“Yeah, I’m not baking just for you, iron pig. Make sure you share.”
“Since when do you speak…whatever?” Aaron stared at Jake. “And have facial hair? And brown eyes?”
His brother sounded like his brother, but he no longer looked anything like Jake, or Aaron, or…anyone. He sported a small beard and mustache, all very realistic. Brown eyes—contacts. His long hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail.
Jake stiffened a bit as he put some pancakes on a separate plate and slid it toward Aaron. “That was Russian.”
“You can’t speak English in front of me?”
“For this, no.” Jake shot him a warning glance. “Don’t ask, Aaron. I know you’re a nosy son of a bitch, but just don’t ask and things will be easier. Let us do our jobs. Please.”
This was his life, damn it. They had no right to speak in tongues just to keep him out of the loop. Aaron bristled. “Fuck—”
Charlotte cleared her throat. Aaron glared but shut his mouth. She arched a brow over cold, violet eyes.
His ire lost heat and slid into a puddle in his feet. Fuck. He was supposed to be apologizing, and the last time he checked, “I’m sorry,” didn’t start with fuck.
Aaron swallowed. Damn his impulsive mouth.
She reached around, removed the gun from the holster she wore at the small of her back and gently set it on the counter. Next to her very full plate of pancakes. In warning.
He gulped. Do it or die? Holy shit, this woman was intense. His cock loved every moment of it, too, rock-hard still, throbbing at the sight of those long, feminine fingers using a butter knife. He hoped sex was just as hot, though the mere thought of it made him alternate between wanting to come or run.
Aaron stared at the cold blackness of the gun against the creamy marble and swallowed his pride. “Jake, I’m sorry for being an asshole. I—”
Jake waved the spatula. “No need to apologize. We’re good.”
Charlotte cleared her throat again. “Let him.”
Jake arched his brows. “What? No, we’re good.”
“Jake.” Charlotte leaned forward on the bar. “This is anger management. He needs to apologize, because I said he had to.” She spoke clearly, enunciating every word as if Jake were an idiot.
Jake stared at her for a long moment, and something odd passed between the two. Jake’s eyes widened. “You’re not.”
“I am.”
“Jesus, Charlotte.”
“Don’t put the ball in my court if you don’t want the game played by my rules. One of the rules was he had to apologize to you. Let him.”
Aaron had no clue what just happened, but he had a feeling that the coach had just challenged the referee in a rules violation battle. He wasn’t sure who was which or who had won. Not yet. But he bet his money on the ginger with the gun.
“Okay, Aaron. Apologize.” Jake sighed, because obviously, he just lost the battle, hands down.
Aaron cleared his throat and recited the lines he had practiced, in the dark, over his raging hard-on. “I’m sorry for being an asshole. I’m sorry you had to leave Tia and come here, to clean up my mess. I will be agreeable and try to make this job as easy as possible so you can go home quickly.” He glanced at Charlotte. She didn’t look satisfied. Not yet.
Fuck if he liked to improvise, but here it went. “I’m sorry for being judgmental and I promise to think before I speak.”
That seemed to make her happy, because she gave a small nod and put her gun away.
Jake’s brows flew up. “You two kids had quite the chat last night I’m guessing. Instead of going to sleep.”
Aaron shrugged. “Keep your imagination in your pants. No rosaries were said.”
Charlotte glowered. Aaron broke out into a cold sweat and ignored her gun.
Jake laughed. “Apology accepted. What’s on the agenda for today?”
“Nothing until next week. I’m supposed to be on vacation. But you might want to talk to my agent about all of this and about Charlotte. She’ll love the girlfriend angle, since she’s always trying to get me to drum up tabloid chatter.”
“I’ll have Chase call. I have to get an itinerary, anyway. If he gets everything from your agent, it will be more complete,” Jake said.
“You mean it will be less work, slacker,” Charlotte chided.
Jake finished up cooking and glanced at the clock. “I have work to do. I’ll return in a bit.” He took off the apron, kissed Charlotte’s pale cheek and left.
The silence in the kitchen fell at a speed that would break very silent sound barriers. Aaron frowned, because that didn’t sound quite right. But what did when his cock still throbbed, wanting him to apologize so she’d blow him? He was ready to try that, despite his fear. More importantly, the good man in him wanted him to apologize, because he
had
been an asshole. Hardcore, as Jake and Charlotte liked to say. And that was wrong.
“I’m sorry, Charlotte. Really sorry for being an asshole.”
She cocked her head. “Are you? Or is that the raging stiffy in your pants giving tongue?”
How his stiffy wanted her tongue. On him. Badly. “I was wrong to be angry. I was judgmental. You were right.”
She nodded and studied his face for what seemed an eternity, her eyes sharp, not missing a thing.
“I didn’t think you were a whore, though. I was…nervous.”
“Okay.” She cocked her head. “Did you touch yourself last night, love?”
“No.”
She arched a brow.
“No…Ma’am?”
She nodded. “And what did you think about all night long.” He hesitated, and she cocked her head. “The truth, Aaron. I’ll know if you lie.”
Did he even dare go there? But she said the truth… “I thought about killing you.”
She laughed, a genuine, pretty, feminine sound that touched deep in his chest in a weird way. “Very honest. As Jake would say, the line starts over there. Do your worst.”
Though she didn’t ask for more, he wanted to share for some reason. Maybe it would put him in her good graces. “I also thought about your baggage and your husband.”
“If you were smart, you wouldn’t snoop in my baggage.” So much for good graces. Danger Girl seemed to step up to the plate with stiff shoulders and glittering violet eyes.
It made him nervous again, and that damned impulsive tongue of his didn’t know when to keep still. “Did he leave you? Divorce you? Tell me.”
She sucked in a breath. He wouldn’t have thought violet would be a fiery color. Man, did those eyes burn into his, over his skin, making him wish for a fire extinguisher. “Aaron, do you know what submissive means?”
“No. Well, yes.” He thought and shook his head. “No.”
She nodded and rose from her stool. She stood before him with her arms crossed over her perfect breasts. “Do you want that blowjob, Aaron?”
“Yes?” His cock screamed yes. It was still a disturbing thought, one that made him tremble a little.
“Then you need to kneel before me and be submissive. Right now, you’re not on a good path with me. I don’t trust you enough to share my past with you, never mind my bed. You’re going to learn to be polite, to leave your judgment at the door, and most of all, you’re going to learn not to ask questions of Jake or myself.”
Oh shit.
For once, his tongue glued itself to the top of his very dry mouth. His blood raced again, his cock filled with that blood, and his mind screamed for his legs to move. Run. Because this was kinky shit. Unfortunately, his dick had an anchor that kept him rooted to the spot.
“Kneel,” she said, her voice as hard as the metal on her gun. Cold.
“But—”
She lifted her chin a notch. “If you want a blowjob, you will submit willingly.”
“This sounds like kinky blackmail.” He swallowed, fear billowing up through this lungs and out his mouth in a whoosh of air. Why a woman so scary would excite the hell out of him, he had no clue. But this felt way too close to his virgin sexual experience.
“It’s a reward. You do as I ask, I reward you. It’s that simple.”
Was it that simple?
“Aaron. Submit or I will walk out of this house, get on a plane, and you will have to deal with Jake and Chase. I would kill you, but I am not feeling in the paperwork mood. So instead, you’ll deal with my boys.”
Fuck, no. He wasn’t dealing with Chase or Jake. But he didn’t want to kneel, either. It went against every grain in his body. Every cell.
She pinned that hard gaze on him, and suddenly he wanted to do whatever she said, very badly. He bent his knees and lowered himself to the tiled floor, heart pounding like a jackhammer.
“Head down. Hands on your thighs, palms up. You can sit back on your heels.”
He did as he was told, feeling very…vulnerable. And hot. So hot to do as he was told for a change, to be under her control. His cock throbbed as her sandaled feet appeared in his vision, and he wanted nothing more than to suck those hot pink, big toes.
“You will not speak unless spoken to and then you will address me as Ma’am. Do you understand?”
“Yes…Ma’am.”
“Good.” She took a step closer, smelling of citrus and flowers and syrup. “You’re very handsome, kneeling before me. I love your shoulders, so wide and strong. What a good boy.”
Her praise meant the world to him. But that was wrong, right? He was a guy. Guys didn’t kneel unless it was before God. Guys didn’t get praise from women.
“From now on, you will do as you are told. When we’re in public, you will be allowed to treat me as a girlfriend. As Amanda. But when we’re home, when I snap my fingers, you will kneel. Do you understand? I don’t care if Jake is in the room. He knows what I’m doing. You will be polite, kind, and a gentleman at all times. No meanness to Jake. If you’re a good boy, then maybe tonight I will give you that blowjob.”
He should be worried about kneeling like a bitch in front of Jake. He should be worried about what she’d do to him if he didn’t. But all he cared about was the fact that she wasn’t going to blow him right this minute. “Not now?”
“Oh, Aaron. I think you need punishment speaking out of turn.”
“Please don’t spank me.” The words were out in a rush before he could stop them.
“Why ever not?”
He swallowed but didn’t raise his head. She wouldn’t like that. She said she wanted to trust him…it should be a two-way street, right? He’d have to trust her first, to show her he was worthy. “I don’t like it.”
“Okay. I won’t do that.”
Relief flooded him. “Thank you. Ma’am.”
“You will spend fifteen minutes on your knees when Jake comes home. You will then wait on him and give him whatever he desires. I don’t care if he asks for a foot rub or for you to wipe his nose. You’ll do it. Until I tell you otherwise. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Somehow, he knew he got off really easy. He’d suffer Jake’s ribbing. He could do that.
“You may rise and kiss me to thank me for my generosity.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.” He stood, so grateful for her generosity.
Wait. Why was he grateful? She just made him kneel like a bitch. And he’d have to kneel later in front of his asshole brother. He clenched his fists and raised his head to stare at the creaminess of her throat. Kiss that pale skin, or choke it? Decisions, decisions.
She must have seen the war behind his eyes because she shook her head. “Don’t go there, Aaron. Don’t fight it. If you want in my panties eventually, you’ll do as I tell you. Do you understand?”
He thought of those panties, scraps of lace held by strings around her hips, hiding wet, hot treasures. Yes, he got it. If he wanted in her panties, he would follow the rules. Maybe this was divine punishment for fucking a married woman. “May I ask a question? Ma’am?”
“Yes. One.”
He chanced a direct glance and prayed she didn’t turn him to stone. “Is this what you like? For sex?”
“That was two.” She pursed her lips. “No. This isn’t what I like at all. Not one bit.”
He wanted to ask what she liked, but he was too scared of the answer. “Then why this?”
“That’s three.” She considered him with a deep sigh, her violet eyes softening. “I’m doing this because you are a punk. You need to learn respect and humility. Your cocky, don’t-care-if-I-die attitude will get us all killed. You, me, your brother. You may not care about yourself or me, but you love Jake. This isn’t a script where someone will call cut. This is real life and trust me, someone will die. How would you feel about that?”
He could see her point, to an extent. “I don’t want you or Jake to die.”
“If you want to learn to take the reins, then you must earn the privilege from me. You’ve earned a kiss thus far. Consider yourself lucky.”
“Who taught you about this? Ma’am?”
Man, she owned the glare, fire practically snapping from her gaze. “Do you really want to know the truth, or do you want to kiss me?”
His cock twitched. “I want to kiss you.”
“Excellent. You are a wonderful kisser, Aaron. We have a bit of time while Jake is away. A kiss like last night would please me immensely.”
Charlotte stared at the conflicted yet angry Aaron as he shifted in his stocking feet and wanted nothing more than to fall to her knees and be what she was before doomsday. A submissive, controlled in the bedroom by Sir down to every spasm of orgasm. Anything but cold, hard, and mean.
But Aaron was angry. He was a punk, and he would get them killed.
If she were a honest, though, she would admit seeing that gorgeous man kneel at her feet gave her a thrill. Just a little. She didn’t think she’d want to be in charge for an entire sexual scene, but for a few moments…it was hot.
Earlier in the kitchen, Jake had shot her a glance when he realized her intent. A glance of shock because, when she was angry after doomsday, Jake had done the same thing to her. Made her submit. Not sexually, though.
She realized, with a start, that Aaron was frozen on the spot. “I’m not going to wait all morning. Kiss me.”
Aaron stepped forward. He looked uneasy as his hands skimmed her forearms and gingerly settled on her biceps. Gooseflesh rose and shivers followed the path of his fingers. He bent his head, his mouth mere inches from hers. Desire blossomed in her stomach, warming cold, hard her to something softer. Mushier. Womanly.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Thank you.” He dipped his head and his mouth settled on hers.