His hand slipped faster up and down the pulsing muscle until he found the right rhythm. He thought about her in the bathtub, how quickly her fingers had worked to make her body come. The sliver of a thought raced through his head. Who is Tony, and what does he want with Lily? He filed the thought and let the fantasy of Lily wrap around his body like a soft, wet cocoon.
As his eyes squeezed shut, he imagined her stepping out of the painting to straddle his waist and slip her warm pussy around his cock. With one more hard thrust, he gave in to the release, semen spraying in hot jets over his abdomen. His ragged breath caught as he closed his eyes.
Lily Flower.
Chapter Five
Tony hadn’t kept office hours on Wednesdays since he’d met Lily. He threw the bag into the backseat of the black Mercedes and checked his watch. It was only ten o’clock. Would she be up yet? He fought the urge to call her and tell her he was going to be early. His stomach tightened at the thought of surprising her. Maybe he could catch her being naughty and punish her extra hard today. She’d enjoy that, he thought, as he stuck the key into the ignition.
The trip took only an hour but seemed like a lifetime when he was driving to see her. Looking into the rearview mirror, he caught his reflection. The dark circles under his eyes were fading. The argument Renee had started last night had something to do with them not making love in over three weeks, but after the first ten minutes of her stomping around, he’d tuned her out and began making a mental packing list for his trip today.
Zoning out the passing cars, he thought about Lily’s voice. She’d been so nervous on the phone when she told him about Nicholas’s brother. He hoped this man could accept Lily for who she was. The other prospects Tony had thought might bring her some happiness turned out to have weak stomachs when it came down to the task. He couldn’t risk letting her get hurt again.
He’d been elated when Nicholas moved into the stable house. Lily finally had a playmate she was comfortable with, and that gave Tony more time to get things under control at the office. The hours were brutal between call time and the operating room. He was tired and bored. At least having Nicholas around was a good for him and Lily. The visits at the plantation were always more relaxed when Nicholas was there to make them laugh.
Tony had needed that reprieve. Hell, he needed it now. The responsibilities between his career, Renee, and his sub were a scheduling nightmare. A good trainer could stand back and be objective, be in control, and make it work. A good trainer would not be stressed and bored. A good trainer could find a sub a responsible dom.
Tony knew his purpose. It’d been clear since that day he attended Lily’s lecture at LSU three years ago. Hell, his sister had given him one of Lily’s books as a birthday gift, and the urge to meet the author had been overwhelming. He had to have her.
And now, she was his student, almost ready for a steady dominant, but just not quite there. At least she seemed to think she wasn’t ready. And she needed more than he could ever give. She needed a man to love her. A whole man. A man who could love her back the way she deserved. He loved her. The ache in his heart every time he drove home told him that. But it wasn’t enough, for either of them. He’d trained many subs. Brought them to their knees with tear-drenching pleasure, opened their hearts and minds to the real reasons they needed to submit. His other subs had revelations and personal growth.
With Lily, she had made that transformation, and it wasn’t enough. She simply craved more than the pleasure he could give her. Tony felt lost. Lily was a true submissive, only existing to please her dominant and in turn find comfort. Lily needed stability, a dom who could be present every day. Tony couldn’t be that for her—that was never his intention. He saw a need in a beautiful woman and knew his special skills would make her life more fulfilled.
Unfortunately, his life had taken a sharp curve on a straight road. A growing medical practice, keeping up his relationship with Renee, and trying to continue to see Lily once a week were eating any moment of peace he tried to find. The time to slow down, make sure everyone was taken care of without losing his mind, was fast approaching. Hell, his life had already freight-trained over his ass, and he was too tired to get off the tracks.
It was time to move on, find a man who was willing to take more than just his place with Lily, someone who would love the woman he’d watched blossom into the perfect submissive. When Nicholas had moved in, Tony had hoped Lily would gradually come to rely on his discipline less and less. He needed her to see there was more to life than hiding in that big house and settling for a relationship that could never have a future.