Free Tempting Meredith by Samantha Ann King Page B

watching them.
    Desire warmed and dampened her panties. She wanted them gone too. Wanted his mouth on her clit, then his cock inside her. She hoped he wasn’t one of those men who liked to draw things out. Waiting wasn’t her strong suit. She didn’t understand women who wanted prolonged foreplay. It didn’t make the orgasm any better. What was the point?
    “You’re thinking too much.”
    “I’m just waiting—”
    “For?”
    She almost said “for the good part,” but that didn’t seem like the best idea. She didn’t want to deflate his, uh, interest. On the other hand, if she told him she wanted a slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am, he might be flattered.
    As she wrestled with her answer, he said, “Waiting’s good.” He swept her feet from his lap and they landed on the carpet. “Stand up.”
    Confusion paralyzed her.
    He draped his arms across the back of the couch, relaxed and in control. “Stand up, Meredith.” The stern inflection in his voice vibrated through her.
    She stood slowly as if in a dream, still not understanding. Did he want her to leave? She reached for her purse, but a single command stopped her.
    “Take off your shirt.”
    On the heels of her confusion, the order rankled more than it would have if she hadn’t experienced that wash of relief that he wasn’t sending her home. She wasn’t accustomed to people telling her what to do. Not that they didn’t make well-meaning suggestions. But anyone who knew her knew she didn’t take orders. So why was she even considering obeying? Was she that desperate for sex?
    She fingered the hem of her blue tank.
    He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. His gaze pinned her. “These are the rules. We’re doing this my way. You don’t think. You don’t question. You just do what I tell you when I tell you. What’s your safe word?”
    Was he kidding? Why would she need a safe word? “I’m not into pain.”
    “I’m not going to hurt you. But I might do some things that will take you out of your comfort zone so I can get you out of your head. I’ll need to know when you’re serious about ‘no’ and when you’re not.”
    She stared at him, dumbfounded. This chivalrous, sexy, country boy wanted a safe word?
    “Nothing else happens until I have it.” He watched and waited as if they had all the time in the world.
    She scrambled for one. Selecting. Considering. Discarding. Repeating the process several times.
    His lips twitched and he finally interrupted. “Let’s go with the standard. Red. Okay?”
    Red. Danger. Warning. Red light. Stop. Simple. She nodded. “Red. Understood.”
    “You’ll remember it?”
    “Of course,” she bristled.
    “Good.” He sat back again, resting his arms across the back of the couch. “You understand how this works, right? You say red, I stop immediately. No hesitation. No forcing you. I don’t even try to convince you to take it further. I say red, same rules. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.” He paused. “Understand?”
    She nodded and croaked, “Yes.”
    “Excellent. Now, take off your shirt.”
    This time the order didn’t rankle so much as excite. Still she hesitated.
    “Don’t make me tell you again.” The voice. So different from his conversational tone. Almost impossible to resist. She hadn’t expected it. That country boy charm made him seem laid back. He wasn’t. Relaxed? Yes. Confident? Yes. Laid back? No. He’d been in charge of this date since he’d suggested it. They hadn’t just shot targets at the range. He’d led her through a lesson. He’d decided when it was time to leave. He’d picked the restaurant and ordered for her. Yeah, he’d let her drive, but she suspected that was because he knew exactly how far to push her.
    She dragged the stretchy tank over her head. When she didn’t remove the cami beneath, he flicked his hand at it. “That too.”
    She slipped one thin strap off her shoulder, then the other, enjoying the sensation of her own