Mile High (Up In The Air #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

We dressed quickly, rushing out of the resort. James held my nape, steering me out of the vast property.

I was completely lost by the time we reached the casino. The place was colossal.

James’s car was waiting when we got to the valet station, Clark ready with the door open wide. He inclined his head to us politely, his face warm and smiling. I thought the stoic man might be softening towards me. “Sir. Ms. Karlsson.”

James was silent until Clark got behind the wheel and started driving, rather speedily towards my house, before he leaned in close to my ear to speak to me. We were sitting very close, but not touching, which was unusual for James.

“So, when do I get to pierce these?” he asked quietly. As he spoke he reached up a hand, pinching first one nipple and then the other. He quickly withdrew his hand.

My mind just went sort of…blank. It had hovered around in the back of my mind in a sort of disjointed way when I’d seen the tattoos, but it was still a shock to hear it out loud. I mulled it over, thinking about the ink he’d gotten on his beautiful skin. If he wanted so badly for me to do this thing, why not? I couldn’t say that I would like the piercings, but I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t, either.

“I thought that was all a joke,” I told him, but I didn’t say no.

“I wasn’t joking, obviously. But if that’s really what you thought, I won’t make you do it. And I am certainly willing to wait until you’re ready. There’s no reason to rush it.”

I thought about it, really thought about the deal we’d made. I had told myself that he was joking, but had I really thought that he was? If I was honest, I had known on some level that, though he was being playful, he always did exactly as he said he would.

I met his gaze steadily. “I’ll do it. I think I tried to convince myself that you were joking, but I’m beginning to understand you enough to know that you always do as you say.”

He pulled my head back lightly by the hair, and began to kiss me, an open-mouthed, hot kiss. He took his time before pulling back. “Thank you for being honest. But you still don’t need to do it. I wouldn’t force you, even if the thought appeals to me strongly.”

“I’ll do it. I said I would. And, though I can’t deny I’ve never thought of doing something like that, it appeals to me simply because you want it so badly. I can’t seem to help myself. I want to please you. I love to please you.”

He reacted strangely with a sharply indrawn breath. He leaned his head back against his seat, shutting his eyes, his face a little drawn.

He found my hand and squeezed it in his. “Thank you, Bianca.”

An unexpected laugh escaped me suddenly. He opened his eyes, giving me a puzzled look.

“Sorry,” I told him, smiling warmly into his eyes. “You just looked so relieved that I would pierce my nipples and it struck me as funny. That’s such a strange thing to be relieved about.”

He smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. It was a sad kind of smile, and I felt my own fade a little.

“I was relieved, but not about the piercing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy about that. But it was what you said that eased my mind. The thought that you love to please me, it gives me hope. If you truly love to please me, you won’t leave me. You’ll stay with me, and live with me. If not now, then eventually. I can at least hope to talk you into it.”

I flushed. I still thought moving in with him was ridiculous, but I could see that I had already softened towards the idea, and for just the reason he had latched onto. I loved to please him. But more, I loved him. I wondered if I would have the courage to tell him. Not anytime soon. It was still a shock to me to even think it, to even realize it fully. How had this happened so fast? But how not? With him being so charming, and so perfect, so heart-achingly beautiful, but tarnished in all of the right places, and in all of the ways that I understood so well, how could I not love him?

“Did you like Frankie?” he asked. The change of topic made me flush, but for a different reason. And why did he sound so smug when he asked that question?

My mouth tightened involuntarily. “Have you slept with her? Because you seem to like her,” I told him, trying to pull my hand away.

He gripped it more tightly, still with that smug smile. “No. She’s a very close friend of mine, though, so I would like you to get along with her.”

I felt my face turning red. I looked away from his infuriating face. “I doubt I will. She likes to touch you, and talk about your body.”

“Would it make you feel better to know that she’s a gold star lesbian, and a dominant herself? She and I are as about as platonic as a male and a female can be.”

I blushed impossibly harder, feeling silly and ridiculous suddenly. Because it did make me feel better to know that. Worlds better. I was a fool.

“What is a gold star lesbian?” I asked him.

“Never been with a man, never even thought about it. She liked you, I could tell. I should probably be the jealous one, with the way she was looking at you. But I’m not. She’s too good of a friend. She may be envious of what we have, but she would never cross a line. She knows that you’re important to me.”


“I-I wouldn’t-even if she wanted to,” I stammered, feeling flustered at where the conversation had gone.

Did he think I would be submissive to any dom? I didn’t understand that, and I was just too embarrassed to ask. I wasn’t just interested in James because he could dominate me. I wondered, for the first time, if he felt that I used him for only that aspect of himself. I wanted to ask him, but the words just wouldn’t come out. I never felt used by him, and I had just assumed that a man so perfect and confident couldn’t feel used. Not by someone like me.

He kissed my hand softly as we pulled up to my house. “I know. But in some circles, having a dom so much as approach your sub is a huge breach of conduct. It’s not something you have to worry about. And I don’t feel threatened by Frankie. It would please me if you two could be friends, actually. Would you be willing to go have dinner with her sometime? The three of us, I mean.”

I felt a little mortified. I had very nearly been openly rude to the woman. “If she still wants to, I would be willing to. I feel like a fool. I was so jealous of her. I thought for sure you two had been lovers.”

He just smiled that smug smile again as he ushered me out of the car. “She won’t be fazed by that. I’ll set it up.”

I had only thirty minutes to get ready once we walked in the door. I hurried, packing up my suitcase before moving to get dressed.

I had just slipped off my bra, grabbing the one I preferred for work, when James pressed up behind me.

He had already changed into dark blue slacks and a pale blue polo that hugged his chiseled torso distractingly. He had been ready before I’d even finished packing. He gripped my breasts, kneading at the supple globes. He moved his fingers to my nipples, twisting them almost cruelly.

I gasped, arching my back. He released the captive flesh abruptly. I felt him digging into his pocket, still pressed hard against me. I looked down at my quivering breasts while he fastened nipple clamps to each hardened crest.

He slapped my ass, hard, before stepping away. “Okay, get dressed. And don’t even think of taking those off. I’m driving you and Stephan to work. He’s already ready and waiting.”

“Won’t you be late for the flight if you drop us off first?”

He just gave me a look. “I’ll make it. But you need to quit arguing and get dressed. If I have to take the time to spank you, then we’ll both be late.”

I scrambled into my clothes, double checking my suitcase to make sure I had everything.

“Remember, you don’t need to pack for New York anymore. You’re all set up there, and you can buy anything you want, if I overlooked something. By the way, I was a little distracted, but your hair looks lovely. I like the cut. It brings out those devastating eyes of yours.”

I shot him a look. He thought my eyes were devastating? The irony wasn’t lost on me, his exquisite turquoise gaze captivating me at a glance.

“Thank you. Thank you for the spa day. It was a very nice treat for my friends and I.”

“Anytime. You can take them as often as you like. The staff knows that you have carte blanche status.

You don’t need an appointment, or even to call ahead, though it’s never a bad idea to give them a heads- up. Everything that’s mine is yours, love. I mean that in every sense you could imagine. Feel free to test it.”

I straightened my tie as he spoke, feeling the clamps on my heavy breasts acutely.

I moved to my vanity, clasping my watch over the angry marks on one wrist. I studied the other one, wondering how to cover it. It really wasn’t even uncomfortable. It just looked rather conspicuous. As I studied it, James circled it with long fingers, reaching into my silver jewelry box. He pulled a smaller box out of it that I hadn’t even noticed before. He opened it, showing a platinum bracelet that closely matched the band pattern of the rolex he’d given me.

“You’re shackled and collared, my love,” James said as he fastened it onto my wrist. They did indeed look like shackles, I thought, as he led me from the house, pulling my suitcase. “Do they chafe your wrists too badly?”

“No, not at all. My wrists aren’t bothering me at all.”

“Good. I have plans for you. We get to spend some time in our playground tomorrow, before we have to get ready for the gala.”

I had nearly forgotten about the gala. He had swept me up so thoroughly from the moment we had reunited, I had forgotten about everything save for my Mr. Beautiful.

Stephan started in on James almost the moment we all got into the car. “Bianca thought that tattoo and piercing thing was a joke. You can’t hold her to it, James,” he said, looking ready for an argument.

James smiled. Contrarily, it was a rather fond smile, and all for Stephan. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Stephan. Bianca, would I hold you to doing something like that, if you didn’t want to?”

I shook my head, giving Stephan an exasperated look. I was blushing involuntarily. I sooo didn’t want to talk about things like that with Stephan, especially not in front of James. “Stephan, he knows I thought it was a joke. Please don’t get upset about it. James is crazy, that’s all.”

Stephan gave a very heartfelt sigh of relief. He had been dreading the confrontation, but had obviously felt a strong need to say something. “Okay, okay. Sorry, I just saw those tattoos, and remembered what you two had said at the bar. I didn’t know you had it in you, James.”

James grinned, hugging me to him. He kissed my forehead rather sweetly. “I didn’t, not until I met my perfect Bianca.”