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She cocked her head, trying to decipher the hesitation in his voice. “Stanton, that’s my man in there. I think I got this,” she murmured.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, a smile in his voice as he stepped aside.
Ruthie reached up, feeling her way along the brick exterior before she found the alarm pad and punched in the code. The locks disengaged. Anticipation raced over her skin, heightening the tension between her legs and beading her nipples.
There was a tremor in her thighs, and she pressed a hand to her stomach as she took a deep breath. Tobias had waited for her, telling her over and over that kink wasn’t something he had to have. He loved everything about her, insisting he would never demand submission—he was content to simply be with her any way she’d let him.
His admission voiced that she was enough. But always in his tone was a thread of need, a profound resonance that told her he was lying to them both. He needed more. His muscles would lock around her, protective and loving, but even as he was deep inside her body he held a piece of himself back. Ruthie wondered if it was because Tobias doubted she could be as strong as he needed her to be.
She stopped at the edge of the foyer and listened. The bass of the music hit her ears and slid into her body, riveting her nerves and making the fire in her veins slither along her skin. They’d danced around his needs for far too long. Ruthie was blind, not stupid. She knew her man, felt the desire in him to let loose on her body and demand she give him all that she was by submitting to his dominance.
Ruthie had talked to Candace for weeks now, trying to determine if that echo in her heart and mind was submission. Could she give over everything when she’d worked so hard to become strongly independent and not need anyone?
The answer was simple—with Toby she could. It was instinct. That longing to hand him everything and let him carry her body, her needs and wants, in his hands had turned pressing. Candace told her being a submissive wouldn’t make her weak, it would make her stronger, and that within that strength lived a lust to give over to her Dominant and let him rule her pleasure. Silence her mind and take her places she dared not let herself go alone. Toby was strong enough to do that for her. The knowledge had always been in her heart; it had just taken her brain a while to catch up.
Candace assured her Tobias was an experienced Dominant, well versed in the ways of BDSM play. He’d studied the lifestyle under Candace’s husband’s tutelage and had been a practicing Dom for many years. She’d laughed when Ruthie growled. Damn but Ruthie hadn’t liked hearing her man had played others. Yet she recognized she had no true claim to that irrational anger and called it what it was: jealousy.
Her conversation with Candace had validated her thoughts and eased her fears. Vanilla sex with Tobias was amazing, but there was more to be had, and damn it, Ruthie was going to demand it. And here she was.
Tobias was going to fight her on it—but he wouldn’t win. He might be a true Dom, but she held the power in her submission. Once the idea had taken root, it had been a no-brainer to take what she wanted and give him what he needed in return.
The music began to fade, and the CD changer hummed as it switched disks. Ruthie heard water running in the kitchen, then the thud of the refrigerator closing, and she took a deep breath. Soft footfalls announced his arrival. Heat at her back, a muscular arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her into his hard body, and then his lips on her neck had her heart skipping a beat.
“Hey, baby,” he murmured. “Told you I was coming to you.”
“I couldn’t wait,” Ruthie said with a sigh. “I missed you. Jeremiah said you’re going out of town this weekend, and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time with you before then.”
His lips nipped at her skin, teeth sinking into the flesh beneath her ear and biting just enough for her to gauge his mood. Her man was wound tight tonight. “I’m heading to Italy Saturday—shipping business. Jeremiah wants to secure space in the Port of Naples. I’ll be gone about a week or so.” He squeezed her and chuckled. “You’re impatient, but I can’t fault you—it’s the same for me,” he told her as he tilted her head with his free hand and began nuzzling her jaw.
Ruthie shivered and relaxed against him. She was a tall woman at five eight, and he towered over her, well over six feet of solid temptation. It was no small thing that his every move seemed protective and geared toward ensuring her comfort.
“Tobias?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he hummed as he continued to lick and nuzzle her skin.
“I want you.” It came out a breathy whisper when what she wanted to do was shout it to the rafters.
He stilled, muscles tensing under her palms. Ruthie twined her hands with his, turning in the circle of his arms before she lifted her face and smiled up at him. He pushed a stray strand of hair off her face before he traced her lips with the pad of his thumb.
She flicked a tongue out and licked the digit. His breath hissed in, and she was back to smiling. She wielded so much feminine power in that moment, it was an aphrodisiac all its own.
“I ache for you,” she murmured as she braced her hands on his chest, went on tiptoe, and licked across his lips.
He remained a rock, unmoving, but his heart beneath her hands threatened to beat out of his chest.
“I want to give you all of me, Tobias. I’m ready,” she affirmed, unable to quell the tremor in her voice.
“Ruthie—”
There was a warning in his tone, and she hastened to cut him off. “I know who you are, Tobias. I feel you holding back—even when you’re wrapped around me, touching me, inside me, I feel your restraint. I know you’ve sacrificed a big part of who you are to be with me. What I don’t know is why.”
“Baby, now’s not the time—”
He was going to try and shut her down. Not today, she told herself. “There is no better time,” she said as she stepped back and slowly unbuttoned her calf-length cashmere coat.
She shrugged it off her shoulders, reveling in the chilly air kissing her exposed parts. Her hair slid down her back, the cool strands against her heated skin making her shiver anew. She’d worn an emerald-green corset that laced in the front and cut deeply in the back. Candace had helped her pick it out—telling her the color looked amazing against the backdrop of her creamy skin. Thong, thigh-highs, and stilettos completed the ensemble.
Tension radiated from Tobias, and it was affirmation. He needed this as much as she did. Instinct guided her now. Submission. The flavor of the word hovered on her tongue, sweet and ambitious.
