Page 64 of Delicious Surrender

Gage turned before reaching her bathroom door, leveling a glare meant to intimidate, but all she could do was laugh.

He shook his head and tried not to smile. “Impossible brat.”

Brynne lay there, her head spinning with what this night meant. Would he let her keep working for him? Would he bewilling to do this again? She was loath to ruin the moment by telling him the earth moved. Women probably gushed all over him, literally and figuratively. She would not be one of those. But god help her, it was the most amazing sex she had ever had.

During college, she learned how to maintain her distance and perfected the art of indifference. It was better to be the one who left first. She watched her girlfriends try to sink their teeth into the men they fell for, only to be dumped a couple of weeks later. Brynne learned from an early age not to get attached to anyone. Sex could be fantastic without all the gooey emotions that her friends fell prey to.

With Gage, she had to be careful. He didn’t seem like the attachment type. However, that wasn’t the most worrisome problem. She just might want him beyond her three-date limit. In fact, she wanted him again right now—and it wasn’t just about writing better steamy sex scenes.

Nothing sent a man running faster than a clinging female post coitus. No choice but to play it cool. There was only one way to pull that off. She grabbed her pillow, turned over, and pretended to be asleep.

Gage stared at himself in the pitted mirror of her little bathroom and asked his reflection what the fuck he was thinking, taking a vulnerable, inexperienced member of his staff to bed?! He couldn’t lay the blame solely on the harem outfit, although it was a factor. No, it started long before that. He knew he wanted her from the moment she dropped the ice cubes in his office. Tonight, he’d let his guard down and succumbed toplaying knight in shining armor.

He was more content and sated than he had been in months. The self-imposed celibacy was obviously to blame. When she dared him, with that pouting bottom lip begging to be kissed, he should have turned around and left. But he didn’t. How the fuck could he? Cole was right. She was begging to be taught. And god help him, he wanted to be her teacher.

He was hard again just thinking about it. If he didn’t escape right now, he’d bury his cock between her sweet thighs again. Determined to make a quick exit, he washed up and returned to find her sound asleep. He smiled, hearing her soft breathing and intermittent snoring.

He pulled the covers up and tucked her in, unable to stop himself from touching a lock of her silky auburn hair.Leave now, Mack.He grabbed his clothes off the floor and went into the living room to get dressed. She lived modestly; her bedroom was the size of a broom closet, and her entire apartment could fit into the living room of his penthouse. He sat down on the rickety couch to put his shoes on and took in the clutter. Piles of handwritten pages littered her coffee table.

He was tying his laces when he saw the Limits list, which she must have filled out for Mistress Patricia. Against his better judgment, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of the two pages with all her ticked boxes. On the front were two sticky notes, one with the names of several kinky websites and the other with the web address of a BDSM chat room. Christ, he hoped she didn’t think that was a safe way to meet people! He took that sticky note and put it in his pocket. A justifiable act of protection.

Taking a closer look at the list of websites, hewondered what the hell she was researching: Hogtied.com, PornHub, Sex&Submission, plus one he had not heard of—Badgirlsbible.com. His little pixie was quite the online adventurer.

He texted Angus that he was coming out and then perused her bookshelves one more time. She obviously didn’t want him to see her library of vintage Black Lace books, The Story of O,Anne Rice’s tales of Sleeping Beauty, plus two shelves of historical romances. He would have to dig a little and find out what she was writing. She refused to tell him, but he could hazard a guess.

On the way back to the club, Gage checked his phone. Garrick said the party was winding down. Everyone was having a great time, and the bar was humming with the news of Dimitri’s ousting.

He saw that Cole had tried calling him a few times, and he read a string of text messages.

Cole:Trouble back in Houston. Sorry man, I’m on my way back stateside. Will take a rain check on Berlin. I hope your harem girl is okay. And if you haven’t properly bedded her, you’re a fool.

Gage:Properly bedded, but it changes nothing.

If only he believed that.

16

A Very Persuasive Proposal

The plan to fake falling asleep backfired spectacularly. Brynne woke up just after six a.m. with a headache and a furry mouth. She brushed her teeth, took two painkillers, and crawled back into bed. Her mind shoved the ordeal with Dimitri under the rug so it could focus on all the delicious things Gage did to erase him. She would never look at her tea towel the same way again. And the spanking! It was a dream come true when he finally took her over his knee.

He came to her rescue, in more ways than one. And she fell totally under his spell. Remembering how he commanded her to touch herself made her blush and giggle. So did the realization that she would have done anything he asked.

One night was definitely not going to be enough. Now she had to convince him they should do it again. An offer of casual sex with no strings…maybe a little rope? Hopefully, he wouldn’t insist she leave her job at Club Dominus, but if she had to quit,so be it. With him as her teacher, she would no longer need the club.

After a nice soak in the tub, Brynne called and left a message for her aunt. Next on her list was Jared, and he answered on the first ring. She told him what happened with Dimitri, how Gage threw him out of the club and accompanied her home. He squealed in delight when she shared what had happened afterward. On her way to Dominus, Brynne decided how she would persuade him to throw his rules out the window.

His office was empty when she stopped by, so she headed to the lounge and got busy. The patrons were still talking about Saturday night and Dimitri’s departure. She and Mel exchanged glances. There was no time to talk because they both had several tables.

As the evening wore on, she grew more anxious. Gage hadn’t sought her out, and there was no request to deliver his dinner. By the end of the night, she had worked herself into a state. Once the last table signed the check, she headed to his office.

His response to her knock was gruff. “Who is it?”

“Tink. Do you have a minute?”

“The door is open.”

He was sitting on the large couch with his legs sprawled and a scotch in his hand. His hair was disheveled like he’d repeatedly run his hands through it. The ticking muscle in his jaw had her doubting her ability to convince him of anything.

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