“I love you, too, Master,” she whispered with a brave smile.

  She watched as Quinn lifted his glass of champagne. Expecting him to take a sip, she was startled when he tipped the flute and spilled the icy-cold bubbly over her sweltering folds. She yelped and jolted, but when he dipped his head between her legs and started lapping the chilly liquid from her pussy, Ava closed her eyes and moaned.

  Lost in the sensation of his masterful tongue, flattened and laving the champagne-mixed- juices from her core, she marveled at his strong hands that gripped her thighs. Quinn held her open for his pleasure…and hers, and Ava didn’t care if the waiter returned. Hell, she didn’t care if the Dallas Cowboys football team sauntered in and circled the table to watch. All that mattered was pleasing Quinn.

  Again, a trail of frigid liquid trickled down her sex, followed by the searing heat of his wicked tongue. As he licked and slurped the bubbly trail, her flesh warmed quickly from the heat of his mouth. Helpless, Ava rocked and writhed, whimpering pathetically as he ate at her like a madman. He thrust his tongue inside her fluttering tunnel while his thumb circled her pulsating clit. She issued a cry, then gripped her fists in his hair. Ava’s eyes rolled back in her head. All she could do was hold on while Quinn tongue-fucked her to oblivion.

  As he drove her to the edge, hard and fast, she arched her hips. Her breathless pleas echoed all around her. Quinn greedily imbibed her cunt and her control as he flung her headlong toward the peak of release. And as the familiar tingles of orgasm prickled outward, engulfing her limbs, Ava screamed out a plea for help.

  But instead of granting her permission, Quinn stopped and raised his head.

  Her eyes flew open wide as she watched him stand. A look of command lined his face as he licked her slick cream from his glistening lips. His eyes were glazed in need, and beneath the zipper of his dashing, formfitting tux, Ava spied his massive erection all but bursting to be free.

  “No…oh, god. No. Please, Master. Please. You can’t leave me like this,” she whimpered.

  Quinn arched a brow as he pinned her with a dubious stare. “Oh, but I can, my love. And I just did.”

  A string of obscenities lay on her tongue. Ava clenched her jaw to keep them from rolling past her lips as Quinn tugged the sodden napkin from beneath her. After folding the front of her dress back over her wet and throbbing sex, he extended his hand and helped her off the table.

  Ava’s entire body trembled as unmet demand careened through her veins. When she went to stand, her knees nearly buckled out from under her, but Quinn snaked a strong arm around her waist before helping her back to her chair. He sat down across from her once again, and Ava dropped her gaze to the white linen tablecloth. Tears of frustration stung the backs of her eyes as she sucked in short, quivering breaths. How could he be so heartless…so mean…so damn tormenting? Where had his warm, loving, compassionate side gone?

  “Look at me, princess.”

  Ava balked. She knew the minute her eyes locked with Quinn’s he’d see the ugly emotions swirling inside her. It was at that instant that the waiter chose to return. She was thankful that he’d not reappeared a few seconds earlier, but also for the reprieve of Quinn’s scrutiny. She needed a few quiet moments to wrangle her unsubmissive attitude.

  Seemingly oblivious to either her or Quinn, the waiter kept his head tucked down while arranging a platter of plump, pink shrimp in the center of the table.

  “Ava. Look at me,” Quinn demanded in a sharp, stringent tone. “Or I’ll invite Brice to stay and observe all that I have planned to do to you next instead of stealing glances of you from the kitchen.”

  She jerked her head upright. Darting a startled glance between the two men, Ava watched a slight, guilty smile tug the corners of the waiter’s lips. Quinn studied her reaction with a laser-sharp eye before leaning back in his seat and crossing his steely arms over his wide chest. Damn him. Even his movements held a masculine kind of gracefulness she found arousing. Still, it did little to soothe the dejection and anxiety humming inside her, nor erase the embarrassment warming her cheeks knowing that she’d been watched.

  Chapter 6

  Quinn was miffed that she chose to remain silent still, but the pink hue rising on her cheeks and the flicker of lust dancing in her eyes told Quinn that Ava was both mortified and turned on. While he had no idea if Brice had spied or not, Quinn honestly didn’t care. Ava’s conflicted reaction divulged how deep her exhibitionist streak truly ran. He arched his brows and held Ava’s gaze while Brice refilled their glasses with champagne, waiting for her response. But she said nothing, only blushed a deeper shade of crimson.

  Quinn waited until the waiter turned and walked away before issuing a heavy sigh. “Your submission shouldn’t embarrass you, love. The desire to please shouldn’t be hidden away like a dirty little secret, but worn proudly for the whole word to see. Hopefully before dinner is through, I can somehow convince you of that.”

  Ava nodded, nervously eying Brice until he was out of sight. “I know, I’m just afraid of what—”

  “Of what people think?”

  Quinn knew what insecurities lurked in her psyche. Over the years, he’d managed to vanquish many of her fears—most of them unrelated to the lifestyle—but now he wanted to eradicate the ones that held her prisoner from basking in their power exchange. He had to be certain she was with him for the long haul before the rest of his plans could be carried out.

  “I’m not afraid of what people will think of me, Master,” she declared, lifting her chin. “I’m afraid to inadvertently embarrass you and fail you in public. We’ve gone to great lengths to keep our relationship under wraps. I’d hate to do or say something to reveal our secret.”

  “Have you let it slip yet, girl?” he asked, ready to erase the worries she offered. “Have I ever once had to reprimand you for your behavior or comments?” She softly shook her head. “No. Have you ever failed me? Absolutely not. Do I think you might someday? Maybe, but I seriously doubt it. Do you want to know why?”

  A glimmer of hope sprang over her face. “Why, Master?”

  “Because the first night I saw you at Club Genesis—which, by the way, we are going to start visiting again, weekly—I saw the deep level of submission glowing inside you. Even when that prick, Kerr, tried to coerce you into scening with him and Mika stepped in, you held yourself with poise and grace,” Quinn praised as he forked a shrimp from the plate and bit it in half.

  A wry chuckle slid from her lips. “I wasn’t exactly poised or graceful when I stepped into your office that following week, thinking I was interviewing with a stranger. The minute I realized it was you, I turned nearly turned tail and ran out of your building.”

  Quinn threw back his head and laughed. “That was one of the biggest oh my god moments of my entire life. I nearly swallowed my damn tongue when you came through my door. But when I saw how flustered and nervous you became, I could only focus on taking control and calming your fears.”

  She flashed him a wide, sexy smile. “And you’ve never stopped, Master. I think I fell in love with you a little bit that very day,” she confessed shyly.

  “It took you that long?” he asked in feigned shock. “I fell in love with you the first time I saw you at Genesis, my pet.”

  “You did not,” she laughed.

  “I did, too,” he protested with a laugh, loving the playful banter between them. “I knew the minute I felt the overwhelming urge to rearrange Kerr’s face that you’d instantly climbed inside my heart.”

  A flattered smiled curled her lips, and her eyes sparkled with happiness and pride. All through the scrumptious meal, they laughed and talked the way they used to when their relationship was new. It was a welcome respite for Quinn. He’d set aside all the pressures from work that loomed over his head and simply relaxed. He realized not only how easy it was to love Ava, but also how much he missed spending quality time—like this—with her. Proving even more that he needed to take charge and include this type of freedom to decompress with her each and every day.

  When Brice returned with the dessert tray, Quinn watched as Ava’s eyes lit up when she spied a decadent mountain of chocolate-black cherry cake.

  “I’ll take a cup of coffee and a slice of the chocolate cake, please,” Quinn ordered.

  The waiter turned to Ava. “And for you, ma’am?”

  Just as she opened her mouth, Quinn, shook his head, then glanced back at the young man. “She’ll take her dessert under the table, and we wish to not be disturbed, if you please.”

  Ava sucked in a tiny gasp, but Brice didn’t even acknowledge her reaction. Instead, the young waiter held Quinn’s gaze and issued a professional nod. But as he turned to leave, the poor lad couldn’t help but smile before striding away.

  Quinn could almost feel the wheels spinning in her mind as Ava sat nervously nibbling her bottom lip. Good. He wanted her thinking…but on something other than embarrassment or her own self-confidence. He wanted her to string the meaning he’d intended behind the gloves engulfing her hands and her confinement, soon, beneath the table. She was a smart woman… She’d figure it out. At least he hoped she would.

  Quinn cleared his throat. Ava lifted her eyes, leveling him with a pensive stare. His veins filled with the warmth of command knowing he’d ripped all semblance of security out from under her. Yes. That’s what it was going to take for her unequivocal trust in him.

  “Leave your gloves on and climb beneath the table. Position yourself on your knees at my feet, then release my zipper. You will take my fat cock into your sweet, hot mouth and worship it with every submissive cell in your body until you suck me dry.”

  Her moist, pink tongue slowly slid over her bottom lip. Quinn nearly embarrassed himself before she’d even had the chance to crawl under the table. God help him, the sultry minx would test his resolve to the nth degree, but he’d denied himself the pleasure of her velvety mouth long enough.

  Ava stood, her body stiff and filled with apprehension. Quinn flashed her a lurid grin.

  “Enjoy your dessert, my love. If you please me…as I have all the faith that you will, I’ll save you some cake.”

  She gave him a jerky nod before sweeping a long, nervous glance around the room. Ava sucked in a deep breath. Pride and lust pumped through his veins as he watched his brave and beautiful sub disappear beneath the table.

  If Quinn had told her, while she was getting dressed, that by the end of their meal Ava would be on and her hands and knees beneath the table of a five-star restaurant to give him a blow job, she would have laughed in his face. But now, on her knees with her eyes quickly adjusting to the light filtering in from under the tablecloth, staring at the slab of cock packed within his trousers, Ava didn’t find an ounce of humor in her predicament. Nothing but a calm sense of serenity and purpose filled her.

  Quinn spread his legs as she rested her butt on her heels. “You may begin,” he instructed.

  She hated the fact that she couldn’t gaze up to see the hunger etched in his face…watch his eyes darken as she slid her tongue over his bulbous crest. He rocked his hips. Yes, Quinn was obviously running out of patience. And why wouldn’t he be? He’d granted her permission to orgasm earlier. Quinn had been suffering now for hours and must be nearly bursting at the balls to come. Ava wanted nothing more than to put him out of his misery.

  As she placed her gloved hands on the tops of his knees, his body heat leached through the fabric. She found the barrier between them cold and callous, making her feel almost alienated from him. She didn’t like it. Ignoring her longing to actually feel his calming heat against her fingers, Ava leaned in and gently pressed her lips to the insides of his thighs. She slowly began working her way up both sides of his legs as she savored his heat against her lips.

  “Your kisses are sweet, my pet. However, I don’t remember instructing you to dawdle, did I?” Quinn asked in a low, sexy drawl.

  “No, Sir,” Ava replied with a smirk, weighing the thought of planting one more kiss before she got down to business. She loved tormenting him whenever she had the chance. Unfortunately with Quinn’s Dominant mien, she rarely got that chance.

  Reaching up, she released his leather belt and the top button of his trousers before carefully easing the zipper down. Holding her breath, Ava cupped his shaft in her gloved palm and eased his swollen erection past the metal teeth as his blood-engorged cock burst free. With a soft sigh of appreciation, she sat back on her heels and took several long seconds to simply gaze at his mouth-watering member.

  It was hard, thick, and ribbed with copious veins, and his need reflected in the glistening bead poised at the tip of his wide crown. His pungent masculine musk hung so heavy within her shrouded cave Ava could almost taste him on her tongue.

  Wrapping a gloved fist around his ready erection, she bit back a growl. The inability to feel his flesh irked her. With an inward groan of disappointment, she lifted her other hand and cupped his heavy sac, easing his balls from their confines as well. Heat rolled from between his parted legs like the summer sun, but it wasn’t enough. Ava ached to feel his hot flesh in her hands.

  “Your coffee and a nice thick slice of our trademark Chocolate Sin cake, sir.”

  Ava froze when the muffled voice of the waiter seeped under the table. Suddenly Quinn’s words came thundering through her brain: The desire to please shouldn’t be hidden away like a dirty little secret but worn proudly for the whole word to see. A wicked notion popped into her head, and Ava forced down the evil giggle bubbling up inside her. She planned to show him exactly how proud she was to be his submissive.

  Opening her mouth wide, she plunged over his wide cock, taking his massive length all the way to the back of her throat in one big gulp. Quinn jolted, and a noise that sounded like a cough mixed with a moan rumbled from deep inside his chest, seemingly strangling in his throat. Ava released his cock with a soft snicker.

  “Thank you,” Quinn stated to the waiter, recovering quickly from her surprise attack.

  “I’d extend an offer for you to enjoy your dessert, but I have a feeling you already are,” Brice quipped with a chuckle.

  “Like you can’t fucking imagine,” Quinn replied wholeheartedly.

  Pride suffused Ava all the way to her toes as she opened once more and engulfed his glistening shaft. Quinn reached beneath the table and cupped the back of her neck, pressing her lips to the base of his cock. The cropped pubic hair tickled her nose, and long seconds passed as the breath trapped in her lungs began to burn. Silently alerting him to the fact she was running out of air, she gently rolled his balls in her palm, wishing she could feel his thin, soft skin ripple as it grew taut.

  As Brice’s footsteps retreated, Quinn loosened the grip at her nape. Ava slid back and inhaled a great gulp of air before sliding the tip of her tongue up and down his rippled veins. She could feel his thundering heartbeat pulsating on her tongue. Her pussy clutched as if jealous over his attention directed to her mouth. Licking him from stem to tip, Ava marveled not only at his addictive taste but at the power contained beneath the skin of his steely cock.

  Flattening her tongue, she curled it around his bulbous crest, pausing to nibble and suck the sensitive spot beneath the heart-shaped flange. His clear, free-flowing emulsion dripped past her lips and onto her tongue. Lost in the velvety slick textures, Ava issued a contented sigh.

  “Be aware, the more you toy with me, girl, the longer I’ll make you suffer once I get you back to our room. Trust me. You won’t like it, either,” Quinn warned with a growl.

  Several seconds later, a tempting moan vibrated through his body and reverberated over her busy lips.

  “This cake is sinful, pet. Of course nothing can compare to your sweet mouth. However, if you don’t stop taunting me and suck the come from my aching balls, I won’t leave you a damn morsel.”

  Ava couldn’t care less about cake at that moment. She was too enthralled with pumping her mouth up and down and swirling her tongue over every inch of him. All she wanted to do was feel his hot seed erupt down her throat.

  Her pussy wept and her body tingled. Flames of desire licked up her spine and singed her veins while the stupid gloves distracted her more with each passing second. She hated how they stole her connection to Quinn. Yes, the sensation of him on her tongue was euphoric. Still, worshiping his cock this way felt muted and dulled, taking from her enjoyment. Why did he insist she wear the damn things anyway? They were stifling and confining like the veil of linen encasing her in this private tomb.

  Ava longed to strip the irritating fabric away, toss the glove aside, and lay her bare hands on him…drink in all his familiar and exotic textures. She wanted to throw back the tablecloth, as well. The fact that she couldn’t watch the pleasure flutter over his face only increased the growing chasm disconnecting her from him. Though disenchanted, she didn’t stop servicing his cock with gusto even while the act felt sterile and void of their loving and sensual bond.

  Quinn had spent a great deal of time and money planning their special time together, but why? What did he seek from her? What did he expect to gain from this impersonal, near public display of her submission? As a litany of questions careened through her brain, she dutifully sucked and swirled, determined to bring him all the pleasure she could give.

  “Deeper, princess. Take me down that silky throat of yours.” Ava complied as Quinn groaned. “Swallow around me…oh, yes. That’s it.”

  His gravelly tone left no doubt in her mind that she was indeed pleasing him, but without seeing the visible rapture on his face, shards of isolation pierced her heart.

  The linen cloth separating them felt like a solid wall of marble. If Quinn wanted her to wear her submission proudly, for the whole world to see, why had he hidden her beneath the table? His words and actions clashed, like enemies on a battlefield. How could she openly bask in her submission while keeping their professional reputations free from jeopardy? It couldn’t be done.