Surrender 01 - Surrender

the orgasm he’d withheld from her earlier. “Please don’t stop,” she sobbed. “Please…”
    She struggled against the ropes as his tongue swirled around her swollen bud. When he brought her right to the edge, he pulled back, making her scream in frustration.
    He slid up her body and gripped her head with his hands as his hips thrust forward and he buried himself inside her hot folds with one precise thrust.
    Her cry of pleasure echoed in his mouth as one hand moved down to her hip and he gripped her, holding her securely in place so he could plunge quickly in and out.
    He felt her walls convulse around him as she reached her peak, her scream filling the room. With a deep thrust, he buried himself so deeply that it seemed not a single place on their bodies remained unconnected.
    Her body gripped his manhood, ripping a cry from him, pulling every bit of pleasure from him one pulse at a time. For the briefest of seconds, his hand caressed her flushed cheek and their eyes met. Hers were dreamy and satisfied, sucking him into their gaze. He started to bend forward to softly kiss her lips when he stopped himself.
    As her eyes closed and she drifted back to sleep, Rafe jumped from the bed. He was getting too attached, turning sex into something it wasn’t. He didn’t believe in making love. It was sex — just sex.
    He paced for several moments before he made his decision. He never let his mistresses stay with him. It was a solid rule. Because he wanted to break that rule with Ari, he forced himself to call his driver.

    *****

    “Ari, time to go.”
    Drifting between wakefulness and sleep, Ari struggled to open her eyes. Rafe? It sounded like him.
    “Ari, you need to wake up. Your ride is here.”
    Finally Ari managed to get her eyes to open. She stretched her body and realized it was sore. As her foggy brain processed the moment, the night flooded back with the force of a tornado — the club, shower, and then the bed.
    “Ride?” she asked, still not understanding.
    “Yes, we’re done for the night. I’ve arranged a ride home for you.”
    His cold tone of voice finally sank in, along with his words. He’d gotten what he wanted, so it was time for her to leave. Instant hurt filled her, but she immediately suppressed it. She had no right to be hurt — Rafe had never lied about what he expected.
    He was clear from the beginning that he wanted only sex, nothing more. His paperwork stated specifically that his mistresses didn’t sleep in his home. It was all laid out in black and white; she had no reason to be surprised.
    True, she hadn’t become his employee, but that didn’t change the rules in Rafe’s mind. She might have witnessed brief moments over the last few months when he acted more human, but the bottom line was that Rafe was what he was. He didn’t put on a show, didn’t pretend to want anything other than sex and control.
    “Give me time to dress,” she finally said and got up, grateful he’d undone her ties.
    Neither of them said a word as she found her clothes from the night before lying on the foot of the bed. She didn’t bother concealing herself as she put them on. What was the point? He’d seen her, all of her, gotten what he wanted, and was done for the night.
    She needed to get out of there before she cried.
    “I have the employment agreement if you’re ready to work for me. I’ve even upped the salary to two hundred and fifty thousand.”
    Ari didn’t allow her body to tense, didn’t allow herself to show any emotion at his words. Rage and hurt were dancing around for dominance inside her, but she made sure her face remained blank as she slipped on her shoes.
    She said nothing else as she made her way from his room. She heard the sound of his feet moving behind her, probably to make sure she left for the night — that she didn’t try to hide somewhere and then sneak up and stab him through the heart.
    It was actually a very real possibility.
    “Think about it” were his parting words when she stepped out his front door and climbed into the backseat of his car. Ari’s humiliation prevented her from meeting Mario’s eyes. How many times had he taken Rafe’s mistresses home? How many had he given the very last ride to? Ari was just one more in a long line of women.
    There was no reason for her to feel the melancholy that had settled over her, but she couldn’t seem to shake it. Rafe’s torture had been effective. If she had been in a relationship with him, she