Plaything Read online

  The resentment was tamped down when he lifted her from the dildo she’d been fucking herself on, sat on the bed and pulled her legs onto his lap. He impaled her body on his, fitting together like a puzzle, showing her how good they felt together.

  She tossed her blonde mane of hair back as she moaned and pressed herself against him. She couldn’t get enough.

  Yet his jealousy rose again. “Tell me you’re not thinking of the fireman now.”

  Her voice was calm. “I’m not thinking of anyone but you. Just you.”

  It was what he needed.

  “Look at me,” he said suddenly.

  She glanced up and he looked deep into her eyes. Shudders began to wreak havoc deep inside her, triggering explosions that ignited from where his cock fit within her.

  Her lips parted on a tiny gasp and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his piercing sapphire eyes. There was a connection between them, a deep feeling of mutual want and need and desire when the emotion washed over his face. He shouted out, never looking away from her and knew she felt it too.

  They exploded together, lifted to magical heights they had to float down from. This time he didn’t let her leave his side. This time he locked his arms around her and held her close, even as he pulled the bedsheet up to cover their naked, entwined limbs.

  This time he wouldn’t let her go.

  Chapter Four

  Jessie sighed mentally. This situation sucked. On one hand, she got a lot of mouthwatering sex with a gorgeous man. On the other, she was dominated.

  She was someone’s slave.

  Someone’s toy.

  Her.

  A…plaything.

  How had she sunk so low? She made the rules, she had always been in charge of her life. But here she was, a modern-day woman…who feigned sleep in the middle of the morning when Levi had awoken, climbed from her bed and showered. She even pretended not to notice when he kissed her bare shoulder where the sheet had slipped.

  As soon as he left, she bounded out of bed in a panic. Because this was all new to her. This wasn’t in her plans.

  A day of shopping was.

  She had wanted to return to the bar dressed to the nines, with no idea why. She never wore anything but jeans but for some reason she wanted a change. She’d enjoyed the store clerk’s expression when she insisted on a formfitting, lined black dress that cost a few hundred dollars. The clerk’s face had practically wrinkled with disdain as she took in Jessie’s plain top and well-worn jeans. Had it been a man, he would have appreciated the way the soft cotton emphasized the roundness of her breasts. The way the denim caressed her shapely thighs.

  Just to spur the woman on, Jessie insisted on the expensive outfit anyway. High-heeled pumps and black lace corset to wear underneath. In that instant, Jessie returned to her roots and Jessica Caywood returned, complete with turned up nose.

  She spat instructions to the clerk, demanded complete attention and behaved like the spoiled prima donna she was. The one step she couldn’t complete was pulling out the trust fund money. The final contact to her past.

  No, she wouldn’t go that far. Instead, she pulled out the wad of cash she normally carried from her bar-night tips and paid twelve hundred dollars without blinking.

  A different woman emerged from that store. Mentally and physically.

  She treated herself to a fancy restaurant and ate lunch with scores of men in high-powered business suits trying to catch her eye. Funny thing was, she would never have thought of this as a fancy restaurant in the past. It would have been the norm.

  Normal was not running into Levi, though. For one minute she was wiping her lips with the edge of the white linen napkin, a bunch of men drooling over the sight and the next a chair scooted from her table as Levi sat.

  “What’s up?” His voice was deceptively mild.

  “Having some lunch.”

  “You’re not the same Jessie I kissed goodbye to this morning.”

  She leaned forward. “I’m not the same Jessie who needs your kisses.”

  As soon as it slipped, she wanted to kick herself. Dammit, it revealed more than it should.

  “Do you need my kisses now, love?” His voice gentled, bringing the sharp sting of salt to her eyes.

  “Go away, Levi. I don’t need anything, especially not you.”

  He was still calm as he leaned back in the chair. And it wasn’t fair, dammit. Even in his jeans and leather jacket, he looked casual chic. He fitted into her old world when he shouldn’t.

  She wouldn’t let him fit into the new world she’d created for herself.

  He was just going to sit there and watch. Observe while she did anything she wanted, finished eating, or paid to leave. She’d give him a show if he wanted.

  She looked past him to a potential boy toy who watched her hungrily. She stared at him, the molten lust in her eyes evident.

  Neither man needed to know it was Levi who caused the lust.

  It caused two things to happen simultaneously. The new boy toy had a look of macho satisfaction cross his face that he’d finally caught her attention.

  And Levi Garrett erupted.

  Levi did the very thing he knew bothered her. Controlled her, commanded her and took away her free will. Reduced her to slavery. But watching her flirt with another man reduced him to a caveman mentality where he couldn’t think rationally. Even after last night, she hadn’t learned her lesson. She still felt she needed someone other than him.

  “You will never take up with him, he’s dirt beneath your sexy, high-heeled shoes. Should he try to ease his way over here, you’ll squash him flat. In the meantime, get your pretty little ass back to my apartment. If you’re so horny a stranger will do, I’ll relieve that need.”

  She had no choice. His voice was different, a direct order that neither of them could deny. She flung the expensive linen napkin on the table and rose against her will.

  Deliberately, Levi turned and smirked at the blond muscleman in a suit and tie.

  She saw red before her traitorous feet turned her to walk toward the exit doors.

  “Ma’am?” The server asked hesitantly, apparently not used to customers walking out.

  “Give the bill to my boyfriend,” she instructed as she walked out the door. She felt the tiniest bit of satisfaction as she hoped it cost him a pretty penny.

  She grabbed a cab back to the bar. She walked in the front way and didn’t have to deal with anyone, thankfully. The regular daytimers were in, Scarlett tended bar. She glanced at Jessie but didn’t say a word as Jessie stomped through.

  As delicately as one could stomp in heels. Which was frustrating in itself.

  Instead, Scarlett held up the key to her apartment and Jessie grabbed it without a word, heading without pause to the back stairs.

  Once inside, she closed the door with a thud and took a breath. That thud sounded wonderful, in an almost healing sort of way. She headed into the bedroom and slammed that door too.

  Wow, same effect.

  She stood before her closet.

  She kicked off one high-heeled shoe. It clacked loudly against the wall. The noise gave her a small bit of satisfaction, since it wasn’t as loud as a door slam She kicked off the other, letting it hit against the closet door, where it echoed against the hollow core.

  It alleviated a small bit of frustration with the mental image of the pointy heel crashing through, damaging the smooth surface.

  She spun around, intent on throwing something else to smack against the wall.

  Levi stood directly behind her. She stared at the broad chest just inches from her. He never said a word. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her against him. He reached behind her and wordlessly slid her zipper down.

  She stood stock-still.

  She felt the back of her dress open, sliding from her bare shoulders. He pulled it down without a word, running his fingers over the skin of her arms as he did so. The sensual touch almost brought a moan from her throat.

&nb
sp; He pulled the lace straps from her shoulders, down far enough to pull the black lace corset down to her waist.

  She stood before him, bare breasted. His eyes studied her every curve, as if she belonged to him.

  He bent his head and sucked a nipple into his mouth. She watched as he laved the hardened peak, lapping it wondrously.

  Slickness melted her inside. He seemed to know. One finger pulled aside the material of her panties to slip into her sheath. She tightened her internal muscles, trying to keep his finger inside her forever. He stroked her comfortingly, in and out, rubbing against the bundle of nerves of her G-spot.

  White teeth scraped against her sensitive nipple. It was so erotic, his mouth against her breast, giving her pleasure while she did nothing at all.

  He was so tender as he licked and sucked her breast. He cupped her whole breast in his hand, pointing the tip toward him.

  Her knees were weak. She was so wet with arousal, she felt her liquid coat his fingers. “Stop,” she begged.

  “I can’t,” he said thickly. “You’re all I ever wanted. I want you to need me as much as I do you.”

  She refused to acknowledge his statement.

  But she couldn’t turn him away when he turned her toward the window. Bent her over at the waist and inserted his hard rod inch by inch into her swollen sheath. Felt the liquid gush from her body and the first touch of his hands squeezing her breasts, then twisting her nipples.

  “Tell me what you want, Jessie,” he demanded. “I want to know your delights, your desires.”

  “I just like to fuck,” she said bluntly. “Can you do that? Fuck me ’til I come?”

  He pulled all the way out and then slipped back inside her in one fell swoop. She was wet enough to take his full size. He pulled out and slid back in, leaving slick liquid between them.

  “Oh, baby girl,” he groaned. “Feel that? You feel amazing, wrapping around me so tight like that.”

  “Yeah,” she panted between his delicious thrusts, “it feels good.”

  “Better than good. We’re made for each other.”

  She stayed quiet. The silence frustrated him enough to let it go for the moment, at least during this moment.

  He pulled his wet cock from her body with a slurp and led her to the bed. He wanted to face her, to watch her expression when she came.

  He penetrated her again and then brought her legs up over his shoulders. He began to pump quickly, in and out, his balls slapping against her.

  He felt her body tighten and her breathing deepen, the first signs of impending orgasm. She was on the edge, one little push and she’d topple over sweetly.

  “Come for me, Jessie.”

  Her lips parted on a gasp and he swooped down to cover her lips with his as he pumped into her masterfully, feeling her inner muscles contract around his cock.

  Her wet pussy milked his excited cock and he squeezed his eyes closed as his own fireworks exploded behind his lids.

  He collapsed onto her, her breasts with the sexy little nipples rubbing against his chest. Tenderly he reached out to touch one, amazed that this woman could turn him on with one look.

  “We have more than fucking, Jessie.”

  For a moment he thought she was going to ignore his statement. Finally, she answered. “What do you want from me? We’re having sex, plenty of it. What more could you want?”

  “I want to know I’m the only one you think about. The only one who excites you. The only one you desire.”

  She closed her eyes. “You can command me to do anything you wish.”

  “But can I command you to simply be mine, Jessie?”

  She refused to answer. She wouldn’t be his toy just to satisfy the male egotistical need for dominance.

  Yet he wouldn’t give up. “Will you drop all your toys for me, little girl? Will you let me satisfy you every day of your life?”

  Her eyes flashed, a hint of something before she looked away. It spiked his curiosity.

  “What’s happened to you in the past, Jess?”

  “Nothing I want to talk about.”

  He sighed as he rose from the bed and dressed. “Don’t throw away life, Jessie.” With that one phrase, he was out the door of her apartment and back into the bar.

  * * * * *

  Scarlett called his cell phone over and over. He refused to answer and she finally sought him out in person. He wasn’t in the mood for any feminine reasoning but apparently she wasn’t about to let herself be ignored.

  “What do you want?”

  “To talk about Jessie.”

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Cute, isn’t she?” Scarlett asked.

  “Why’d you bring me here?” he growled.

  “It was time. And you didn’t answer my question.”

  “Yeah, she’s cute, dammit. She has spunk, you know I like that.”

  “You always were a sucker for a blonde.”

  The statement fired him up and he snapped his response. “She’s so much more dimensional than that. Her eyes are brown, you don’t expect that with blonde hair. You expect a woman who looks like that to flaunt her looks but not Jessie. She’ll wear worn jeans and an old t-shirt over a skirt any day. Her hair blowing in the wind over the look of perfectly sprayed curls.”

  “You looked into her eyes?”

  He sighed. The witch always found out what she wanted. “I took a quick peek,” he admitted.

  “And?” she prompted.

  “Slight fear. It’s settled to the point of wary resentment. She’s too far gone to be the one.”

  “Nah, she’s still ripe. I feel it.”

  “It’s my life we’re playing with, Scarlett.”

  “Oh, posh, sweetie. Let me fix it.”

  Fix it? Was she serious? She was the reason he was stuck this way, she and her sisters. He stared at her incredulously.

  She looked innocent enough. Surely she hadn’t forgotten what she did to him?

  “What else did you see?” she whispered, her eyes focusing on him.

  “The third female. The one for your sister, Ivory. She’s working in a place of danger.”

  “A bar? Nightclub? What?”

  “Worse. Strip club.”

  “We’ll find her. It’ll be odd, searching for her before him. But we’ll need to get her out of there and quickly.” Scarlett’s voice had taken on that odd, faraway tone that always made the hair on the back of his neck rise. He clenched his teeth and quelled the urge to shiver as the temperature around him dropped with the sudden air chill.

  Witches. If he could ever break free, he’d take Jessie and run.

  * * * * *

  But Jessie wasn’t cooperative two weeks later.

  He, Scarlett and Jessie were in the office. Point-blank, he asked Jessie where she would go when October 1 arrived. Or if she would stay.

  “I’m here at your beck and call through September, Levi. I owe you nothing after that.”

  “You won’t set me free?”

  “I have my own life and obligations. I’m sorry, it’s been fun. I’ll call you sometime.”

  She walked back to the bar tying her apron without a backward glance. He turned to Scarlett. His voice was grim. “Next week is October. She’ll fly.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Don’t I? I tried to show her how it could be but she resents me.”

  “She’s used to being the player. Not the toy.”

  “It’s okay for me to be the toy?” he snapped.

  Scarlett giggled. “Puh-lease. You’re only played with one month a year. Boohoo.”

  “So was she.”

  “It was her first time. Give her a break. It was a shock to her system.”

  Hidden behind the door, Jessie knew the truth. As soon as her time was done here, she was taking her money and would never look back to this voodoo town again.

  Or him.

  Because she didn’t need that. She did not need to feel. Feelings hurt. Who needed t
hem? It was why she was completely unattached, without strings. And would remain that way.

  * * * * *

  True to her word, she left the bar on October 1. She was at the airport before she ever called Scarlett to thank her for allowing the use of an apartment during her stay.

  She never called Levi to thank him or say goodbye.

  Luckily, Scarlett wasn’t in to answer the phone, so Jessie was able to leave a very impersonal message on the answering machine.

  She wasn’t sure where to return to, she never did decide where she was heading next to settle. So she went to the last place she’d called home.

  Silver’s bar.

  Her old college friend waited for her as she strolled into the bar.

  “You screwed up more than you know,” Silver said without even giving her a chance to gather her wits.

  Jessie sighed deliberately. “I’m a big girl. I chose to come home when my time was up.”

  “What about Levi?”

  “What about him? He’s a big boy too, I’m sure he’s still there.”

  “Well, he’s not, Jessie.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Dammit, you’ve always refused to face what was in front of you. You know what we are, you’ve seen the signs. You continuously refused Levi and now have subjected him to an awful fate.”

  “What fate? And it’s my right to refuse, especially after I wasn’t given any choices for the entire month.”

  “Please! Like awesome sex with an amazing man like that was any hardship?”

  “It wasn’t about that. It’s about freedom, making my own decisions. And I choose to refuse his offers now that I finally have a choice. Look, I liked my life before I went there. I was fine, I was happy. I came and went as I pleased, I had my girlfriends to go out with, I dated, I had sex. But one main guy in your life means things get complicated. Who needs that?”

  “Sometimes life throws you curve balls, Jessie. If it was perfect all the time, would you even see the happiness tomorrow? Or would you take it for granted?”

  “Why strive for complication? I want the easy road, Silver. I had the easy ride and I don’t want anything thrown my way.”

  “But don’t you see? Levi was meant for you. You’re predestined. You balance each other. Without one another, you’re incomplete.”