Page 28 of Hard Discipline

Pretty little swan.

“Odette,” I murmur, my voice rough with need, my fingers tangling gently in her hair. “The swan princess from Swan Lake.”

Surprise crosses her face and then she flushes even pinker. “My mother named me after her. I don’t much like it.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Swans are supposed to be delicate and kind of breakable, and you know, the implications are…”

“Hate to break it to you but swans can be vicious.” I smile at her as I wind a curl around her finger. I’m still hard as stone, but I can wait. I want to wait. “I had a couple in a pond in my house in the Hamptons. We had to give them a wide berth.”

“Oh, well, maybe that’s okay then,” she says, grinning. “I don’t mind being vicious.”

“And they mate for life,” I add.

Something flickers through her eyes, but it’s gone before I can tell what it is. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, now, you do.” I meet her gaze. “Keep going, swan princess.”

15

Odette

My heartbeat is all over the place and I can taste him on my skin. Salt and musk and a delicious flavor all his own. I’ve never taken my time over a man before, but kneeling before him, undressing him and then touching him is definitely up there in my top ten list of hottest things ever.

Now I’ve got his cock in my hand, long, thick, hard, and he feels so hot, his skin smooth and velvety. My mouth is watering and I want to taste him. He’s given me permission, I’m clear on that, but this talk of swans has stuck in my head for some reason.

They mate for life…

The way he said that, the way his blue gaze held mine so steadily as if there was there was more— something hidden beneath the surface of the words that made my heart shudder in my chest. I thought Lucas might be the one for me — I’d even started thinking about us long-term before the attack happened — but I know now that he’s not and he never was. I’m thinkingabout something else, someoneelse, and now he’s put the thought in my head I can’t get it out.

Maybe it’s not Lucas who’s the one for me.

Maybe it’s him.

I lower my lashes as I lean in once again, dropping a kiss on Mr. Fairfax’s hard stomach. His muscles tighten beneath my lips and when I kiss him lower, my fingers wrap around his cock and I feel his muscles tighten yet again.

There’s a lump in my throat and I don’t even know why it’s there, because sure, I’m loving this encounter with this man, but I’m not falling for him. I hardly know him.

Except maybe you kind of do. He’s got a wounded heart beneath that hard exterior and he’s alone.

His fingers move in my hair, caressing it as I move my mouth lower, giving his magnificent cock a long, slow lick. His fingers tighten in reaction as I place my tongue on his skin, then they ease. I taste the salty flavor of him and it’s delicious. I want more, so I lick my way around the blunt head of his dick.

I’ve got one hand on his thigh and I can feel the powerful muscles there tense in reaction. God, I love what I’m doing to him. I love how he tangles his fingers in my hair, stroking it as if he likes the feel of it in on his skin. And I love how kneeling here before him, knowing he’s given me permission to touch his fucking amazing body anywhere, is the biggest thrill I’ve ever had.

But it’s not just about his body. It’s about the way he watched me as I undressed him, his blue gaze glittering from beneath his lowered lashes, and how, as I touched him, I felt his muscles relax, tension easing slowly from him.

Alone. Yes, heisalone. I can sense that in him and I can see it, because I’m alone too. I’ve been alone for years, trapped on the other side of an experience no one I know has ever had, and they can’t imagine it. They can’t cross that gap to where I am.He’s like that too, he’s trapped on the other side of his loss and no one can get to where he is, either.

It hurts me to think of him, stuck across that yawning void. It hurts me to think that’s he alone. It hurts me to think that he lost a woman he loved and now she’s gone, he’s got no one at all. And he should have someone, he really should.

You maybe?

I shut my eyes, gripping his cock tighter and licking him again, giving myself over to the experience completely so I don’t have that thought in my head. I don’t want it there, because of course it can’t be me. Not only am I so much younger than he is, I’m a college dropout with terrible anxiety issues. What would he ever see in me? What do I have to offer him? Besides, I’m not looking for another long-term relationship, not when I can barely manage my own bullshit let alone someone else’s, and definitely not when he’s my ex’s dad.

I open my mouth and draw him in. He gives a deep, masculine growl of satisfaction as I do, which lights me up inside like candle. And I grip him tighter, moving my hand as I suck him, then licking him, nipping at him, glorying in his rich flavor.

“Fuck,” he hisses. “You’ve got a hot mouth, sub.”

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