CLUB DARK LACE: The complete Dark Lace series Page 4

  She swallowed. The moisture in her panties betrayed the nervous shaking of her hands. "Uh, they-" Ugh, she couldn't say it, but he looked too willing to wait her out. "They get punished?" she whispered. Maybe if she didn’t say it loud enough, they could breeze over it.

  Fat chance, though.

  "Damn right they do." He unbuttoned his cuffs and went about folding his shirt sleeves up to his elbows. She could have run, should have at least given the idea a few seconds of thought, but she didn't. Instead, she stood in front of him as he finished rolling up his sleeves and sat at the foot of her bed.

  "Now. Off with those jeans and panties. And not just down around your knees, all the way off,” he directed in a deep, firm voice. Playful Garrick wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Authority ruled his tone and his expression.

  She stared at him, confused, aroused, and scared all at the same time. Not sure which to deal with first she looked to him for direction. He'd know what to do, surely.

  Chapter 8

  The woman stood frozen in her bedroom; her hands stuck to the button of her jeans. Fuck he loved her in jeans. They showed every curve and accentuated her waist, no matter which pair she wore. He'd seen her in yoga pants, sweat pants, her scrubs, but it was her jeans he loved most.

  After several moments passed with no movement from her, he took pity on her. "Jade. Your pants. Take them down, then your panties. Then I want you to come over here, lay across my lap."

  "Why?" A whispered question so ridiculous, it could only come from someone near panic. Like at the club, although there were no tears this time. He could all but hear her heart hammering away in her chest, her eyes wide and searching while her face emptied of color.

  "Because you were a bad girl, and I'm going to spank you." He wouldn't soothe her yet. A little fear was to be expected. Letting her feel the trepidation and regret led into her acceptance of her punishment. Once it was over with, he would comfort the hell out of her. He’d spend the rest of the day soothing her if she needed it.

  "I-I'm sorry I lied." The button slipped through the hole, and she yanked down her zipper.

  "I know." He watched her fingers work as they disappeared into her jeans, pushing down both her pants and panties at the same time until they were bunched at her ankles. Although he'd seen it dozens of times before, her undressing in this manner, this time seemed surreal.

  She kicked the bundle of panties and jeans to the side. "I don't think you need to spank me." Her chin rose an inch, but her eyes remained downcast. She may believe she didn't need it, but she did. And so did he.

  "Come here and lay over my lap." A soft pink brushed across her cheeks and the very tip of her nose. "I've seen your pussy, Jade. I had my fingers all in it the other night. Now I want to see your ass; I want to get a good look at it before I mark it with my hand."

  Her eyes shot up to meet his. She swallowed, but her feet slid across the floor. Her toes never left the ground as she glided over to him and slowly laid over his lap.

  Not a second of her movement did he miss. So gentle and innocent, yet from the moisture he could already see gathered between her legs, he doubted she was thinking innocent thoughts.

  He took a long moment to inspect the woman over his knee. Her shirt hid most of her torso, but her waist, her rounded buttocks and her thighs were all displayed for him. He slid his hand between her thighs, pushing them open to give him better access, and ran his fingers through her wet folds. His fingers stroked up to her clit, and her legs widened more, her moan filled the room.

  Pulling away, he couldn't help smiling over her exhaled frustration. "Not yet, Jade. You were naughty and naughty girls sure as fuck don't get to come over my lap before they've had their spanking. Now lay still while I look at what's mine."

  With both hands, he stretched her ass cheeks apart, showing off her tight little puckered back hole and her wet pussy. "Your pussy is already all wet for me." He dipped one finger into her warm passage, feeling the tightness of her cunt and nearly lost his resolve to wait for sex until after they talked. "But you were bad." He pulled his hand out and gave her one harsh slap on the upturn of her ass.

  She yelped, but more from the surprise. Her thighs snapped shut, but he tsked at her, shoving them back apart.

  "I like this way better. Then I can see you better, and you can't tighten up this ass of yours." He patted her cheeks, delighting in the gentle wiggle. Sinking his teeth into that ass moved to the top of his bucket list.

  "Garrick."

  "Are you whining?" He couldn't keep the chuckle from his voice. "I see you aren't taking this seriously. That's my fault. Let me explain the way this works. I'm going to spank you, you're going to take it, and when I believe you've learned your lesson, and only then, will I stop and let you up. There will be no whining, no begging, and sure as hell no hitting, kicking, or cursing. Got it?" He rested his palm on the curve of her cheeks.

  "Yes. I got it." He looked down at the back of her head. Her face pressed into the mattress of her bed, her hands gripping the bedding in front of her.

  "Okay then." He gave her one light pat before her laid into her.

  After a dozen strokes, she started to wiggle on his lap, a few more and she really squirmed. He'd began light, not wanting to go full force with her, but by the time she was kicking her legs, he'd progressed to spreading the smacks all around her round backside, not missing an inch, and intensifying each stroke.

  "You don't hide from me. You have to tell me what's in your head or this will never work. And you sure as hell don't lie. If you don't want to talk about something." He paused for a moment, resting his hot palm over her just as warm ass. "If you don't want to talk, you can tell me that. I won't push- well, not at that moment. But you will talk to me." When his breath regulated, he began spanking her again, spreading the spanks down her thighs.

  Her feet kicked up. She screeched and began to struggle against him. Easily rectified. He threw one leg over both of hers, leaving her immobile over his knee.

  "Dammit!" She yelled and struggled some more.

  He pinched her reddening in ass. "I said no swearing. That’s your only warning."

  "It hurts, Garrick! So, bad!" She pushed upward, tried twisting, but nothing worked. He wouldn't let her up until he finished. And from her attitude, they were far from done.

  "It's not supposed to tickle." He laughed and continued to pepper her ass. His hand hurt, and he contemplated taking off his belt, or grabbing a hairbrush, but even through the numbing burn he could feel her skin, feel her tremble when he touched her, and he didn't want any implement to take that away from him.

  "Oh!" She made another attempt at wiggling, but when she didn’t get anywhere, she stilled. Going slack, she seemed to finally accept her punishment.

  "If you lie, you get spanked. If you hide your worries, you get spanked. If you disobey me, you get spanked. Are you getting the pattern, Jade?"

  Her sob broke through the sounds of the spanking, and he paused his hand. Her shoulders shook, and her body trembled as he ran his fingertips over her crimson cheeks. He'd spanked longer than he'd intended, but she'd been more stubborn than he'd thought she would be.

  "Yes, Garrick. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He ran his left hand over her back, soothing her and letting her cry without interrupting her. "I was scared. So scared."

  He pulled her up, swinging her into his lap, and completely ignoring the wince of pain on her face when her ass brushed against his pants. "Scared of what? Me?"

  She wiped the palms of her hands over her face and shook her head. "No, not of you, I mean, not like you mean." More fat tears rolled down her cheeks. He hated them. The tears he liked were one's mingled with pleasure, these were full of regret.

  "How do you mean?" He forced his tone to gentle. Fear that he’d pushed too far too fast bubbled up in his chest.

  "I was scared I blew it, we blew it, that we'd messed everything up."

  His shoulders relaxed, and he pulled her to his chest, resting his chin o
n her head. "We didn't mess anything up. We're making things better, the way they’re supposed to be. You've been my girl since high school, you just didn't know it, and idiot that I was didn't either."

  "I'm going to mess up again." As warnings went, that one was unnecessary.

  "Yep, you will. And I’m going punish you when you do. And sometimes, I'll mess up, and you'll tell me I messed up, and I'll make it up to you."

  "I punish you?" She pushed away from him and looked at him as though he'd just told her she'd be eating caterpillars for lunch.

  He laughed. "No way in hell, pretty girl. You'll tell me respectfully I messed up, and I'll do everything I can to make it better."

  She sniffled and looked away, her red, puffy eyes focusing on the opposite wall of her room. "Okay."

  "Okay?"

  "Yes. Okay. That works. I'm sorry I lied. I'm sorry I was too afraid to tell you what was going on in my head."

  He wiped the short locks of hair off her face. "It's okay. All done with now." He patted her rear end. "Sore?"

  "Yes. It hurt like hell. Worse than I ever imagined."

  "But I bet if I touch you, dip my fingers in you, I’ll find you all hot and wet for me."

  Her eyes shifted again; the blush deepening on her cheeks.

  "I can't wait to sink my cock into you, Jade. I've waited too long for it, but it won’t be tonight. Not when you had a punishment." He pressed his lips to her still wet cheeks. "For now, put on some comfy clothes, and let's order pizza. We have plenty to talk over, and a movie night sounds fucking awesome to me."

  She regarded him with puzzlement. "You can do that? Just switch over like that?"

  "No, I didn't switch over at all. I'm still in charge. I'm still the one who spanked you and will spank you again if you deserve it. But I'm also still me."

  "But better." She smiled.

  "Better?"

  "Yeah, friend Garrick wouldn't have spanked me, and hugged me, and kissed me. So, this is better."

  He laughed. "Absolutely, now get going before I forget my own rule and sink my fingers into that fucking pussy. I smell how wet you are, and it's driving me crazy."

  Her blush intensified. "Isn't it punishing you by denying us?"

  He forced a heavy sigh. "The price of being the dominant. It's best for you to separate punishment from sex. I don't want you ever to think you can misbehave to get it."

  "If you say so."

  "I do. Now scoot." He patted her rear and she leaped from his lap. He stood from the bed and adjusted his hard as steel cock in his pants. She better not get into any more trouble, because if he had to delay sinking into her for much longer, he was going to embarrass himself.

  Chapter 9

  Jade fiddled with her purse strap as the elevator whisked her to Garrick’s floor. She’d made the same ride half a dozen times a week for several years, but none of those times were like this. Her stomach didn’t flutter with anticipation and nerves while the illuminated numbers clicked off the floors. No. Usually, she concentrated on looking through her Facebook feed, not wondering if he was going to like the skirt she’d chosen to wear.

  The ding of the elevator dragged her from her worry to the present. Forcing herself forward she stepped off the lift and made her way down the hall to his apartment. She reached for the handle but pulled back at the last second. Usually, she would ring his bell and walk right in, using her key. But was that allowed now?

  She dropped her keyring back into her purse and rang the bell. No. Surely, she wasn’t allowed to just barge into his place now. Things were different.

  The door opened and Garrick stood with a confused smile.

  “Hey.” He stepped aside to let her in, kissing her cheek as she passed him. “Why didn’t you use your key?” He asked, closing the door behind him.

  He was in his typical afterwork clothes, snuggly fitting t-shirt and low hanging jeans. His hair was still damp from his shower.

  “I didn’t think that was okay to do,” she admitted, slipping her purse from her shoulder and placing it on the small table near the closet.

  “Why?” His brow wrinkled.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. How much had changed and how much stayed the same?

  “Hey.” His hands gripped her shoulders, pulling her to him. He kissed her forehead. “I told you, we’re just us. Everything we did before is still okay. Use your key when you come over, dive into my pantry when you get a craving for chips, borrow my sports pants when you spill salsa all over your jeans.” He laughed. “Just like before.”

  “Only now, if I do something you think is wrong, you’ll spank me.” She noted with a soft smile. He made everything sound easy. But it wasn’t. They could ruin everything by walking down this road.

  “And sometimes just for fun,” he winked. “Come on, I have the chess board all set up.” He laced his fingers through hers and tugged her down the hall to the living room.

  “You want to play chess?” she asked, dropping her sweatshirt over the arm of the leather couch. Two glasses of wine sat beside the set up chess board.

  “Well, I want to undress you, tie you to the bed, and fuck you until you can’t remember your name, but I feel like we aren’t quite ready for all that yet.” He winked again, and just like that he had her unsettled. Both wanting to do exactly what he described and needing to run away before she gave into the urge to go through with it, her body twisted with indecision.

  “Then I guess chess is a good option.” She sat on the couch while he walked around the table and sat on the ottoman.

  “For the moment anyway,” he took a sip of his wine. “White. So, you don’t fall asleep on me.” Red wine would have her snoozing before the game finished.

  She relaxed. This was easy. Sitting with him, playing chess. Unwinding after a long day. They did this best; they’ve done this a million times before. They fell right into the game like every other time they played.

  “Jade,” he said softly after moving a pawn. “I want you to do something for me.”

  She studied the board. “What?”

  “I’d like you to remove your clothes.”

  Her finger fell off her bishop, toppling the piece over. “Why?”

  “Because I like to look at you. And seeing you sitting on my couch naked- it’s what I want.” He reached across the board and righted her bishop. “Now please, then we can continue the game.”

  She looked up at him through her lowered lashes. Nude? Sit and play a game of chess completely naked?

  “Are you going to get naked too?” she asked, moving to her feet.

  He gave her a gentle smile. “No. Just you. So I can see you, look at you, touch you if I want to while we’re playing.”

  Her mouth formed the word oh, but no sound came out.

  “Jade.” His voice dipped a fraction. “Now.”

  She swallowed. Right. The whole not wanting to repeat himself thing. She nodded so he would know she wasn’t ignoring him. Her hands were taking longer to do what her mind wanted.

  “Do you need help?” he asked, starting to stand.

  “N-no. I can do this.” She waved him back into his seat. “I just, yeah, I can do this.” She fiddled with the buttons on her blouse until she got them all undone, then slid the material off her shoulders. Her bra came off next, and her cheeks heated when the clasp stuck and she had to wiggle and twist to get the damn thing to unclasp. If he wanted a sexy strip tease- he’d asked the wrong girl.

  “Don’t worry about how you look, only worry about obeying. Obedience is sexy- no matter how clumsy,” he said with humor laced through his words.

  With heated cheeks, she shimmied out of her skirt and panties, dumping them in the pile with her shirt on the floor. She kicked the items under the coffee table and gingerly sat back down on the sofa. The leather was cool beneath her naked ass.

  “Not so hard, right?” he asked with a warm smile.

  “This isn’t weird to you?” she asked while forcing her palms to stay on her kne
es.

  “I’ve seen you naked before, Jade.” He pointed out.

  “But not like this.” She dug her nails into her knees. His gaze wandered over her before settling back on her face.

  “It was always like this, but I couldn’t show you.” He admitted. “I haven’t seen you as a friend for a very long time. Since college probably.”

  She swallowed. She couldn’t remember the moment that she’d found herself staring at him longer than usual, or when suddenly his talks about his dates made her stomach knot up. But she knew it had happened. Somewhere along the way, her friendly attraction to him had deepened. And now she sat nude on his couch, beneath his control.

  “Spread your legs a little for me,” he rested his elbows on his knees.

  Slowly she slid her feet across the lush carpeting until he looked satisfied at what he could see.

  “There. Perfect.” He looked to the board. “I believe it’s still your turn.”

  Chess. Right. They were playing a game.

  She studied the board. What piece had she wanted to move?

  “You were about to move your bishop.” He supplied for her when she continued to stare blankly at the game.

  “Right.” She nodded and moved the marble piece.

  “You’ve left your queen open.” He shook his head and swiftly slid his rook into place, stealing away her queen.

  “Shit,” she whispered. “It’s not fair. You’re distracting me.”

  “And you sitting there, naked, with your pretty pussy on display isn’t distracting?” He raised his eyebrows with his playful grin.

  “Well, that’s your own fault,” she shot back with a soft laugh.

  His lips cracked open in a wide smile. “Very true.” He leaned back slightly. “Come here, Jade.”

  Her smile fell. “Why?”

  He shook his head. “Because I said to, that’s all you need to know. You were given an order, now obey.” He scooted the ottoman back a few inches. “Stand here, facing me with your hands behind your back.”