Chapter Fourteen
Give me what I need
Hand working between her legs, Kevin deliberately drove her to the edge of control. Stiffened fingers thrusting fast and deep, he manipulated Aurelie so that within minutes, he had her shuddering against his side as an orgasm peaked and rolled through her. In a voice even he recognized was rough with passion, he ordered a still-quivering Aurelie to her knees beside the bed. His ass to the mattress, legs spread wide to give her the greatest access to the rigid cock rising from his lap, he issued only two demands. “Please me.” Eyes to his face, she eagerly nodded, but he watched her movement slow when he continued, “Do not make me come.”
Kevin wanted to give her what she needed, but there would be no negotiating what was happening in his bed right now. No careful crafting of a scene guaranteed to bring his sub pleasure. No clearly established limits defining the engagement. No, what was about to happen would be both spontaneous and explosive. He was looking for an affirmation of the deep connection he’d long ago forged with this woman.
Legs folded underneath her, Aurelie’s face was poised above his erection, heat from each panting breath washing over his sensitive flesh. Fingers slipped up the inside of his thigh to cup his heavy sac, and he groaned when her tongue darted out, lapping and licking across the swelling crown of his cock. “Yes, exactly perfect,” he gritted the words of praise between clenched teeth. “You have the hottest mouth.” She’ll expect a Dom’s distance and formality. He struggled to find the words inside him, losing the thread of what he could have said when her lips parted. Her head tilted, wide eyes lifting to look at his face. She held that gaze as she took him in, working down, lips tight around his shaft. Drawing deep, she hollowed her cheeks and sucked hard, enveloping him in sensation.
Give her what she needs. “So good with that mouth. You give me so much.” He groaned again, fingers gripping tight to his thighs, holding on in order to deny himself the touch of her, for now. This wasn’t about what he got out of it, but what she needed. Safety, and a way to express her arousal that he could approve. “Knowing what I like, your memories of my desires are a compliment and a gift.”
Aurelie dipped her chin, letting him slide in deeper, head moving faster. The wet heat from her mouth competing for his attention with the grip of her fingers curling around his cock. “Your devotion pays tribute, and your gifts to me are endless. Your mouth, the touch of your hands, heat from your body cradled between my legs. Each of these, a gift.” He watched, seeing her lips turn red and puffy, studying her expression as the slickness from her mouth coated his cock. Watching as her fingers slipped and slid, stroking faster, tighter, every motion hot.
Without warning she rose to her knees and took him deep, lips buried in the close-trimmed thatch of hair at his root. The muscles of her throat worked as she swallowed around him, gagging as she forced herself past any kind of reflexive reaction. So beautiful. Refusing retreat, she sucked hard, swallowing again and again, the sounds of her muffled cries loud in the quiet room. Kevin felt his balls drawing up to his body, experienced the beginning tingles deep in his spine, nerves shooting electricity up his back. Pulling off, she gasped for air before sliding her lips down the shaft and back up, opening to take him deep again. She was taking things fast and hard, pushing him to the edge and he fought the first pulsing thrum through his cock. Baby, don’t do it.
She rolled her eyes upwards, and he marked her hesitation; she seemed on the brink of something. Tension releasing in her body telegraphed a decision, then she settled and slowed, her movements becoming more deliberate again, less desperate. Longer strokes followed by languorous licks as her fingers circled his cock and gripped tightly, restricting blood flow for a moment, then two. She released then gripped tightly for a second time. Her mouth was just as wet and hot, but the urgency fled, and he sighed, relieved. She’d complied with his demands, and now he could reward her.
“Beautifully done, my lovely Aurelie.”
Already eagerly anticipating the pleasure of her skin under his touch, he lifted one hand, reaching out with a smile. The resulting flinch from her struck him like a blow. Aurelie’s eyes squeezed shut, and her head tipped to the side in avoidance, all while her mouth still worked his cock.
An ingrained reaction, but new, and one he didn’t like. She’d never exhibited fear when they’d been together before. In Paris, even when he gave her the rough handling she wanted, Aurelie hadn’t recoiled from him. She’d begged for far more than he could give her then, and this response exposed so much she believed concealed.
Carefully, in a controlled movement, Kevin again brought his palm close to her face, holding it suspended for a moment. Then he closed the distance, touching and stroking, smoothing and cupping her jaw. Caressing her cheek, tracing the lines her bones carved underneath her skin, he gave her the tender touch she deserved. Their exploration had never been about pain, and in all his study of the scene since coming back to Chicago, it was not something he actively sought out.
Pain for pain’s sake was joy for the masochist, and while he respected the need that drove them to find a partner, he was not that person. His dominance was something different, something now so deep-rooted in him it was like the Rebels, part and parcel with who he was. He could and did push subs past their preconceived boundaries, and for some that might be a painful emotional experience. But he would only ever do that in an effort to help them recognize their strengths exposed by the stress. Like a fitness expert, he would find the muscles that required firming up and push them until there were tiny, microscopic tears, knowing when those damaged places healed, they did so by growing stronger.
Keeping his expression impassive, Kevin knew he didn’t have to speak his rejection of her reaction, needn’t utter a word to chastise. From the horrified look on her face, he knew Aurelie felt her response was a failure of some sort. Kevin would ignore what she’d see as a catastrophe, give her space to tuck it away, hiding it behind a veil for now. Instead, he would show her he believed her. That he trusted she wouldn’t lie to him, even in deed. Kevin let his actions speak for him, not allowing himself to deviate from the original intent of commanding her as a reward. Remind her of the mettle she’s always carried inside. When he threaded his fingers through her hair, tightening hard around the back of her skull, he showed her that he was filled with belief in her strength. Tugging, he pulled her mouth further onto his cock, forcing himself into her throat as he heard her sobbed groans of acceptance. The squirming of her ass and thighs told him he got it just right.
Reaching down, he cupped one swinging breast in a palm, cradling and caressing. Finger and thumb meeting at her nipple, he gave a gentle squeeze, hearing as well as feeling her moan when he tightened the pinch, clamping harder in pulses he prayed were echoed between her legs. Rewarding her vocally, he growled when he felt her fingers rolling and tugging on his sac. God, so beautiful. Kevin held her in place as she swallowed, her throat tightening around him. A moment, then two as she convulsed under his hands, and then, using his grip on her hair as leverage, he pulled her off. She was gasping for breath when he bent deep and yanked her up so their mouths met in a furious clash of lips and teeth. Tongue spearing into her mouth, he swept and tangled with hers, kissing her hard and wet, owning everything about her.
Breaking free, he panted in her ear, joyfully exposing the rich feelings she incited in him. “Make me come, Aurelie. Your goddamned beautiful mouth on my cock. I want to see your hand between your legs, want to see how hot and wet you get with your mouth on me. Make me come, honey.” He swallowed before making his final demand, because this was important, more than she knew. “Give me what I need.”
A breath, then another, and he thought she would withhold the word. Withhold the acknowledgement of what they could be to the other. Then she settled, ass to her heels. Her rush to do as bid meant she pulled so hard against his grip in her hair, he felt roots tear free. She looked up at him, trust and something deeper than affection crossing her face as she gave him everything he needed. “Master.”
***
“No!” Kevin grabbed the offending pan from the counter and threw it sidearm against the wall. Silence descended on the staff as the pan’s contents exploded up the surface, metal clattering to the floor. “That was not what I asked for. If you cannot prepare the simplest dishes, why do I have you in my kitchen?” When the ringing stopped, the only sound in the room was the sizzling of the mushrooms for the menu’s special—a rigatoni with sundried tomatoes, the roasted corn pecorino intended to be the side dish now adorning the wall and floor. “The pecorino requires blanched hazelnuts, chopped fine, mixed in just before the sauce scalds. Blanched. Not poached. Blanched, not stewed. Are you a moron?”
His assistant stared at Kevin, frozen into place at the roared question, “Are you?” The man seemed competent when I hired him, Kevin thought, looking at Cody. They had even joked that it was too American to be a great assistant’s name. “Did you intend to stew the hazelnuts?”
“I’m sorry, chef.” Bloodless fingers curled around the edge of the prep table, the man seemed paralyzed in place. “I don’t understand.”
“What is to understand?” Kevin lifted his hands to the side, shrugging. “How hard is it to follow simple instructions?’
“Chef,” Cody whispered, “I’m sorry. I don’t speak French.”
That question slapped Kevin in the face, as sobering as a drenching of ice water when he realized that he had lapsed into French without knowing. Berating this poor kid like a child, and Cody not even able to understand. “Je suis.” He shook his head before continuing, “My apologies, Cody. The hazelnuts were left in the water too long. Please, begin again.”
Turning, Kevin stalked from the room, hearing the warring tones of shock and anger buzzing through the air behind him as the staff reacted to his outburst. It had been two days since he had found Aurelie in Chicago, and outside of the one time he forced her to leave his condo to get coffee, she had managed to duck and avoid every planned outing, hiding behind closed doors. Infuriating. Any other time it would have seemed a compliment, that she wanted to remain in his space, surrounded by his things, but he wanted to show her off to his friends. My Aurelie. Not because she was a beauty, but for the simple balance they’d so easily found again.
At least until I ask her to come out with me. He’d hoped Kris could get to know her not as the trembling sub seen in the club, but as the poised woman she was.
Maybe he’d even wanted to preen a bit about himself and show her what he’d accomplished, but she’d refused to accompany him here today. Kevin had spent an hour talking and thought he’d gotten through to her, but when he went to the kitchen, she’d barricaded herself behind a locked door in the bathroom, her sweet voice calling out she wanted a bath instead. Chef Kevin couldn’t be late, the entire kitchen depended on him being on time to begin preparation, so he’d had to leave without even a kiss.
Aurelie had gotten under his skin years ago, and now, knowing she was so close, he could scarcely bear being away from her, so on the one hand, he was glad she wasn’t begging to leave. On the other hand, this behavior screamed fear, and he wouldn’t allow her to hide. Not his Aurelie.
One of his laws in the kitchen was no cellphones, even for himself, so Kevin had to retreat to the break room to retrieve it from the drawer in his locker. Looking down at it, he read a text visible on the screen and considered for a moment, then dialed. A moment later, Kris answered, “Brother.”
“Goose, need a favor.” Silence for a beat, during which he verified in his head that he’d spoken English, then he heard, “Anything, brother.”