Bound to Surrender (South Jersey Bound Series) Read online

  BOUND TO SURRENDER

  by

  Tess Lamont

  Copyright 2013 by Tess Lamont

  Kindle Edition

  ASIN: B00CA6KDOK

  Publishing History

  September 2010 Wild Rose Press, First Scarlet Rose Edition

  April 2013 Kindle Edition

  License Statement

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold. The author appreciates your support for her work.

  Dedication

  To Carolyn and Sue for all their support.

  PRAISE FOR TESS LAMONT’S SOUTH JERSEY BOUND SERIES

  BOUND TO BE MINE

  “Their chemistry is sizzling, the sexual tension palpable. A thoroughly sexy read.”

  ~Bella, Fallen Angel Review

  “The chemistry between Lisa and Ben gives the reader a taste of what can happen when two people are ultimately suited to meet each other’s needs…Needless to say, the bedroom activities in this book are not for the faint of heart, but contain lessons in loving we can all learn from. Ultimately, the question remains, can Lisa and Ben get past their past? You will have to read this book to find out, but as smoothly written as it is, that will be no chore.”

  ~Sky, The Romance Studio

  “I could not put the book aside until I knew what the end would be.”

  ~Gina Kincade

  “The story is well-written and progresses at a steady pace, which is wonderful in a novella this length. Ben and Lisa have an excellent chemistry, and their emotional scenes are both touching and heart-breaking. Be sure to place this story onto your TBR list, especially if you love a BDSM themed erotica with oodles of emotion.

  ~4.5 Cherries-Fern, Whipped Cream Reviews

  BOUND TO SURRENDER

  “…she did a wonderful job keeping my interest through all 80 pages. It is a must read if you want to enjoy an hour away from all the everyday pressure to go away into the lives of Christina and Bryce.

  This story is definitely a 5 Tea Cup and 3 heat index. The story makes you realize that submission and trust is needed to fulfill all your sexual desires.”

  ~Wendy, Happily Ever After Reviews

  “Tess Lamont has done an excellent job with this story. It is well written and holds your interest from page one. If you are looking for a quick read pick up this one. It's worth it. Great job.”

  ~Gemstone Review

  BOUND TO IGNITE

  “If you’re looking for a book with hot spanking and hotter sex, Bound to Ignite is sure to hit your fancy.”

  ~Violet, Whipped Cream Reviews

  “Bound to Ignite is a thrilling exploration into the world of spanking. I thought the author gave a refreshing take on the world of spanking, even though Eric has no experience she gives an honest take on what it would be like to try something new. An enjoyable read”

  ~Emily, Sensual Reads

  “Bound to Ignite will definitely heat up your reading time.”

  ~Starla Kaye, Got Erotic Romance

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Bound to Surrender

  Also Available

  About the Author

  BOUND TO SURRENDER

  Christina Welch thrust her key into her car’s ignition and gave it a turn, sighing as the motor hummed and the air conditioner sputtered to life.

  The short walk from the bank to her car had left her panting. Hot, still air stuck to the back of her throat like cotton candy. She shuddered. Outside, the temperature must have reached one hundred degrees. As usual, the South Jersey humidity made the heat feel closer to one-twenty.

  She closed her eyes and stretched. Cold air wafted over the long, thin column of her neck. The engine caused her seat to vibrate and a cool breeze swirled about her damp skin. A chill filtered through the thin, silk fabric of her blouse, perking her nipples.

  Shifting, she cursed her hormones. Revving her lust didn’t take much these days. Lately, she maintained a consistent, unintentional state of high alert. Her gynecologist had told her heightened arousal was normal at her age. But if, right at that moment, an attractive man had knocked on her car window, she would have considered eating him alive—at least once he was hard and ready.

  How could that be normal?

  She crushed her arousal and opened her eyes. Life as a single mother had made ruthless self-denial second nature and she didn’t believe in dwelling on what she didn’t have.

  She wasn’t going to get any action tonight, even if it was her birthday. She had more than most: a job she loved, a great kid, a home she could afford, and friends she could rely on. Five long years wasn’t that long to go without sexual satisfaction. And, lots of people celebrated their birthdays alone. She had things to look forward to, after all.

  Summer vacation had only just begun. Tomorrow, she would lunch with her friends Lisa and Jillian. Then, there was Lisa’s upcoming bachelorette party and wedding. After her friend was married, well, maybe she’d head down to the shore. She could rent a room somewhere in Ocean City or Brigantine. Warm ocean breezes might just help clear her head and soothe her body.

  She sighed and pulled her grocery list from her glove compartment.

  Milk, frozen pizza, cereal, bananas…

  Gah. Shopping while her son was staying with his father was never fun, but today, the thought of pushing around a half-empty cart and then cooking for one was downright unbearable. She crumpled the list and threw it onto the passenger seat. Today was her birthday, damn it. Grocery shopping could wait.

  What she could really use was a birthday treat: sweet, home-made ice cream from that little place in Medford and then home for sangria, a racy novel, and a long, uninterrupted session with her ever-ready vibrating friend.

  Christina smiled as she eased out of the bank’s parking lot, shrugging off self-pity’s clingy remnants.

  Happy Birthday to me.

  ****

  God damn, it was hot.

  Bryce Walker stopped at a traffic light. He leaned over his steering wheel and scanned the horizon for any sign of possible relief. Not one single cloud marred the summer-blue sky.

  He’d never get used to muggy South Jersey air. Not that he missed Southern California’s pollution, but Jersey weather would kill him, he was sure. A frigid, misty-gray winter gave way to a bright, sweltering summer with no relief in-between.

  He drummed his hands on his steering wheel, impatient for the light to change. Haze rose from the asphalt. The prospect of a long, lonesome summer loomed like a stretch of desert highway, without even a mirage of a woman to make things interesting.

  Bryce pursed his lips.

  He loved his high-school teaching and coaching job, but the long hours had left him little time for dating. With the less demanding schedule of summer break, maybe he could finally get some East coast action.

  Though not with one woman who had steamed his fantasies…

  Christina Welch, school librarian, had stoked his lust since the day they’d met. In the teacher’s lounge, she had flushed under his gaze and, more than once, he’d caught her eyeing him with barely concealed interest.

  He shook his head.

  He’d decided not to pursue Christina back in September. He didn’t want to risk his new job. Besides, he had too much respect for single mothers to dally. He couldn’t help, however, that the obviously undersexed librarian stole into his fantasies from time to time. Her flirty little dresses and silk blouses always clung in all the right places. He had lubed and stroked to her imagined naked body more times than he cared to admit.

  Bryce flexed his right shoulder and then tensed his m
uscles to ease the strain. He’d overworked at the gym. His pecs ached. The shower water that had cascaded over his well-worked muscles hadn’t cooled his body. Of course, his car’s broken air conditioner wasn’t helping and nor was thinking about the librarian.

  The light turned green. Bryce shifted into first and eased forward with traffic.

  He frowned. There was no way to hide from heat...not without air conditioning. His open window wasn’t any help at all. He should have fixed his car AC—not to mention the one in his apartment—when the temperature had been normal.

  The turn for his apartment complex came into view but he hesitated. Living in cramped quarters during the school year was one thing. At least then, he had things to plan and do. But he had no reason to go home now. When the year had ended, his efficiency had become way too small, and, if he was honest, too damned lonely.

  He drove past the gate. There had to be something else he could do, something cooling…

  His eyes settled on a sign ahead―Homemade Ice Cream. He’d never been to the small shop; ice cream wasn’t his kind of indulgence. One of his students had told him to try the place, saying, “You gotta go, Mr. Walker. You are ‘seriously’ missing out.”

  Who? Ah yes, Michael. The librarian’s son.

  He groaned. Why couldn’t he keep that woman out of his head?

  Bryce rolled his coup into the last available space in the strip mall’s parking lot. He forced his way through the wall of heat toward the entrance, yanked open the door, and stepped inside. Bells jingled as the door closed.

  Ah... air conditioning. Nice. Sugar smell further charged his senses. Perfect.

  A woman bent over the counter. The corner of Bryce’s mouth twitched. He’d recognize that round, full posterior anywhere—the ass he’d been avoiding all year.

  Fate: the topic of the final exams he’d just finished grading. Discuss the modern, Freudian idea that there are no accidents referencing Homer’s The Odyssey and any other work of art, film, or literature.

  Fate’s a bitch.

  He rocked back on his heels, glad he’d worn sunglasses. From his position, he could admire her shape at leisure while she considered the flavors. He thought of the nervous way she ran her hand through her hair when he stepped too close in the halls and the way she jingled her keys and stuck out her hip when they chatted after games.

  She needed flavor, all right. Flavor of a Walker kind.

  Any man in his right mind would have found Christina attractive, but instinct told Bryce they were compatible on other levels.

  He grasped the back of his neck and massaged.

  Michael had said he would be spending the summer with his father, leaving the librarian alone. With school out and Michael away, time was on Bryce’s side. A little flirting couldn’t cause real harm. If she shut him down, he swore, that would be the end, no worries, no hard feelings.

  He ignored the voice in his head saying his cock was calling the shots, and stepped beside Christina and leaned over, mirroring her posture.

  “I hear their vanilla is very good,” he said, “but if I were you, I’d be more adventurous.”

  ****

  With a bolt of awareness, Christina recognized Bryce Walker’s throaty baritone. As always, his voice sent chills up her legs. When she glanced sideways, the muscles behind her knees weakened.

  Eyes like his should be illegal.

  Her reaction to Mr. Walker was the exact reason that she’d avoided the man for months. Damn hormones. She could not control her body’s response to him, no matter how hard she tried. Every time they were within ten feet of one another, a shiver started somewhere behind her lower ribs and slithered down, pulsing in her sex and, eventually, forcing her to seek release—either by distraction or, more frequently, in the privacy of her bedroom with the help of her vibrator.

  She only had to look at Bryce to know he was not a man to be trifled with. She’d had her fill of overbearing males, thank-you-very-much.

  …but if I were you, I’d be more adventurous.

  His mischievous, sexy-as-hell smile stopped just beneath his sunglasses.

  Christina recognized his double-entendre, but offense would have been an act. Her body drummed the truth: she wanted nothing more than to pick up what he was putting down.

  Screw it.

  “Why hello, Mr. Walker,” she said, in her best librarian-voice. “I thank you for your advice, but I’d never consider vanilla.” She lifted an eyebrow. Their eyes locked and the pulse in her sex began.

  Bells clanged as another customer entered the shop. She turned back to the server.

  “Maple walnut, please,” she said, correcting her posture and straightening her skirt.

  “Cup or cone?” the teenage clerk droned.

  Bryce was standing way too close. His heat radiated through her blouse, contrasting with the cool sensation of the counter against her belly.

  “Cone, thank you.” On impulse she added, “and you know what else I want? Jimmies.”

  The clerk nodded, not bothering to glance up as he prepared her order.

  Bryce cocked his deliciously masculine head to one side. “Feeling reckless, Ms. Welch?”

  She shook her head no. “Indulgent, more like. Today is my birthday.”

  She wrinkled her nose. Why had she told him?

  “In that case―” Bryce turned and spoke to the clerk. “I’ll pay for the lady.”

  She thought of refusing, but to tell the truth, his gesture made her feel ridiculously pleased. Giddy even. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had bought her ice cream.

  The clerk handed Christina her maple-walnut. “You want something?” he asked Bryce.

  “Yeah,” Bryce smirked, “a single cone of vanilla.”

  “Hey,” she laughed. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as a vanilla man. I thought you said to try other flavors...”

  “Oh, I’ve tried other flavors,” he replied. “Once I know what I like, though, I stick with it.”

  Her breath caught and she swallowed.

  “Mr. Walker, you really don’t have to pay for me,” she forced herself to say.

  “But I want to,” Bryce purred, taking his own cone and handing the clerk cash. “Besides, it’s your birthday.”

  Bryce placed a warm hand on the small of her back and guided her toward one of the shop’s small tables. She missed his touch when she sat. He slid in across from her.

  “Happy birthday, Ms. Welch,” he said, his voice low as he leaned forward. “Any birthday wishes I could grant?”

  His eyes challenged her to respond.

  She swallowed a lick of ice cream and a cold sensation slid into her belly. Bryce was strong, virile, and clearly interested. Why had she kept him at arm’s length?

  Work. Michael. Oh yes, and the uncontrollable flame he stokes in my quim.

  Just as she was about to slow the whole thing down, her mind rebelled. Too much denial, it screamed, too much restraint. What harm could a little flirtation cause? She practically salivated with the need to seize what he was offering.

  “A wish, Ms. Welch?” Bryce prompted.

  “Mr. Walker,” she asked as her throat dried, “are you flirting with me?

  ****

  Bryce winked and lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. Was beer better cold?

  “I could be,” he said.

  Christina’s even, steady gaze set his pulse racing almost as fast as the sight of her ass at cock-level. If given the chance, he’d lay her down and pound the living daylights out of her sweet, hot pussy. He found every inch of her face kissable—her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, and the corners of her full, pink lips. But he wanted more than just a good lay.

  Perhaps that was the real reason he’d been avoiding her for so long.

  Bells rang as a group of teens entered. Christina sucked in. She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head in the direction of the kids. Turning, he recognized a few of their students.

  “Got it,” he said reluctantly. Se
duction would have to wait. “We’ll continue that conversation later.”

  “Thanks.”

  Subtle tension drained from her shoulders. His grin returned. Sharing a secret was kind of fun, even if the teens were too occupied with one another to spare them a glance.

  “So, how’s Michael?” Bryce asked, reclining into his chair.

  A shadow of sadness passed over her features. “Michael’s with his father for the summer.”

  “Ah.” He got the feeling she didn’t want to talk about her son’s absence. “Your kid’s got a hell of a swing.”

  “Yeah.” Christina smiled wide. “He loved being on your team, by the way. You’re all he can talk about—Mr. Walker this and Mr. Walker that. He’s going to miss you next year.”

  “The feeling is mutual. The team won’t be the same without him. Boarding school is it?”

  She nodded. “I held off through his freshman year, but Michael decided he wanted to give his dad’s alma mater a try.” She sighed pensively. “Now that he’s going, I wish I had made more of his games.”

  Bryce raised his eyebrows, surprised she’d feel guilty. Most parents hadn’t shown up at all.

  “You came to every home game we played,” he replied. He’d been acutely aware of her presence in the stands, particularly when a win had made his testosterone run high.

  “I wish I could have made a few of the away ones as well,” she said. “But, the library renovation made leaving early impossible.”

  “Are things going well on that account?” he asked.

  She nodded. “When we’re done, we’ll have the best technology lab in South Jersey. Kids grow up with the stuff now, and it’s so important to show them technology can be more than entertainment. It’s essential to education, to research...” Her voice trailed.

  “Don’t stop,” he urged.

  She lowered her head and glanced up through her lashes. “I get kind of passionate.”

  “I’ll bet you do.”

  She blinked, wetting her lower lip. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then glanced down and wrinkled her nose. “I’m melting.”