by Tessa Bailey
“I think I’ve got it.”
Austin slid onto the stool beside Polly. “Am I to see school pictures of Polly with missing teeth? Or a ballet recital video? I’d be satisfied with either.”
Polly had the simultaneous urge to punch Austin in the shoulder and hug him tight. His lord of the manor behavior might be irritating on the surface, but it meant he wasn’t hiding. And that made it wonderful. “You’ll see nothing of the sort. I was born with all my adult teeth and the battery died on the camcorder. Every single time.”
“Now. That’s not entirely true,” her father turned from the stove to say. Gone was his affable expression, replaced with one that said business time. It was so unexpected that even Austin gave a low whistle that was cut off when her father continued. “But you have to earn the right to see those things, and you’ve got a long way to go. I’m not a man who judges others without getting to know them, mind you, but I think you know that you’re a special case.”
Austin nodded, his confidence visibly slipping just a touch. “I do know that. Please feel free to ask me anything you wish.”
Her father blew out a breath. “Well. I’ll have to make a list, won’t I?” He lifted the tea bags to his nose and smelled them. “Since I want Polly to come back without an extended hiatus next time, I’ll only ask one question and save the rest until then.”
“Please,” Austin prompted, folding his hands on the breakfast bar.
Drake looked shaken for the first time in a long, long time. So shaken, it forced Polly to fight back tears. “I—we knew. Kevin and I, after five minutes in her company, that we would have to stand back and watch her life unfold. That we couldn’t unfold it for her. So I know better than to interfere with what she deems her life’s mission. I trust her. Which is why you are in my house right now.” He picked up a mug and set it back down with a click. “I can feel something coming. Tell me my daughter won’t be hurt.”
Austin was silent for long moments, void of all sound save the flame roaring beneath the kettle. “Polly is the most capable woman I’ve ever met. I never wanted to be the macho asshole that steps in and plays the hero, because she’s her own hero. And even knowing that, knowing I’d go side-by-side with her into any battle, I would accept my own death before I allowed her injury. Protecting her is something that gives me purpose, and it doesn’t listen to logic.” His penetrating stare hit her with the force of a cannonball. “She’s untouchable as long as I’m breathing.”
The teakettle started whistling, continuing until her father flipped off the burner, although Polly was only semi-aware of the action. Because Austin. He captivated her so completely, movement was impossible. Love him. I love him. I love him. I love him.
Her father cleared his throat. “Tea, anyone?”
…
Polly woke to the sound of heavy breathing. Hers? Between her legs, a thrumming beat echoed with delicious persistence. Her palms sweated, even though the air conditioner bathed her body. The passenger-side window of the car vibrated beneath her head, signaling the car’s movement, but it was nothing compared to the rasping intakes of breath picked up by her left ear. Not her breaths.
Cracking an eyelid open, she saw that evening had fallen and they’d exited the interstate, now winding their way through the streets of Polly’s neighborhood, Logan Square. Attempting to get her bearings, she rolled her neck and sat up, muffling a gasp in the sleeve of her borrowed jacket when the seat belt rubbed over her stiff nipples.
The sound of labored breathing once again filtered through the residual exhaustion fogging up her head, bringing her attention to Austin where he sat in the driver’s seat. Her spine snapped straight at what she saw. His upper lip was beaded with perspiration, his jaw tight enough to shatter. He stared straight ahead, navigating the streets with a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
“You were moaning in your sleep,” Austin said, so low she could barely hear him over the car’s engine. “Moaning my name…rubbing your legs together. For me. I called you mine in your father’s house, and you’ve accepted me. You…want me back.”
They slowed to a stop at a red light and he turned eyes that blazed on Polly. Sleep fled as they tracked a path over her exposed thighs, telling her without looking that the dress had ridden up in her sleep, or perhaps she’d lifted it herself, tempting him even in an unconscious state. “I should have pulled over, hiked up that meet-the-parents dress, and fucked you against the side of the car. But I liked hearing you need me. No, I…I love it. I love it. Your needs are my needs. And I won’t breathe or think or sleep until I’ve satisfied them. Twice.”
Polly had grown damp during Austin’s speech, the seat’s leather upholstery pressing against the underside of her mound. Her own breathing matched the tempo of his now, their urgency in sync as he gunned the car through the green light. Polly was thankful for the encroaching darkness because in her current state, she would feel indecent in the light of day. The dream she’d been having came back to her in graphic snippets, turning her nipples to tight peaks inside her dress. “Nothing looks familiar,” she breathed, watching her neighborhood speed by. “Nothing looks the same anymore when I feel like this.”
She wasn’t making any sense, but Austin’s hand left the steering wheel to squeeze her knee, telling her without words that he understood. And that was all that mattered. Finally, they turned down her block, bringing her building into view. Employing the same precision with which he did everything, Austin parallel parked alongside the curb and exited the vehicle to open her door. She studied his offered hand in fascination for a moment, amazed that it appeared to be an ordinary hand when she knew how he could use it.
“Help me breathe, Polly,” he grated.
Polly shook herself and slid her fingers onto his palm, gasping when he yanked her out of the car, into his side. He hastily locked the doors and led her to the building’s entrance, his footsteps brisk and familiar. But different. Because everything was different now. The way he’d been watching her ever since his declaration in her father’s kitchen…it wasn’t simply lust and fascination anymore. At first, Austin had appeared a little unsettled by his own vehemence, but it hadn’t been long before his demeanor had begun to own the words. Grow more powerful within them. Primal possessiveness had been present in every mannerism, every flare of emotion in his eyes.
As soon as they were off the street and ascending the stairs, Austin’s touch was beneath her dress, one strong hand molding her bottom.
Polly stumbled on the stair, gripping the wooden banister for balance. “I can’t concentrate on walking when you’re doing that.”
“I drove the last forty miles with you moaning fuck me Austin from the passenger’s seat.” He swatted her backside. “You can make it three flights.”
Dented pride spread a blush down her neck to shade her chest, but it was cut with perilous arousal. Since their physical relationship had begun, she’d been the one making the calls. Saying she’d enjoyed being in charge was a vast understatement, but this Austin, the demanding one who was abusing her bottom in his grip on their way upstairs? The one who commanded her libido at will, without apology? Yeah, she was starving for him, too. A week ago, this kind of treatment wouldn’t have flown with her—not from Austin—but she trusted him now. Trusted him enough to let the control he’d granted slip from her hands into his.
A wave of anticipation speared up her legs to manifest between her thighs as they stopped outside her apartment door. Austin’s gaze was riveted on her neck, but he didn’t devour her the way she expected. His hesitation was obvious in the taut lines of his frame, although he clearly wanted to pounce. He still thinks it has to be on my terms. She couldn’t wait to strip him of that notion.
They both flinched when the peephole across the hallway darkened, a wooden floorboard creaking. Either Erin or Connor was watching, their vigilance typical for any of the wary squad members, and serving Polly’s new purpose at the same time.
Refusing to second-g
uess the impulses that felt so right, Polly pressed her back up against the door and beckoned Austin closer. There was only a momentary flare of surprise before he pounced, forcefully conforming his rigid body to her softer, pliant one. “You crook your finger at me, little Mistress,” he breathed at her temple. “You better have a satisfying demand to make when I get here.”
Hyperaware they were being watched, knowing this was her chance to claim Austin as her man in front of the squad who’d made him persona non grata, Polly traced her mouth across Austin’s stubbled cheek. “I can make demands,” she whispered, their mouths brushing. “But only if it pleases you.”
Austin ceased breathing, but the rest of him pulsed with urgent, renewed energy. “What is this?” His voice was rubbed raw. “Don’t play games with me when I’m this hungry. My life’s plan starts and ends with getting my cock inside you.”
Swaying under the tingling blast of desire, she positioned her mouth over his. “If you’re so hungry, maybe you should kiss me.”
A line snapped inside Austin. He devoured her like a starving man, dry-humping her against the door as his tongue invaded with greedy strokes. She never wanted him to stop, could hardly think past how easily the bulge pushing between her legs could drive her to a climax. But she had to focus. There was so much that needed straightening out. Without breaking the kiss, Polly fumbled with her keys, turning them in the lock, allowing them both to crash into the apartment. Austin kicked the door shut, rubbing a hand over his swollen mouth. His eyes were bright, feverish as he strode in her direction.
Polly held up a hand, halting him in his tracks. “W-wait.”
Attention locked on her like an unrelenting magnet, Austin unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the ground. His lip curled in satisfaction when Polly gulped at the sight of his magnificence. “You take ownership of me in front of them and then ask me to wait? Do you have any idea how eager to please you I am right now? After what you did?”
“Yes, I know,” Polly whispered, reaching behind her back to unzip her dress. She let it flutter into a pool at her feet, emboldened when Austin’s smirk crumbled. She hadn’t been wearing a bra, and after he’d destroyed her panties with his teeth, had zero coverage to speak of. “I know you want to please me, but you deserve to have me just as desperate to please you. And I am.”
Apprehension shaded his expression, but his bravado found its place just as quickly. A potent dose of nerves assailed her. Why was he ignoring her obvious efforts? Had she waited too long to give him the same trust he’d given her? Nothing could stop her from watching as Austin made short work of his belt. His movements were uncharacteristically clumsy as he lowered the zipper and drew out his substantial erection, teeth clenched as he fisted it. “Is it to your liking, Mistress?”
Polly worked to calm her breathing, to no avail, her head light with the temptation of him. It would be so easy to take the offered reins and continue along the same albeit gratifying path, but they couldn’t exist inside it forever. She didn’t want to. Not when they could be something even better. Something lasting. “I gave myself an orgasm before I left for Roanoke.” Her confession released in a single gust of breath, her words stunted by the anger that instantly shuttered his features. “After the way you touched me in the hallway, I had to—”
“Excuse me?” Austin moved toward her in slow, measured steps that were far more daunting than a full, barreling sprint might have been. His nudity made him larger, more real. Right there. Raw, sexual male animal with a score to settle, and the utmost capability to do it. When he reached her and didn’t stop, Polly had no choice but to back away until her bare bottom was wedged against the kitchen table—halting her progress. “That rule was set in goddamn stone,” Austin enunciated. “I was very clear. Break it and all bets are off.”
“So?” Lust dug its claws into her stomach. “What are you going to do about it?”
His head tilted to the left. “Turnabout is fair play, don’t you think, sweet?” Polly’s mouth went dry as he fisted his fat erection. Roughly. His thumb circled the head as he completed a choking slide of his grip. Such a tiny detail, and yet it caused yearning to weigh down her loins. An all-consuming requirement to be filled by his steel flesh. Have her body thrust into. Austin made a sound of misery at whatever he saw in her expression, closing his eyes. “I can’t even look at you while I fuck myself or I’ll spill everywhere before you’ve had a chance to suffer.”
Heart twisting, Polly shook her head. “You don’t want to make me suffer.”
“No, I don’t.” Austin shouted, releasing his distended arousal to advance on her, coming so close she bent backward over the table. “I don’t. But what else do I have? You stole the only way I know how to keep you.”
“No. No, that’s bull, Austin.” Her instinct was to hold him, pull him close, but if they touched in this state of frustration, they would give in to their attraction, and nothing would get solved. “You said all bets are off? Fine. That’s what I want.”
“I don’t understand,” he said, voice vibrating. “I thought you wanted control.”
“That’s what you told yourself, but it wasn’t just about me. You needed me to punish away your guilt, and I won’t do it anymore.” Swallowing her dancing nerves, Polly slipped her fingers into his hair and looked him in the eye. “What you gave me…I love how it made me feel. How it brought us together. But I won’t ever do it again—not until you stop feeling like you deserve it. You don’t.”
She couldn’t read him for long, scary seconds, his face carved from stone as he scrutinized her. Relief filtered into her chest when he finally responded. “You have no idea what I’d do to become even slightly worthy of you, Polly. Even if every failed attempt shaved five years off my life, I’d jump in headfirst every time.”
God, she was staggered under the weight of that confession, but it was a weight she wanted. Needed. “You don’t have to do anything. You’re already there,” she breathed, shaken. But it wasn’t enough. “I don’t always want to be in control. Sometimes I need…really need it to be you.”
Fire sparked in his eyes, his nostrils flaring. She felt rather than saw his hands curl into fists at her thighs before they lifted to grasp her hips in an unforgivable grip. “Shall we start by evening the score, then?” Her world blurred into a series of colors as Austin spun her around, shoving the upper half of her body face-first onto the kitchen table. She only had time to glimpse the wooden cooking spoon she’d left on the table a second before he picked it up, the movement almost thoughtful. His heat left her only a moment before she felt the unmistakable sensation of smooth wood sliding down her back. It lingered at her bottom a moment before Austin struck it against her flesh, eliciting a sharp slap. “I will still receive the occasional punishment, when it’s what you need. But there will be times where I reciprocate. Are we in agreement?”
“Yes,” Polly managed, excitement careering through her veins. “Agreed.”
“That’s very good, sweet, because I’ve already got one lined up.” Austin’s fingers tangled in her hair, holding her cheek down against the cool surface. Again, the spoon landed with a smack against her backside. “This is for being born with an ass that turns men, including me, into animals.”
Her fingers curled on the table. “Y-you’re punishing me for something I have no control over?”
“I never said my reasons were rational.” With one wing-tip-clad foot, he nudged her feet wider, leaving her with nothing to hide. “When it comes to you, I don’t possess a single rational thought. I’m 100 percent fucking irrational over you.”
When she felt the concave smoothness of the spoon cup her core, a perfect fit, she whispered his name, eyes squeezing shut. “Austin…”
“Symbolic, isn’t it? Since I’d eat your pussy for every meal?” He flipped the spoon over, moving it in a gentle sawing motion, smoothing the wood over her clit. “But we were talking about this ass of yours, and I’m far from finished. It’s flexing for me right now. Do you e
ven notice it? Or did the gods build that feature into you hoping it might torture me to death?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”
The spoon cracked against her flesh, bringing forth a rush of moisture between her legs. “I’ve made a study of your ass, sweet, and it’s not enough to say men want to fuck you when they lay eyes on it. No. They want to rut. They want to take you on your hands and knees in the dirt, in front of their friends.” The spoon hit the floor, bringing Polly’s head up, but she had little time to prepare before he applied a condom dug from his pocket and drove his thick length inside her, robbing her of anything but the ability to scream. “Were you aware of that, Polly?” His words were growled into her hair. “Were you aware of men coveting you in such a way that I suffer, just watching you walk down the street?”
“No,” she croaked, reaching behind to grab his hip and urge him to move. Instead, he clasped her wrist and pinned it at the small of her back.
“You’ve attracted the scariest animal of all, haven’t you?” He reared back and gave her several rough thrusts, driving Polly to the brink. As if he sensed her impending climax, Austin slowed his movements. She began to protest until she felt his mouth lay a soft kiss at the center of her back. “You’ve attracted the kind of animal who won’t rest until he’s mated you for life.”
Her breath shook out, tears swimming in her vision. Austin slid his forearm beneath her belly, lifting her up and back against his damp, heaving chest, cradling her like a precious treasure. She felt his tongue and lips kissing her neck with such passionate focus, she went up on her toes to get closer, giving him the angle he needed to drive himself into her with measured pumps, hips rolling behind hers with breathtaking skill, his erection pushing deep, thick, deep. His arms were wrapped so tightly around Polly’s body, her breath escaped in hiccups that were echoed by his throaty groans. But she didn’t care about her lack of oxygen, because one big hand massaged its way down her stomach to tease her clit, stroking in time with their undulating bodies…and the storm broke. It didn’t crack like lightning this time, but was even more devastating, submerged as it was in honey. Release moved through her, rich and full, like a distant rumble of thunder. Her stomach and thighs shook uncontrollably, tiptoes straining to hold her weight on the floor.