Her eyes flashed with hesitation. And outrage. And interest.
He could see her fighting herself as she trembled. The air around them snapped with electricity. He waited, hoping she’d give in to what they both wanted.
And finally, head high, she headed up the stairs. He waited until she was partway up before speaking. “Fallon.” She halted on the stairs and glanced over her shoulder at him and he could have sworn desire rippled through her. “Don’t wear anything underneath it.”
FALLON WONDERED if she’d lost her mind. Because she was going to do exactly as he asked. And while earlier, she’d thought to cooperate with the hopes of possibly intercepting some of his technical data for her country, she didn’t kid herself now. She wanted to do as Kane asked for the sheer pleasure of doing so. Just thinking about wearing her long, lace gown for him caused her mouth to go dry and her belly to pull with anticipation. While Fallon had never done anything like this before, if the idea of wearing that gown for him aroused her, she couldn’t imagine how much more exciting she’d find the actual act itself.
When she couldn’t bring herself to agree to his bargain, he’d taken the choice from her. She supposed if she wanted to be ill again, she could attempt to leave him, however, she’d much rather don the lace gown and see where her actions led.
So once she reached her room, she shucked her jeans and T-shirt and only hesitated at her panties and bra before those items joined the rest. And after she shimmied into the five thousand dollar Chanel nightgown, she figured it was worth every penny. Standing in front of her mirror, she fluffed her hair and grinned in satisfaction. The gown revealed streaks and slashes of bare skin but still covered all the essentials. And she looked damn good in it. She watched her diet, exercised regularly, cross training between cycling, running and swimming. Still, she took a deep fortifying breath before heading back downstairs.
She knew so little about Kane. But her lack of knowledge made what she was doing all the more thrilling. Especially since she found him so attractive. And for once, she was going to forget her responsibilities and throw caution aside—even forget she could still hit the panic button. Because the idea of being totally at his mercy excited her more than any danger she’d ever placed herself in as an agent.
Chin high, she walked down the stairs, the lack of undergarments allowing her body freedom. Her breasts swaying against the lace felt decadent and decidedly perky as she anticipated Kane’s reaction.
Kane leaned back in the couch, his attention on the television, but apparently sensing her presence on the stairs, he looked up and caught her gaze. His bold stare raked her, and at her sudden hesitancy, his lips curled in cool amusement. Her flesh tingled with pleasant awareness, encouraging her progress. Seeing the satisfaction glimmer in his eyes that she’d done exactly as he asked caused her pulse to accelerate. He didn’t even pretend to divert his attention back to the television. As she advanced, each step toward him becoming more difficult, she realized that she’d agreed to their bargain in every way but words.
“Come.” As if sensing her second thoughts, he held out his hand and gestured for her to join him. Determined to go through with whatever he requested, she placed one foot in front of the other and crossed the last few steps. He remained seated and opened his hand. In his palm was a shiny disk about the size of a dime. “This is part of the new technology I was telling you about.”
“What is it?”
“A body buff.” He held it out to her.
She picked up the innocent-looking disk by the edge between thumb and pointer finger. “What does it do?”
“It’s a multipurpose invention. Right now its primary purpose is to groom you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Once you place it flat on your skin, the program takes over. It can’t hurt you, and it won’t do anything you don’t want it to do.”
“My thoughts control it?”
“Not exactly. Mine do.” He shot her a challenging grin. “I programmed it to groom you the way I prefer. However, you can always override my decision if you don’t like what the body buff is doing.”
“I don’t know…”
“You must learn that I understand what you want and will give that to you.” He plucked the body buff from her fingers and placed it flat on her palm.
Curious but uncertain about what the gadget would do, she didn’t protest. The disk in her palm tingled pleasantly and of its own accord slid up to her neck—where it divided in half, then scooted back to her fingers. She held up her hands and watched as the disks each cleaned, buffed and polished the nails of one hand with a plum-colored polish that dried upon contact.
“Amazing.” She admired the buff’s handiwork as it moved back up her arms and onto her face. She turned to watch her transformation in the mirror about the hearth. The body buff applied glitter over her cheeks, applied gloss on her lips and smudged eyeliner in a perfect line by her lashes. Automatically she closed her eyes and felt the featherlight touch of the disk over her lids while the other disk brushed blush on her cheeks. When it finished, she opened both eyes and stared at her reflection. It had applied a plum mascara and a soft sea-green eyeshadow. Never had she looked quite so exotic. Although she’d been made up by some of the best cosmetologists in the world, this coloring suited her skin exactly.
“Wow.”
She wasn’t quite done admiring the nifty device when the buffs promptly plunged below her neckline where she couldn’t see them. Immediately, the dual disks began to circle her breasts. Beginning at the outermost edges, the devices made a circuit over her skin, each circuit spiraling closer toward her nipples.
“Oh…my…God.” The sensation startled her, first with a wonderful warming, then a vibrating tingle. “What—”
“Relax. You’re enjoying the sensation or the buff would stop. It’s programmed to read your body’s signals.”
The prickling in her breasts was wonderful. Terrible. Arousing. And as the buffs glided over her skin, she felt them applying oil that seemed to make her flesh even more sensitive. “But what is it doing to me?”
“You may lower the gown to look if you like.” He laced his hands behind his head. And then he waited to see if she would reveal her breasts—but she wasn’t comfortable enough to stand in front of him and bare herself.
And then the disks found her nipples, and she almost jumped out of her skin. “Ah…it’s cold…now it’s hot.” She gasped as pleasure shot right to her core. Kane was staring at her breasts, her nipples now budding hard with arousal right through the lace material. Without thinking, she began to raise her hands to cover her reaction.
“Do not hide your pleasure from me.” His tone was not a request, not quite a demand.
She dropped her hands to her sides and wondered exactly when she’d lost the desire to do anything except what he commanded. Obeying his wishes made her realize how quickly he was conditioning her to submit to his orders. What she hadn’t understood was how much she would like it. She adored his attention on her, loved the way her body was heating up. One by one he was taking away her choices, liberating her so she had nothing to do but enjoy. He was directing the body buffs for her pleasure and it…was…good.
Not having a choice was setting her free to enjoy the sensations. Her breasts had never felt so tender, so achy, so feminine. But even better than the physical sensation was the idea of being so totally at his mercy.
“You like the body buffs on your breasts, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And do you know why it’s called a body buff, not a breast buff?”
“Because it buffs the entire body.” As soon as he led her thoughts to other possibilities, the body buffs dropped from her breasts to her stomach and skipped right down to her mons. And just like her breasts, they outlined the perimeter of the area.
But the vibration was very different. Her skin was…“Oh…my…are they shaving me?”
“Most of you.”
Kane’s eyes locke
d on hers and the intimate look combined with the knowledge of what his devices were doing made her legs weak. And yet, the sensations were indescribably delicious, tickling, gentle, softly mesmerizing. And since she liked it, they kept right on doing what they were doing.
Kane’s eyes twinkled. “Want to look?”
Yes. “No.” Because that would mean he would look, too. And the idea of standing before him while his device performed such intimate tasks on her caused heat to flush her face.
“Spread your legs wider so the buff can do a proper job.”
She complied and her voice rose in surprise. “It’s…sliding right…oh…oh.” One of the buffs had slid into the crease of her butt and was slowly going up and down and driving her insane. The other was sensuously gliding over her lips. Then one pulsing disc settled right on her clit. And the other in the most sensitive spot between her butt cheeks.
“Where are they now?” Kane asked, his tone demanding.
“You…know.”
“Tell me.”
She clamped her teeth down, refusing to answer. Kane acted as though he expected her resistance. He opened his hand and held out another disc. “By now your breasts could probably use more attention.”
Was he doubling the sensations because she hadn’t immediately answered him? She had no idea. But she was in no condition to resist him again, nor did she want to. Instead, she took the disk, placed it on her palm and it immediately scooted up her arm, divided in half and then busily went to work on her breasts. The sensation gently excited her but just as she began to relax into the stimulation, the disks altered their pattern.
All four discs began to vibrate in tandem, the rhythms playing off one another and shooting fizzing pulses through her. Standing became more difficult. The lacy gown that was covering her skin seemed more of a hindrance than a necessity.
She wanted the gown off. She wanted Kane’s clothes off. She wanted him to make love to her, to touch her where the disks had and to trace his lips over her sensitive skin.
She raised a hand to release the tie between her breasts that held up her gown. Kane shook his head. “I didn’t give you permission to undress.”
Damn him. Not even undressing was to be her choice. She should have been upset. Annoyed. But his taking all control had her head swimming and her body so aroused that she could barely stand. “May I undress?”
“Are you certain you want to stand in front of me naked?”
“Yes.”
“For as long as I like?”
With his heated eyes on her? “Yes.”
“You understand that I may or may not touch you? The decision is all mine.”
“Yes.” His words caused exhilarating anticipation and her nipples tightened and poked into the lace of the gown, showing him exactly how much she liked his suggestion. Doing what he wished excited her in a way she hadn’t known was possible.
“Fine. Then you may take off your gown. But do it slowly. And while you disrobe, I want you to look me in the eyes. I want you to understand that you have no rights except those that I give you. You will have no pleasure except what I allow you to have.”
Oh…She was shaking with need—he knew exactly how to turn her on, yet he hadn’t so much as touched her or kissed her. And she was going to be standing there naked. Waiting for him. And loving every second.
5
FALLON HAD NEVER stripped for anyone before, not even for Allen during their short-lived marriage. But her feminine instincts had no difficulty taking over. She played with the ribbon that tied her bodice together. Then ever-so-slowly, she unfastened the bow. As directed, she kept her gaze on Kane, fascinated by how his dark blue eyes smoked.
She exposed the deep vee of skin between her breasts, allowing her fingers to enticingly pull back the gown’s edges to reveal more skin. And while she might have been obeying his commands, the power was all hers.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His cool amusement remained on his mouth, but a cord in his neck throbbed to reveal he was anticipating her next move with every cell in his body. She’d never had a man’s attention focused so intensely on her and only her. It was as if they were the only two people in the world, and with every sliver of skin she exposed, the connection between them swelled, filling up the air around them until she had trouble drawing a breath.
She hooked a finger under the spaghetti strap at her shoulder and let it fall over her bicep. She began to do the same on the other side, drawing out the moment. But then with an impish grin, she shrugged her bared shoulder and the gown’s bodice fell to reveal one breast.
“Nice. Very nice.” The compliment seemed tugged from his lips without his permission. As if regretting he’d said anything at all, he drew his brows together. “Stay right there for now.”
Fallon barely dared to draw a breath. The gown, held up by one flimsy strap could fall at any time. Just moments ago, she would have sworn that was exactly what she’d wanted. But standing and waiting was even sexier. With one breast bared to the air, she’d never felt so wanton.
Kane gave her a knowing look and then placed television headphones over his ears. And she realized he wasn’t pausing her striptease for just a few seconds; he meant to leave her like that until he decided he wanted more. Stopping her just as her courage and desires had converged into seething determination not only upset her but it tilted her equilibrium.
Annoyed, aroused and aggravated, she almost spun on her heel and fled back to her room. But he cleared his throat and shook his head in warning. He wanted her right there and as that knowledge hissed through her, moisture seeped between her thighs. Damn. She was enjoying his domination.
The realization coiled around her gut and rose up her throat to choke her. This couldn’t be happening. She shouldn’t be so turned on by following Kane’s demands. But she was. And though the liberated woman in her wanted to deny her reaction with every atom of her being, she couldn’t deny her own nature. It wasn’t his command keeping her there, but her own heated reaction to his command.
And damn him, he knew. From the cool amusement in his eyes to the upward smirk of his lips, he understood exactly what was happening to her. She might not like herself very much right now for playing his games, but no way did she want to quit. Oh no. Kane and his gadgets and her own nature were exciting her to the point that she was trembling with a cauldron of emotions. But the feeling that rose to the top of the boiling pot was exhilaration. She might be trapped by her own need to give him exactly what he asked for, but she intended to enjoy every moment.
Even as Kane used the remote control, she stood still, knowing his attention would return to her shortly. And she thought about what he would ask her to do and how much she would enjoy doing it.
Meanwhile, Kane flipped the channels. “I’m starting my search for Nigel by tracking the news channels.”
Apparently he could hear her through the headphones. “Why?”
“I’m listening for a news story that doesn’t fit. He’s going to try and sell his stolen technology and it’ll probably make the news. It’s my job to stop him.”
From her position to one side of him, Fallon peered through her lashes and saw that his gaze had left her to focus on the television. When she saw he had no current interest in her, she let her gaze take in all of him. He’d gone from turning her on with one burning gaze to focusing on business in less than the span of a television commercial. And yet, she had no doubt he hadn’t forgotten about her. She certainly was very aware of him. His breathing patterns remained steady, but a knotted muscle by his jaw told her he wasn’t as unaffected by her as he pretended.
However, when he pressed the remote control unit buttons faster than an executive secretary typed, she had to wonder what the hell he was doing. The pictures on her giant screen focused and changed so swiftly she barely formed an image before he clicked to the next. At first she expected him to stop when a program caught his eye. But he continued to flip the channels in a mystifying manner for at
least ten minutes before shutting off the set.
And each minute seemed both interminable and, contradictorily, to fly by with amazing speed. In either case, she was left wondering what he would do next. One moment she wanted him to kiss her, the next she hoped he’d simply be tired of the game until she could collect herself.
She should have known he wouldn’t tire easily. He rested the remote control on his knee. “You failed to keep your gaze on me.”
Her mouth went dry. His tone told her there would be consequences for her failure to obey and heat flashed over her skin. She forced her gaze back to his, a gaze that shocked her with its intensity.
“Without bending, lift your gown.”
She bunched her hands in the lace and slowly drew the hem up from the floor past her ankles, her calves, her knees. There was something utterly wicked about standing there and revealing herself at his command. Her heart pounded and her breasts tingled.
“Higher.”
She drew the lace up to her thighs.
Fallon wanted to shut her eyes or look away, not out of humiliation or embarrassment but because she didn’t want him to know how excited she was. But being unable to hide her thrill from him was yet another turn-on. The material on her thigh tickled and taunted and she eased it a smidgen higher.
“Not enough.”
The cool air-conditioning was riding up under her gown. Without panties, with most of her pubic hair gone, she was about to expose herself to those burning eyes. She’d never been this vulnerable—or this ready to follow his command to the letter. He no longer bothered to hold her gaze. Oh no. He was watching her raise the hem. Watching her put herself on display.
Her stomach tightened. She couldn’t believe she was having so much fun. Couldn’t believe how pleasing him aroused her.
Beyond the Edge Page 6