14 - Taming Grace, Part Three #2
“One half of us, we’re like me,” he went on. “We need to have everything the way we want it, all the time. We need to make it work by our rules.”
“And what about the other half? What about me?” I asked curiously. I had never met anyone else before who had been part of this world of dominance and submission, and I figured the least I could do was take advantage of his deep knowledge of all of this.
“They need to find that balance,” he explained. “They take control day-to-day, when they’re in front of people, but they need that release in their spare time. They get burned out on it, and they need to find a release in some other way. This is one of the safest and most discreet way to do it.”
“You sound like you know a lot about this,” I remarked.
“Well, you’d be surprised at the stuff that comes out when you get a few drinks in some big executives,” he chuckled. “I could tell you some stories, trust me.”
“Like, men, as well?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “I didn’t think guys would be into this kind of thing...”
“The further you get up this ladder, the more you’re going to find people who are into the extremes of everything,” he replied. “To get this far...yeah, you have to be willing to embrace your base instincts.”
“But I’m already at the top of this ladder already,” I pointed out. “I don’t need to get any higher...”
“You can always get higher,” he replied, his lips curling up into a smile.
“And let me guess, you’re going to be the one to get me there,” I replied. He nodded.
“If you’ll let me,” he answered, and his hand slid a little further up my thigh. My breath caught in my throat, and I tried to keep my head in the game.
“And what exactly would it involve?” I asked. “I mean, all this talk is good, but how does it work in practice?”
“I think the first thing we have to agree on is that nobody else is going to find out about this,” he began, taking a sip of his wine.
“People don’t tend to take to this stuff so easily.
It can freak them out, especially if you’re in any position of power over them.
And I get the feeling that the last thing you need is being taken less seriously.
I know how hard it is for women to get anywhere in this business. ”
“Agreed.” I nodded, feeling like I was in the midst of negotiating a contract. “I don’t want anyone to find out about this. Which means we have to keep it out of the office at all costs. The less time we can spend together there, the better.”
“And I think we need to make sure that we keep business out of pleasure too,” he remarked. “I’ve never been with someone I’ve been working with before.”
“So we leave everything at the office, in the office,” I agreed. “I think that makes sense.”
“And I can’t help but notice that we’re not in the office right now,” he pointed out. I took another sip of my wine, trying to distract myself. The hair was standing up on the back of my neck, like he had touched me there already.
“I suppose we’re not,” I replied, eyeing him across the table. “But we’re still in public, right?”
“That didn’t seem to stop you when we were at the club,” he shot back. I smiled.
“Yeah, but that was different,” I replied. “If I’d known that you were going to be working with me...”
“I bet you would have gone ahead and done it anyway,” he replied, and there was an edge to his voice, as though he was challenging me.
I opened my mouth, like I was intending to contradict him, but I knew that he was right.
As soon as I’d seen him in that place, I had known that I was going to do it.
I got that feeling in my gut sometimes, that sure certainty that pulsed in my system when I needed someone more than my good sense could stop me.
“You sound pretty confident,” I replied. I could see the waiter watching us from across the room, and I wasn’t sure if he was waiting to come over and order, or if it was just that the chemistry between us was threatening to send this whole place up in flames.
“I know that look when I get it,” he answered coolly. “I know when someone wants me.”
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. His hand was snaking up my leg beneath the table, the only thing protecting us from being caught in the act the large tablecloth that was draped between us. My pussy was crying out for his touch, but I couldn’t do that here...could I?
“And I think you want me right now,” he murmured, lowering his voice and shifting a few inches forward so that I could see the smattering of stubble on his cheek. I could already imagine how it would feel against my skin; rough, a little sore. I wanted it. I wanted it to hurt.
I took a deep breath. I hated that he already seemed to be inside my head, that he had found his way to read my mind and make sure that I didn’t get so much as a thought to myself.
He must have had a lot of practice, playing this game, to know so confidently everything that was going through my mind...
“I want you,” I breathed back. I couldn’t believe I’d said it. I couldn’t believe I’d meant it. If anyone had so much as leaned over from the tables surrounding ours, they would have been privy to an X-rated conversation.
“How badly?” he asked, his voice overheated. I spread my legs a little further, allowing him all the access he wanted.
“Touch me...”
“Beg me,” he replied. I bit my lip and closed my eyes for a moment, gathering myself.
“Please,” I murmured, finally, not caring now who heard what I was saying. Hell, maybe I even wanted them to. There was a thrill in the thought of being caught begging this man for myself release, the humiliation of involving other people in what was happening between us.
“Please, what?” he asked, tracing his fingers along the inside of my thigh, so close to my cunt it almost hurt.
“Please, touch my pussy,” I pleaded with him.
I couldn’t believe how quickly I had slipped into this role that he wanted from me; being in his presence alone had been enough to get me to the point where I felt like I couldn’t say no.
That I didn’t have it in me to turn him down.
My want for him, for what he could bring me, had overwhelmed everything else.
He grazed his fingers over my underwear, the closest he had come to me all night long. I gasped, and then pressed my lips together, trying to play it cool. If anyone figured out what we were doing...
“Excuse me, can I take your order?”
Sam pulled his hand back from between my legs and reached for his glass. I caught my breath, and I could feel my cheeks burning with desire. The waiter had finally made his way over to us, and now he was looking down at the two of us like he couldn’t figure out what was going on here.
“I think we need a few more minutes,” Sam replied smoothly, smiling up at him. The waiter nodded and backed off, and as soon as we were alone, I reached for his hand beneath the table and pulled it back between my legs.
“Where were we?” I murmured, but he grinned and shook his head.
“That’s not how it works,” he replied, and he pulled his hand away. “You don’t get to call the shots, remember? That’s what I do here.”
I swear, I felt like I was going to explode right there and then, combust into a million little pieces as my pussy grew slick with untapped want.
“Don’t you want me?” I breathed, and he nodded.
“Of course I do,” he replied, as though it should have been obvious. “But can’t you see how fun it is to make you wait?”
“And how long do you intend on making me wait for?” I demanded.
There was a hoarse edge to my voice, the need obvious.
It made me a little mad that he had managed to get me so helpless in the face of my own arousal, but if this was a glimpse of what was to come... yeah, I could see the appeal of this.
“As long as it takes,” he replied, and he picked up his menu.
I did the same thing, mirroring his actions.
I felt like he was puppeteering me, and the release of knowing I didn’t have to call the shots felt good.
I took another sip of my wine, loosening myself up.
As though his touch hadn’t gotten me loose enough already.
We went through the rest of the night, talked about our pasts, our histories, our studies, everything.
To anyone watching, we would probably have looked like a regular couple, just out on a first date, getting to know one another.
But little did they know, beneath the table, my pussy was aching for him so intently I could hardly think straight.
We ate and drank and played at normalcy, but every now and then he would hit me with a look that told me exactly where his mind was, and I would feel like I was about to burst into flames right there and then.
I made it through the dinner without giving anything away, and the whole way through I felt...
calm. Even though below the table, I felt as though I was going to combust, there was something deeply freeing about knowing that he was the one who had the rest of the night planned out for me.
I didn’t have to make a single call. And yes, if I could, I would have taken him back to my place and fucked him senseless right there and then – but I would indulge this side of myself, find out the games that she responded to most.
The food was good, but I could hardly taste it.
Everything in my body had been switched down a few places to make space for all the want I was shooting in his direction.
I couldn’t hear much in the room, couldn’t focus on anything but the way he looked at me, the way he smelled, the way he smiled when I made a joke he liked.
Tunnel vision, all focused on him. And he knew it; I could tell from the cocky way he was regarding me that he was pleased at my obedience, at my attentiveness.
He paid the bill at the end of the night, even though I protested.
“You don’t have to-”
“I want to,” he replied, cutting me off firmly. As he handed the waiter the small book with his card inside, he leaned forward and murmured into my ear.