Nicole Edwards - Perception

“Drop the skirt,” he commanded, his tone gruffer than before.

Releasing the material from her fist, she allowed her skirt to slide down her legs. Once it pooled at her feet, she stepped out of it, moving closer to Xander.

“Have I told you how fucking beautiful you are?” he asked.

Mercedes wasn’t sure whether he’d meant to say the words out loud, but she answered him anyway. “No.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. “You steal my breath, Mercedes.”

Holy shit. The honesty in his tone nearly had her knees going weak beneath her. She’d never heard him talk like that. Not to anyone. Ever.

Fearing that he was trying to distract her, Mercedes reminded herself that she was still waiting for an answer.

“Do we have a deal?” she repeated as she waited for his next instruction.

“Take off the bra,” he told her, his eyes locked with hers.

Without hesitation, Mercedes reached up and unhooked the front clasp of her bra, promptly dropping it to the floor. Xander hadn’t answered her yet, not verbally anyway, but she could see his response in his eyes.

They were going to do this. They were going to submit to one another.

It was only a matter of time.

Xander was doing his best to focus on the conversation and less on the dazzling, nearly naked woman in front of him. It wasn’t easy. Even if he prided himself on his ability to keep his composure, there were still some temptations that weren’t easy to ignore. Mercedes was just such temptation.

While he contemplated his answer to her question, he was busy grazing her incredible curves with his eyes, wanting to put his hands on her, to feel once again how soft her skin was. To cup her breasts in his hands. He wanted to put his mouth on her, to suck her nipples until she was writhing beneath him, begging for more.

He would’ve assumed that just the idea of submitting to anyone, let alone in public, would’ve sent his dick into hiding, but truthfully that wasn’t the case. Or maybe it was the fact that Mercedes had told him she didn’t have any hard limits. That, in itself, was enough to make him damn near lose his mind.

To know that she trusted him enough to know he’d only push her as far as he felt she could go, well, it was humbling.

“Just to confirm,” he said as he took one step closer. “You’ll give yourself over to me for five full days. Starting now. No hard limits. And in return, I have to agree to submit to you on two occasions. Once at Devotion, the other at a time and place of your choosing?”

He knew what she had up her sleeve. She was going to play her card in a public place that would put him fully on display. Somewhere that might intimidate him. If she believed he wasn’t on to her plan, she was sadly mistaken. He’d just recently asked her to join him at the opening of Alluring Indulgence Resort, and though it wasn’t planned for roughly six more months, it was clear she was thinking that would be her venue of choice.

Not that he really gave a shit. He knew the Walkers would likely find it amusing, but that was the least of his worries.

“That’s correct,” she said on a breath, her eyes still locked with his.

“Remove your panties,” he instructed, not looking away.

Without reservation, Mercedes reached down and slid the silky white panties down her legs, stepping out of them as well which put her a mere foot or so away from him.

His eyes locked on the patch of dark hair between her legs, then he trailed up over her generous hips, admiring the small tattoo he’d only been privy to when he had seen her playing at the club. He continued upward, over gently rounded belly, past her bountiful breasts. He was distracted briefly by the ornate tattoo that encircled her entire arm from her shoulder down to her elbow. He’d always loved that tattoo. She’d gotten it before he met her, and according to her, it was a reminder of all that she’d been through. The flower represented her, and the intricate detail around it was the chaos she’d lived in since she was younger. As with a lot of her personal details, whenever he would ask, she would shrug him off, telling him it wasn’t important. Little did she know, but everything about her was important to him. And she should know that by now because he’d never let her retreat from him before because he was her friend. He was in her corner, no matter what.

He looked up, meeting her gaze head on.

He wanted to tell her that they had a deal. He wanted to tell her that he’d pretty much do anything for this chance. For him, it was so much more than getting her to submit to him. He’d wanted Mercedes for so long, had ignored that hunger and pretended he could handle merely friendship. But this woman was all he’d ever wanted in one magnificent, enticing package.

He had to have her.

And if it meant he’d have to submit in front of a crowd of people just to prove himself to her, then so be it.

“Please tell me we have a deal,” she whispered, her arms still hanging down to her sides.

“We do,” he finally conceded, unable to keep his hands off of her a moment longer.

Taking one step forward, he cupped both of her shoulders, skimming his hands down her arms and then back up. She was warm and soft. His self-restraint was being tested because as far as Xander was concerned, he hadn’t waited just a few minutes for her to get undressed, to stand before him completely and utterly vulnerable.

No, this certainly wasn’t something he’d come up with on the fly. He’d been waiting for this for years.

“Turn around.”

Mercedes turned to face away from him, giving Xander a perfect view of her back and her ass. He took a moment to skim over her soft skin, ensuring that there weren’t any marks left from their scene the night before. Although he’d double and triple checked prior to them leaving Devotion last night, he couldn’t help himself now.

She was flawless. Perfect in every way.

For a man his size, he was always conscientious about the women he was with. He didn’t pursue tiny women. He had no interest in being gentle which meant he needed a woman who could handle him. Mercedes was that woman.

Moving up against her, Xander reached for her hands, linking their fingers and lifting her arms. “Put your hands around my neck,” he advised, leaning forward which was the only way she’d be able to reach around him.

Her fingers were cool against the overheated skin of his neck. He closed his eyes briefly, enjoying the feel of her touch.

Pressing his lips to the curve of her neck and shoulder, Xander slid his hands over her hips, her waist, higher until he cupped her breasts in his hands.

“You have such beautiful breasts,” he mumbled as he lifted them. “Perfect pink nipples that will look so pretty clamped.”

Her body tensed briefly, but Xander didn’t allow it to throw him off course. Pinching her nipples, he kissed her neck again. “But not yet. First, I want you to look up into that mirror.”

Xander glanced up to meet her gaze in the oversized cheval mirror that his designer had picked out, saying something about suiting his personality. For him, it had always been just a mirror. But right now, it was a portal to ecstasy.

“For the next five days, I’m going to own you. Every part of you. Do you agree?”

Mercedes only nodded, but her eyes never left his.

“Answer me,” he insisted, keeping his tone low. “That’s one thing I won’t compromise on. You will tell me what you’re feeling. Especially when I ask.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “For five days, you’ll own me.”

Xander wasn’t a praying man, but right then and there, he sent up a silent plea that five days would turn into much, much longer.

~*~*~*~

Mercedes watched the images in the mirror closely. Xander’s body pressed up against her back, his face serious as he observed her in the reflective glass. What she saw wasn’t at all what she expected to see.

There, reflecting back at her, was a naked woman – her – but she saw more than just an abundantly curvy body that she knew was a far cry from perfect. Not that she’d ever cared about perfection. She liked who she was, how she looked, her inner strength. But right now, with Xander’s big hands grazing over her skin, the fire she saw in his gaze, well, it made her feel incredibly feminine and… powerful.

How could that possibly be the case when for the last ten minutes she’d undressed in front of him at his command. Could it be the way he was looking at her? Or possibly the way his hands drifted over her skin reverently, like he was cherishing every touch.

Whatever it was, it was heady. Enough to make her breath lodge in her throat.

He didn’t appear to be in a hurry, didn’t seem to need more than what they were sharing right at that moment and she felt an exhilarating rush of lust burst in her bloodstream.

She’d had a hard time admitting that he would own her for the next five days. In fact, she’d said the words while, at the same time, she was thinking that she’d never last that long. But the longer she stood there, the more Xander touched her, all while their eyes met briefly in the mirror, she knew he had won before the game ever even began.

She may never truly submit, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to fall for him.

“I want to touch you,” Xander mumbled against her ear.

He was touching her, wasn’t he? She didn’t speak the words out loud though.

“Come here.”

As he stood up straight again, her hands fell from around his neck. She let her arms hang down at her sides while she glimpsed the woman in the mirror one last time. She couldn’t help but wonder whether she would recognize the woman by the end of the weekend. She was sure if Xander had anything to say about it, she would.