“Yes, Sir,” she groaned, this time there was more tension than pleasure in her tone.

“Good. Then it’s time to get down to business.”

* * *

Mercedes tried to relax. She tried to focus on her breathing now that the discomfort in her ass had subsided. She knew Xander had a thing for anal sex, she’d seen him in action at the club, but for some reason, she hadn’t expected him to move in that direction quite so fast.

She’d been wrong.

The plug felt as though it were massive, but she imagined it was one of the small ones, possibly medium. Not that it really mattered because it was still not the most pleasant feeling. Considering she wasn’t used to anything more than a narrow vibrator that she would use on herself from time to time, this felt like someone had driven their fist inside of her ass.

She heard the sound of plastic again, and her mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out just what he was going to do now. She already had a plug in her ass and clamps on her nipples. Surely he wasn’t going to use anything else.

Leaving her in suspense, Xander once again placed his hands on her ass, kneading the muscles gently. He was standing between her spread knees and she could feel the soft material of his slacks against the inside of her calves. She tried to focus on how warm his hands were, how silky that material felt against her legs, but the tension was already beginning to build while she waited for him to do something.

Anything.

Shit.

She really didn’t care.

She was right at the breaking point, having to bite her tongue to keep from crying out for him to put her out of her misery when his hand came down on her ass. She did cry out, but there were no words as the pain ricocheted through her.

“Do you like being spanked?” Xander asked her, his tone deeper than she expected. It took everything in her power to answer him.

“No, Sir,” she said truthfully.

“Then why do you insist on disobeying?”

God, could she really answer that. “I don’t know.”

His hand came down on her other cheek, and as she jerked in response, she thought she felt the bench move beneath her.

“Not good enough,” he told her. “Now answer my question. Honestly.”

“Because I want to, Sir,” she told him, bracing for the impact.

Instead, his hand caressed what she could imagine was a bright red imprint on her sore butt.

There was only silence which was off-putting in itself until she heard a small noise. It sounded like a vibration. And that’s when she felt it, her insides beginning to tingle from…

The plug in her ass was vibrating, and her clit began to pulse strangely from the sensation. She wanted to clamp her legs together to add a little pressure, hoping to intensify the stimulation that wasn’t enough to send her over the edge, but her restraints kept her from doing so.

“Very nice,” he said with such approval, Mercedes closed her eyes. “Now tell me how many swats you think you’ve earned tonight, pet.”

How many?

Crap.

She was going to have to think about that one for a minute. That was a question she was used to asking of her own subs. A too low number would have Xander tacking on more, a too high number would have her asking for something she didn’t necessarily want.

“You think on that for a minute,” he told her as she heard him shuffle behind her. “Let me know when you have a number.”

Mercedes wondered what the hell he was going to do and why he insisted on making her crazy. That’s when warm, moist air blew across her clit, and she knew what he was about to do.

His tongue slid against her, and she cried out. “Oh, God, yes.”

It felt too good. Between the vibrations in her ass that had subsided to a more tolerable level, the only thing she could focus on was his tongue on her clit. More than anything, she wanted him to fuck her. She’d been riding a fine edge all day, ever since earlier in the afternoon when he’d made her come with his mouth.

Holy shit. Had that really been today?

She felt as though he’d been tormenting her for days, not just mere hours. Heaven help her if he did decide to hold out because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive not feeling him inside of her soon.

He doubled his efforts with his tongue and then the vibration in her ass intensified, making her shriek from the pleasure that coursed through her.

“Did you come up with a number?” he asked, his voice moving with him.

He must’ve stood back up because his tongue was no longer teasing her, but he had replaced it with… Oh, shit. She could tell it wasn’t his finger. It was too big. Way too big.

Remembering he’d just asked a question, Mercedes managed to respond. “Yes, Sir. I’ve come up with a number.” Never mind the fact that that was a lie. But it would buy her a few seconds at least.

The vibrations in her ass increased, making her legs tremble as he pushed something deep inside of her pussy. Now she was full. So freaking full, and it was… Oh, God. It was amazing. If only he would add some friction, pull out and thrust the toy inside of her again because she was suddenly on the verge of begging to come.

“How many, pet?”

“Seven,” she said, not really thinking about the number, just shouting out the first thing that came to mind.

His gruff chuckle had the fine hairs on her arms standing up. Oh, God. Not enough, obviously.

“Did you pick seven because it’s your lucky number? Or because you really believe you only deserve seven?”

Leave it to Xander to want to clarify everything.

Damn Dom.

He knew her all too well. “It’s my lucky number, Sir.”

The vibrator seemed to settle deeper inside of her, but he didn’t pull it out, much to her dismay.

“Do you need to be fucked?” he asked her, surprising her with the change of subject.

“Yes, Sir.” That was an easy question to answer.

“How badly?”

“Very badly, Sir.”

God, she sounded like such a… submissive. But right at that moment, it seemed right. She wasn’t questioning her reaction to him. The fact that she was letting him tease her beyond mercy or knowing that there were probably a group of people getting off on her public humiliation.

The humiliation she was actually enjoying tremendously.

The fact that Xander seemed only focused on her was enough to allow her to give in to him.

For a brief second, the vibrations in her ass stopped completely, but she still felt the fullness from what she assumed was another vibrator in her pussy.

Doing her best to focus on her breathing, she wanted to try and gain some semblance of control before he…

“Oh, God!” she groaned as the vibrations started up again, this time in her ass, her pussy and against her clit.

“Come for me, pet.”

Coming on command had never been something she could even fathom doing, but the stimulation was such that she had no hope of staving off the orgasm that grew stronger and stronger until…

“Fuck yes!” she screamed as she came, thankful she was tied down because she was pretty sure she’d have been a puddle on the floor otherwise.

Chapter Nineteen

Xander wasn’t sure he’d ever been more impatient in his entire life. And he’d been wearing thin for longer than just the drive home from Devotion.

After delivering the fourteen licks that he’d determined – because, seriously seven wasn’t even remotely close to enough – to Mercedes’s beautiful backside, he’d made her come at least three more times in the process, but it wasn’t until the final orgasm that he knew he might not be able to make it all the way home before he had her.

It’d taken several minutes to rouse Mercedes after her last powerful orgasm, but once he did, he had quickly bundled her into his coat and then led her right out of the building, without saying a single good-bye.

At that moment, nothing had mattered except getting her home and spending the rest of the night buried deep inside of her. While he had helped Mercedes into the limo, Carson had gone back inside to retrieve her discarded clothing and returned promptly.

Although Xander would’ve been content to look at her wearing his coat and little else, she’d insisted on getting dressed in the car. Back into the stunning turquoise dress.

Sitting by and watching her had been an added bonus. The woman was so graceful, even when she was maneuvering into her clothing in a moving car with limited space.

As the car came to a final halt, Xander let out a long exhale.

About damn time.

Carson pulled the limo up in front of their complex and Xander didn’t waste any time before climbing out. Once again wearing the sexy dress, Mercedes insisted on walking although he would’ve preferred to carry her. Instead of arguing, because it wasn’t going to do him much good, he just took her hand and remained silent until they reached the front door of his condo.

Once inside though, Xander purposely ignored the fact that she had wanted to walk on her own, and he lifted her into his arms, paying absolutely no attention to her immediate rebuttal.

“Hush,” he ordered. “Keep in mind, you’ve probably earned a few more licks tonight. Enough to keep me busy for a while.”

Mercedes instantly quieted.

“Does it seem like this day will never end?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head against his shoulder.

Xander made his way up the stairs and to his bedroom without saying a word. If she thought the day had been interminably long, she had no idea how he felt right at that moment. Rather than deposit her on the bed like he would’ve preferred, he took her into the master bathroom.