The Dare Collection April 2020

She looked back at me. ‘And if I don’t like any of it?’

I’d prepared for her refusal and I knew what I was going to say. ‘Then you don’t have to. But—’ I paused, holding her gaze ‘—I would love to see you in something pretty, Little. Because I think you would love it too.’

She shifted on her feet, clearly uncomfortable. ‘I don’t like this kind of stuff, E, you know that. I don’t like shopping and girly things…’ She faltered, her gaze sliding to the rails again.

‘Yeah, I think you don’t like it because of all the bullshit your aunt put in your head. I think you’d love to put on some pretty lingerie for me, to get yourself feeling all sexy and hot just to tease me.’

She continued to stare at the clothing on the rails, the flush in her cheeks deepening. ‘None of these things are going to fit me…’

It was strange how much I wanted her to do this for me. Or maybe it wasn’t strange. Maybe I only wanted her to be able to see herself the way I saw her—tall and strong and beautiful. A complete fucking goddess. I wanted to get all that shit her aunt kept telling her right the hell out of her head.

‘Yeah, they will. All the lingerie in the store right now is your size.’

That made her look sharply at me. ‘What?’

‘I made certain that everything on the rails right now is stuff that fits you.’ It had been a precaution; I wanted nothing in here that might potentially get in the way of her enjoyment of this. And I knew if she allowed herself this she would enjoy it.

And so would I.

Her gaze narrowed. ‘How?’

‘I asked them to.’ I allowed myself a slight smile. ‘One of the benefits of being a billionaire.’

Freya snorted, but when she looked around again her gaze was more appraising.

‘Well?’ I didn’t want her to know how much I wanted her to say yes. Shit, I didn’t know how much I wanted her to until this moment. ‘Or will I have to order you to do it?’

She turned that appraising look on me. ‘You’d like to see me in something like this? Pretty lingerie?’

‘Yes.’ I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans. ‘In fact, right now, there’s nothing I’d like better.’

‘Hmm.’ She gave me another look, making everything inside me draw strangely tight. ‘I guess I could try something on.’

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Freya

HE LIKED THAT. I saw it in his eyes, the familiar blue spark of desire catching alight. And that made me feel good too.

In fact, the past couple of days had involved nothing but pleasing him by going on the trips he’d organised for me. And when I knew I’d pleased him I felt pleased too. It was a little closed circuit of pleasing each other, the good feelings flowing back and forth between us in perfect harmony.

Of course, it wasn’t only about pleasing him. I’d really enjoyed the trip to the Tower and Windsor Castle. And it had been super cool to be on the yacht at night, watching the lights of Tower Bridge move overhead as we went underneath it, feeling his fingers close around mine as he held my hand. And the theme park had been amazing. I’d decided I’d let him arrange the trips, but under no circumstances was he to buy me anything and…well, I’d caved as soon as I’d seen some cool wands. They’d been expensive—nothing I’d normally buy for myself—and he’d been very pleased to get them for me and so I…simply hadn’t objected.

But this…this felt different. This wasn’t a souvenir of a cool place or tickets to a tourist attraction, but something I would wear. Something specifically designed to make me look sexy. Oh, yeah, and pretty and feminine too.

I didn’t know why I felt uncomfortable about it. Actually, no, I did know. It was all exactly as Everett had said. It was about the bullshit my aunt had put in my head about my size and my height. How unlike a woman I was, as if that was something to be ashamed of. And I’d thought I’d got over that years ago, that I was comfortable with myself, but…yeah, I wasn’t. And the thought of putting on lingerie, of trying to be pretty and sexy for Everett…

The way Everett was looking at me was very intense. He’d said it would make him happy and I could see that he hoped I would do this.

I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. We only had another couple of days to go anyway so…why not? And the truth was I was kind of excited to do it. Everything here was in my size, which meant I wouldn’t have the humiliating experience I’d had as a kid of being way too big for their biggest size, and my aunt rolling her eyes as I told her nothing here fitted me. ‘You’ll need an adult size then,’ she’d said. ‘That’s going to be expensive.’

That was me. The size of an adult woman at twelve and ‘expensive’.

Breaking his intent stare, I turned and went over to one of the rails, looking through the sets on the hangers. They were…pretty. Very pretty. In lots of different colours, some lacy and some not. Silk and satin and velvet. Bows and hearts and sequins.

I liked them, I realised. And more than that, I wanted to wear them. I wanted to put them on and see what I looked like. And then I wanted to turn around and watch Everett’s face as he saw me in them.

A hot streak of desire spiked in my blood, my mouth going dry at the thought. Would he like what he saw?

You know he will.

Yeah, he liked my naked body and he’d never made any secret of how much. The way he looked at me, the way he touched me, making me feel beautiful and sexy and feminine…

Oh, hell. Why was I hesitating? He was going to love this.

My hesitation disappeared and I gave him a flirty look from over my shoulder. ‘Anything in particular you want to see?’

His blue gaze burned as it met mine. ‘Something really skimpy. And lacy and frilly.’

‘They’re all lacy and frilly.’

‘Then anything.’

Guys. They were all the same.

Smiling, I turned back to the rail and took a handful of hangers off, then headed toward the very luxurious-looking fitting rooms. Each of them had stained glass doors that cleverly hid most of what was going on behind them, while revealing enough to be a little sexy and provocative.

There was a couch opposite, upholstered in rich gold velvet, and Everett sprawled down in it, stretching his long legs out, his gaze on me. ‘You don’t need to close the door,’ he suggested. ‘I told the shop assistant to take some time off. It’s just you and me in here.’

I grinned, stepping into the fitting room. ‘Bold of you to assume that I’d be into just you and me being here.’

He gave me a very intent look. ‘Fortune favours the brave.’

A shiver went down my spine. A very good shiver. Because if there was something I knew about Everett Calhoun it was that he was both brave and bold and, given that we were alone in here, I was thinking he wasn’t going to let me leave without at least ordering me to do something to him.

Well, I was more than okay with that.

Firmly closing the door—he could use a little anticipation—I stripped off my clothes and held up the first piece of nothing. Green silk and gold lace that hid precisely zero. I pulled a face but telling myself nothing ventured, nothing gained, I pulled it on.

It fitted beautifully, just as he’d promised. But it was very revealing. It was mostly just lace so my nipples were clearly visible and so was my pussy, the bit of string between my butt cheeks not covering a damn thing. The waistband had a frill, which seemed utterly pointless, and for a second I caught myself wondering what the hell I was doing putting this crap on.

But I shoved the thought aside. I was doing this for Everett, because he would take pleasure in it, and not for any other reason.

There was a full-length mirror inside the fitting room but I didn’t look at it. I wanted him to see me first.

Taking a breath, I pushed the door open and stepped out into the store.

As soon as he saw me his eyes went wide, the blue spark igniting into flame, and the doubts that had settled in my head were abruptly gone. His hands went to the couch cushions as if to push himself up and out, but I held up a finger. ‘Uh-uh,’ I murmured. ‘You stay there.’

I didn’t expect him to do as I said, yet he froze, staring at me. Then, after a second, he relaxed back against the cushions, his gaze moving in a slow, steady sweep over my body. ‘Are you gonna tease me, Little? Push me? See how far you can take me with that sexy body of yours?’

There was so much appreciation in his look, in the husky sound of his voice that any remaining shreds of doubt vanished.

I took a couple of steps toward him then stopped. ‘Oh, dear, I think I dropped something,’ I murmured. Then I bent down, letting my plait fall over one shoulder, giving him a really good view of my cleavage, before straightening again.

He was sitting there, ostensibly relaxed, but I could see the tension in his posture. I could also see the rapidly growing bulge in his jeans.

I smiled, slow and sexy, coming close to him before moving around him, reaching out to trail a casual finger across his chest and then, as I walked behind the couch, across his shoulders. ‘Is this frilly and sexy enough for you?’

He turned to watch me, tracking my movements as I circled around the other side of the couch. There was a hungry expression on his face and he reached out as I came to stand in front of him again, his palm possessively cupping the back of my calf. His skin was hot, the touch sending electricity crackling through me.

‘Tease,’ he growled. ‘There’ll be trouble if you keep doing that.’

Anticipation had begun to coil deep inside me, making my breathing get faster. I could see how much he was enjoying this and it made everything feel so much more intense for me too. And it was becoming very, very clear how much I enjoyed pleasing him. Because in pleasing him I was pleasing myself.

‘Uh-uh, no touching,’ I murmured. ‘Not unless you don’t want the blow job I have planned for you.’

He gave another growl but let me go, and I grinned, backing away toward the fitting rooms again.

Once the door was closed I took a shaky breath, feeling the burn of excitement coursing through me. Then I turned around and looked at myself in the mirror, trying to see what he saw.

A tall redhead in frilly green and gold lingerie, pale skin, pink nipples and the flash of red curls between my thighs. My cheeks were flushed and there was a definite sparkle in my eyes.

I looked… Yeah, okay, I looked sexy. I certainly felt sexy, especially remembering how intensely Everett had stared at me.

Reaching behind me, I pulled the elastic band out of my plait and shook out my hair, letting it fall in thick red curls down my back. I didn’t need my hair down to look sexy, I realised, but it was nice to have it free, nice to have the brush of it on my skin, enhancing all the other sensations.

Excited now, I carefully took off the green and gold silk, then reached for a teddy in deep blue silk. Again, it was basically lace, my body completely visible beneath it. There must have been some kind of silver thread in the lace because there was a slight shimmer to it, a sheen that followed my curves as I moved.

Holy crap, Everett was going to love this one as well.

I turned once more and pulled open the door, putting my hands on my hips and striking a sexy pose that for once wasn’t ironic.

He was sitting forward on the couch, his fingers loosely linked between his knees. It looked casual but the way his gaze raked over me was anything but.

‘Fuck,’ he muttered and there was even a note of reverence in his voice.

I strutted over to him, getting right up close, daring him to touch me. And he did, putting out one of those big warm hands and sliding it up my hip and along my side, his fingers brushing the underside of my breast.

‘Oh, dear,’ I murmured, shivering under his touch. ‘That’s not allowed. Do that again and there’ll be no blow job for you.’

There was fire in his eyes, the dominant nature I’d grown to adore rousing—and rousing hard. But he was obviously getting off on me teasing him because he did what I said, pulling his hand back. ‘Doesn’t work that way, baby,’ he said roughly. ‘Giving me orders is only going to end in a spanking.’

I blew him a kiss. ‘Promises, promises.’

Beginning to back away toward the fitting room again for the next change, I was brought up short by his hand wrapping around the back of my knee, his gaze bright and blue and sharp. ‘You don’t need the fitting room. Change right here in front of me.’

Another streak of heat shot through me, but all I did was raise an eyebrow. ‘Haven’t you ever heard of the benefit of anticipation?’

Apparently, though, I’d come up against one of his boundaries because he only shook his head. ‘Do it.’

In spite of myself, I looked toward the door of the store because, even though we were the only ones here, it was still a store. And people could come in at any time. The windows were curtained, but still…

‘Don’t worry about them,’ Everett ordered in a low voice. ‘The only person you have to worry about is me. And how to please me. And right now what would please me is to watch you strip naked in front of me.’

My breath caught and I was pushing the straps of the teddy off my shoulders before I knew what I was doing, easing it down and stepping out of it.

Everett leaned back on the couch, his gaze sweeping over me and lighting fires wherever it rested. ‘Beautiful. Absolutely fucking gorgeous.’ He didn’t take his eyes from me. ‘On the rail closest to the fitting room is a sexy gold playsuit. I want you to put it on for me.’

I blinked. Okay, it was something I hadn’t picked up yet he’d obviously had it in mind for me.

Over the past few days he’d conditioned me into obeying him so I turned without protest and went over to the rail, conscious of the air moving over my bare skin and the silky rugs on the floor under my feet.

It was instantly clear which particular item he was talking about.

It seemed to be made of nothing but gold ribbon that fastened behind the neck and travelled down the body in a kind of harness linked by gold hoops. Delicate golden chains adorned with crystals were fastened between the ribbons, clearly designed to highlight a woman’s curves.

It was beautiful and delicate and I was sure I’d break it the second I stepped into it.

‘I can’t wear that,’ I said, holding it up and looking at the delicate structure. ‘I’ll destroy it as soon as I put it on.’

‘No, you won’t.’ His voice was a deep rumble of sound behind me.

‘E, come on. I’ll—’

‘I had it made especially for you.’

The words fell into the space around me, each one echoing weirdly. He’d had it made…for me? This beautiful, delicate thing was actually for me?

Slowly, I turned around, forgetting entirely that I was naked, meeting his intense blue stare. ‘What?’

His stare didn’t even flicker. ‘When I said everything is in your size I meant they were made for your measurements. And that includes the playsuit.’

I didn’t know why that felt confronting, but it did.

‘E, that’s stupid. Come on—’

‘Bring it here.’

There was no resisting him when he was in full-on Dom mode, at least not for me, and I found myself walking over to him before I could even think twice about it.

When I reached him, he took the playsuit from me, divested it of its hanger and held it up for me to step into. There was something about the way his strong capable hands held it, carefully and delicately, that made my whole body tighten.

He was looking at me with that challenge in his eyes, the one I recognised whenever he gave me an order he knew I wouldn’t like. Daring me to do it.

And the tight feeling in my body crept all the way up to my heart.

He’d done this for me. He’d filled this store with pretty, frilly things that were made just for me. Not for anyone the same size as me, but for me. They were mine.

I’d never had anyone do that for me before. Not one single person. Not since my mother had died.

My eyes felt scratchy, like there was sand underneath my lids, and my throat ached. It was stupid how a store full of tailor-made lingerie made me feel this way, but it did. And of course it would be him, because he was Everett and he’d always cared.

Then something in his expression softened, as if he could see the ridiculous emotional moment I was having. ‘You’re going to look so beautiful in this,’ he said quietly. ‘I can’t wait to see it on you.’

Still, I hesitated, desperately trying to swallow the massive lump in my throat.

And this time Everett didn’t issue any orders. He only said, ‘Please, Freya. For me.’

It was the ‘For me’ that did it. Because, of course, I’d do anything for him.

‘Give it here,’ I said thickly.

Everett shook his head. ‘Let me.’

How could I say no to that?

Trying to pull myself together, I let out a breath and put my hands on his shoulders to steady myself as I stepped into the delicate structure of chains and ribbons and crystals. His hands were gentle, smoothing the ribbons against my skin and adjusting the chains, handling me this time as if I was just as delicate as the playsuit he was dressing me in, and for some reason that made my eyes prickle. Those hands could be rough and hard, delivering both pain and pleasure, yet I hadn’t thought they could be gentle too. Holding me as if I were a precious thing.

I blinked hard, trying to ignore my flailing emotions as he settled the metal bits against my skin, then adjusted a few things before fastening the ribbon that connected it all together behind my head. Then he sat back and began to carefully arrange the chains so they framed my breasts and curved around my hips, before spinning me around and arranging them to drape over the curve of my butt.

Then he spun me around again so I was facing him and leaned back on the couch, his gaze travelling over me achingly slowly, from my knees all the way up my body until he was looking straight into my eyes. ‘You,’ he said simply, ‘are a fucking goddess.’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Everett

I KNEW THE moment we’d walked into the store she was going to look fantastic. And she did. The chains lay against her pale skin, beautifully framing her perfect tits and the curve of her hips and thighs. The crystals glittered in the light and the chains gleamed, drawing attention to every female part of her, from her hard, pointed nipples to the fiery curls between her thighs, again framed by the chains and ribbon that circled the top of each thigh. Red hair cascaded over her shoulders and her eyes gleamed like emeralds.

Sensual. Beautiful. Powerful. Intensely female.

But she was more than that. She’d put that bodysuit on, even though she didn’t want to, even though I hadn’t ordered her to, and she’d done it for me. Because I’d asked her to.

I was so fucking hard I ached, but that wasn’t the only thing aching as I’d carefully adjusted the bodysuit against her skin. There had been tears in her eyes when I’d told her that everything in this store was for her, and I could see how much that had meant to her. It had made my chest ache, and it shouldn’t.

We only had another couple of days together like this and afterwards that would be it. We’d go back to being friends again. But the way she’d looked at me, those tears in her eyes… Shit, could we ever go back to being just friends?

You don’t want just friendship from her, admit it.

I forced that thought away and ignored the aching sensation in my chest. Because it was a moot point anyway. I couldn’t offer her anything more than friendship and that was the bottom line. It had always been the bottom line.

She might think I wasn’t my old man’s son through and through, but she didn’t know what I’d done to him. And she’d never know, because I couldn’t bear her to look at me differently. I couldn’t afford for her vision of me to change, because then I’d have nothing to aim for. Nothing to aspire to. Nothing to live up to.

I needed her to believe that I was a good man, because if she didn’t then all that was left for me was that potential, the seed of violence I knew was planted deep inside me. That would grow if there was nothing to keep it at bay.

‘See?’ I said roughly, looking into her pretty face, letting my total and utter admiration and appreciation of her show. ‘It didn’t break. And you look incredible.’

She flushed, the chains glittering along with her heightened breathing. ‘I’m a bit afraid to move in case they do.’

‘But they won’t.’ I nodded toward the fitting room. ‘Go and look at yourself in the mirror.’

‘E—’

‘Please.’ I didn’t often say that word, but it came all too easily with her. ‘I want you to see what I see when I look at you.’

She let out a breath, clearly reluctant. But then turned toward the fitting room and walked slowly into it. Yeah, she was doing all of this for me, making the pressure in my chest get even worse.

I wanted to see what was in her eyes when she finally saw her reflection, so I pushed myself out of the couch, coming to stand behind her as she looked at herself in the fitting room mirror.

A crease appeared between her brows as she stared at it, and she bit her lip, the crease deepening the more she stared. I took another couple of steps until I was close and then I trailed my fingers down her sides, disturbing the chains and making them glitter, sending the crystals swinging. ‘See how the ribbon and chains outline and frame your curves?’ I murmured. ‘And here…’ I lifted my hands to her breasts, cupping the warm weight of them gently. The chains pulled over her nipples and she shivered. ‘See how they frame your breasts too? You look stunning.’

Moisture glittered on the ends of her lashes, powerful emotions shifting in her green eyes as she met my gaze in the mirror.

I stilled. ‘Little…’

‘No one ever did anything like this, E,’ she said, her voice soft and faintly hoarse-sounding. ‘No one ever did anything that was for me, to make me happy. To make me feel good. Aunt Helen only did things for me when she was forced to and she was always pissed off about it. And I know why. She didn’t want her sister’s kid forced on her and I don’t blame her. She already had three kids of her own, and then she got lumped with me.’

My chest felt like a boulder was sitting on it, because the pain in Freya’s face I could feel inside myself too, a stab right through my heart.

She’d always told me she didn’t care about her aunt’s opinion of her, but I’d known how much bullshit that was. So I’d tried over the years to do things for her so she knew that I fucking cared about her and that her aunt’s opinion mattered for shit. But it was hard to help someone who kept insisting there was no problem.

Except right now, here, that insistence was gone, and the fact that she cared, and cared deeply, was written all over her face.

I settled my palms on her stomach, pulling her close, holding her against me so she was in no doubt. So there would never be any doubt ever a-fucking-gain. ‘Well, you didn’t get lumped with me,’ I said flatly. ‘I chose you to be my friend, Freya Johnson. And I will always choose you. Every single fucking time.’

Her eyes were liquid, glittering like the jewels on the chains against her skin. ‘Why? Why would you do that?’ She sounded like she genuinely didn’t know. ‘Why the hell would anyone want me?’

I stared at her, a hot, fierce sensation sitting in my gut. ‘Haven’t you been listening? Haven’t you heard a single word I’ve said to you over the years? What your honesty and your humour and your loyalty have meant to me?’

Red crept through her skin. ‘I…’

‘No, you haven’t. Because you’re too busy telling yourself you’re fine. Too busy telling yourself you don’t give a shit. Too busy listening to other people who don’t care about you when you should have been listening to the people who do.’ The words were far too strong and far too vehement, but they were out now and I couldn’t take them back.