The Australian Affairs Collection. Margaret Way

didn’t say no, but she did bury her face in the pillow.

      Gently, he took both her hands and placed them in the small of her back, then looped her wrists together with the sash from the robe. Not tightly, but enough so that she would feel bound and helpless. Which was the point, of course. That was what would excite her to fever pitch. Finally, he removed the pillow from under her face and slid it under her hips, raising her buttocks in the most erotic and inviting fashion.

      When Ben stepped back to examine his handiwork, the sight of her like that took his breath away. Dear God, she was just so sexy looking. And totally at his mercy! It was a heady combination. And, whilst he was fiercely erect, all of a sudden Ben wasn’t so concerned about his own satisfaction but how Jess was feeling. He hated to think she might be afraid to say no at this stage.

      ‘Are you all right, Jess?’ he asked softly. ‘Do you want me to continue?’

       CHAPTER SIXTEEN

      WAS HE INSANE? She would die if he didn’t continue. She’d never been so excited in her whole life!

      ‘I’m fine,’ she said, her voice high-pitched and raspy. ‘Please don’t stop.’

      He laughed a short, sexy laugh. ‘Your wish is my command.’

      Now that was a laugh, Jess thought. He was the one doing the commanding. But didn’t she just love it!

       No touching from you, beautiful… Put that on… You won’t be needing that robe…. Just lie back on that bed and let me give you pleasure…

      ‘It’s just a game, Jess,’ he said. ‘You can stop me at any time. Okay?’

      ‘Okay,’ she mumbled.

      The first crack of his hand on her right buttock brought a gasp of shock, rather than pain. Though it did sting. Jess buried her face into the quilt, determined not to cry out again. Another slap followed. Then another, his hand moving from left to right in a slow, relentless rhythm till both her buttocks were burning. And red, no doubt. Yet despite her discomfort—oh, yes, her whole bottom was stinging like mad—she didn’t want to tell him to stop. There was something exquisitely pleasurable in the whole experience. She held her breath between slaps in anticipation of his large palm making contact with her soft skin, biting her bottom lip each time it happened. The slaps began coming at a slower interval now, her time of waiting extended till she almost pleaded for more. When he finally stopped altogether, she groaned in frustration.

      ‘That’s enough,’ she heard him say.

      But he didn’t untie her. Instead, the bed dipped as he lay down beside her. She saw he was naked now when she twisted her head to look at him.

      ‘So what did you think?’ he asked her.

      ‘I think,’ she choked out, ‘that if you don’t have sex with me in the next ten seconds, then you’re a dead man.’

      He smiled. ‘You’re not really in a position to give orders right now, are you, darling Jess?’

      ‘Ben,’ she said pleadingly. ‘Please.’

      ‘If you insist.’

      She couldn’t believe it when he didn’t untie her first, just spread her legs wide and moved around between them. She moaned when he rubbed his tip against her, her teeth digging into her lower lip to stop herself from screaming.

      ‘So wet,’ he muttered.

      Ben was close to losing it. Time to get a condom on, he realised, before things got out of hand.

      Thank God Andy had given him a good supply so he had one at the ready.

      She cried out when he entered her, her bottom moving frantically against him with an urgency which betrayed a cruel level of frustration. He wasn’t much better, grabbing her hips with bruising fingers and setting up a savage rhythm, forgetting everything but what his flesh was feeling at that moment. The heat. The urgent need. The madness of it all. Her stunningly violent climax only preceeded his by a second or two, Ben thrilling to the way she cried out as she came.

      Jess lay there afterwards, stunned yet totally sated. A draining languor started seeping into her limbs, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Ben was lying across her back, his own breathing now slow and heavy. She desperately wanted to stay awake. But sleep would not be denied. It came quickly, with Jess’s wrists still bound.

      Ben fell asleep too, still slumped across her back.

      He woke first, momentarily confused by where he was. And then he remembered. Everything.

      He groaned as guilt consumed him. How could he possibly have left her that way? She didn’t wake as he carefully withdrew, then even more carefully untied her. She stirred slightly when he slid the pillow out from under her hips, but she didn’t wake, thank God, though she did curl herself up into a semi-foetal position. After throwing a sheet over her far too delicious derrière, he headed for the bathroom.

      A quick shower later and he was back in the bedroom, standing at the side of the bed and staring down at her still body. Ben supposed he really had nothing to be guilty about; Jess had obviously enjoyed herself. Ben was never absolutely sure if his girlfriends went along with his demands because they were genuinely on the same sexual wavelength or because he was Morgan De Silva’s son and heir. He definitely had no such doubts with Jess. Damn it, but he wished she lived in America.

      Maybe he would ask her to go back with him. He could get her a job and lease her a nice little apartment. Or she could even move in with him.

      Ben frowned at this last thought. His father had warned him never to do that: have a woman move in with him. Not unless they were married. As much as Jess claimed she would never marry a rich man, she hadn’t seen his New York lifestyle. His thirty-square apartment overlooking Central Park had a lap pool on the roof plus a fully equipped gym and spa room. He had a wardrobe full of designer suits and hand-made shoes, a Ferrari in the underground car park and an expense account which allowed him to dine at all of New York’s finest restaurants. He also had access to the company’s private jet which flew him to Acapulco for weekends in the summer and Aspen in the winter.

      That kind of lifestyle could corrupt even the nicest girl, especially if she’d never experienced such luxury. Which Jess obviously hadn’t.

      No, best not ask her to go back to America with him. Best he do what he’d originally intended: have a holiday fling with Jess, then leave it at that. It wasn’t as though he was in love with her. He just liked and admired her a lot. And wanted her like mad. Already he had another erection, tempting him to climb back into bed and wake her. He didn’t think she’d mind.

      Ben sensibly armed himself with protection first, then climbed in under the sheet and curved his body around hers, spoon fashion. She stirred immediately, stiffening against him when he began to caress her breasts. Obviously they were still sensitive from all the attention he’d been giving them, so he moved lower, stroking her stomach, then her thighs.

      ‘Yes please,’ she choked out when he pressed himself against her still-wet sex.

      A wave of tenderness engulfed Ben as he slid into her. God, but he’d never felt anything like this for a girl before. She was just so sweet, yet so sexy at the same time. A girl in a million.

      He took his time, setting up a gentle rhythm, loving the sounds she made, loving the way she wriggled against him as her excitement grew. And, when he knew he was close to coming himself, he touched her in a way that would guarantee her release as well.

      They came together, Ben startled as another wave of emotion hit him. Not just tenderness this time, but something deeper. Much deeper. He held her tightly in his arms afterwards and wondered if he was finally on the verge of falling in love.

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