“Amazing,” I finish for her.
She nods.
I stand, pull the cup of her bra back over her exposed breast, then redo the buttons on her blouse that I’d loosened.
Harper steps back and shimmies slightly to get her skirt straightened again.
“I…I should go,” she says softly. “I’m supposed to go to the hospital as soon as I’m done with work today.”
I nod. “Okay.”
She bites her lip and heads to the door. She pauses and glances back before opening it, then leaves me standing alone in the room, come quickly cooling in my briefs.
It’s only as the cool clamminess starts to get to me that I fully process what just happened. I’ve never reacted so strongly to a woman before. Yes, there was the thrill of potentially being caught with Harper at work, but I hadn’t come in my pants like that since I was a teen.
I briefly try to convince myself that it was the thrill combined with the ease of control I’d had over her. But I quickly dismiss that train of thought. A couple of my regular submissives had offered to take me back to their houses to continue play after a session at the club, and I’d always turned them down, the thought of anything happening outside its walls unappealing.
But that doesn’t explain what just happened. For the first time in years, I expressed my sexuality away from the club, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
12
Harper
I was so overwhelmed after coming in Axel’s arms that I’d made some excuse to leave that sounded lame even to me. He didn’t protest, though, and I tried to force it from my mind for the next few hours while I spent some time making sure dad was comfortable after his chemo session.
I can’t keep my mind off it forever, though, and as I lie in bed Saturday morning, not yet ready to get up, the memories play through my mind.
The feeling of Axel’s lips on mine was more satisfying than any other kiss I’d had. I shivered when I remembered the way he’d teased my nipple with his teeth, the nub starting to harden again in anticipation of round two.
Then, all I could think about was how he teased, fingers tracing the inside of my thighs before finally reaching that place that no other man had touched. It had been simultaneously terrifying and freeing. My body had never responded that strongly, even in my most intense fantasies.
I’d never expected an orgasm to be so good, and that was just with him touching me.
My hand drifts between my legs as the memories run through me. I’m about to start touching myself when there’s a knock at the door.
“Harper?” Lee calls.
I yank my hand back and force myself not to sigh. “Yes?”
“Are we still planning to get the shopping done early?”
I close my eyes. “Yeah. Give me a few minutes to get ready.”
“Hurry up, you know how crowded the farmer’s market gets.”
“I know. I’ll be right out.”
She walks away, and I release a long breath. I need to get Axel West off my mind. He may not be my direct boss, but as one of the company founders, I do need to keep from getting involved with him. At the market, I still can’t get Axel off my mind, though.
“Harper.”
How I long to hear Axel say that in my ear again. Who knew that teeth against my ear would make me shiver?
“Harper! Earth to Harper.”
I blink. “What?”
Lee laughs. “How about you pay the man for our vegetables?”
“Oh,” I reply, reaching for my wallet. “Right.”
I pass over some cash and collect the change before Lee guides me to a fruit stand.
“What’s with you today?” Lee asks. “You’ve been distracted, and I have to get your attention every few minutes.”
I shake my head. “I’m fine. Sorry.”
“Is it your dad?” she asks, picking up a container of red strawberries and examining them. “He had chemo yesterday, right?”
“The chemo went well,” I reply. “My dad was tired after, and the doctors said they needed to adjust some things, but no scary side effects.”
“That’s good,” she says, handing a few bills over to the woman selling the fruit. “But that doesn’t explain what’s up with you today, then.”
“Can you let it go?”
“Would I be your best friend if I did that?”
“Yes, you would.”
“How about I bribe you with a summer fruit smoothie?”
I groaned. “Fine, just because I know you’ll badger me until I tell you.”
She grins. “That’s what best friends are for.”
We make our way to a little seating area surrounded by booths selling drinks and prepared foods.
“You grab a table, and I’ll get the grub,” Lee says.
I nod. “Okay.” She heads to the smoothie stand, while I find a table as far from anybody else as I can. I know better than to resist when Lee wants information from me.
She returns a couple minutes later, with what has to be the biggest smoothie I’ve seen and a shit-eating grin on her face.
“I hate you,” I grumble, snatching it from her and sucking a large swallow from the straw.
For a split second, I wonder if I’d suck as hard on Axel’s cock, and I feel the blush cross my cheeks.
“Now there’s an interesting response,” she chuckles, her eyes sparkling like she’s the cat that caught the canary. “Whatever about a smoothie could leave you blushing?”
“It’s the sun,” I reply.
“Sure. When pigs fly.”
I groan. “Why are you like this?”
“Because I know when you’re hiding something big. Now spill girl, before I consider ordering you another.”
“I’m going to have a bad case of brain freeze after this one.”
“You’re stalling,” she sing-songs.
I take a deep breath and release it slowly. “It’s…a man.”
“I knew it!” She smirks at me. “So, tell me about him.”
“How many cliches can I fit into a single description?” I ask. “Tall, dark, face and body like they were chiseled from marble. The stuff dreams are made of.”
“And that tells me exactly nothing,” she teases.
I take another gulp of the smoothie. “Did you see the man who brought me home that night after I’d spent all day in the hospital?”
She starts to shake her head, then stops. “I thought you said your boss brought you home.”
“Not my boss, not exactly. But one of the co-founders of the company.”
“So, you’ve got the hots for one of the untouchables?”
I bite the inside of my cheek, remembering how much touching he’d initiated the day before.
Lee’s eyes widen. “Harper, you didn’t! Did you finally get your V-card punched?”
I wave my hands while shushing her. “No…not quite.”
She leans in. “Okay, now you really have to fill me in. Every dirty detail, girl.”
I look up to the blue of the sky, remembering the golden light that filled the room. “It just, sort of…happened.”