Michael
When she didn’t come out of the lecture hall with the other students, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. There was no logical way to explain it other than I knew something was wrong.
Remembering the look of panic on her face when I opened those doors would forever be etched in my mind. It was as though she were frozen. That asshole had his hand on her knee, digging into her skin. Her dress had been torn open, and his fucking fingers groped her breast. My body reacted fast, but not as fast as I wanted it to. My brain just about exploded when I saw what he was doing. All I could think of doing was getting him away from her. So that’s what I did, ripped his ass off her and beat him senseless. As usual for Lauren, even after he’d attacked her, fucking tried to rape her, she didn’t want me to kill him. I wanted to rip his head off his body, but hearing her behind me pulled my attention back to her. She needed me.
In hindsight, I should have left him conscience and dragged him with us. I was sure he had all the fucking answers I needed to tie all the loose ends together. Instead, I left him bleeding on the steps of a goddamn lecture hall. I was sure campus security was called, so bringing Lauren back to school might be tricky. If I even let her go back there.
I tried calling Bixby again, there had to be more at stake here than just a goddamn internship. The rich prick couldn’t be after that particular internship this badly just because he wanted it; there had to be more.
“Michael.” Her soft voice called to me from upstairs.
I dropped my phone on the table and ran up to my bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hair tousled as though she’d had a rough time sleeping, and what little makeup she wore was smeared around her eyes. She’d been crying. I wanted to throw my fist through that fucker’s face again.
I knelt down in front of her, pushing the hair away from her face and wiping away the trail of tears on her cheek. “What is it, baby? Have a bad dream?”
She shook her head. “Not while I was sleeping.”
Her grated voice tore at me. I hopped on the bed with her, scooting her back against the headboard and holding her to my chest. Cradling her in my arms soothed my temper, at least a little, because I could feel her breath against my neck, I could smell the shampoo she’d used that morning.
“Michael.” She buried her face farther into my chest.
“What is it, Lauren?” I kissed the top of her head and smoothed her hair back. A shiver ran through her body, and her fingers dug into my shirt. “Lauren.” My voice went hard. My girl didn’t need soft right now, she seemed to be warring with herself about letting go, and damned if I’d let her fight that battle alone. “Tell me what’s going on.”
A soft sigh, then a nod. “Okay.” She snuggled against me, but didn’t try to look up at me. The last time she’d acting in such a way was when she confessed to me that she had thrown away all the beer in the house to keep her stepdad from drinking. I had thought the act bold for her, but she’d been ashamed because her stepdad blamed her mom and her mom took the punishment. Whatever was coming out of that pretty mouth next wasn’t going to be something I liked, that much I knew.
“Lauren.” I gave her arm a light squeeze when she went quiet.
“You can be such a bully sometimes.” She rubbed her arm.
I smiled over her head where she couldn’t see me. “Don’t change the subject. What’s going on?”
“I fucked up. While I was checking out a few bars I’d heard you’d been seen at, I ran into a guy. He, well, he tried to pick me up.” She snorted. “But when I told him I was looking for someone, he backed off, at least a little. He listened to me, asked around the bar for me to see if anyone had seen you. Guys in that bar didn’t want to tell me anything. Might have been the way I was dressed.”
I remembered what sort of places I hung out at when I was running with the club, and picturing her walking in wearing jeans and a pastel sweater, her hair tucked up in some messy ponytail with only the bare makeup on made my nerves jump. She would have looked like the lamb walking into the wolf’s den. No one would have told her anything because she probably looked like some innocent little sister looking for someone who didn’t want to be found.
“Remind me later to spank you for all the harebrained shit you did trying to find me.” I held onto her tighter.
She ignored my comment. “Tanner, that’s the guy, tried to help me a little. He sort of took on your role, started acting like my shadow. I’d get out of work and there’d he be, waiting. But then he offered me a job. I was only cleaning offices back then, so I wasn’t making much money. I lived in a studio crap hole of a place.”
“Was Tanner the guy you met yesterday?”
“Yeah. That was him. I was telling the truth that he ran into Caleb and found out about my accident.”
I nodded, my chin bumping her head when I did. “What job did he offer you?”
“He’s not exactly a good samaritan, Michael. He, well, he sells drugs, and I think he sells guns, too. I saw something one afternoon, but he shoved me out of the room before I could understand what was going on and told me never to go back in there. You have to understand, I had no money. Mom was barely getting by herself. I’d moved out so she wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of me, but I could barely make rent some months. I’d gotten a scholarship that covered the year of school, but it only covered the class fees.”
“What was the job, Lauren?”
“I delivered stuff for him. Packages to the offices in the loop. He said no one would bother me, that it wouldn’t be noticed with such an innocent girl walking into the office asking for some vice president that I was delivering anything more than mail.”
“You were making drops for him.” I kept my voice steady but felt my body tense inside. If she had been caught with those packages, the cops wouldn’t have cared that she was so fucking innocent. Worse yet, dealers always had competition, and if those assholes had figured out what she was delivering, she would have been just one more casualty in the war on drugs.
“Yeah. I didn’t realize it at first, at least I didn’t want to admit that I knew what I was doing. But eventually I figured it out. The money was good, Michael. I was able to pay my rent and put money aside for the next year’s tuition. I don’t have student loans. Tanner is funding my entire education.”
I heard her sniffle, but didn’t make any move to comfort her yet. My Lauren was a drug pusher. My mind couldn’t seem to catch up to her words.
“Do you still work for him?”
“No. I stopped a year ago, maybe more. A delivery went bad. The guy said the package was light. I didn’t know what he was talking about; I never weighed anything or looked inside. Tanner just gave me the package and an address. That night I had to deliver it to the guy’s home. I could tell when he opened the door he was really high, or maybe he was coming down from being high, either way he was in a bad way. Real desperate. He didn’t grab the package; he grabbed me and dragged me into his apartment. After he started accusing me of shorting him, I panicked and tried to run, but he grabbed me. Said I would have to pay him back for what I took. But I didn’t take anything, Michael. I swear. I never opened those packages.” She pushed away from me to meet my stare. Puffy, red eyes stared at me, looking desperate for me to believe her.
“I know, Lauren.” I wiped a lone strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her hear. “What happened then?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I knew she needed to tell me. The thing that hid inside of her, the thing she’d been trying to hide from me, this was it.
“He tried to rape me. He got me to the ground, pulled my stupid skirt up and nearly had my underwear off when the door flew open. Tanner was there. He got him off me, took me home.”
“How’d he know—”
“After I left his apartment he realized he’d given me the wrong package. He was bringing the right one to exchange. I forgot my cell that night so he couldn’t call me, and I couldn’t call for help.” She looked away. I could lecture her on how stupid all of what she’d done was, but she already knew it, and probably had already had given herself the lecture.
“You stopped delivering for him after that?”
“Yeah. I told him I wasn’t going to do it anymore. He agreed, apologized over and over again for getting me involved with guys like that. He really is a lot like you.” She half smiled at me.
“No. He’s not. I never would have given you drugs to deliver. I sure as fuck wouldn’t have let you go at night to some druggie’s apartment alone.”
“Don’t get pissed at him. If it weren’t for him, I’d never have gotten into the architecture program. I never would have been able to pay for college or my rent. I have enough stashed to get through this semester. If I don’t finish school this term, I won’t finish. The internship is the last piece; after that, I graduate and hopefully will have a job in place.”
“There’s more. What is it?” My chest tightened when she stood up and walked over to her bag I had left in the room.
She dug around for a moment then pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. I held out my hand for it; at first, she looked like she might not hand it over, but then placed it in my palm.
I smoothed it out and read it, my heart racing faster with each word, and my temper starting to get the better of me. “When did you get this?” I reminded myself to be calm. Yelling at her wouldn’t get us anywhere, but damn if I didn’t want to punish her ass for being so goddamn reckless.
“This morning when I left for school, it was taped to my door.” She sat back down on the bed beside me, tucking her feet beneath herself.
“Why didn’t you call me right away?” I ground my teeth together, trying to focus my energy somewhere that wouldn’t cause me to flip her over my lap so I could lay into her ass with my hand.
“I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, I did, but I didn’t want to. I figured I’d deal with it later. But then Pierre—” she took a deep breath, “—Pierre got all handsy with me.”
“Handsy? Is that what you call what I walked in on? That boy has some balls. The next class wasn’t too far away, and those other kids would have walked in on him.”
“I think he was just trying to scare me.” She looked at me then. “It worked.” Tears pooled in her eyes, and she laid her head on my shoulder.
Completely torn as to how to deal with her at that moment, I tossed the note down and wrapped my arms around her.
“I should take my belt to your ass. Those five little lashes I gave you the other day would be nothing compared to what I should give you right now for all this shit.”
“You weren’t around. You can’t punish me for things I did when you weren’t around.” She snuggled deeper into my chest. She didn’t object to being punished, just for that specific thing?
“And for this morning?” I tested the waters, seeing how chilly they were.
“For not telling you about the note? I was mad at you. I don’t think you can punish me for that, either.”
I looked down to see her face. She was scrunched into my chest pretty good, but I could make out a small smile.
“Oh, like hell I can’t. I shouldn’t have left last night. I was pissed, but that’s no excuse for you to not tell me about that note. Just ’cause we had a fight last night doesn’t change things between us in the morning.” No other woman in the world could make me feel that way. One fight and we were done. I didn’t have time for bullshit and games, but with Lauren—she was worth the effort.
“Are you going to spank me again? I didn’t like that, well, not while you were doing it, but I liked the way it felt after.” Talking into my chest seemed to give her a bit more bravado.
“How’d it make you feel after?” I ran my hand down her arm, rubbing her warm skin and enjoying the softness of her body.
“Horny.” She reached her hand down and rested it on my thigh. An inch to the right and she’d be touching my cock.
“I noticed.” I grinned, remembering how wet she’d been for me after her punishment. The girl may not understand her reaction to me, but her body knew exactly what to do when I was around. “But I’m not going to spank you. Like I told you last night, there are quiet punishments that will do just as well as any spanking. Now take off your clothes for me, Lauren. Strip down naked and stand with your feet apart and your hands behind your back.”
She looked up at me with a furrowed brow. “I don’t know…”
“There’s nothing to know, Lauren. Get off the bed, take off your clothes, and get into position. I was pretty clear about holding things from me and being honest, wasn’t I?”
“Yeah, but—”
“There’s no but, unless you consider your naked one. Now get moving before it gets worse for you.” She wouldn’t like the punishment I was going to give her, not at first. That was the point. I needed her attention. I needed her to get it through her head that she wasn’t alone anymore. Because she wasn’t. And she wouldn’t be again if I could help it. I didn’t know what that meant for me exactly, but I wasn’t going to stop right then to deliberate. Right then, the woman needed to move past what happened that afternoon, she needed to take responsibility for what she’d done, and she needed to get her ass in position before I really got irritated.
She must have taken notice of my tense muscles, because she finally started to get off the bed. Practically peeling herself from my body, she slid to her feet and faced the door. “Nope. Turn around.” I fought the urge to smile when she huffed at my direction. The perfect pout on her lips when she faced me faded as our eyes met. I might have been enjoying her obedience at that moment, but her actions really had pissed me off. If she had told me about that note, I would have met her at her apartment and taken her to class. Pierre wouldn’t have tried that shit with me right there.
Her hands went to the hem of the t-shirt I gave her when we got home, pulling it up over her head in one swoop, leaving her naked chest open to my gaze. Her breasts, perfectly proportioned to her body, and to my tastes, bounced with the movement. I nodded and pointed to her leggings. Hooking her thumbs into the waistband, she yanked them down over her hips then rolled them down her legs until she could step out of them. No panties, such a good girl for me.
Once she was completely naked, she walked her feet apart, and grasped her hands behind her back, pushing her breasts out toward me and showing off the length of her lean body. I hadn’t noticed how toned she was the last time I had her naked and beneath me. “Do you work out a lot?” I asked, not sure she would even have time between the two jobs and school.
“Just yoga and Pilates at home a few times a week.” She didn’t look at me when she answered; instead she kept her eyes forward, looking at the window.
I didn’t respond, just moved from the bed to stand beside her. My left hand cupped her breast, feeling the weight of it in my palm as I leaned down and licked her neck, just where her shoulder ended. She tilted her head to the side as I took her nipple between two of my fingers and began to pinch it as I rolled it.
She hissed and tried to straighten up, to move away, but my grip only tightened, and she gave up.
I licked her again, loving the taste of her. “Don’t move, Lauren. Until I say to move, you just stand still. Got it?”
“Yes, Michael.” She nodded, keeping her eyes off of me.
I released her nipple delighting in the quick breath she took from the burn. My hand trailed down her body, between her breasts, over her belly, through the small patch of curls until I reached her folds. Using two fingers, I pulled her lips apart and pressed down on her clit with my middle finger. She moaned, closing her eyes and pushing her pelvis forward. “What did I just say, Lauren?”
“Not to move.” She pushed her hips back. “But it feels so good when you do that.”
“Now you’re honest with me, but you forgot about that earlier, didn’t you?” I spoke directly into her ear, keeping my voice low, knowing the heat of my breath brushing against her skin would only drive her further into her aroused state.
“I suppose so.”
I sensed she was smiling so I moved my position to see her better. Sure enough, a small smile lingered on her lips.
“What has you smiling? My finger playing with your clit, or the fact that you lied to me earlier?”
Her eyes shot to mine, and her smile faded. “Your fingers on me,” she whispered.
“Where on you, Lauren? Be specific. Where is my finger right now?” I pressed down on the slick nub and rubbed it in a circular motion.
She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. My girl did her best to control herself, but I could see her resolve loosening. “Your finger is on my clit.” The whisper came out so low I barely heard her. Her cheeks tinged red from her confession; she broke her gaze from mine.
“That’s a good girl. That wasn’t too hard, was it?” I kissed her lips, meaning only to give a light peck, a taste of what she would get if she was good, but she parted her lips, and I gave in to my desires. My tongue swept through her mouth, tasting her, wanting her. Each little moan she released only increased my desire to get inside of her at that moment. Patience, Mike. She needs to learn her lesson first.
When I broke the kiss and pulled away, she scrunched up her lips in an adorable pout. I began rubbing her clit harder, creating more friction. Tossing her head back, she released a frustrated moan. I knew what she wanted, but wouldn’t be giving it to her yet. Using two of my fingers I circled her entrance, dipping in only to the first knuckle before pulling back out. Again, an annoyed growl from her made me grin. The girl really didn’t know who she was dealing with, but that was okay––I had all night to teach her.
“Michael, please,” she whispered, but didn’t turn to look at me.
“Please, what? Please shove my fingers into your wet pussy? Please lick your clit until you scream out your orgasm?” I had to laugh when she nodded rapidly. “Ah, well, I suppose that could happen a lot sooner if you hadn’t been such a naughty girl.” I kissed her cheek. I knelt down in front of her, smelling her arousal from where I was. My Lauren was ready for me, but she still had a little waiting to do. “Open your legs for me, baby.” I tapped the inside of her thighs until she scooted her feet apart wider. I knew what she was hoping for, and a part of me wished I could give in to her and bring her the relief she sought.
Slowly, I pulled apart her labia and found her swollen clit, glistening with her arousal. The tip of my tongue flicked over the sensitive button, and she sucked in her breath. Moving my hands around her, I cupped her ass and pressed my tongue even harder to her clit, letting the fat part bathe it. Long, slow licks followed by fast, hard thrusts to her clit had her writhing in front of me, but my hands kept her right where I wanted her. When her thighs began to tremble, and her breath became shallow I pulled away, denying her the orgasm she tried to sneak in. She was moaning, promising to be good if I would just let her come, if I would just fuck her.
“What was that?” I pulled back, aware her juices were smeared on my lips, and she could see it. “What did you ask me to do?”
Her cheeks were red, deep crimson red, but I couldn’t tell if it was from the embarrassment of saying what she wanted or just her frustration of being so close to her orgasm and being denied.
“Michael, I’m sorry I wasn’t honest and didn’t tell you about that note. Please, I’m sorry.” Her words were spoken through puffs of air.
“What did you ask me to do, Lauren?” I asked again, still not wiping the moisture from my face. I wanted her to see her arousal on me, physical proof of how turned on my punishing her was to her.
“Fuck me, Michael.” Her eyes didn’t waver away from mine when she gave her command. “Please,” she quickly added, and I had to grin up at her.
“Such a fucking good girl you can be with the right motivation.” I leaned forward and went back to sucking and licking her clit, neither giving in to her request nor denying it. I heard the growl escape her, and could feel the rumbling of her body with the frustration of not being given exactly what she wanted at that moment. “Tell me when you’re getting close, Lauren. Tell me when you feel your orgasm close.”
I didn’t need her to tell me, I could see by the way her thighs trembled, the way her breath hitched that she was close. That just a few more licks, a quick thrust of my fingers inside of her and she’d be coming unglued right where she stood. But that wasn’t the point.
“Oh, god. Oh, god.” She chanted, but I didn’t stop my administrations. I licked harder; I toyed with her opening, knowing she wanted nothing more in that moment than to have my fingers or my cock filling her. “I’m close, Michael. So close…please…I need to.”
“No. You don’t.” I sat back on my heels, no longer touching her. Her eyes flew to my face, frustration and anger building there. I used the back of my hand to wipe across my lips. “You want to, but you don’t need to. There’s a difference.” I got to my feet and pulled off my shirt, tossing it aside before I began to unbutton my jeans.
I felt her heated gaze on me as I peeled off my clothes and stripped away any barrier between our bodies. Her hands moved, one reached out for me, but I slapped it away. “Behind your back. If you break position again, I’ll use my rope and spank you before I have my way with you and completely ignore how much you want to come.”
The hesitation in her eyes made me think she didn’t mind the idea of being bound, but not getting to come…that made her put her hand back where it belonged. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll pull out my ropes soon.” I smiled at her, reaching for her. My hands wandered over her body, feeling the tightness of her muscles, the softness of her hips and breasts. “Fuck, I could do this forever.” I leaned closer and took a nipple into my mouth, rolling my tongue around it before biting down.
She hissed at the new sensation but didn’t try to pull away. “Michael, please. I’ve learned my lesson. I promise,” she whispered into the air above me as I continued to lick and nip at her breasts.
“Really? What lesson is that?” I stood up, bringing my eyes even with hers while I pinched both of her nipples.
“Always tell the truth. Always tell you everything, no hiding anything.”
“And why is that, Lauren? Why will you obey my rules?” I wasn’t sure what made me ask the question, because there was only one correct answer to it that I could accept. What if Lauren couldn’t give it to me, and what if I wasn’t as ready as I thought to hear it?
“Because you’re in charge.” She blinked. Tears glistened in her eyes. Not from pain, not from sexual frustration. No, I’d seen these before. These were the tears she tried desperately not to shed when her emotions were nearing the surface. She was scared of how she felt.
“And?” I pushed. There was more I needed to hear and she needed to say.
“Because I’m yours.” With three words, the doors I sealed shut years ago flew open. There would be no shutting them again. “I’m yours, Michael. Always.”
I searched her expression. Women could say a lot of shit when they were close to an orgasm being held for ransom, but she didn’t have any of that. She meant what she said, every bit of herself fit into those words. They weren’t just syllables being put together.
I wrapped my hands around her neck, pulling her to me. “Damn fucking right,” I growled just before I captured her mouth beneath mine. Her lips parted with no hesitation, but she let me take the lead. I swept her mouth with my tongue, taking in every bit of her taste and knowing she could taste her pussy on mine. If I hadn’t been hard as stone already, that thought would have put me over the edge.
My breath came in ragged bursts once I pulled away from her. I didn’t let her go, I held on tight as I walked us back toward the bed. “You can move your hands now, Lauren. I want you to touch me. Fuck, I want to touch you.” I wanted everything at one time, all of it. I wanted to sink my dick in her, and lick her pussy. I wanted shove my cock down her throat, and bend her over the bed and have her perfect ass bounce off my thighs as I fucked her.
“Lesson over?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Oh, there are lots of lessons. And I’m gonna take my time with each one.” I wanted to shove her to her knees, and shove my dick past her lips. Those perfectly shaped fucking lips, but I wanted to get inside of her more. I could do it all with her. There was time. Lauren was mine.