Willing Sacrifice (Knights of the Board Room) Read online

  Her cunt clenched hard at the skillful touch of his mouth and she tested herself, giving him the other one as well, until both nipples were glistening and plum-colored, tight points. Then she drew back enough to pivot. Cognizant of the lion in the cage once again, she slowly bent, arching her back in a sensual tease, lifting her ass in front of his face. “My pussy, Max.”

  She’d gauged her distance so he had to reach for it. He chose a devastating tactic to bring her closer though. He lifted his head, nuzzled between her buttocks to tease her rim with his tongue, sending a wild spiral of sensation through her that made her drip on the floor. She arched her back farther, and his tongue slid down over her slick labia, teeth nipping at her clit. The rocket of response through her cunt was so strong she knew she’d come in no time, so she stepped away and straightened, giving him only a taste.

  She made a tsking noise, pointed at where her arousal had dripped on the floor. “You should have caught those drops. What a mess you’re making.” She sauntered around behind him once more, prepared to punish him properly for his carelessness. He watched her in his peripheral vision, and she shivered at the glitter in those gray eyes, the promise and threat of when he’d no longer restrain himself, no matter the strength of her will.

  Thwack, thwack. Again and again, as her body shuddered as if he were thrusting into her with each blow, his ass lifting and falling in the rhythm as if he were imagining the same. When she won a grunt from him, she changed tactics, landing several stripes in a diagonal line from shoulder blade to rib cage, like flogging a gladiator before he entered the ring. That change in stroke brought his head up, and his fingers dug into the chair, making it creak.

  He was powerful, could turn and take her to the ground in a moment. A weak, crazy part of her wanted to taunt him, tell him to take her down, fuck her the way they both wanted to do it, without a condom, hard, visceral, a branding of her cunt with his seed. She’d never been a Mistress who’d wanted a possessive sub, the very idea a turnoff. It made her think of her unexpected thoughts about owning him, that night at the club. She liked the idea of him considering her his far too much. And that was new, scary territory for her. Because she’d been a man’s possession before.

  She pushed away the darkness before it could rise up and interfere with this. It was time to go a different route. He hadn’t flinched, hadn’t once done anything that would shield himself. She heard both of them breathing, rasping for air for different reasons.

  “Turn the chair away from me and sit in it,” she commanded. “Put your hands behind you, hold on to the lowest rung in the back.”

  She watched him do it, how he had to fold his elbows almost into a box position since it was a small chair and he had long arms. Though his ass had to be sore, he didn’t hesitate to press those choice buttocks into the wooden seat. He didn’t look back at her, obviously realizing that was part of it. A form of blindfolding, following her commands without sight.

  After retrieving another condom from his coat, she moved around to his front. He carried three, a man with confidence…and stamina. She held the belt in her other hand. His chest expanded and contracted, eyes molten steel, lips tight. Her gaze moved down to his cock, thick and hard.

  “Fuck…Janet…” He muttered it. He had his attention on her face, which she was sure showed her keen pleasure at his display. Opening the condom, she bent forward, slid the thin latex down over him. His eyes closed, all those muscles bunching in impressive restraint. Then she put her hand on his shoulder, steadying herself to straddle him. A more reverent oath tore from his lips as she positioned herself, slid down on him slowly, clutching her muscles on him as she descended.

  When she got to the hilt, her cunt started quivering. She was so stirred up it would take very little to drive her to climax, and what she was clasping inside her wasn’t little at all. Nothing about this man was small, inside or out. She slid the belt over his shoulders, put the tongue through the buckle and tightened that noose briefly around his throat, keeping three fingers between it and his windpipe as she held on to it, used it to rise and fall on him, a slow, torturous movement that caused both of them to shudder. She moaned, her pussy convulsing on him. Damn, she didn’t want to go so fast, but it was going to happen. Her thighs trembled, her legs running out of strength, though if arousal alone was needed, it could carry her through a triathlon.

  “Game over, Mistress.” Letting go of the chair, he cinched his arm around her, pushed her down hard on his cock, making it pleasure and pain both, stretching and filling her. She continued to hold on to that belt, but he gave her his strength, thrusting deeper into her, increasing the power of the movements, which pounded her clit against him. The undertow started to drag her out, her body flushing. He was close as well, she could tell, but she remembered his vow. She wanted him to break it, wanted the chance to punish him again, but she also wanted to feel his seed spurt inside of her. She wanted it all. Wanted everything from him, wanted to do everything to him.

  “Come for me, baby,” he muttered. “Trust me.”

  Had he sensed that as well? It didn’t surprise her at all, but as he worked himself up inside her, she clutched his shoulders and took the leap, arching back to scream, the room echoing with her passion as her cunt milked his cock, trying to force the issue. Every muscle stood out on his upper body as he resisted it, as he gave her every pleasure and held back his own.

  Let me punish you again, Max. Give us both that pleasure. It was so fervent a thought, it was almost a prayer, a plea, and then that prayer was answered.

  He went over with a roar, thrusting up into her so powerfully she had to cling to the belt and trust him to hold her. With brutal, blissful finality, they drove one another home.

  Chapter Eight

  She liked tormenting a guy, that was for sure. After that pretty fucking incredible night, Janet made it clear she’d be the one who initiated another date. She’d said no texts, no flowers, no chocolates, no temptations. He’d grinned at that, but he’d decided to respect her need to hold the reins. He had some intel gathering to do after all, a big part of which was why, two days later, he was standing inside the kitchen of a tiny house in a crappy New Orleans neighborhood. One about a step up from where he himself lived.

  “Dale, where the hell are you?”

  “I’m back here, Ack Ack.”

  The response came from somewhere at the back of the house, so Max moved through the four-room box of less than eight hundred square feet, discovering the voice had filtered through the back screen door. The man he sought was standing in the open doorway of a potting shed, which took up most of his postage-stamp backyard.

  Dale gave him a look. “Fucking pathetic. You’ve been ten feet under water at o-dead-hundred in the middle of the night, found a single boat in a marina overflowing with them and yet you can’t find one crip hanging out on his own property?

  “It was a warning, bro. Can’t believe you leave your door standing open in this shitty neighborhood.”

  “A SEAL looks to get a workout where he can. The bastards just won’t cooperate.”

  “They probably know a guy who plays with flowers and looks like a brick shithouse is a fucked-up mother with an assault rifle under his mattress.”

  He’d come to see Dale before he started the rest of his day, so it was barely past sunrise. Dale didn’t seem surprised he was here, but then it was that way with them. Even when they were no longer in active service, SEALs often anticipated one another. Dale had been one of Max’s BUD/S instructors and then later his MCPO, Master Chief Petty Officer.

  Despite the house being barely more than a matchbox size, it was clean and neat, well tended. As he’d driven down the street, Max had seen improvements in the houses around Dale’s, evidence of the assistance he was providing to his neighbors, building some community pride. Flower boxes with Dale’s carpentry style hung on porch rails, and there was less garbage in the yards. A whole gaggle of kids had been playing in Dale’s front yard, waiting f
or the school bus. It didn’t matter whether it was in a questionable NOLA neighborhood or in Iraq, kids gravitated toward those they knew could keep them safe.

  When he’d gotten out of his truck, a little girl had shown Max her knockoff brand Barbie doll, dirty and scraped up. The doll wore a homemade dress made of a paper napkin colored with crayon. Pretty creative on the kid’s part. Where there was a will, there was a way. Two young boys had been playing some form of baseball with a stick and rocks. Max hoped they didn’t brain her by accident.

  “You running a daycare now?”

  Dale snorted. As Max came to the doorway of the shed, leaned on it, the man looked up from his task, sharpening a set of pruning shears. Dale’s workbench was built so he didn’t have his back to the door. More evidence of why Max had made sure to call out when he entered the house. Dale would verify it was him regardless before pulling out the Glock he had strapped beneath the bench, but they both understood the courtesies.

  “They’re good kids. They help me with small jobs here and there, and it gives them a little cash. Need some coffee?” Dale nodded to the pot brewing in the corner. His weathered face creased in a smile when he noted the case of beer Max had brought. “We can chase it with the beer later, if you stay that long.”

  “Yeah.” Max put the case on a clear spot and picked up a mug hanging from the pegboard. As usual, Dale had a few projects going. He was building another flower box, repairing an old transistor radio and had a stack of magazines waiting to be read.

  “You haven’t been around much these days,” Dale observed, handing over his own coffee to be topped off.

  Max shrugged. “Been busy. K&A’s had a lot happening lately. Amanda had a few bad days, so I’ve been seeing her a little more often. Twice a week instead of once. She’s getting back to an even keel though. I also drove down to Houston and hooked up with Donny to take Jenny and Gayle and her kids to the Gulf for the weekend.”

  “Did Lewis or Charlie get a text from the neighbors, telling them their wives were stepping out with two good-looking young guys?”

  Max grinned. “Within twenty-four hours. They’ve got a good community watch in Gayle’s neighborhood. Charlie sent me a note, said I better have satisfied his wife, because she was a demanding wildcat in bed. I told him he didn’t need to come back. After having me, she considered him superfluous.”

  Dale chuckled. “I’m sure he had some choice words for that. They okay?” Setting aside the shears, he slid his left hip on to another stool, braced his right foot. He kept his salt-and-pepper hair that had once been black cropped military short, which emphasized the strong planes of his face, the deep-set eyes and rock-hard jawline. He was in his late forties, the grooves of his face carved by water, wind and a whole lot of other things. Dale was a retired SEAL, having served his twenty-year stint. His direct blue-green gaze said he had all his shit together, and then some.

  He’d made the shift to the stool smoothly enough, but Max knew there was no leg from the knee down on the left foot. His prosthesis was good enough that only someone looking for it would detect a difference in his more casual movements.

  “Yeah, they’re okay.” Max sobered. “Gayle knows the drill, and has figured out how to cope with the months alone. Jenny’s having a harder time. She’s pregnant with her first. Lew got called down range right after they found out.”

  “That always sucks.”

  “Yeah.” Max sipped the coffee. “But everyone’s been rotating through when they can to help out, and there’s a core group of six wives in that area that meet regularly. Gayle’s pulled her into it, a support group.”

  “Their own Seal Team Six,” Dale noted, his lips curving. “Gayle will take care of her.”

  “Yeah. She’s about seven months along and doing well, but…”

  “But after your experience with Savannah Kensington, you’re hyperalert about it. Nothing wrong with that. As long as Jenny doesn’t tell Lewis the guys are stalking her.”

  “If they can be detected in the bushes outside her house or while shadowing her at the grocery store, they deserve to be busted.” Max tapped his mug to Dale’s. “As you said, you get your practice where you can.”

  “You never know when you’ll be called to serve.” Dale gave him a considering look. “I know you love me, but I’m thinking you’re here for another reason.”

  “Still a Master Chief,” Max snorted. “Even if you won’t let me call you that.”

  “I have to know my place in this world. The other can be like a drug, you miss it so much. But if you slip and call me that every once in a while, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. Ack Ack.”

  “Yeah.” Max’s lips twisted at the nickname his fellow operators had given him. He knew all about that feeling Dale was referencing. It was something hard to explain to others, how much he missed those days. Days spent freezing cold, tired, on edge. Adrenaline cycling through his veins like coke, even as his core stayed dead calm, focused, doing everything necessary to flush out, hunt or bring down the target. But Dale got it. “Thanks, Master Chief.”

  A grim smile touched Dale’s mouth. “What’s up, Max?”

  “I’m getting involved with a woman. And she’s a Domme.”

  “Hmm.” Dale took a swallow of his coffee. The guys sometimes called him “Merman”. With his odd blue-green eyes, the name fit, but the real reason was because of several missions where circumstances had forced him to deepwater dive in his rebreather gear, well beyond its twenty-five-foot rating. And he’d survived.

  He and Max shared the distinction of having graduated BUD/S at one of the youngest ages allowed, seventeen, though of course Dale was a decade or so ahead of Max when he got there. He’d served with Dale on missions and trusted him entirely, and Dale returned the favor, but Dale was right. It was more than the desire to visit with him that brought Max here today.

  Dale was a sexual Dominant, a Master in the same vein as Matt Kensington and his executive team. Dale occasionally used his membership at Club Progeny, but most of the time he hung his whip, so to speak, at a smaller, nonprofit membership club in the area. Though Max had never had the opportunity to see him operate in that capacity, he expected Dale brought a psychological intensity to his sexual Mastery that Janet would appreciate greatly.

  “You’re no one’s boy toy, Max.” Dale gave him a serious look. “Are you trying to convince yourself you are, just to get what’s behind her whip and boots? That doesn’t work.”

  “You can’t see me in collar and leash?” Max asked, arching a brow.

  Dale snorted. “Yeah right. Sorry, man. I had to ask. There are a few mistresses out there who are convinced every guy wants to be Dominated, and if a guy says he doesn’t, he just hasn’t met the right Domme to do it. That’s not the case, any more than every woman I meet wants to be my sex slave, more’s the pity. However, those kinds of Mistresses can be pretty convincing, especially when her target is thinking with his dick. Which, admit it, happens to the best of us.”

  Max inclined his head. “She’s more than that to me.”

  “Okay then.” Dale sat back with his coffee. “So what do you need from me?”

  “I’ve seen her work out with subs at Progeny, and she’s pretty tough, has her hands firmly on the reins. But with us, it’s more of a give and take, like we’re figuring out how to dance with one another. With each meet, it gets more complicated. Like starting with the waltz and moving into the tango. Without giving specific details—”

  “Please God don’t.”

  Max grinned. “She does make me feel like doing things I normally wouldn’t consider doing with a woman. It’s the way she gets lost in it, aroused by it…it’s fucking mesmerizing.” He took a breath. “So, sight unseen, and given there are a lot of variables, does it ever work, if it’s in the blood of one, but not the other?”

  Dale considered the question. “I’ve seen it happen, yes. But it’s different for every pair and—I won’t lie to you—often it’s only a short-term success.
Some crash and burn when they approach it for the long haul, because if she eventually needs you to go deep, and you can’t do that, that might be a problem. Unless her reasons for going deep are mixed with other factors, things you can satisfy without that dive. This isn’t a linear thing. It’s more like a maze, and we all find different paths. You’ll be able to find the answer for yourself, good or bad. Just keep all your senses open and follow your instincts. What do they tell you about your chances with her?”

  “It pays to be a winner, right?” Max gave the maxim from BUD/S training with a serious expression. “If I want her, I make it work. I don’t accept defeat.”

  “Hoo-yah. Unless she puts out a restraining order on you.”

  Max snorted. “If I became that much of a problem, she wouldn’t want the cops involved. She’d handle it herself, with extreme prejudice.”

  “I’m already liking her. Bring her around sometime.” Dale set aside the coffee, rubbed his knee. When Max glanced at it, he shrugged it off. “Damn humidity. Works it up a little.”

  “You’d be better off in a less tropical climate.”

  “Yeah, but who’d watch after your dumb ass, kid?” Dale kicked him lightly with the shoe covering the prosthesis. Though he looked amused, Max felt a twist of guilt, knowing that there was some truth to it.

  “You don’t have to stay around here, Master Chief. I can clean my own house.”

  “Did I say you couldn’t?” Dale asked, pleasantly enough, though Max recognized the don’t-bullshit-me-unless-you-want-to-do-a-thousand-pushups edge to the tone that had made him a scary and effective SEAL trainer. “I have plenty to keep me here. Swing sets to build, flower boxes to make. I’m also watching after Eddie’s dad and his dogs, over at the junkyard.”

  Max smiled, though his gut twisted, remembering the day they’d lost Eddie. How they’d brought his personal shit home to Ed Sr. “Is he still doing good?”