“Then why? Explain, beautiful.”
She swallowed again, searched for words. “I…” Shaking her head against the words that refused to cooperate, she chewed on her lower lip again.
Brad cocked an eyebrow, but his caresses continued. He was being patient, and for that, she wanted to kiss him. But kisses weren’t in her future if she didn’t start talking. Sighing, she glanced down at where their knees touched. “My whole marriage was logical. I let it be that way. I let him define me. Last night…”
A shiver gripped her as Brad inched his fingertip lower, tickling over the top of her mound. When she found her voice again, it trembled like the rest of her. “Was the first night I haven’t felt like I was in chains, and I was finally able to be myself. I have a submissive side and I don’t want to be stifled again. Nor do I want to be taken advantage of because of it.” There, she’d said it. She’d survived the admission.
“Cassie?” he asked so quietly she almost missed the sound of his voice.
Lifting her gaze to his, she waited for him to continue, feeling wholly exposed, wholly vulnerable beneath that penetrating blue light.
His free hand came up to cup the side of her face. Tenderness infused his expression. “Did your husband satisfy you?”
Humiliated to the core of her being, Cassie closed her eyes and tried to turn out of his grasp. He let her, but his unrelenting caresses didn’t give her the escape she wanted. His strokes dipped lower, dusting a breath away from where she craved his touch the most.
“What a fool he was.” A touch of some unidentifiable emotion fringed Brad’s voice. “He didn’t pay attention to the treasure you are. Look at me.”
She pulled her gaze back to his.
“No. Look at me. All of me. There’s no way I’d ridicule you for the secrets you give to me when you surrender your body. And I would never take advantage of you that way either.” He chuckled, and the wry twist to his mouth hinted that he disliked the truth as much as she did. “Hell, sweetheart, I’m shaking I want you so badly. But I’ll sit here all damned night, hard as stone, a breath away from losing it if you breathe too hard, until you’re ready.”
It took every ounce of courage she possessed to confess, “I don’t want that control, Brad. I’m tired of holding the control.”
“I know you don’t.” As he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth, his breath whispered into her hair. “But you’re clinging to it. I can’t take it out of your hands. You have to surrender it to me. And as amazing as last night was, knowing each other will make it so much better.”
Flash after flash of the way he’d manipulated her body, knowing precisely what she wanted, what she needed the night before, cycled through her mind. Before she could fully recover from the immediate constriction of her lungs, Brad’s fingertip made the final descent she craved, and he stroked her clitoris.
Shock radiated through her body. A blissful haze enveloped her mind. She shuddered against his hand and gasped for air. “Please… please…” Giving up on words, Cassie moaned. What she wanted, she couldn’t define. She didn’t know what, precisely, to ask for.
“God, you’re so perfect.” The sandpaper quality of his voice sent another violent tremor rolling through her body. “Lean back, sweetheart.”
As strength threatened to leave her spine, she willingly lay back on the blanket and clenched her hands in soft cotton. Her hips undulated against his slow, steady strokes. Heat spread over her skin.
“It’s just a week. No obligations or expectations. You can indulge for a few days, can’t you?”
Complete freedom to indulge in her most-secretive desires. There was no threat in that. Cassie nodded, as she whispered, “For a few days, yes.”
One thick finger slid gently into her aching depths. He retracted slowly, only to push in once more, stroking her just where she needed to feel him the most. “Close your eyes. Don’t think. Just enjoy it. Let me take care of you.”
A raspy moan tumbled from her lips, and she turned her head aside, allowing pleasure to guide her down the treacherous path he proposed. She lifted her hips, arched her back.