“Well, we can’t all be angels like you. Since opposites attract...” He gave her a tight smile. “In case you’re wondering, I’m not offended. Much meaner people have called me names far worse. Are you saying your safe word or giving yourself over to me?”

The fight left Gia. She lifted her hand to him.

“Just to be clear, you’re choosing to give your power to me, yes?”

“Yes.” She gritted her teeth. “Mr. Denning.”

Even though she’d given him the green light grudgingly, satisfaction still rolled through him. For the first time in nearly a year, he would finally have the gratification he’d craved—and he intended to take it. “Excellent.”

Wrapping his fingers around her forearm, he aligned her wrist with the cuff and snapped it in place. Now she was beautifully at his mercy.

“Are you uncomfortable physically in any way?” he demanded.

“No.”

“Do you have anything you want to say before we get started?”

“No.”

“And your safe word is…” he quizzed.

“Divorce.” Gia sounded as if she worked hard to shove down her anger.

It couldn’t be greater than his own, and he’d get to the bottom of hers when she felt more amenable to conversation. For now, he had something else in mind to remind her once and for all of the way a Dom/sub relationship worked.

“Good.” He reached into his nightstand and pulled out a sleep mask. It worked wonders when he needed shut-eye on bright Texas mornings…or when surly little subs needed an attitude adjustment.

When he lifted the mask to her eyes and fitted the Velcro strip behind her head, she gasped. “Jason, no.”

“Excuse me?” He injected sharp rebuke into his voice.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Denning…”

Now she sounded breathy and afraid, and he backed down immediately. Cradling her face in his hands, he pressed his lips to her ear. “I’m going to take care of you.”

She sucked in a shaky gulp of air. He could almost hear her mentally reviewing the months they’d spent as Master and slave, remembering all the ways he’d seen to her well-being then.

And slowly, her frozen muscles melted a bit. “Thank you.”

So she hadn’t forgotten the manners he’d taught her when playing with him. He smiled.

As he rose from the bed, Jason stepped back to admire Gia all spread out like a sacrifice, arms wide, innocent lace barely hiding her nipples and pussy from him, eyes covered and breath held, awaiting his pleasure. The sparkling shoes with their five-inch heels elongated her sleek legs. The idea of those shoes in the air while he fucked her turned him on.

With a grimace, he adjusted his hard cock in his jeans and made his way to the dresser to retrieve the goodies he’d left there. Once in hand, he sat on the edge of the bed next to her. God, he couldn’t wait for this.

“Open your mouth.”

Her breathing caught before the rate of her respiration picked up. Then slowly, she parted her moist, rosy lips. He’d missed kissing her so much, feeding his cock into that mouth and drowning in the warm heaven…

Shit, he had to stay on track.

He lifted the dish and dipped the spoon inside to gather a generous bite. Then he inched it onto her tongue and waited.

As soon as the taste hit her buds, she wrapped her lips around the spoon with a moan that fired his blood and sucked the utensil clean.

“You like that?” A grin tugged at his lips as he scooped up more of the confection for her.

“It’s amazing,” she hummed, her face lax with pleasure. “You remembered?”

“That chocolate mousse is your favorite, yes. I remember everything.”

She tensed. Jason weighed his next options, but he’d done enough cornering and hounding her for the moment. She knew the score. Now was the time to coax her.

He raised the spoon to her lips again and nudged her wider. Gia didn’t hesitate, but eagerly took the mousse into her mouth once more. “I think that’s the best I’ve ever had.”

Because he’d hunted down a five-star rated chef and paid the man a small fortune to make this just for her. If he was going to coerce her into spending nearly three weeks with him, he had to show her some of the perks. This was a start.

“I think I’d like to try some, too.”

Rather than giving her time to ponder his declaration, Jason set the dish and spoon aside, then reached for the buttons holding the baby-doll together between her breasts. One, two, three, they all came undone without a fight. He pushed the sides of the filmy garment apart and exposed the sight he’d been craving since he’d last taken her on their wedding night.

Beauty came in all shapes and sizes, but he was a breast man. And Gia had just about the most beautiful he’d ever seen. Round, firm, on the large side but not disproportionate. Dusky tips surrounded by inch after inch of unblemished olive skin. Just perfect.

As the cool air caressed Gia, her nipples tightened. His mouth watered. With a feral grin, he dipped his finger into the mousse, then rubbed the dark, sugary cream on her distended tip. So the other didn’t suffer indifference, he covered it as well.

Gia’s small hands curled into fists and she bit her lip, but arched toward him, begging him without a word to ease her ache. Jason gladly complied.

He bent and cradled one breast in his palm, lifting it toward his mouth. The scents of chocolate blended with the succulent musk rising from her skin. As he took one sugary nipple in his mouth, her flavor intoxicated him. She made him dizzy with her sweetness.

Fucking hell, he’d missed Gia. No woman smelled or tasted or affected him the way she did. After nearly two decades of sex for the sake of sex, he knew the difference. And as he laved her peak, licking off every morsel of the chocolate goodness, Jason wondered how he would ever do without her again.

As he sucked on the hard tip of her breast, a whimper slipped from Gia, as if she couldn’t hold her reaction in. He refused to let her. She forgot that he knew her body way too well to hide from him. But he’d remind her.

He nipped at the sensitive crest of her breast, then drew on her, sucking hard. She gasped as she tossed her head back with a thump against the headboard. Before she could absorb the pressure of his mouth, he pulled back enough to grip her wet nipple between his thumb and forefinger. As he squeezed, he latched onto the other breast, capturing the hard tip against his tongue and eating off the chocolate while feeling her nipple harden even more.

“Jason…”

His wife’s voice sounded somewhere between a moan and a plea. He drank it in, letting the little sigh resonate in his head and swirl together with all the unique things about Gia that left him hungering for her. But he had a point to make now that wasn’t about his pleasure—as much as he wished otherwise. Time to remind her exactly who—and what—he was.

Jason pulled back, withdrawing his fingers and lips, removing all stimulation. “Not ‘Jason.’ Try again.”

Her brow furrowed. Her lips pressed together. Gia was confused and frustrated. Clearly, she wanted more pleasure. He withheld. Maybe now she could understand a fraction of what he’d endured for nearly the past year.

“Mr. Denning,” she finally gasped out, arching her breasts even closer to him. “Please…”

“Better,” he praised before he took her nipples in his mouth again, one after the other, savoring the soft skin of her breasts with his fingertips.

The starch that had stiffened her muscles since she’d walked through his door melted more with every pull of his mouth on the candy-hard crests. He could smell her now. The tang of her arousal filled his nostrils and made his blood boil. Every time he had Gia under his power, she fired him up like no woman ever had. Feeling her now warmed him like the sun after a long, cold winter.

But after what seemed like a thousand freezing seasons without her, he needed more.

With a growl, Jason fitted his hands around the little straps over her hips and ripped her thong away. He lay his palm over her bare pussy, letting her feel the claim he had placed here long ago. Then he ground the heel of his hand in a tight circle, directly over her clit. To his great satisfaction, she spread her legs wider to him, granting him even more access to her secret flesh.

He’d been wrong earlier. His wife didn’t just intoxicate him; she held him spellbound.

“Gia, baby, I’ve missed you,” he blurted.

He nearly bit his tongue off. No way should he admit that. The truth gave her power. He had to watch himself, somehow not get lost in her.

With a mewl, she lifted her hips to him. He sank his fingers between the velvety folds of her cunt, dipped his fingers into her wetness, and he caressed her clit. His slow rub had her writhing as he awakened the nerve endings under the hood of her flesh. Then he withdrew.

“I’ve missed you, too. Don’t stop,” she begged.

Wondering if she meant that or merely said what she thought he wanted to hear, Jason massaged her clit again, more circular motions that hardened the little bud and had her bucking closer for more. “Tell me who else makes you feel this way.”

“No one,” she breathed out.

Gia had admitted as much before they married, and he’d hoped the same was still true. “Who else has touched you like this in the last year?”

As he brushed her nerve-laden bundle again, she whimpered. “No one.”

“You haven’t let anyone pet this pretty pussy since me?” He wanted to hear her admit it again. He ached to believe it.

Jason softened his touch, concentrating the rhythmic cadence exactly where she wanted it, taking her closer and closer to the edge of pleasure.

“No,” she gasped out. “Even when I saw you with other women in the newspaper, I couldn’t…” Her thighs went taut, and she gyrated, trying to take him deeper. “I couldn’t do it.”

She thought he’d been unfaithful? That grated on him. It would probably be wise to let her think it, but where his wife was concerned, he had yet to make a damn logical decision.

“I attended benefits and art showings with ‘appropriate’ dates for one good cause after another. I smiled as photographers snapped pictures. I did not take anyone to bed.”

Gia turned her head away and tried to draw her legs together to shake off his touch. “You don’t have to lie.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “So why would I bother? Nothing in our prenuptial agreement prevents me from fucking someone else. But I didn’t.”

Around the edges of the mask, he could see her brows furrow together. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why?” He ripped the mask away. “Because you think I’m a deceitful playboy who chases one piece of ass after another?”

She blinked, readjusting to the light and focusing on him. “I wouldn’t have married you if I thought that.”

Jason raised a brow at her. “Do you think I cheated because you’re not special enough to inspire fidelity?”

“N-no.”

He sat back on his heels. The denial had come out, but he didn’t believe it. He wasn’t even sure she did.

“Then tell me why you think I’ve been playing musical beds.”

Rolling her shoulders back and crossing her legs, she shut her eyes and refused to meet his gaze. “I assumed you’d moved on with your life.”

The way she’d moved on with hers. Damn it. He should probably do the same, but now that he had Gia here, he wasn’t convinced he could ever let her go.

Jason grabbed her chin. “Look at me.”

Her mouth twisted and her nose reddened as she fought tears. “Can’t you just take what you want already?”

So she could hate him for it later? No. She seemed to think he merely saw her as a body to fuck. Or that he didn’t care about any pleasure but his own. If they were going to make any progress in the future, he needed to set the record straight now.

Hovering over her, he plunged one hand into her hair and tugged until he captured her gaze and her mouth trembled directly under his. He thrust two fingers into her weeping pussy and prodded her clit with his thumb. As she gasped and her body opened to him again, almost as if against her will, he slammed his lips over the soft velvet of hers and fused their mouths together.

Hell, he couldn’t inhale her fast enough, take her deep enough. As he shoved his way into her mouth, sweeping inside for a devouring kiss, Jason reveled in the fact that he touched her, penetrated her. He meant to do it again—frequently—lap at her flavor and drink in her reaction. He’d listen to each little breath and eat up every inch of her surrender over and over until she was completely in his hands and under his control again.

Pumping his fingers in and out of her as he swept through her mouth, Jason waited until an aroused glow suffused his wife, until she held her breath and her legs twitched, until she fought her restraints and kissed him with abandon. Then he jerked away, staring hard at her beautiful flushed face.