BegMe (5 page)

Well…she
was
waiting to be eaten, but in an entirely
different sense.

A blush rode high on her cheekbones. She locked up and Jared
escorted her to his car. He held open the door like a true gentleman. Her thigh
brushed against his as she slipped into the passenger seat. Heat seeped into
her skin and her breathing quickened. Her nipples strained against her bra,
begging to be touched. Moisture leaked from her slit.

She heard him moan. At least the whole sexual attraction
thing wasn’t a one-way street after all.

She swallowed the pulse beating frantically in the back of
her throat. Tonight was going to be terrifying and titillating.

* * * * *

The restaurant was a small, chic place she’d read about in
magazines. It had rave reviews. What struck her most was the intimacy of the
place. Small booths, big enough for two to four people, lined the walls. Most
of them were full. The maître d’ led them to a private area at the back of the
restaurant. Nestled away in a corner, their booth was slightly plusher than the
rest.

Once they were seated, menus in hand, Tessa told Jared,
“This is a nice place. I never had the chance to eat here.”

He wasn’t looking at the menu. He stared at her instead,
watching her every move as if fascinated. “I’ve been here a few times. It’s a
good place. Great food. Nice atmosphere. Friendly. Discreet.”

She nearly asked what he meant by
discreet
but the
waiter came to take their order. Tessa asked for wine. Despite the smart suit,
the fancy car and the expensive restaurant, Jared ordered a bottled beer.

With the wine poured, they were once again alone. Tessa took
a small sip of her wine. It wouldn’t do to gulp it down. She didn’t want Jared
to think her a drunk. He already thought her the kind of gal who made sexual
deals with strangers. “So, I guess we should talk about this arrangement.”

Jared reached for his beer. Condensation ran down the
frosted glass, and he trailed a finger up, catching the droplet of moisture.
Tessa’s gaze followed his finger as he slipped it into his mouth, sucking
suggestively.

Everything about this guy screamed sex. Her pussy clenched
and tightened. She squeezed her knees together and moisture gathered in the
crotch of her panties. An image of Jared between her legs, sucking her clit
into the moist cavern of his mouth, flashed into her mind. His tongue coating
her nether lips as he gave her pussy long, languid licks.

“We’ll get to that.” Lifting the bottle, he took a sip. “How
about we start with something simple. Something normal, like your work, life,
friends, family. The usual stuff.”

Fascinated by the way his lips fit around the top of the
bottle, she took a while to answer.

“Something normal…” She reached for something to tell him.
“You already know I’m a sex therapist.” She sipped at her wine between
statements. “I have a mother and a father in Boston. No siblings. I have a few
‘best’ friends, a number of acquaintances.”

Jared raised an eyebrow. “Lovers?”

Choking on her wine, she spit some of it back into the
glass. Not very classy but hell, he’d just asked a very personal question.
Something she did every day to her clients. Now that the tables were turned,
she squirmed in her seat. “Lovers. Well…yes…I’ve had lovers.”

Jared leaned back and toyed with the beer label. “How many
lovers?”

“Two, three maybe.”

“How many, Tessa?”

She shrugged, a nonchalant gesture, hoping to appear more
casual than she actually felt. “Two. One in college. One more recently.”

“And why did that end?”

“Look.” Anger began to bubble. “I really don’t think that is
any of your business.”

Quick as lightning, he reached out and grabbed her wrist.
The gesture should have been menacing but it wasn’t. Instead, it felt erotic.
His fingertips caressed her pulse point. “It is my business. More than you
think. As your Dominant, I need to know everything that’s happened in your
sexual past. I need to know how far to go. We need to have mutual trust.”

She gave him a withering stare. “I know about submission and
dominance, Jared. I’m a sex therapist, remember?”

He grinned. “How could I forget? So, doctor, tell me what
you know about BDSM.”

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. “We’ll get to that
later. First I want to know about Jared Campbell.”

“Nothing much to tell.”

She nodded at his beer. “You drink beer from a bottle. Not
expensive beer but average-guy beer. Yet you wear extremely expensive suits and
drive a car costing more than my house. You frequent BDSM clubs yet you feel no
need to indulge yourself in the fashion of the scene. You, Jared, are an
enigma.”

Laughing at her analysis, Jared started to answer. The
waiter interrupted, bringing their meal. The scent of hot, spicy food made her
stomach growl. Jared looked at her and she pressed a hand to her traitorous
stomach, apologizing for the noise.

“Please, never apologize for your body’s needs.”

“I always seem to be apologizing for my needs.”

He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

It was difficult to explain. She didn’t want to get into her
past right now. It would ruin the night.

She toyed with the stem of her wineglass and stared at the
full-bodied liquid. “I just haven’t had the greatest experience with
submission. I guess you could say I’m afraid to face my desires. Does that make
sense?”

His fingers caressed her knuckles and she looked over at
him. He stared at her, compassion filling his eyes. “Yes, it makes sense.”

“Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

They ate in pleasurable silence. Occasionally they would
speak, making small talk about the exquisite taste of the food or the awful
weather. Once the meal was over and dessert had been served, Jared answered her
question about the beer.

“I drink beer from a bottle because it was the way I was
taught to drink back in my hometown.” He raised a beer in mock salute and spoke
with an exaggerated Texan twang. “We Texans know how to appreciate a fine
brew.”

She laughed as he mimicked a heavy accent.

“Sometimes I like to wear nice suits. I’m a guy, so
obviously I like to drive nice cars. I used to frequent BDSM clubs, now I just
stick to small parties run by friends and Inferno. I don’t feel the need to
wear the ‘clothes of the scene’, because when I’m working, I like to keep
things semi-professional.” He tipped his beer in her direction. “See, I ain’t
an enigma. Just a normal guy from Texas, trying to make a living.”

“Working? You work at Inferno?” She wondered what he did.
Bartender? Manager? Stage-show organizer?

“Why, sugar, I don’t just work there. This Texas hick owns
the joint.”

She tried, and failed miserably, to hide her surprise. “I’m
sorry. It’s just…well…I never expected…”

“You never expected a young, handsome guy like myself to
also have a brain?”

She grinned at his self-deprecating humor. “Something like
that. So Inferno is yours?”

He nodded. “Lock, stock and dungeons’ worth of goods.”

“Impressive. I hear it’s doing well.”

“I get by.” He drummed his fingertips on the table. Once.
Twice. “Now, I answered your questions. Time for you to answer mine. What do
you know of BDSM, Tessa?”

She settled back into her seat. The booths were very plush.
Anyone could feel at home here. Although other couples were in the room, Tessa
felt like she and Jared were alone in their own private world. They really got
the atmosphere right in this place.

“Dominance and submission is all about trust. Mutual trust.
It is about consent and pleasure, for both parties.” She smiled. “I could give
you a whole textbook analysis of the lifestyle but I know it would bore you.”
She pushed back a stray strand of hair. “Now tell me what you know on the
subject.” She imagined from his experiences, he knew a whole lot.

An image of him as a kinky dungeon master, top to toe in
leather, complete with mask and a wooden paddle, flashed into her mind. She sat
on hands and knees, thighs spread wide as he smacked the paddle against her
ass, occasionally grazing her pussy. The image made her hot. The thought of
supplication to his will, the promise of release through pain, made her wet.

“A relationship of this kind is grounded in mutual respect
and, as you said, trust. Ultimately, it is the submissive who holds the most
power. Or that’s the way it should be. In a perfect relationship, the
submissive should be proud to submit to her Dominant, while the Dom should be
proud to receive the gift of submission. A good Dominant should know his sub’s
needs, anticipate them. Trust and respect are the key issues.”

Obviously, he knew a lot. Unprepared for the stabs of
jealousy that coursed through her body, Tessa couldn’t stop herself from
blurting, “How many women have submitted to you in the past, Jared?”

If he said hundreds, she was out the door. Giving her body
to a man-slut wasn’t on her agenda. She wasn’t looking for a long-term
relationship but she needed to respect the man she had sex with. She couldn’t
give up control to a man she didn’t respect, and she couldn’t respect anyone
who inhaled sexual encounters liked air.

His eyes spoke volumes.
I know exactly what you are
asking, Tessa
.

She looked for a chance to escape. Though the meal so far
hadn’t included any talk of having sex, she became increasingly aware of
Jared’s presence. Every shift of his body caught her eye, from the way his
fingers danced across his beer bottle, to the graceful shrug of shoulders.
Every time he smiled, her gaze gravitated to his lips. He just oozed sex and
masculinity.

At times she wanted to defy his effect on her. She wanted to
walk out, cancel the arrangement and never look back. The rest of the time, the
majority of the time, she wanted to drop to her knees, nip at his ankles and
beg, “Take me now!”

“I choose my partners carefully. There have only been a few
over the years. All of those have been long-term. I’m not in the habit of using
kink as a cheap trick to get laid.” A dazzling grin made him look like the
devil incarnate. “I can get laid all by myself.”

Usually arrogance in a man made her roll her eyes and groan,
but it suited him. Jared Campbell was the type of man women threw their panties
at.

Still, a hint of uncertainty crawled down her spine. He’d
tracked her down and offered her a deal after one brief interlude, it wasn’t
exactly
choosing carefully
. Before they went any further, she needed to
clear that up. If she didn’t, it would gnaw away at her subconscious.

“Hmph. I have no doubt.” Tessa frowned. She smoothed strands
of hair behind her ear, gnawed at her lower lip. “So why did you choose me? How
did you find me, for a start? I didn’t tell you my name at the club. In fact, I
don’t recall talking about anything personal.”

He tilted his head to the side, pondering for the length of
several anxious heartbeats. “Why did I choose you? How could I not?” His gaze
locked with hers, bored intently into her. The intensity branded her soul, the
conviction in his voice made her heart pound with nervous excitement. “You were
so pliant in my hands. I could have done anything I wanted to you.” A grin
spread across his face. “And you would have let me.”

“I don’t think—”

“I don’t mind you lying to me but don’t lie to yourself,
Tessa. You were like warm clay, ready to be molded.” He shrugged. “As for how I
found you? Simple. Inferno takes camera shots of everyone who walks through the
doors. I did a ’net search. It’s amazing what you can find on there these
days.”

“But why? Why go to all that trouble?” Her voice sounded
needy even to her. She should mentally kick herself but deep down she really
wanted to know.

“I wanted you.”

Who knew three little words could mean so much? Flushed with
a strange sense of pride, a small chunk of fear and a whole lot of sexual
attraction, she was lost for words. No one had ever wanted her that badly. The
intensity scared her and thrilled her in equal measure.

What would it be like to have that desire directed at her
pleasure? Her fiancé had never looked at her with such passion, with such need.
Their relationship was nice and pleasant. He’d never looked at her with molten
fire in his eyes. He’d never admitted he wanted her.

What did a woman say to that?

Thank you very much, now get out of those pants so I can
see if the bulge really is that big…

The unconscious mind could be a traitorous thing.

His voice shattered her erotic thoughts. “I think it’s time
for your first lesson in the ways of submission.”

Chapter Four

Jared unfolded his body from the booth, and Tessa quickly
swept her gaze around the restaurant. She could hear the steady din of
conversation, see some of the patrons eating their food. Whatever lesson he had
planned for her initial submission, they wouldn’t be disturbed.

He slid into the seat next to hers. His warmth seeped into
her. His breath on her neck made her tingle with anticipation.

An arm across her shoulders, he leaned in. “Trust is the
most important element in our relationship. I’m asking you to trust me, Tessa.
Right here. Right now. Put your trust in me.”

Nuzzling the strands of her hair, he inhaled her scent, and
gooseflesh rose all over her body. Electric zings went into overdrive, setting
her senses alight with barely contained desire. Her breathing hitched as fear
and excitement heated her blood. Her heart beat wildly. Her skin tingled with
the desire to be touched.

She missed this, this animal attraction. The base desire to
fuck, to be taken, to give up control to someone else.

She swallowed hard, trying to find her voice inside a barren
mouth. “Right now? What did you have in mind?”