Page 28 of Degrees of Control

They stared up at the ceiling in silence. James didn’t think he’d ever paid so much attention to his light fixtures. Soon he’d have to think about what Charlotte had done for him, but not now.

“So, daddy, huh?”

Her voice was teasing, but for the first time in forever, James felt himself flush. “C’mon, Blue-Eyes, don’t be like that. You kept screaming ‘more’ and it was the dirtiest thing I could think of.”

She leant over and kissed his jaw. “I don’t mind. It got me there.”

She sat up and James hissed. Her back was studded with angry, red marks. The grit from his hardwood floor had imprinted itself on her fine white skin. James reached up and brushed away the small stones still clinging to her. She turned and looked at him with alarm.

“Your back’s all marked up, baby. I should have put a towel down.”

Charlotte’s eyes were wary. “It’s okay. I should get going.”

Don’t. Stay a while.

But she was already on her feet, hunting for her clothes. Anyone into rough sex knew about aftercare; hugs, kisses, a little reassurance, but Charlotte didn’t ask for any of that. Hell, the first time they fucked, she wanted to be thrown out on her ass. It made his life easier, but for some reason her lack of concern bothered him. She’d just been tied down, cursed at, fucked rough and now she wanted to leave without saying anything. Pretty cold, considering he was the first dominating fuck she’d ever had. Charlotte’s stomach rumbled loudly and James grinned. “Hungry?”

“I haven’t eaten all day.”

He hadn’t, either. He’d been stuck in bullshit meetings all day and had been too worked up to bother with dinner. He usually let women follow their appetites right out his front door, but this was different. “You want something to eat?”

Charlotte tilted her head to one side. “What do you have?”

He screwed up his forehead and thought about it. He had beer, bacon, apples, milk, mustard, and a bunch of half rotten vegetables courtesy of the woman he was fucking a month ago. Nothing he wanted to offer Charlotte. “I’ll take you out for dinner, how’s that sound?”

Charlotte ran a hand through her hair, exhuming a cloud of dust. “It’s fine, I don’t want to bother you.”

Goddamn, she was starting to make him paranoid. If Charlotte wanted dinner he’d probably be pissed. But she was prepared to leave hungry and for some reason he couldn’t stop pushing her. “It’s no problem. Unless you don’t want to go out with me?”

“Sorry if I seem rude. It’s just I’ve been warned about the dangers of falling into your web.”

What the hell did that mean?“I think it might be too late for that, Blue-Eyes, considering what I just did to you on my dirty-ass floor.”

She smiled. “I don’t mean sex. This is going to sound naïve, but I’m used to being friends with the guys I sleep with. I’m a little out of my depth with you and I don’t want to complicate things.”

“What’s complicated about dinner?”

“I don’t want to make this something it’s not. Or more specifically, my friends have warned me not to.”

“Let me guess, Sophia?”

Charlotte nodded apologetically and James closed his eyes. Of course this had happened. His cousin had enough dirt on him to make the editors ofPenthouseuncomfortable. “So you’re gonna run away now you know I’m the big bad wolf?”

Charlotte grinned. “No I don’t care about that at all. Everyone’s entitled to their past. I mean, look at you.” She waved a hand in an “S” shape over his torso and James grinned. He’d been fed the “I’m not the jealous type” line before. Women seemed to think it made them better girlfriend material, but it didn’t feel like Charlotte was yanking his chain. Even if it was incredibly strange to have this conversation while she was so unashamedly naked.

“So what’s the problem, Blue-Eyes? Why can’t we be friends?”

She laughed. “Okay, but I expect all my friends to tie me down and call me a slut. Is that going to be a problem?”

I like this girl. I really fucking like her.“No problem at all. Happy to lend a hand.”

They smiled at each other and a strange feeling ballooned in James’ chest. Like when he was watching his niece and nephew ride horses, but different. Worse. He shook his head. “Where do you wanna eat? There’s a Chinese place nearby. If you’re into rice?”

“I’m a poor yoga teacher, I’mwayinto rice.”

“Good, because I want to fuck you again and my dick needs a grace period of at least thirty minutes.” James laughed at her stunned expression. “I’m gonna go shower. Won’t be long.”

He dragged his ass off the floor and staggered to his bathroom, ignoring the watery sensation in his legs. Maybe he should have asked Charlotte to join him, but it didn’t feel right. This was like a date in reverse, first the fucking then the polite, small-talk filled dinner. Under the warm spray, James’ drowsy, post-fuck calm evaporated. He shouldn’t have asked Charlotte out. These kind of things were complicated enough without adding meals and small talk. The last thing he wanted was for Charlotte to develop an ill-advised crush that culminated in awkwardness, heartbreak and Sophia hacking his nuts off.

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