She’d left him over six months ago. One moment she’d been a member of Club Kink, and then she’d been gone, like she was never there. At first he’d tried to move on and take another sub, but none of them were like Amber. The woman before him understood him. She got him and never pushed for more.
“Why did you come back?” she asked, tears in her eyes.
He hated causing her physical pain. Spanking her, tying her up, and being a dominant was different from literally hurting her with his presence.
Leaning down, he brushed his lips across hers and moaned. She tasted so damn sweet. Would there ever be a time when he wasn’t so taken by her?
Her hand went to his chest. She tried to push him away. He felt it in the shoves until eventually she fisted his shirt, tugging him close.
Gripping her waist, he lifted her up on the counter. The movement sent her coffee cup flying, spilling the contents over the side and the cup clattering to the floor.
“I need you,” she said, moaning, whimpering with need.
Elijah gripped her waist, slamming his lips on hers to bring her closer to orgasm. This is what it was always like with them. The burning heat and the sizzling fire blazed thicker than ever before. He truly thought he was going to get burned or the fire was going to burn out. With Amber, the passion and flames only seemed to burn forever brighter.
All too soon, Amber shoved him away. “No, I’m not doing this. You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be coming here.”
He stepped back and watched as she started to clean up the mess from the coffee and the cup.
“We need to talk.”
“No, no more talking. I’m not your pet or your sweet Amber. I’m me, Elijah. I’m Heather’s best friend and someone you barely know.” She threw the cup in the sink. Going up behind her, Elijah nibbled on her neck, banding his arms around her waist as he did.
“I know you better than Heather. I’m the only person you’ve ever allowed to see the real you, and do you know what I see?” he asked, pushing her like he always did.
Amber was such a contradiction of submissive fire. She could do as she was told and walk through any scene he put her through. He could tan her ass with the coiled whip and she’d still not scream out. If he made her uncomfortable or she didn’t want his attention then she’d curse, scream, and fight until he backed down.
Her passionate nature was how he knew when she screamed red, he was taking things too far. When she’d witnessed him with the thin, blonde woman, Erika, he’d pushed her too far. He didn’t know what he was hoping to achieve by her seeing him with another woman. An outburst? Some hint that she cared about him? He was looking for anything to convince him that he meant more to Amber than a Dom. Not once in all the years they’d been together had she talked about her feelings. He wasn’t attracted to Erika at all. She’d been someone he used to try to get closer to the real woman he wanted. His plan backfired, and he’d lost Amber.
From the very beginning, Heather’s eighteenth birthday, their time together had been a struggle. They’d never come clean or been on a real date. Nothing between them was conventional. They gravitated toward each other like two magnets that really were the polar opposites.
“What do you see?” she asked. Her body was rigid and tense.
“I see a beautiful woman who is unsure of where the future will take her. You’re lonely, Amber, and I can take that loneliness away. I really can.” She snorted, but he continued. “We can be together.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “We can’t be together. It’s impossible.”
“You’re running from me,” he said, getting angry with her.
“No, I’m not running at all.”
He nibbled on her neck, trying to get her to relax against him. She remained tense in his arms. Letting out a sigh, he spun her to face him, getting covered with soap as he did.
“What happened with the blonde?” she asked, before he got a chance to say anything.
“What?”
“The blonde? The one you were intent on f**king and claiming as your sub. Tell me, Elijah, Sir, were you going to tell me before or after you made it official?”
She was trying to make him angry. He saw her deflection and hated the fact he’d been the one to cause it. She didn’t deserve that.
“I was never going to claim that woman.”
“Don’t try and fool me, Elijah.”
He cupped her face, staring into her eyes. The pain reflecting out at him drove him insane. There was a time, not too long ago, when Amber did nothing but smile and laugh. Those times were long gone.
“I’m not trying to fool you, Amber. Nothing happened between me and Erika. She was talking. I wasn’t doing anything other than flirting.” He’d not even been tempted by the other woman.
All he’d tried to do was get Amber close to him. Instead he’d pushed her away. When Tyler had come to him a couple of hours after he’d talked to Erika to tell him Amber’s request, he’d been shocked. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to give himself time.
“I can’t do this,” she said, tugging out of his arms.
“Why are you always running from me?” he asked, following her through her apartment. She stopped in the center of the sitting room.
Her apartment was quite spacious.
“I’m not always running, Elijah. You’re always following me around, and I can’t deal with this. I don’t want a relationship with you. I never did.”
Her words cut him deeply. Years of keeping his emotions locked away helped him not to show any reaction.
“Don’t try and kid yourself. I know what you want.” He took hold of her hand, bringing her in close. “You want me.”
“How big can your ego possibly get?” she asked, storming to the door. “I want you to leave.”
“No.”
“Heather and the girls are coming. We’re going out, and I don’t want you here when they come and get me.”
“You’ve never told them about us?” he asked. He’d wondered for the longest time if Heather’s hatred of him was because of what he did to Amber all those years ago. The biggest mistake he’d ever made was putting Amber over his knee. Since that moment she’d been over his knee a fair few times.
“Never. We’re a secret, remember? No one is to know about us.”
She opened the door, averting her gaze.
“This isn’t over,” he said, seeing no other choice but to leave.