Her heart skipped at how beautiful he looked in the morning. Naked, with the white cover at his waist. Her fingers itched to trace the lines of his masculine body. “I did, actually. Very well.”
His smile sweetened. “I’m glad.”
Mary thought she should feel terrible for being with Elliott, but she didn’t. All she felt was satisfied to her bones and content with him next to her. Though as that knowledge swept through her, she shut her eyes, unable to stop the memory invading her mind.
In Chains, Mary sighed as she knelt on the stage with all of their closest friends surrounding them. Tears filled her eyes as Charles held the sparkling diamond necklace in front of her. This day had seemed to happen all too quickly, but she didn’t doubt her decision to give herself fully to Charles. She knew more than anything in her life that this, them together, was meant to be.
Charles grasped her chin, commanding her gaze. “Only mine, Mary.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered in adoration.
He slid the collar around her neck and fastened it. Then he looked to her with the love that she believed would get them through anything. “Mine,” he said softly. “Forever.”
She lost herself in his powerful hold, and the heavy weight of the diamonds would forever remind her that she, her heart and soul, belonged to him. “Yours. Always.”
Charles smiled, not only in happiness, it seemed, but in full gratitude that she had given him her soul.
She opened her eyes and sickness rolled through her. This was too personal. Elliott erased thoughts with sensations, relaxation, pleasure; he had made her forget Charles. She couldn’t forget.
She’d come to the party to experience a BDSM scene, not anything this intimate. Yet as Elliott shifted on his side, tracing his fingers down her arm, it all became too tender. The look in his eyes wasn’t distant or what she remembered when she had a few one-night stands in her twenties before meeting Charles. He looked to her like Charles once did, with intent and interest.
Coldness swept through her, as part of her fought against wanting to give in. She wondered what her children would think if they knew she was in bed with another man. If they discovered that their mother had moved on from her deceased husband. Ice filled her veins, as Elliott’s touch didn’t bring heat, but the exact opposite.
The flight response.
She began to sit up. “I should go.”
Elliott moved on top of her, sliding between her thighs and closing his hard body against hers. “Ah, darlin’, I’m not quite done with you.” Then his lips crushed against hers, and regardless of her hesitations, she was melting.
His mouth on hers was pure passion. Every move he made and swipe of his tongue forced her into his command. A low groan rumbled from his mouth as his cock rubbed against her mound, which was damp with need.
The power his touch possessed made her forget her mind all over again. The way he used his body stole her hesitations. Overwhelmed by the sheer sensation of how well Elliott kissed, she struggled to remember why she wanted to leave.
He nibbled on her bottom lip, then sucked it into his mouth. Grasping her face, he tilted her head and devoured her neck, slowly moving down her body. Mary held her breath in anticipation. Kissing his way over her shoulder, he licked down the curve of her arm, and she arched into him. Her breasts tingled beneath her corset and her nipples puckered. She glanced down as he went lower and pressed his lips against her hip bone. Then his gaze lifted and his dark eyes held hers, not with the warmth she expected from him, but perhaps because he had been strained when he couldn’t do as he wanted with her all weekend.
One sleek brow arched. “Grab the headboard.”
Not a question.
A demand.
She battled against using her safe word and ending their time together. She knew she should. Elliott seemed too invested. This wasn’t simply sex; she knew that now. But she was throbbing, her submission yearning for just another moment of play. She ached for his tongue to dive inside her.
Mary greedily wanted another orgasm. She slowly lifted her hands up to the headboard and her fingers wrapped around the cool metal bars that likely were for design only, but were, in fact, perfect for bondage.
“That’s it,” he murmured in a rumbly voice. “Keep them right there.” His grin was wicked and oh-so-arrogant before he lowered his head, traveling lower down her body. When he rested between her thighs, he spread her legs, tucking them over his strong shoulders.
She gazed at his dark head of hair as he blew over her slick heat. When he gave one firm lick up her folds, her eyes fluttered shut. A shiver ran through her as his tongue pressed against her clit, and she gasped as the sensual lick vanished.
“What type of medicine do you practice?” His voice was controlled, steady.
Something Mary couldn’t quite figure out, since she felt wildly out of control. “I’m a family doctor,” she replied, squirming and yearning.
Another lick had her arching for more.
“Do you like your job?” he asked.
She dropped her hands, heat pooling right down in her gut for him to continue. “Do you really want to discuss this now?”