Chapter 26
Genevieve
I kissed him.
My first kiss, actually. I didn’t mean to give in to the temptation. I don’t know if I should blame the martini or the black pepper and tobacco that fogged my brain like a heady drug, but as his hand slid into my hair, and he was whispering against my lips, I was helpless to stop him.
The worst part is that I can’t stop thinking about his perfect mouth and the way it felt capturing, owning mine. Without a single word, he commanded me, leading the moment with his usual domineering sophistication.
It was the most incredible kiss, even if I have nothing to compare it to, and it can absolutely never happen again.
“Gen.” Corinne’s voice swims through my murky thoughts, and I blink to find her still sitting in the chair across from my desk. “Are you listening?”
I rub at my temple, a blush touching my cheeks as I shake my head. “I’m sorry. I’m…elsewhere today.”
I’m clearly still high on the addictive opiate that is Ford Crawford.
Her pretty face scrunches as she tilts her head.
She sets her tablet in her lap where I can see my calendar pulled up.
Shit, how much of our conversation did I black out.
I’m getting ready to apologize, when she says, “We have twenty minutes before Elliott arrives, so spend the next ten minutes talking to me.”
In another life, Corinne might’ve made a damn good therapist. I glance toward my office door, ensuring it’s closed.
“Ford kissed me.” Her eyes widen, but she stays quiet, allowing me to keep speaking. “Last night, after the dinner he paid to have with me. And I…”
I push to my feet, wandering over to the huge windows overlooking the bustling city. “The worst part is that it was the best kiss of my entire life.”
It’s not just the kiss either. The date was like something out of a dream.
Ford ensnared me with his playfulness and thoughtfulness, and I worry I’ll never get free.
I want to do it again, want to feel his body pressed against me and his lips moving with mine.
I didn’t even have it in me to be embarrassed that I came simply from dry humping him like some young, horny girl. The date was perfect.
“Why is that bad?” she asks sweetly.
I release a heavy sigh. “You know I can’t be wrapped up in a relationship. Not when I sense a war brewing.”
She comes to stand next to me, her delicate hand slipping into mine. “There’s never a perfect time to start a new relationship, but this could be good for you, Gen.” Squeezing my hand, she whispers, “It’s been fourteen years, you deserve happiness.”
What if she’s right? “And if the government tries to take me down? It’ll hit him, too.” I shake my head. “No way. I can’t do that to anyone else.”
If I go down, I’m going scorched earth. The people I love will not be collateral damage.
“For what it’s worth, I think you should go for this. Relationships are always a risk.”
What if she’s right? What if I actually gave Ford, gave us, a chance? Fuck, I want to. It’s already taken fourteen years to rekindle this flame inside me, and what if this never happens again? How many chances at love does one person get in a lifetime?
He already knows about my career and he’s not insecure about it, nor does he shame me for it, so I don’t have any remaining arguments against it other than those I laid out for Corinne. And I could always get Marcus’s help to tighten security to mitigate some of those concerns.
Ford is the ripple in the placid lake of my life. Would it be so bad if I rode that wave, even if only for a moment? Am I insane for considering this?
She drops my hand, and we fall silent for a bit before she speaks again. “Before I forget, Henry called and asked for a spot on your calendar, so I gave him your evening slot on Monday.”
My eyebrows pinch, and I face her fully. “Why didn’t he call me?”
That’s unusual for Henry. He’s been booking directly through me for sixteen years. As far as I can remember, this is a first.
She shrugs. “He said he couldn’t reach you on your phone, that it didn’t even ring.”
“Huh.” I glance at my phone sitting face up on my black desk. “That’s weird.”
The shiny vinyl of my black mini dress sticks together as I bend over to lace up my thigh-high boots in my powder bathroom. Checking my notifications, I find a notice that Elliott has accessed the elevator code.
I’ve never worked with Elliott Leplee before, but I decided to keep the director of Homeland Security on my calendar, thoroughly poaching him from Nathaniel—who’s been more than compensated.
Normally, a three-hour session, like the one I’m about to walk into, does nothing but wind me up and turn me all the way on, but I’m having difficulty tapping into my dominatrix side. I blame Ford for that.
Giving Elliott a chance to follow the directions I’ve laid out for him, I close my eyes and take a few breaths. I need to find the domineering part of myself again, or this job is going to become a lot less fun for me.
Give in and submit to Ford, and you could release all this tension and anxiety, my subconscious whispers.
The moment I walk into my low-lit playroom, I find a naked Elliott on his knees in the center, his cock already locked in the cage I left for him.
Taking a few predatory laps around his form, I notice his breathing is ragged and his body trembles slightly. Good, you should be afraid…for so many reasons.
“Eyes up, slave,” I order when I’m standing before him, careful to use the moniker he prefers.
He obeys, his brown eyes sliding up my legs and torso, lingering on the ample swell of my breasts before finding my face. His eyes are bright when they hit mine, sparkling with lust.
“Spread your legs. I want to see what I’m working with.”
He does as he’s told, and I grin to myself at his willingness. My inner smile wanes as I resonate with that eager-to-please sensation that curls in your belly like a tempest. Ford isn’t even here and he’s fucking with my head.
Nathaniel shared that our friend Elliott is heavily into humiliation, so I make an overt point to click my tongue as I shake my head, taking in the sight of his squished, angry-looking dick locked within the metal cage. “Do you have the key for me?”
He presents the key, and I take it—and his control—from him, setting it carefully on the dresser so that it doesn’t get lost.
“Tell me your safe word.”
“Liar, Madam Allison.” His voice is husky and quaking, not at all the steady, confident man I’ve seen on television. I smile, though my heart’s not in it.
I usually love when they fall apart, stripping themselves bare for me, but now all I can think about is how much I wish I could do that for someone else.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t alluring to watch Elliott writhe beneath my cane as it came down on his cock, immediately after it was released from its cage.
It turned me on to see his bright red face illuminating the room like a blood moon as I lashed him.
The ghost of his screams still lingers in the air from when I carefully stretched his balls when he came, his entire body convulsing.
We’ll be a good match, if I get my mind right.
“Thank you,” he murmurs, curled up next to me on the large, comfortable bed.
I’ve wrapped him in a blanket and snuggled up to him.
His trembling has mostly subsided, but I continue to drag my hand up and down his back in soothing strokes.
His throat rumbles against the swell of my breast as he adds, “That was…perfect. I’ve never come that hard before. ”
As I gaze into his smooth, refined features, I find his cheeks are stained a pale pink shade, his eyes flickering with vulnerability, and I smile. We all deserve to lose ourselves in good sex, the kind that empties your brain of all thoughts and releases your body of tension and anxiety.
“I’m here whenever you need me.”
He nods, blushing a bit harder as he asks, “Can I see you next week?”
I nod. “Of course.”
He clears his throat then, shifting as he nuzzles into me. “I know your privacy policy, but I…” he trails off, but I hear his unspoken words loud and clear.
“You want to be reassured that your secrets are safe,” I surmise.
His question feels different from when Ford asked me, more authentic, which has an uneasy discomfort churning in my stomach.
When he nods against my neck, I explain, “They’re safe. You’re safe, Elliott. This is a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Pushing up onto his elbow, he looks me in the eye, and I notice how the gray hair at his temples appears darker in the moody, ambient light. “Forgive my brashness, but what do you get out of this?”
There’s nothing to forgive; his bluntness is refreshing. I appreciate his curiosity and the need to feel secure in a relationship like this. Furthermore, we don’t have the kind of rapport I spent sixteen years cultivating with Henry, and I trust my gut here. Elliott isn’t a threat.
“Outside of the privilege of dominating such a lovely creature such as yourself,” I begin, my smile shifting into a smirk as his cheeks redden to a deep crimson.
“I trust that you’ll let me know if there’s ever anything I should be…
concerned about. There’s a lot of risk in this business, and I’d like to ensure that I’m safe. ”
My words are casual, but there’s nothing nonchalant about my statement. There’s an implied threat.
Luckily for me, he seems to understand as he nods vigorously. “Of course, Madam Allison. I’ll keep my ears open for you.”
“Such a good boy.”