“Hemlock. I choose hemlock.”
“Good girl.” Her blush intensifies every time I use those words. “It’s perfect for you, and not something you’d scream during sex, usually. At least, I’d hope not.”
“No, Sir.”
Hearing her call me Sir without me asking eases the last of the worry that I’ve read the situation wrong. She wants this as badly as I do. What she doesn’t realize yet is that I plan to give her whatever she needs every day for the rest of our lives.
“I prefer Daddy, but Sir is okay for now. Are you ready to take your punishment like a good girl?”
Emma’s heart races beneath my hand, and a soft moan escapes her parted lips. I’ll take that as a yes, but I need her words.
“Emma? Words…”
“Yes, Sir.”
“There’s one more thing to take care of before we start.”
“You said you weren’t going to spank me.”
“I’m not. But I want to make sure you remember your punishment for the rest of the day.” I open the nightstand drawer and pull out a bottle of lube and the butt plug I hid earlier.
When she sees it, she shakes her head, but stays quiet.
I raise my eyebrows. “Are you using your safe word, Raindrop?”
“Ummm, no?”
I hide my smile when her answer sounds like a question.
“Are you sure?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never done anything back there.”
“You mean anal, baby? Good to know, but none of your holes will be off limits to me. Unless it’s a hard limit. Is it?”
“No, but I don’t want it to hurt.”
“Part of punishment is giving you pain, but I’ll only ever give you as much as you can handle. I don’t damage what’s mine.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, of course I am.”
“But we’re not in a relationship. Holy shiitake mushrooms. We just met yesterday, if you can even call it that.”
I set the plug and lube aside, and cup her cheek, my thumb rubbing over the silky skin. “As soon as I had you in my arms, I knew you were mine.”
“Really?” The emotions in her expression change faster than I can track. But she’s not using her safe word. That’s a good sign, right?
Even knowing I’m pushing her too hard, I can’t stop. I don’t recognize myself right now. “Yes, really. After holding last night, taking care of you today, feeding you, it’s everything I never realized I craved—needed. You’re healing pieces of me I didn’t think could be fixed. Touching you wrecks me, and when your pulse races, I want to toss you on the couch and bury myself so far inside you that you’ll never forget how I feel. You were wet for me this morning, weren’t you? Tell me you want this…”
Andrew would kick my ass right now. After I confessed my feelings earlier, he warned me to take it slowly, that Emma would need time. I probably just fucked everything up. But I won’t let her go—can’t let her go. Something other than guilt fills me for the first time since my parents' murder.
Unable to resist the urge a moment longer, I lean down until our lips are almost touching. I give her a chance to tell me no, then I take my first taste of her.
While I rub my lips against her soft, puffy ones, she moans gently. It’s all the opportunity I need to slide my tongue inside her warm, sweet mouth. Tasting her, inhaling her scent, it’s like being transported to a hot spring in the middle of summer.
My hand tightens on her jaw as I tilt her head to deepen the kiss. When her tongue hesitantly touches mine, I can’t hold back my moan. Tangling together, we don’t break apart until we’re both panting.
