Release Me

breath as I pull back enough to look into his face. I can’t imagine Damien breaking, but somehow I know that he’s speaking from experience.
Everyone breaks
.
    “Nikki,” he says. “Baby, are we okay?”
    I think about what my mother said about what I was throwing away, and I wonder if she’s right. For the first time in my life, can my mother actually have something to offer me?
    I close my eyes, because I don’t want her in my head. When I open them again, I see only Damien. “I want to make this work,” I whisper, and the relief that I see in his eyes washes over me like a balm. “Is Jamie here?” I ask, because suddenly I’m thinking about the thin walls of the condo.
    I see the hint of a frown. “No.” He clears his throat.
    I narrow my eyes, confused. “What?”
    “This may not be the best time, but I have a confession.”
    I tilt my head and wait.
    “Jamie’s going to be getting a call from her agent soon.”
    “And you know this how?”
    “Because it’s for a series of national commercials. For a company I have an interest in.” He’s speaking gingerly, eyeing me as if he’s afraid I’ll explode.
    “You did that for her?”
    “For the company, actually. The ad agency presented us with three possible actresses and Jamie was the best of the bunch.”
    My smile stretches wide across my face.
    Damien looks at me, baffled. “Why is that okay, but helping you get the job at Innovative wasn’t?”
    I grimace, because it’s a legitimate point. “Because it just is,” I say, then laugh.
    He joins me, then brushes a soft kiss over my lips. “Nikki?”
    “Yes?”
    “I—” He stops, but not before I hear the tenderness in his voice. I close my eyes, imagining that he’s told me he loves me. The word sounds right, and not terrifying at all.
    “Don’t ever leave me again,” he says.
    “No,” I whisper. “How could I? I’m yours.”
    He rolls over until he’s on top of me, then trails light kisses down my neck. “You said I have to be in control.”
    “Not really an astounding revelation, is it?”
    He chuckles. “I’m giving it to you.”
    “Giving what?”
    “Control, Nikki. Tell me what you want. Tell me exactly what you want.”
    “You mean other than you?”
    “Where do you want me to touch you? How slow? Shall I graze my teeth over your nipple? Shall I bite your ear? Shall I dip my tongue into your sweet cunt? Tell me, Nikki. Tell me what you want.”
    “Yes,” I say, meaning all of that. “But start by kissing me.”
    He does, pressing his mouth softly to mine, then with increasing firmness. His tongue finds mine, stroking and teasing and I’m getting more and more turned on, even though he’s doing nothing else. No touches, no caresses.
    Damn the man, he meant what he said
.
    Gently, I break the kiss. “Stroke my breasts,” I say. “Then pinch my nipples.” I don’t think I’ve ever drawn out a road map to making love, but with Damien I don’t feel shy. “Tighter,” I demand, then arch up as he twists almost to the point of pain. “Kiss me,” I say. “All the way down until you get to my clit. I want your tongue there, and I want your fingers inside me.”
    He grins up at me. “Yes, ma’am,” he says, then begins to slowly, torturously, work his way down my body. I’m trembling now with desire for him. The slightest touch of my body against the sheet brings me even closer to an orgasm. It’s as if my entire body is an erogenous zone. And I want him there. I want him
everywhere
.
    I gasp with the realization of what it is that I truly want tonight. And even though his tongue on my clit feels so, so good, I ease his head up, then pull him up to kiss my lips. I roll sideways so that we’re spooning together, and then I take his hand and guide it to my ass. “Take me here,” I whisper.
    I feel his body tighten, the raw heat of him increase. “Are you sure?”
    “I want to belong to you,” I say. “I want to belong completely.”
    “Oh, baby.” He eases me over so that I’m on my hands and knees on the bed. He strokes my cunt, getting his fingers slick with me, then takes a finger and eases it inside my anus. I gasp.
    “Tell me if you want me to stop.”
    “No. No, it feels good.”
    And it does. His touch sends shocks of pleasure ricocheting through me.
    “Have you ever?”
    “No,” I say. “Only you.”
    I hear his low growl of pleasure. “Do you have any lube?”
    “In the drawer,” I say, then feel his weight shift on the