Crack the Whip (10 page)

“I want us to do this, Katie. This is your last chance to back out.”

She shook her head. “No. I want to please you.”

Emotion raced through him, clutching at his heart as much as his balls and his cock. For the first time since that awful night, he was optimistic about their future together.

Laying her back down on the blanket, he shucked his clothes and boots, yanked a condom from the pocket of his jeans, and rolled it on with hands that trembled slightly. He lifted her legs and bent them back, positioned himself at her entrance and with a roll of his hips, drove into her.

“I want it all with you, Katydid. Every last bit.”

He punctuated his words with thrust after thrust of his cock into her wet grasp. Katie wrapped her legs around him and pulled him tightly against her, dragging him in deep. He held himself for a moment, looking hard into her eyes, reading total and complete submission there. Lightning singed along his spine and into his balls. He was ready
now.
And, from the fluttering walls of her cunt clenching around him, he knew she was, too.

In, out, again, again, faster, faster. When they fell over the edge and crashed together, both bodies shook with the force of the impact. He wasn’t sure he’d ever stop coming, spurting heavily into the latex reservoir. But then at last they were both still, covered in sweat and dragging air into their lungs. When he could finally move, he slid from her carefully and rolled to the side, closing his eyes.

He was startled to feel hands touching him and looked up to see Katie kneeling beside him and carefully removing the condom. The tip of her tongue peeped out between her lips as she concentrated on her task. When she had it all the way up to the head, she reached for his jeans and the handkerchief she knew he always carried in a back pocket. Meticulously, she finished removing the condom, carefully wiped any excess from his cock and his balls and wrapped the used latex in the square of cotton.

“We don’t want to leave it out here for the animals to eat and choke on,” she told him in a soft voice. “May I put my clothes back on, Sir?”

He was amazed at how quickly she’d accepted this role with him. He’d expected he’d have to coax her into it, tease her, especially after what she’d said earlier. Take it one step at a time. But it was as if everything that had happened in the intervening years had disappeared and the old magic rolled right over them. In a new form.

He cleared his throat. “Yes. You may dress.”

He pulled on his own things, watching her as she did the same. When they were both finished, she stood before him in a submissive posture, but he didn’t miss the tiny smile teasing at her lips. He laughed aloud.

“You little witch. You were all prepared for this, weren’t you?”

She grinned at him. “Be serious, Reece. I didn’t think you asked me out here just to eat fried chicken. I knew if I showed up, we’d both be taking a whole new step in our lives.”

He pulled her close and cupped her chin, tilting her face so he could look into her eyes.

“Are you saying you’re willing to take this further? See if we can make it work?”

She swallowed before answering him, as if what she had to say was difficult. “On one condition.”

A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “A sub laying down conditions?”

“This sub is, if you want more.”

He sighed. “Okay, let’s have it.”

“Remember what I said about you having a strong personality? Being afraid you’d swallow me up?”

“And I told you there was nothing to worry about. That I’d always want you to be Katie.”

“A relationship like this can only be built on complete trust, Reece. You know that. And I have to be sure that if I needed it, you could bend for me. Respect what I needed.”

“Sugar, I promise you—”

“No.” She reached up and touched his lips. “Here’s what I want. Give me one night, even part of one, to reverse roles.

Accept me as your Mistress as you want me to accept you as my Master. If you do that for me, I’m yours. Can you trust me enough to give me control for, oh, say, one hour? Can you, Reece? Do you love me that much?”

His gut twisted as he thought about it. What she was asking would be very tough, but he knew it was some kind of test for her. Had a Dom abused her trust one time? Was that what this was all about? He’d have to do some research, but he knew his answer couldn’t wait. In or out, he told himself.

“All right. Yes. I’ll do it.” He ran his knuckles over her cheek. “Next Sunday night. At Rawhide. The club will be closed, and we’ll have all the privacy we’ll need. Unless meeting me at the club bothers you.” He paused. “I don’t have things set up in my bedroom.” He grinned. “Yet.”

She tensed for a moment, obviously not expecting things to happen this fast. But then she smiled back at him.

“All right. Rawhide’s not a problem. There won’t be anyone around.” Then the smile disappeared, and she frowned. “What if Clint decides to work in the office that night?”

“I’ll take care of Clint.” And that was a conversation he really wasn’t looking forward to. “And Katie?”

“Yes?”

“No matter what, I love you.”

Her features softened, and she smiled. “I love you, too, Reece. I guess I always have. Maybe things are working out the way they’re supposed to after all.”

“I may not be at Rawhide much this week,” he told her.

She frowned. “Avoiding me?”

“Not at all. But playing with any of the subs has suddenly lost its appeal for me.” He grazed his knuckles across her cheek, tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m saving myself for next Sunday.”

Her beautiful mouth turned up in a grin. “Good.”

He cupped her cheeks with his hands. “You know I wouldn’t do this for anyone but you, right?”

She nodded. “I just want us to be able to trust each other, Reece. Can you understand that?”

He brushed his thumb at the corner of her mouth. “Did something happen to you, Katydid? Something that shattered your trust?”

She tore her gaze away from his and looked down at her feet. “I just have to be sure,” she told him.

He sensed this wasn’t the time to push her. “See you next Sunday, then. Seven o’clock.”

“Seven o’clock.”

“Good.” He grinned. “Let’s get out of here before I tear your clothes off again.”

Back at the house she started toward her car, then turned back. “And Reece? Be sure you’re properly prepared.”

He knew the paces Mistresses put their subs through. How much of that did Katie expect from him? A powerful shot of lust surged through him, tightening his balls and swelling his cock. He stood in front of the house for a long time after she drove away, wishing someone would come along and give him advice on how to handle the situation.

The week stretched interminably for Reece. He drove himself mercilessly at the ranch, riding from dusk until dawn, some nights so tired he could hardly get his boots off.

Pushing everyone so hard his brothers finally cornered him in the barn at the end of a particularly difficult day.

“Okay,” Mark said, crowding him against a stall door.

“Enough of this shit. What the fuck is going on?”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Reece glared at him, lifted his hat, wiped his forehead, and jammed the hat back in place.

“He means,” Vince said, “you’ve been the biggest asshole all week. The men are threatening to quit if you don’t quit riding them so hard. We’ve ridden fence so many times I think we can all count the fence posts in our sleep. And that’s a lot of damn acreage.”

“They get paid to work hard,” he growled.

“But not ridden into the ground. Shit, even the cattle complained the other day when you pushed so hard to move that one herd to a different pasture.”

“Yeah,” Mark grinned. “I actually heard one of them ask what got your shorts in such a twist.”

“I think it’s because he hasn’t gotten laid,” Vince told his brother.

Mark lifted an eyebrow. “You could be right. His truck’s been parked here every night. Our big brother hasn’t been out doing his usual tomcatting.”

“You two leave my sex life alone,” Reece snapped and tried to push his way past them.

Vince put a hand on his shoulder. When he spoke, his voice has softened. “We’re just concerned is all. This isn’t like you. If something’s wrong, you know you can talk to us about it.”

“Nothing’s wrong. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need a shower.”

“And an attitude adjustment,” Mark called after him as he stomped off toward the house.

As soon as he was inside Reece headed for the bar in his den, pouring two fingers of his favorite bourbon into a glass and downing half of it in one swallow. He didn’t need his brothers riding his ass. Not this week. And Clint had managed to add his two cents worth when Reece checked in with him during the week. Ostensibly, he’d called to check on some minor things but actually to check on how Katie was doing.

Clint knew exactly what he wanted.

“I think this is a big mistake,” Clint told him. “And if you screw up the situation at the club, I’ll be forced to beat your ass black and blue. But I know you’ll do what you want anyway. Just try to use what’s left of your brain. And yeah, I’ll keep an eye on her when you’re not here.”

He wondered what they’d all think if they knew about his date with Katie on Sunday night and what the real purpose was. He was having plenty of second thoughts about it himself. He knew his own personality, alpha born and alpha bred, with the genes and desires of a full Dom. But Katie needed to know he would give over the same control to her that he was asking her to give to him, and he loved her enough to make the effort. He just hoped he didn’t screw it up.

By the time Sunday rolled around his nerves were so raw he had to make a conscious effort to keep himself together.

He allowed himself one small drink before he left the house, sipping it slowly. Alcohol and BDSM play didn’t mix in his book, and the club had strict rules about it. People lost control, lost their rational self, and bad things could happen.

He didn’t plan for that to be the situation tonight.

Katie’s car was already in the parking lot when he let himself in the back door. He walked slowly down the short hallway to his private room, assuming that’s where she wanted to play. And was surprised to see her standing outside the door, waiting for him.

“I didn’t want to do this where you take your subs.” She handed him a key card. “Room five. I’ll give you a few minutes to get ready.”

His nerves were jittering again as he let himself into the room. He loved her. He could do this.

He’d taken a long time showering and preparing his body at home. Now he stripped off his clothes, laying them neatly over a small chair in one corner, and lifted the bottle of oil she’d left on the table next to it. While he rubbed it everywhere on his body, including his balls and cock, he looked around to see what she might have chosen for tonight’s play, but everything was still put away. Did she want him to imagine? To anticipate? Well, he damn sure was doing that.

Finally he capped the bottle, set it aside, and stood beneath the spotlight, waiting as so many subs had waited for him. The heat of the light activated reagents in the oil and a layer of warmth spread over his skin. His cock and his balls tingled. Ceding control was so foreign to his nature. But then he remembered taking control was just as strange to Katie.

How would she handle it? Would she freak out? Would he?

Anticipation and nerves battled inside him. Was this the way his subs felt when they waited for him?

His heart tripped when he heard the swish of a key card in the slot and the door click as it opened. And when Katie stepped inside, his heart damn near stopped beating.

Her mass of dark hair curled wildly about her face, her eyes—which he hadn’t paid enough attention to before—were heavily made up, the lashes thickened with mascara. Her plump lips were colored a deep rose. But it was the outfit that stole his breath. Fingerless mesh gloves rose to her elbows. A dark red bustier pulled in her waist and pushed her breasts upward so all but the underneath slope showed, the nipples poking out temptingly. Garters stretched down to hold sheer, black hose in place, and her feet were shod in red stiletto heels. And that was all she wore.

Her legs climbed all the way to there, and
there
was her naked pussy fully exposed beneath the bottom edge of the bustier. It already glistened with cream. His cock flexed involuntarily, and electricity sizzled through his testicles. God, he wanted to bend her over the padded bench and paddle that sweet little ass until it matched her lipstick. Then plug her ass with a vibrator, clamp her nipples, and make her kneel to take his cock into her mouth. Only before he came, he’d get behind her and plunge into that hot, little cunt.

Shit. He was in big trouble here.

“I see you are properly oiled but also fully aroused.” She stepped closer and touched his shaft with the tip of one finger. “You may not come until I give you permission.

Understood?”

He nodded and cleared his throat. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Good. Very good.”

She stepped to the wall and depressed a button. Manacles descended from the ceiling on lengths of chain until the dangled just above his shoulders.

“Place these cuffs around your wrists and lock them in place,” she ordered, something sparking in her eyes.

Reece locked the cuffs carefully into place, then waited while she pushed the button again and the cuffs rose until his arms were stretched high over his head. Taut but not too uncomfortable. Good. Obviously she wasn’t into intense pain.

Katie walked behind him, and he heard her unlocking the doors of a wall cabinet. Sliding open a drawer. When she walked in front of him and knelt down, her soft as silk hair brushed against his thighs. He had to grit his teeth to keep his cock from exploding. He concentrated on breathing evenly as she locked his ankles to a spreader bar, his legs about three feet apart. He’d used one many times on his subs, enjoying the feeling of helplessness it created for them. Now he knew how they felt, and he was stunned at the heat that rolled through him.