Chapter Fourteen
ARI WAS GLAD she’d had so much practice with her facial expressions around Stan for the last three years. That was all that kept her thoughts from showing as she sat through dinner with her siblings and Rex’s cousins.
After dinner, she’d been surprised when Rex had unearthed a children’s game. He’d explained it belonged to Stella and Damien, but after they had outgrown it, no one had thrown it out. The game seemed to drag on forever. She watched with building confusing emotions as Rex sat through two rounds of Trouble patiently counting out spaces and refereeing disputes between Olivia and Owen.
She didn’t want these emotions. They’d had one round of amazing sex, but she needed to remember who he was and what he did. That wasn’t a life she could afford to contemplate, especially not now with the new burden of responsibility that came with raising her brother and sister.
Ari tucked them both in bed with the promise that she would join them eventually, but that it was too early for her to go to sleep yet. She closed the door to her room with a quiet click and jumped a little when she turned to find Rex sitting on one of the chairs in his room, watching her.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I’m fine, I just figured you’d be back in the office by now.”
His eyebrows drew down, obviously confused.
“You’ve spent a lot of time doing things to help us… me… out today. I just assumed you would work late to make up for it.”
That explanation must have been satisfactory because his face cleared as he spoke. “Our work rarely has concrete deadlines. The things I did today were important.”
Ari’s breath caught. “I guess they were.” She paused before asking him, “Do you think the cops will try to interfere with what you’re doing now?”
He sighed and shook his head. “I doubt it. Detective Smith will do as I asked and forget. Detective Manchester, might not, but even if she reports it, I have it on good authority, it won’t go anywhere.”
Now it was Ari’s turn to be confused. “Why is that?”
Rex pursed his lips. “Because one of the frequent buyers is a captain on the police force.”
Ari’s knees trembled. Before she knew what was happening, Rex was across the room to her and holding her up.
“You mean someone on the police force is deliberately suppressing the investigations that could happen so he can continue to buy children?” she forced out.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Rex said softly. His hold around her waist tightened, and she leaned into it. His hand came up and caressed her hair. Ari shivered and Rex must have read that as something bad because he started to back away, but Ari wound her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his chest. He froze and Ari thought for a moment he would continue to pull away, but he didn’t, he just held her. Ari’s body did one thing and her mind said another. The scolding voice in her head telling her this was bad was drowned out by how good it felt to simply be held.
They stood there like that for several minutes before Rex cleared his throat. Ari tipped her head back to look at him. When she met his eyes, he said in a low voice, “I’m going to bed soon. It’s been a long day, but I wondered if you wanted to practice a little before that.”
Ari swallowed hard. “How would we do that?” she asked.
“I’m going to sit on the couch and watch TV. For tonight, I just want you to kneel on the floor at my feet. See how long you can stay like that. I’ll touch you occasionally. I’ll keep it simple tonight, but they’re meant to feel possessive. If you want to speak to me, then use, sir.”
Ari nodded slowly before saying, “Yes, sir.”
She heard his sharp intake of breath. She studied him and watched heat flare in his gaze. It wasn’t a secret that he wanted her. Apparently, he wanted her a little more at his mercy, but she couldn’t say that surprised her either. The romances she’d read over the years had been progressively hotter, and she knew that there were many types of relationships out there. Rex took her hand and helped her to the floor. He settled her and moved her into a kneeling position that felt very exposed, but when he stood up to observe her and commented, “Good girl,” her heartbeat sped up. Those two words hit a nerve deep inside her she hadn’t even known was there. It felt like the same one that he’d touched on when he’d spanked her the other night. What did that mean?
Ari didn’t even notice Rex sit on the sofa behind her, but she did feel his hand come down on the back of her neck with a steady pressure. She didn’t even think about it, but she leaned her head against his knee and the calm that washed over from those two contacts was like nothing she’d ever felt. Neither of them moved for several long minutes, but when Rex did move, it was to thread his fingers into her hair. He combed through it, pulling the strands from the elastic until they cascaded over her shoulder in unruly waves. Ari’s eyes closed, and she lost track of everything but his soothing touch. She should have been more shocked than she was when he grasped her hair, pulling her head back and kissed her hard. Ari didn’t hesitate. She opened her mouth and let him invade her, reveling in the feeling of his tongue sliding against hers. Ari shuddered and leaned back to let the kiss deepen further.
Rex swallowed the small whimpers and gasps she let out as he plundered her mouth. The taste of her was intoxicating. He’d kissed many women in his life, but this one had him craving more in a way he’d never experienced. Eventually he got tired of the position, so he hauled her off the floor onto his lap. She let out a squeak, but it turned into a throaty moan when he started kissing along the side of her neck. His instincts told him to mark her there where anyone could see it, but he resisted that and trailed downward to the collar of her shirt. His hands skated down her back and under the shirt.
Rex had known from the moment the idea spilled out of his mouth without thinking, that having her kneeling for him was probably a terrible idea. But once it was out there, he damn sure hadn’t been willing to take it back. Especially when she’d agreed. Fuck, the “yes, sir” falling off her lips had sent a spike of desire through him. He didn’t know if it was just who he was or his upbringing, but Rex preferred to be in charge in bed. The few vanilla girlfriends he’d dated early on hadn’t gone far because he’d known even then that something was missing. The popularization of a new type of romance literature had brought up a crop of women who wanted that high handedness and a few who were even bold enough to ask for it. In those experiences, Rex had found what made him tick.
The woman in his arms was young and traumatized. He had no business trying to go there with her, but his body vehemently disagreed. He was rock hard in the confines of his jeans, and the delicious ass squirming against him wasn’t helping anything. He growled in frustration, but that sound only seemed to bring out more need in Ari. She whimpered into his mouth and, seemingly unhappy with the current state of things, wriggled around until she was straddling his lap. His hands settled on her hips, ready to push her to increase the pressure, but she did that all on her own, grinding onto his lap in long, slow movements. Rex’s instincts took over, and he grabbed her ass and stood up. Her eyes flew open, a question burning there.
“Sir?”
Rex knew then and there he was a goner. She’d kept role. She was a fucking natural.
“Ari, we don’t have to do this,” he told her. He was already struggling with the reality of having to set her down and let her walk away. He had to. She was young and too good for this. She deserved more than he’d ever be able to give her.
“I want it,” she whispered against his lips before kissing him. She was bold. Her tongue chased his, and he loved it. He walked to his bed and laid her down. His hand moved to lift her shirt. A shudder ran through her body. That stopped him. She was inexperienced in almost every way. No matter how good she was at playing the role he’d given her. He laid himself down on the bed next to her and turned her head to face him.
“Ari, the things I want to do to you…” He swallowed hard. “They aren’t gentle or nice.”
Her eyes never left his. “Thats okay, sir.”
She really was going to kill him. Giving her a long, hard look, he made a decision. “Do you know what a safeword is?”
Ari nodded, her eyes never leaving his. That wasn’t good enough. “I need words, Ari.”
“I know what safewords are, sir,” she said.
Rex felt unreasonable rage choke him. “How do you know what safewords are?” he said, grabbing her chin to keep her eyes on him.
There was no fear at all in her eyes. In fact, his touch made her pupils blow wide. “I’ve read a lot of books, sir,” she gasped.
His grasp loosened fractionally. “That’s all? Have you ever done anything that required a safeword?”
“No, sir,” she whispered.
Now was the moment for the real question. “Do you want to? Know that there is no wrong answer. A safeword and any activity associated with it require absolute consent and with that comes the ability to retract it at any time from now through the end of it.”
He was glad she took a minute to consider that and didn’t answer right away. “I want to, sir. I understand.”
Rex’s dick jumped at the thought. He pushed off the bed into sitting. “We’ll also use yellow and green just for clarity. Yellow if you need to slow down, green for keep going. I’ll try to check in periodically, but please use the words as you need them.”
“Yes, sir.”
That was the last straw. Rex fell on top of her and claimed her mouth again. She opened to him in the sweetest way. Her soundtrack of needy sounds and moans was music in his ears. When he broke the kiss, she tried to pull him back, but he peeled her hands off him and pressed them into the bed above her head. He took her in. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were wide with want. Her whole damn body was vibrating with need.
Rex decided at that moment to push just a little. He climbed off the bed and padded across the room to his closet. He pulled a tie off the rack and toed off his shoes and socks. His shirt came next, but he left his jeans on for now. He padded back to his bed and used the tie to secure Ari’s wrists together and then to the headboard.
He stared down at her. “What color are you?”
“Green, sir.”
He nodded and grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up so that it covered her head. He waited a beat to see if she would say anything, but instead she seemed to melt further into the bed. Those fucking bra and panty sets were going to drive him insane. He couldn’t even remember how many he’d ordered now, but she was wearing a different set today in a pale blue. Letting his fingers trail across her flat belly, he reveled in the quivering flesh. He’d long since let go of the shame that accompanied his dark desires, but seeing them play out with someone he’d wanted the first moment he laid eyes on her was something completely different. Rex bent and placed wet, open-mouthed kisses from hip bone to hip bone. Ari’s breathing ticked up and her legs shifted restlessly, but otherwise she didn’t move. He moved upward and with an abrupt jerk, he pulled her bra down so that her breasts were free and pushed up. The tempting pink tips were too much for him to resist, so he didn’t.
Sitting beside her on the bed, he teased her nipples with his fingers. He stroked and rolled, then moved on to tugging and gently pinching. Ari’s body arched into his touch with a moan. Rex bent and laved the side closest to him with his tongue and a sharp cry left Ari.
“Color, Ari?” he asked, his mouth still pressed to her sensitive flesh.
“Green, sir,” she choked out.
Rex smiled against her and switched his attention to the other side before trailing back down her torso to the waistband of her jeans. With deft fingers, he popped the button and lowered the zipper. He used slow, deliberate motions to tell her what he was doing next, giving her ample time to consider each move and stop him as he divested her of her pants, but she never did.
The irrational need to mark her, even just for now, thundered through him and he placed his lips on her inner thigh. She gasped when he began to suck and nibble on the spot until he had enough pressure to leave a mark. Her hips bucked against him. Smiling to himself, he peeled the underwear off her. He didn’t give her or himself long to think. He reached up with nimble fingers and released the tie so he could pull her shirt and bra off. He left her lying on top of the navy comforter; her pale skin a stark contrast to it. He had a fleeting thought that this moment with Ari might just ruin him. He’d never be able to keep her, but he doubted anyone else would have such beautiful, natural reactions to him. He wondered briefly if that meant he should stop it now before everything changed, but even then he knew it was too late.