He steps back, and for a heart-stopping moment, I think he’s going to walk out and leave me here, but instead, he goes to the couch where the blankets and cushions are. Plucking one from the pile, he comes back and places it behind my ass so I can rest against the desk more comfortably.
I chuckle as he positions me against it, and the heat from the spanking becomes a little more bearable.
“You stay still,” he mutters, and crouches down, his fingers bunching in my tights as, with painstaking slowness, he pulls them back up, one leg at a time. As he reaches my hips, he struggles to stretch them any further, and I can’t help laughing as he glares at me, pulling at them until I help him settle them around my waist.
Once he has made sure I’m decent again, he straightens all of my clothes so carefully and precisely that I can’t help chuckling at him. A smile tugs at his lips as he meets my gaze.
“You don’t have any pants on,” I say as he glances down at his cock, which is swinging freely between his legs.
“You think I need to put them back on before I go outside again?” he asks, and I am really laughing now.
“Uh. Yeah.”
He smiles, a genuine, bright smile, then retrieves his pants and pulls them on, fastening his belt with practiced precision.
Once he’s dressed, I expect him to leave, assuming this was a quick booty call and that he’ll want to get back to his life. But instead, he bends to retrieve his jacket, pulls it on, then takes my hand and leads me around my desk to the chair behind.
As he does so, something shiny on the floor catches my eye, and I stop, pointing to it.
“There’s something there,” I say, my speech still a little slurred as I bend down to retrieve it. It’s a dime, tarnished by time, and well-worn. I turn back to Gray, who is staring at it with that same little smile.
“Is this yours?” I ask.
“It is,” he murmurs, tugging me over to the chair again. He sits down and lowers me carefully into his lap, scooping my legs over him as I wince again at the weight against my butt. I am stiff in his arms, staring at him in confusion.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
He puts his arms around me and meets my gaze, raising his eyebrows.
“Thought you might pass out there for a second. Just relax for a little while.”
I shake my head. “I’m fine.” I hand the coin back to him, and he takes it from my palm, letting out a little sigh of relief.
“Why do you have an old dime in your pocket?” I ask.
He holds it up to the light, a strange look on his face. “I always carry it. It’s the first money I ever won,” he says. “Back in the day, when I thought making bets might make me rich.”
“Did it?”
“No. I was going down a really dangerous path, and then one lucrative bet paid off. The kind of money I never dreamed of, and I managed to walk away from a bad situation. It allowed me to break out of a life that might have gone in a very different direction if it had remained unchecked.”
I frown at him, thinking of Scott balancing on that knife-edge himself.
“Do you still gamble?” I ask, trying to keep any judgment from my voice.
He smirks. “Not if I can help it. I used to be a demon at poker, but I don’t play any longer.”
He places the coin into his inside pocket, smiling up at me. “I don’t need to gamble, I have all the money I’ll ever need, and that dime is in my pocket to remind me of my freedom.”
I nod, shifting on his lap, wondering why he hasn’t pushed me off yet. But he seems unwilling to let go of me, and as his arms tighten around my legs, I attempt to get comfortable.
“Did I hurt you?” he asks gently. “Tell me the truth.”
“Gray, I’m fine. I would tell you if I weren’t, but I need to get back to work.”
“Just take a few more minutes to relax. I shouldn’t have done that here. I’m sorry.”
I shake my head again, my mind still foggy from pleasure, my body languid and unlike itself. I feel as if I could take on the whole world, my mind a calm oasis.
