Pressure: A Diamond Doms Novel Read online

“God, I love the way you come,” he said, lifting his head to watch her writhe.

  Her needy moans filled the room as the aftershocks of the orgasm fluttered through her.

  “Fingers on your clit baby,” he murmured as he rolled off the bed to retrieve a condom. It was an order he’d given her dozens of times. He liked to keep her humming until he was ready to fill her. As if someone else controlled her body, her hand fell between her damp thighs and found her still swollen nub. She rubbed as she watched him roll the condom on.

  “Is it…”

  “Don’t worry, Kitten. I haven’t used a latex condom since the night we found out you were allergic,” he said as he prowled toward the bed.

  That little tidbit pleased her, and she let her attention fall back to her fingers and the growing need between her legs.

  “Ready?” he asked as he nestled himself between her thighs.

  She gave him an eager nod and he pulled her hand away from her clit, pinning it above her head. With his other hand, he positioned his thick cock at her opening, sliding it up and down her slit.

  “God, please,” she whimpered. “I want you inside me.”

  The grin he gave her was pure sin as he notched himself into her pussy.

  He captured her free hand and secured it with her other above her head. When he had his thick hand wrapped around both wrists, he dragged his other hand between their bodies and pinched her nipple harshly.

  Lightning shot through her and she bucked against his binding grip while he drove into her again.

  How was it that he’d remembered every single one of her triggers and hot spots after five years?

  “I’ll always remember how to fuck you, Riss. We were made for each other,” he growled. Could the man read minds now too?

  All thoughts besides the growing knot of pleasure behind her clit left her when his cock seemed to drive even deeper.

  “Come with me,” he commanded. “I want to feel that tight little cunt quiver around me.”

  Her body obeyed his voice just like it always had as she cried out her pleasure. Lance followed with his own orgasm seconds later. She sucked in deep gulping breaths of air as she tried to still her racing heart.

  He pulled out of her and collapsed on his back next to her.

  “God damn. I fucking missed you.”

  A half hour later, Marissa lay in bed watching Lance sleep. She’d dozed for a few minutes but was ready to get up and get back to work.

  She blushed as she replayed their love scene in her head. It had been just as scorching and intense as their encounters five years ago. She just hoped it didn’t explode as badly as it had back then.

  “Marissa, baby. You can go back to work if you want,” Lance mumbled as he reached a hand out and pressed it to her thigh.

  She’d been bouncing it up and down without realizing it.

  “Shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  He rolled closer to her and laid his head on her naked breasts. “It’s OK. You never liked post sex naps the way I do.”

  She ran her hands through his hair and sighed.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, raising his head to look at her.

  “Nothing exactly. Just thinking about us.”

  He slid further up and kissed her nose. “Let’s take this one step at a time right now, Riss. We’re not going anywhere this week. We don’t have to figure it all out today, OK?”

  She gave him a smile and nodded. “OK. Then yes, I want to go back downstairs and work some more.”

  He chuckled and kissed her one more time. “OK, baby. I’ll see you down there in a little while.”

  She rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom.

  “Now there’s a view I’ve missed,” Lance said from the bed. She turned to find him staring after her. She gave him the middle finger just because she could and kept walking.

  “You are so lucky you’re only pretending to be my sub right now,” he hollered as she closed the bathroom door.

  Leaning against it, she drew in a deep breath and thought about what had just transpired. It certainly changed things, but she wasn’t sure how exactly.

  After rinsing off in the shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and went back to the bedroom. Lance was still sprawled on the bed, but he wasn’t asleep because he opened his eyes when she walked in.

  She dug through her bag and pulled out a pair of sweats and a hoody to put on.

  “Put a skirt on,” Lance said, his voice husky.

  “Not your sub,” she muttered as she dragged a pair of clean panties up her thighs.

  “Hey, I was just remembering the fun we used to have working when you were wearing a skirt.”

  She turned to see him sitting up now, smirking.

  “Lance, honey. I don’t think we got a lot of work done back then.”

  She stepped into the sweats and pulled a t-shirt on over it. The building was warm and if Lance were going to be in the room working with her, she probably wouldn’t need the hoodie.

  Downstairs, she opened her laptop and got to work researching Sebastian Forcythe, all the while wondering if she should have put on a skirt.

  12

  Lance wandered downstairs in search of Marissa after an hour of not being able to sleep.

  When he stepped into the conference room, she wasn’t there. Though her laptop and other tech were strewn across the table.

  The lobby bathroom door was open, so she wasn’t in there. He opened the door to the bar and noticed the dungeon door open across the room. Had she gone to look around?

  “Marissa?” he called.

  When he walked in, he found her sitting on a leather-padded spanking bench looking around the room.

  “I used to think I would be where you are now,” she said, not looking at him.

  “What do you mean?”

  She waved a hand around the room. “This. Being in charge of a kink club. Making it my life. The first few months of staying away were some of the hardest of my life. But then life moved on. I picked up the pieces and I kind of stuck these memories in a corner and let them collect dust.”

  He felt his heart constrict as he heard the pain in her voice.

  “I’m so sorry, Riss.”

  She looked at him then. “Being in here feels like coming home. I just don’t know if it’s a home I belong in anymore.”

  He approached her and stood between her knees. “What can I do?”

  “Just be patient with me. I know patience isn’t your strong suit.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Insulting me while I have you on a spanking bench, love?”

  She giggled. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  She was right, he wouldn’t. He’d spanked her exactly once in their relationship and it had not been a sexual thing. It turned out to be something that wasn’t for her, so they’d found other consequences for breaking the rules of their D/s dynamic.

  “God, Riss. I feel like we have so much catching up to do. So much to fix. I know we said we don’t have to figure it all out today but are you OK?”

  She leaned into him and pressed her forehead to his chest. “Yeah. I’m alright. Just feeling the same. A lot on my mind. I think we should go visit Sebastian Forcythe.”

  Lance stepped back and picked up her hands, pulling her off the bench. “Whoa. That was a sudden conversation change. Why?”

  “I did a bunch of digging into him. I have a feeling we can get him to talk to us.”

  “OK. I’ll make some phone calls and see what needs to be done to get us on the visitor list.”

  She bit her lip. “I might have already put us on the approved list.”

  He narrowed his gaze at her and fisted a hand into her hair. “God damn it, Marissa. Don’t do shit like that unless you have to. It’s dangerous and you know it.”

  She stuck her lip out in a pout. “What? I’ve been resetting e-mail passwords for old dudes for the past four years. I needed to have a little fun.”

  He rolled his e
yes but dropped a kiss on her nose. “You’re lucky your cute.”

  Her pout turned to a glare and he grinned. “Just checking to see if you still hate being called cute,” he said.

  “Come on. Let’s get back to work. I’ll order dinner and we can talk about when to go to California.” He tugged her toward the door and through the bar.

  Back in the conference room, they settled into a comfortable silence as they worked.

  While they were still working, Isabelle poked her head in. “Hey Master Lance, I’m going back to Philadelphia with Garrett for the week. Master Hunter found someone else to help at the Glenview. You going to be here all week or are you going to Chicago?”

  He looked up at her and smiled. “I’m not sure yet. I won’t be going back to Chicago until next week at least, but Riss and I might be going to California. We’re still sorting out the details.”

  She gave them a thumbs up. “I’ll see you Friday then.”

  “Hey, what about your family? Are they OK?”

  She grinned and nodded. “Carmen and the girls were in the process of moving to their own place and Garrett sent Daddy and Uncle Henry on a vacation that should keep them out of the way of the media while you two do your thing and Garrett does his.”

  “Excellent. I’m glad you’re OK.”

  She pulled the door shut and they were alone again.

  “You sure you want to go to California?” he asked after a moment of silence.

  “You know how his type is Lance. His ego will want to talk to you.”

  Lance sighed. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  Marissa turned her chair to face him. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “I know him.”

  She whistled. “And you’re just now telling me?”

  “It’s complicated. You know how I called the cops on you and all that awful stuff?”

  She gave a slow nod and he hoped she was catching the drift of where he was going with this.

  “It turns out it was Sebastian I should have been calling the cops on. And as soon as I figured out my mistake that’s exactly what I did. Turns out he was wanted for some other cyber-crimes as well and that’s what landed him in prison. I have a feeling he blames me for it though.”

  Marissa stood and paced behind him. “So, you’re saying this guy not only stole from you, but he made it look like I did it?”

  Lance winced. “Yep. That’s the gist of it.”

  “Well then fuck yes I want to go see him. When can we leave?”

  He groaned. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. But we can go to California in the morning if you want.”

  ♦♦♦♦

  Marissa woke the next morning feeling too hot. Right. She’d gone to bed with Lance again. After they finished a coding session, they’d come back upstairs to his suite and he’d reminded her once again just how much she’d missed him.

  None of that changed any of their past, and they had a lot to talk about but for now it seemed like a good idea to just enjoy the ride.

  She rolled out of bed, careful not to wake him, and pulled on her workout clothes. Running didn’t seem to help her lose weight, but it made her feel good, so she continued to do it. Somewhere around her senior year of high school she’d accepted that she was just a curvy girl. Being in the BDSM scene had even helped her grow to love her shape. Lance had shown her that she didn’t need to be rail thin to enjoy bondage, and the rope community had proven that she wasn’t too heavy to lift in the air for suspension play.

  When she got downstairs, she realized she didn’t know how to disarm the alarm system so she could open the front door. So, she went to the conference room and pulled out her tablet and another piece of equipment that would help her decode the alarm.

  She stood there tapping at her screen for several minutes as the device worked on figuring out the code.

  “You always did know how to get into trouble, didn’t you Riss?”

  The tablet nearly clattered to the floor as Lance spoke in her ear. She’d been so focused on her task she didn’t hear him come through the door. He reached around her and disconnected the device before typing in the code.

  As he did, she heard his phone ring.

  “Morning Russell,” he said as he pulled the tablet from her hands and walked it back to the conference room. “It’s all clear. Turned out to just be Marissa trying to guess the alarm code.”

  When he approached her again, he pushed her against the wall and trailed his free hand down her cheek.

  “Sorry for waking you,” he said. When he ended the call, he shoved the phone in the pocket of his sweats and focused his full attention on her.

  “Now then. How should I punish the naughty kitten?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

  “Why would you punish me?”

  “You woke up two house Doms and tried to hack the alarm system. That seems pretty naughty to me, Riss.”

  She tried to stifle a giggle at his stern expression but failed.

  “And she thinks it’s funny.”

  Marissa cleared her throat, trying to cut through some of the sexual tension. “I should go for my run if we’re going to leave soon.”

  He chuckled and kissed her neck. “I’ll get breakfast while you run then.”

  When she opened the door, she breathed in the chilly morning air, welcoming it after their sexually charged exchange.

  As she jogged along the path toward the cabins, planning to go around them twice before circling back, she thought about what had brought her to this point.

  Being back with Lance was surreal and she wasn’t sure what would happen with their relationship after they finished the work here. Would they still be together? Chicago was fraught with bad memories and emotional land mines for them and yet it was the city they both called home. They would need to figure out how to address their past with more than just a passing conversation before they went any deeper into a relationship.

  As she approached the first cabin, she noticed the porch light was on. That seemed odd since Lance slept with her last night. She would have to ask Lance about it when she got back to the club.

  She jogged in front of the five cabins and wound her way around the back of them. They were nice cabins and based on what she’d seen when she knocked on Lance’s door, they had every modern convenience one could ask for.

  Solitaire was indeed a luxury retreat but somehow, they still welcomed those who didn’t live a life of luxury every day.

  She smiled as she thought about the first time she’d met Lance. He was well off but not anywhere near the billionaire he was now. An app he’d developed had taken off and given him the seed money to found the company he now ran. They met at a BDSM club in Chicago, but she knew who he was because she followed tech news the same way most of the women she knew followed celebrity gossip. When he approached her about playing, she’d been ballsy enough to point out some things she viewed as problematic with his app and he’d listened.

  As she rounded the corner and came to the front of the cabins again, her heart skipped a beat. The porch light was off.

  Instead of making another loop around the cabins, she jogged back up the path to the main building as quickly as she could. She was panting and breathless by the time she reached the top of the stairs to get to the front door.

  Yanking it open, she stumbled inside and bent at the waist, her hands on her knees.

  “Jesus woman, have you never heard of a cool down?’

  “The light. The porch. Were you down there?” she asked when Lance stepped out of the conference room.

  He stood next to her now, his hand stroking her back.

  “Breathe, Riss. What are you talking about?”

  “The porch light on the cabin you were staying in. When I got to it on my run, it was on. I circled the cabins and when I got back around to the front it was off.” She straightened as she spoke and paced the lobby. Her muscles screamed at her for pushing so hard.

  “St
retch your calves, baby. I’ll go check it out. Maybe I just left it on, and it burned out.”

  She took in deep gulping breaths as she pressed her palms against the wall and stretched one leg behind her.

  “Be careful,” she said as he stepped onto the porch.

  Ten minutes later he was back. “Everything seemed to be in place, and I didn’t see signs of anyone. I’ll have our security team patrol back there, though.”

  “You have a security team?”

  He nodded. “We employ some of Russell’s men to keep an eye on the place through the week. They usually just do quick checks of the place and are nearby to respond to any alarms, but I’ll see if we can get them on the property the whole time we’re gone.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “You OK?”

  His embrace calmed her still racing heart and she nodded. “Sorry if I freaked you out. It just spooked me.”

  One finger trailed down her cheek as he examined her face. “With good reason. Why don’t you go grab a shower? I didn’t get to order breakfast. We’ll just get something on the way to the plane.”

  “OK. That sounds good.

  When they approached his private jet an hour later, Marissa let out a whistle. “Jesus. No wonder you made it to the top of the sexiest man list last year.”

  Lance laughed. “So, you don’t think my looks had anything to do with it?” he asked as they walked up the steps together.

  “I mean obviously you have that in spades. But the jet definitely increases your sex appeal. I notice you wore your glasses for that photo shoot.”

  He grinned as he motioned her into a seat. “The stylists said it played well with the people who had sexy geek fantasies.”

  Marissa laughed as she settled into her seat.

  “I’m surprised you saw that,” Lance said as he tucked his tech bag underneath his seat.

  Marissa looked out the window. “I wouldn’t have. You know those magazines aren’t my thing. But I went to have lunch at mom’s house, and she gave me a copy. ‘Marissa honey, isn’t this that boy you used to date?’ she said as she handed it to me. And then moaned about how I let you get away. She’s quite convinced I’ll never give her grandchildren.”

  Lance smirked. “Your mom did always like me.”