Page 140 of Their Famous Dominant (Office Intrigue Duet 4)
“I’m sorry, Master,” she whispered, her fingers threading in my hair, her tears trickling onto my shirt. “I don’t want to disappoint you. I never want to disappoint you.”
“I know, sunshine.” God, she was so fucking sweet.
I cradled her head, holding her close to me, allowing her the time she needed. I wanted to tell her I loved her, that I never wanted to go through what I’d been through since I hopped on my plane and left town. She needed to hear that from me, but I couldn’t force the words out. They would make me vulnerable and I wasn’t sure I could handle that right now.
When she finally stopped crying, I eased back, looking down into her face. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she looked tired. I couldn’t blame her. Letting go of those emotions was likely draining.
I allowed her to calm down while I held her in my arms, sliding my hand down her hair. It took a few minutes, but she finally stopped shuddering, her body relaxing.
“Are you hungry?” I asked her softly.
She nodded.
“I’ll get everything ready,” Troy offered. “The pizza should be here soon.”
“No.” I needed a moment to compose myself, but I wasn’t going to explain that to him. “I want you to hold her until the pizza arrives. I’ll go down and get it when they notify me it’s here.”
His eyes widened again, but he fumbled up onto the couch. I eased Clarissa into his lap and got to my feet. Seeing the two of them naked and in each other’s arms had my body hardening instantly.
“It’s all right, baby,” Troy whispered, cupping her head and holding her close. “You told me before that once he’s punished you, it’s over. Time to move on.”
She nodded against him.
Troy’s eyes lifted to meet mine and I nodded. That was correct. This was a new beginning for us.
And this time, the gloves really were coming off.
Troy
SITTING NAKED WITH CLARISSA IN my arms should’ve been weird.
It wasn’t.
Not any more than watching Master paddle her ass for the past five minutes. If I were being honest, I hadn’t truly thought punishment meant actual punishment.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. I’d thought that kneeling in place while naked was the sort of punishment I would be looking forward to when I fucked things up. After all, I’d had to assume the position a few times this past week and I had hated every second of it. Especially the one time Master forced me to strip and kneel in the conference room. He had left the door open for anyone to see when they walked by. Not my finest moment, for sure.
But that was nothing compared to the spanking Master had just given Clarissa. That was some serious shit.
However, Clarissa had never once tried to move, never called out her safe word. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it had been therapeutic for her. And quite possibly for Master as well. Of course, I’d been there to witness her asking for it, so it was obviously necessary. I wasn’t sure I would ever go that far.
Once Master left to go down and get the pizza, I shifted slightly, willing Clarissa not to feel the erection that was pressing intimately against her ass.
When she lifted her head and looked at me, I blushed. “I’m sorry.”
“For?”
“I … uh…” Clarissa smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I missed you so much.”
Ah, damn. I tightened my hold on her. “I missed you, too, baby. It’s been a hell of a week.”
She buried her face in my neck and my skin heated. It would’ve been easy to shift her in my lap, to slide into the blessed heat of her body, to feel her pussy squeeze my cock. I wanted her so badly I hurt with it.
“So, we’re having pizza?” she asked with a chuckle.
“You ever had real Chicago-style pizza?”
“Nope.”
“You won’t ever want anything else again.”
We sat like that for long minutes, her arms wreathing my neck while I breathed in her sweet scent. I’d thought about her every day since the night I drove her home and it almost didn’t seem real that she was here. I was tempted to ask how long she planned on staying, if she would consider staying forever, but I held the words back.
She had just arrived. I figured I could save the hard questions for later. She’d been through enough already. I needed to be patient, to let this play out the way it was supposed to.
A short time later, the door opened and Master appeared, carrying the pizza boxes. He set them on the breakfast bar, laid out plates, then called us over. Clarissa got to her feet, and when she swayed, I helped her to stand, earning a sweet smile in return.
