and a reaming penciled in at three. It was going to be a busy day.

If she was still here. If she still had a job.

The outer door opened and she turned. Her welcoming smile froze in place. Horror skirled in her gut as a small man in a crisp suit sauntered in. He stilled when he saw her and a sly smirk curled his lips. She’d know that smirk anywhere.

He inspected her, his beady attention lingering on her choker. “Well,” he purred. “None the worse for wear, I see.”

Tess ran through Marla’s calendar in her head and her heart lurched.
Dennison.
How could she not have noticed? Hell. How had she not made the connection? Bile rose, filling her mouth with a bitter tang.