The Burlington Manor Affair

Rex lifted an eyebrow. She lowered her eyelids, but watched him from beneath her lashes. Rex laughed. Had Carmen Shelby always had these withheld submissive desires? It hadn’t been obvious before, of that he was certain. And the constant battle she was having with her needs???was that part of the package? Or was this dilemma of hers because she’d revealed her trigger to him, perhaps inadvertently? Whatever the reason, neither of them could put it back in the box now. No way. Now that he knew her little kinks and foibles he intended to play them out to their full extent.

“So what is the problem?” she demanded after he left her standing there in silence while he admired her.

“A month might not be enough.”

She glared at him.

“It’s day two and I’m loving every moment,” he continued. “Seems such a shame to put an end date on it.”

“You’re winding me up.”

“I’m being honest.” He was. This was too good.

“In which case you lied to me. If you don’t intend to stand up to your end of the deal, I’m walking out of here right now, and if I have to do that I promise you I will only deal with you through a solicitor!”

Angry Carmen was hellishly hot.

“Is this the ballsy businesswoman speaking now, or are you saying you can’t handle more than a month of this?”

Her eyes blazed.

“Seriously, aren’t you enjoying our time together?”

“You know I am, in some weird fucked-up way.” Her voice was low and barely audible, and she folded her arms across her chest. “But I want a limit on it, for the sake of my sanity.”

Sanity? What did that really mean? He’d find out, all in good time. He knew he’d pushed her on the terms. “Fair enough. I suppose I’ll have to stick to my word.”

“It’s only sex,” she blurted, as if it was an afterthought.

“It is...and I must say I’m liking these kinky sex games of yours.”

“Mine?”

“Yes. Yours. Okay, let’s begin.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’d like you to prove to me how much you want the hous

e and how hard you’d work to get it.”

“Now you really are trying to humiliate me.”

“Not at all. You said it made it easier for you when I took charge. Although I do think there’s a part of you that likes that...the humiliation.”

Oh, how her cheeks flamed.

Rex smiled. “Strip for me.”

Instantly she began. Even though she looked at him resentfully, it was as if she didn’t have the ability to refuse him. Rex allowed himself to get high on that concept. Carmen Shelby, his. The woman who was down to her underwear and looked like a captured nymph—dark eyes wide and expressive, her body outlined like a classical sculpture. Sprawling in the armchair, he watched as the sunlight from behind him dappled her skin with warmth during the slow reveal.

Her torso arched when she moved her hands behind her back and she undid her bra, peeling it away. Her breasts were uptilted, the nipples betraying her state of arousal. No matter what she said, she responded to being dominated. Who had introduced Carmen to this line of erotic behavior? Rex wondered on it as he watched her roll her panties down her hips, revealing the soft curve of her pussy.

It wasn’t a striptease. It was a woman getting undressed.

It was simple, and yet so much hotter than any striptease he’d ever witnessed. And he’d seen a few. She was under instruction to do so—that was key. Her head was lowered, deferring to him. Yet still he felt her fire, her resistance. What a curiosity she was. It was her willingness to do as he instructed sexually that hit him so hard. Perhaps willingness wasn’t exactly the right turn of phrase. She went with it, but there was that underlying resentment in her eyes. It was obvious she did want to do these things, so why the black looks, the palpable tension?

She was an enigma, even more so than she ever had been.