Surrender: Tales of Submission Read Online Free Page B

mussed, her
    eyes glazed, her lips a perfect cherry red, wanting to be kissed. But all he dared was a quick brush of his mouth across hers.
    "You'll be fine," he told her. He didn't dare linger. He was too undone. He didn't trust himself.
    "Yes, I'm fine. Wonderful. A little tired." She smiled sleepily.
    "Okay. I'm going to let you get some rest then. I'll see you later."
    He made his escape—for that's exactly what it was—
    as quickly as he could down the old staircase, and onto the street. He got in his car, started the engine and drove home a little too fast.
    Back at his place, he spent the rest of the night
    pacing his living room, trying to figure out what was

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    TALES OF EROTIC SUBMISSION

    wrong with him. Why he could barely stand to leave her
    at her apartment despite the driving need to flee.
    He never became attached to a woman. Never had,
    never would. He understood why he was like this, the
    lone wolf. He had damn good reason to be. He'd had one
    huge loss early in life, and he wasn't about to set himself up to go through that again. Ever. He'd successfully
    avoided attachment since that god-awful night, so long
    ago. So why was it so damn hard to let Skye go?
    He strode to the sideboard in his dining room,
    poured himself a scotch and threw it back. It burned
    going down, a cleansing burn. He poured himself
    another.
    He was supposed to see her next Friday. He'd better
    have his shit together by then. He would. Control was
    key. The antithesis of weakness. He'd had years of
    practice. He knew how to do it, how to keep his emotions at bay.
    The problem was that he'd never been challenged in
    quite this way before. While he told himself he could
    handle this situation, he wasn't quite sure he believed it.

    * * * *
Morning dawned with the usual San Francisco fog
    floating outside her bedroom windows. Skye glanced at
    the clock on her nightstand. Almost ten. Late for her. But she didn't want to get out of her warm bed yet. She
    stretched, noticing how her arms and legs felt used, a
    little sore. She ran a hand over her bottom and smiled at the tenderness of the skin there.
    Why should this make her happy?
    She didn't know. She only knew that it did.
    She smoothed her hands over her body: her stomach,
    her ribs, her breasts. Beneath her fingertips, her nipples came up hard. Her skin was hypersensitive everywhere,
    as though her night with Adam had awoken something
    in her.

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    SURRENDER

    She wasn't thrilled that he'd been right about her.
    She was too much attached to her own sense of control to be happy about that. But she couldn't deny the way her
    body had responded to the things Adam had done to her.
    Hell, she couldn't deny what it had done to her head.
    And maybe to her heart.
    But no, that was ridiculous. She hardly knew the
    man.
    I know everything I need to know.
    Why was the voice in her head so damn smug?
    Maybe because it was right? But what did she really
    know? He was gorgeous, intelligent, articulate. He was
    kinky. But no, that wasn't quite right. Adam was a true sensualist. She could see it in everything he did. The way he moved, the way he touched her, in the simple,
    sensuous luxury of his home. The perfect man for her,
    really. Except that this BDSM thing was a huge part of his life, and for her, it was a temporary experience. All they had was a little time together, a few days, perhaps a few weeks. By then, she would have this urge out of her
    system, and whatever was going on between them would
    be over. Just as it was supposed to be.
    And he certainly hadn't given her any hint that this
    would continue longer than was necessary for her to
    understand what her desires were all about. Hell, they hadn't even slept together. What reason would he have to become attached to her? And why did she want him to
    be?
    Tears stung her eyes, just thinking about how he'd
    stayed next to her on the bed after he'd spanked her last night. Just sat with her, stroking her hair. What kind of man did that?