Three Hard Lessons (Blindfold Club 2)

“A year without sex to get to you. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

I laughed softly and kissed him. When it was over, he turned his head to the couple. Yuriko was slumped down on the couch with Akira kneeling between her legs, his mouth buried in her pussy. She had her eyes shut and both hands in his hair, tugging on it while soft words came from her. Like she was pleading.

Akira sat back from her and pulled something from his back pocket. A tiny black pouch. Yuriko bolted to sit upright, her eyes wide and fixed on it.

“He just told her that she’s his.”

Dominic and I watched him open the pouch and pull out the glittering strand of diamonds. I gasped. Not just at the decadent jewelry, but what that short necklace really was. A collar. She seemed to be gushing while Akira leaned forward and fastened it around her throat. The stones glittered when it was done.

Akira’s smile shifted away to fill with lust, as if seeing his submissive collared was overwhelming. He bent back down and kissed her between her thighs like he was desperate.

Dominic said a whole bunch of things to them as he stood and withdrew from me, and his hand slipped under my shoulder, guiding me to sit up. I groaned. My muscles were stiff from spending too much time on the table. I’d say table sex was overrated, but not when it was with Dominic.

“I told them they can stay in the guest room if they want to. C’mon, let’s go to bed.” He helped me stand up, but grinned. “Unless you want to . . . watch them?”

It was so hot, seeing her heels rake down his back, begging him as she rode that tongue.

“I kind of do, but . . . I’m fucking exhausted.”

He kissed my forehead. “Maybe we can talk them into a show some other time.”

We lingered for another quiet moment before shuffling into the bedroom. He flipped on the lights and got into bed, his gaze following the descent of my garters. Once I was naked, I crawled onto my side of our bed, and the lights went out, immediately followed by his arm around me.

My pulse quickened in the darkness. Finally alone with him. My heart leaped up into my throat, blocking my ability to speak. I swallowed. My mouth was dry, too.

I’d only said it and meant it to one other man before. Why was I nervous about this? I certainly knew how he felt. Stop this, I commanded myself. Tell him. The blood rushed in my ears. Finally, I worked up the nerve.

I didn’t realize that the arm on me was growing heavier until it was too late. Fuck. I’d spent too much time being an idiot, and now he was asleep. I drifted my fingertips over his cheek, seeing if he’d stir, but he was down for the count.

Tomorrow, Dominic.

The bed sank down and jostled me awake. Dominic was already dressed in his suit, his breath faintly smelling of coffee.

“What time is it?” I scrubbed a hand over my eyes and glanced at the clock. It was late. Way too late for me to get him back in the shower, or do much of anything. “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me up?”

He gave me a sheepish look. “I figured you were tired. You slept through the alarm.” His hand cupped my face and that thumb smoothed over to pause at the center of my lips. “I love you.”

Warm lips were on mine, and gone a moment later as he stood and straightened his tie. I’d been on autopilot while not fully awake, and just realized I’d missed the opportunity to echo it back. His heavy footsteps carried him away from the bed and out the room.

I threw back the covers and darted after him into the living room. “Wait a minute.”

He pulled on his coat and turned to look at me, the corner of his mouth lifting in a seductive smirk. “No, devil woman. I’m already going to have to hurry to catch the train. We don’t have time.”

It was because I was stark naked. I’d been too tired to pull on clothes after last night. Well, shit. I didn’t want to do this naked and he was already late. He stared at me, expectantly. I’d have to cover. So I put a hand on my hip and gave him a seductive smile right back. “You sure you don’t have time?”

He shook his head and his expression was wanton. “Careful. Maybe I’ll tell you to stay just like that all day and wait for me.”

“Try it,” I said, smug, “and see what happens.”

“I dunno, you did a pretty good job obeying last night.” The muscles low in my belly clenched. He glanced at his watch and turned serious. “I really gotta go, I’ll see you later.”

He slipped out the door. Now I stood in our empty apartment, disappointed. But determined. Maybe this was a good thing it hadn’t happened this morning. It was better to wait until tonight, until we had lots of time to act on our feelings.

The day dragged. I spent it working out and researching a plan of action for the visa, then walked to the market in the late afternoon and bought some food for dinner. The problem with such a small kitchen and fridge meant you had to shop about every day, but at least it kept everything fresh.

He wasn’t as good about putting stuff away as I was. When I returned, I dropped the groceries on the counter and put them in their places, then tackled the rest of the clutter he let accumulate. In such a small place, junk mail piled up quickly and made me claustrophobic.

The opened letter in English caught my attention. The Chase Sports logo in the corner was recognizable and I was too interested not to take a peek. It felt like the only time I saw written English anymore on paper was on the tourist brochures that were riddled with grammatical errors.