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She saw the passion, the lust, the release and the tenderness in his eyes and, all at once, it was too much.
She burst into tears.
Cooper’s face softened as he reached up for her. He pulled her gently down onto his chest as he soothed, “It’s okay, Lainey,” he said in a voice still breathless from his climax. “You’re okay. You’re safe. I promise.”
He rocked her gently, stroking her hair as she cried, tears wetting his chest.
Eventually, she lifted her head, embarrassed and confused by her outburst. “I’m sorry,” she said through her tears, managing a smile. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not sad. Not at all. I just… It was just so…so intense.” She barked an embarrassed laugh. “You must think I’m nuts.”
He shook his head, smiling, his eyes warm. “Not at all,” he reassured her. “It’s just a natural release of emotion. What we experienced together was very powerful. Your reactions—your submission… It’s a lot to process.”
He rolled over, taking her with him so she was on her back. Lifting himself from her, he stripped off the condom. Reaching for a tissue, he wadded the used sheath inside and set it on the nightstand. Then he resettled himself beside her, rising on one elbow as he looked down at her.
He stroked her wet cheeks with his thumb and then bent down to kiss the tip of her nose. The gesture was so sweet and unexpected that she laughed again, this time without embarrassment. A lightness—a joyful buoyancy—was moving through her being, making her feel as if she might levitate from the bed.
She sat up, energized. “Wow,” she laughed. “I don’t know what’s going on with me. I feel so…so…right, somehow.”
He smiled back at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I know exactly what you mean, because I feel it too. It’s what happens when the D/s connection is strong. Somehow the whole of us is greater than the sum of our parts, to paraphrase Aristotle. Everything flows together, working in concert—the pleasure, the pain, the command and the submission, the heartfelt exchange of power—it just works somehow, for people like us.”
People like us.
Was she, despite her constant denials and reservations, a submissive? No. No way. But…maybe?
Cooper grinned. “I can see those wheels spinning in your brain, Lainey. Let it go for now, if you can. You don’t have to define yourself in any particular way. Just embrace the feelings. Enjoy them. Accept them.”
“Okay, you have got to stop that,” Lainey retorted, trying but failing to suppress her grin. “Quit getting inside my head. It’s private in there.”
Now he laughed. “Quit showing every single emotion on your face, how about?” he teased.
All at once, a great tenderness welled inside her along with another emotion she couldn’t quite parse. Gratitude? Just plain old joy?
His face softened once more as he looked at her. He was doing it again.
“Cut that out,” she demanded, embarrassed but also pleased. “Stay out of my head.”
He chuckled. “You’re delightful, did you know that?”
“I am?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’re pretty great, yourself.”
They beamed at one another.
She wanted to give this amazing man something. A gift. But what?
“Turn over on your stomach,” she directed.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, lifting his hand to his forehead in a mock salute.
She stared him down until, with a shrug, he rolled over.
Her first thought had been to show him what a good masseuse she was. But now she understood that wasn’t what this was about. It was about…service.
That was it—that was the gift she needed to give him—an act of service, pure and simple.
She couldn’t help but admire the strong curve of his ass as she straddled his thighs. In spite of herself, yet another twinge of lust whispered through her, but she ignored it.
She started with his lower back, kneading the firm muscle until it yielded beneath her fingers.
He sighed. “That feels wonderful.”
Pleased, she continued, moving slowly up his back to his broad shoulders. She enjoyed the feel of his supple skin and the hard muscle beneath. He relaxed beneath her touch, his eyes closing.
“Mmmm,” he murmured.
Once she was satisfied that every inch of his back and shoulders had been properly attended to, she lightened her touch. She circled her palms over his flesh and lightly stroked it with the tips of her fingers.
He was completely still and relaxed beneath her now, his breathing slow and even. Carefully, she lifted herself from his body and lay down beside him. Lifting herself on an elbow, she examined his face. His lashes were long and thick. The firm line of his mouth was relaxed in sleep. While it kept a faintly humorous curl at the corner, his lower lip had eased into a fuller curve that seemed both sensual and innocent.
“Damn,” she said softly to herself, awestruck.
Who was this man who had barged into her life and turned it completely upside down in the space of two days? She had been doing just fine without the complication of a relationship, thank you. Then this amazing, sexy, bigger-than-life guy suddenly appears, making her question everything she thought she knew about herself.
