Falling Under You: A Fixed Trilogy Novella (1001 Dark Nights) Read Free Page B

twice a week
    If I were looking at any other dilemma with as many red flags, I’d say that proceeding shouldn’t even be considered. But the one thing that kept me pinned to the table, the pro that outweighed all the resistance combined, was actually a question that contained only two words— what if?
    What if this was my only opportunity to explore this side of myself?
    What if I never met anyone willing to try to dominate a dominant?
    What if Boyd wasn’t a boy at all when it came to the bedroom?
    What if he was exactly the person I was looking for?
    And so I stayed put and waited for him. Even as the tick-tick of my watch indicated I’d now been waiting for sixteen minutes. With each second that passed, more doubt crept in, but so did the excitement for the possibilities. So did my arousal.
    It didn’t hurt that my undergarments were laid across Hudson’s chair. Passive-aggressive, yes, but a big fat screw you to his company policies and personal rejection all the same.
    After twenty minutes had passed, though, I had to face the reality that I’d been stood up. With a soft groan in my throat and a bowling ball of disappointment in my gut, I began to push myself to a stand.
    “Face on the table.” Boyd’s voice came from behind me, more authoritative than ever.
    It sent a delicious buzz down my spine and sent my body back into place. “I was beginning to think you’d had second thoughts,” I said, my heart racing furiously.
    “If this demonstration is going to be a success,” he said, his words deep and measured, “there will be some rules you must follow. First, no more thinking. Second, no more talking.”
    He was still in the shadows behind me where I couldn’t see him. I wondered how long he’d been standing there, watching, waiting for me to tire of waiting. It unnerved me enough to let his commands prickle. “Those are pretty big—”
    He cut me off. “I’m standing in the doorway, Norma. Say another word and I’ll turn around and leave.”
    My jaw clamped shut.
    Several silent seconds passed before he said, “That’s better. Now, if you absolutely need to say something—that you need me to stop, for example, or that you’re in some sort of pain—then you will knock against the table three times in rapid succession. Knock once now if you understand.”
    I hesitated, pulled in separate directions by the urge to tell him off and the need to get off. The increasingly itchy spot between my thighs kept me silent. I knocked once.
    “Good girl.” His praise kindled an old familiar fire. The one that flamed and licked with each A I’d gotten in school. With each promotion at work. With each acknowledgment of success.
    Yes, I was a sucker for approval. I rarely got that anymore. I was the oldest sibling, the head of my department, the lead in everything. My life lacked recognition, and the intensity of my craving for it had gone unrealized until now.
    And like a moth seeking light, I wanted more.
    My mouth wet with anticipation, I tucked my chin into my chest in an attempt to see the man who was affecting me so completely.
    He’d dropped his jacket on the seat of Hudson’s chair and was now almost finished rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. When he’d completed his task, he dropped his hand to my panties, lightly sweeping his fingers over the crotch. The gesture made my eyes widen and my pussy throb. I gasped softly, capturing his attention, and he turned to see me watching.
    With his expression tight, he moved around the table until he was at my side. Then he reached out and lifted my chin from its cocooned position, bending so we were eye to eye.
    “This is how you are to stay, your body still. If I catch you watching me again, there will be consequences. Understood?”
    I’d never seen him so determined, so in control. My lungs constricted with the weight of his threat. Consequences. Consequences were for people in positions beneath me. Consequences were what my father had