Page 81 of The Broker

His earlier kiss had been blistering, but when he leaned over to deliver his next one, it was slow and sweet.

Had he sensed the uncertainty in me? His voice was hushed and genuine. “Don’t feel any pressure. You don’t have to have an answer. And if you do... everyone knows nothing is set in stone. You can change your mind at any time, for any reason.”

His soft kiss drifted across my cheekbone and down the side of my neck, hovering just above the choker I wore. His warm breath tickled the loose hairs from my bun and caused my shoulders to shake in a delicious shiver.

“Do you want that?” I murmured. “Would you be okay sharing me with another person?”

He drew back just enough to give me a view of his dazzling, incredulous smile. “Are you kidding, Charlotte? That would be so fucking hot.”

I couldn’t get my brain around it. I flashed back to the night after Thanksgiving when I’d been out at the bars, and Zach had caught some guy flirting with me. Because I was head over heels in love with my boyfriend, I hadn’t reciprocated in the least, but it didn’t matter.

Zach had been so pissed, he’d given me the silent treatment the rest of the weekend.

There must have been a dubious look on my face because Noah tilted his head, pondering. “Let me ask you something. Why do you want to watch me with Shannon?”

My face flushed hot, but not with shame. It was mostly the memory that caused it. “It’s hard to explain.”

There was zero judgment from him. “Try me.”

I sucked in a breath as I tried to organize my thoughts. “When I’m not participating... when I get to stand back and be outside of it, then I get to see you experience pleasure without any distraction. I’m not worried about what I look like, or thinking about how it feels, or what I should do next.”

Shit, I was doing a terrible job of explaining it. I lifted a hand and pushed away the tendril of hair that was making the side of my neck itch, but it was mostly a stall tactic. Noah knew I hadn’t said what I wanted to, and he waited patiently for me to continue.

I lifted my chin and stared into his deep eyes. “I like how I don’t have to do anything but focus on you.” The corner of my mouth tugged up into a half-smile. “Plus, I get to see you in your element, get to see what you’re good at.” My voice faltered just the tiniest bit. “And Shannon can give you something I’m not quite ready for.”

He scrubbed a hand over his mouth as he considered what I’d said, and then that hand fell away. “We’re a lot alike. You know that?” I didn’t, and it was clear I needed convincing. “The reasons you just gave... those are the same for me.”

“What?”

He trailed a teasing fingertip at my neckline, playing with the white ruffle trim. “I want to watch you experience pleasure too. Getting to see someone else play with you? Fuck me. I want to sit back and watch every twitch of your body, listen to every little moan you make. I want to see your face when you come and focus only on that.” He reached between our bodies and adjusted himself through his pants. “Shit, I’m getting hard right now just thinking about it.”

Oh, God, I wasn’t immune either. A muscle deep in my core clenched in response.

The pad of his wicked fingertip continued to skate at the edge of my dress, sliding over my cleavage. “I think that’s thebiggest benefit of us holding off on sex.” His eyes brimmed with desire and power. “Right now, I get to focus completely, entirely on you.”

I shuddered from Noah’s words and his touch, and a smile ghosted his lips. He liked my reaction very much. His fingertips took an unhurried path across my skin, working upward until they traced the edge of the choker I wore.

“This reminds me of a collar,” he uttered in the silence of the tension-filled room, “and it looks so fucking good on you.”

Holy shit.

Goosebumps lifted on my skin, and my mouth went completely dry. I didn’t know much about BDSM, but this I understood. There had been at least two people at Club Eros wearing collars, and I knew what they represented.

Control.

Maybe even ownership.

“Do you like wearing it,” he hesitated, preparing for something, “baby girl?”

Fuck.

I sucked it in a sharp breath because the subtext to his question was so powerful, I couldn’t stay quiet. And I didn’t waste time to even consider it. The answer burst from me in a fiery rush. “Yes, Daddy.”

His kiss was brutal. It was so forceful, it pushed me down onto my back on the bed, and his hands went everywhere. They roved over my arms, my breasts, my stomach. He moved in a frenzy, like a man possessed.

As if my answer had overwhelmed him.

My breath went ragged when he slipped his hands under my fluffy skirt, and then his fingers were peeling my panties down my stocking-covered legs, and he hurled them to the floor.

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