With a drawn-out moan, he raised his head. “Shay, I’m gonna come…”
She felt him lengthen and thicken in her mouth, and she pulled back and off. Her hand took over now, pumping him, stroking him, and Warren knew that the end wasn’t just near. It was here.
“Oh, fuck,” he managed to say, just before he lost all control. “Shay… Shay… God, Shay…”
She watched as he came, his seed shooting out and hitting her chest. The pulsing heat warmed her from the outside in, and she slid his cock between her breasts, enveloping him in her softness. He cried out again, an inarticulate sound of almost-pain and shuddered as she moved him up and down, coaxing every last drop from him.
Warren’s brain took a while to function again. She’d short-circuited it, he was damn sure about that, and he just floated on a hazy cloud of pure bliss for a minute. When she released him and crawled up his body, that was when he opened his eyes again, finally loosened his death-grip on the pillow.
He pulled her up to his mouth, kissed her with every good, shining thing that he had. He wanted her to feel all those things that he just couldn’t say, wouldn’t say; he wanted her to feel them all the way to her toes.
Shay was shaken at the intensity of the kiss, but she fell in to it all the same. Over and over, Warren kissed her, kissed her until she was almost breathless. Only then did he pull back, run his fingers through her tumbled hair.
“That? Was amazing, kitten.” He touched between her breasts, felt his own release sticky on her skin. “You OK?”
“I’m great. I loved every second of it.”
“That makes two of us, hellcat. Believe me.”
She lowered her head to his shoulder, sighed a bit. “I’m sorry, though.”
“Sorry?” His chest was still heaving, and his words came out on puffs of breath. “For what?”
“Because I didn’t – because I pulled away.”
“No.” There was that bossy, harsh tone again, the one that the most female, feminine part of her responded to every single time. “Never, ever apologize to me for anything that we do in bed. You hear me, Shay? Never.”
“OK,” she whispered.
“I’m serious, now.” He forced her eyes up to his, not letting it go until he was sure that she fucking got this. “This bed is a place for me to love you, for you to love me. It’s not a place for fear, or shame, or apologies. It’s a good place, baby, a safe place. A place where you never say sorry for anything that happens or doesn’t happen in it.”
She felt tears starting, and he saw them. Right away, he sat up.
“What?” he demanded. “Did I scare you?”
“No.” She shook her head, her smile pure and beautiful. “Not at all.”
He wiped the tears from her cheeks. “So what are these?”
“Happiness. Release. Relief.” She paused. “I really – I loved it all, Warren. I’ve never been so relaxed in bed with anyone. I feel like… like every single thing that happened here today was something that I chose. Something that I’d choose again.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
Warren nodded, accepting that answer, knowing that it was the truth. “Me too, Shay. I’d choose it all again. In a goddamn heartbeat.”
“When?” she said.
“When what?”
“When will you choose it again?”
“Argh,” he groaned. “Jesus Christ, woman. Gimme a minute to recover. You damn near blew my head off.”
“Which one?” she asked with that sassy little grin that he adored.
He flipped her back down to the bed now, mindful of her injured leg. He saw the spark of arousal in those beautiful eyes, felt the way that she went slack and soft under his hands.
“You’re snarky, you know that?” he said. “Got a mouth on you.”
She did that heart-stopping grin thing again. “Yeah. And don’t you love what I do with it?”
He growled then, wanting her to stop with the sexy talk, at least for the time being. He needed her to shut her up, so he did it the only way that he could thing of – which was also the best way.
He kissed her smart little mouth. Then he kissed her somewhere else, for a long, long time.
**
Two hours later, Shay carefully stepped out of the bathtub, wiped the steam from the mirror. She stared at her reflection, and gave herself a grin. God, she looked – happy.
That was an insane thing to look, or think, or be, considering her present circumstances. Richter-scale orgasms aside, she was still a kidnap victim, still being held by a bunch of MC bastards. She still had no idea when she’d be set free again, still had no clue what her brother was going to do, if anything. The fact that she was totally in to the captor in her immediate physical presence didn’t change any of that.
Her spirits sinking now, she bit her lip, wavering. This was insane. All of it was fucking insane. What the hell was wrong with her?
Then she thought about Warren above her, holding her eyes as he slid his fingers inside her body so gently, so tenderly. Warren watching her come for him, his amazing eyes nothing but blue flame in his handsome face. Warren kissing her lower lips, tonguing her clit, working her until she came so hard that she almost passed out.
Then the best memory seared her; the one that had burned its way deep in to her mind and her body. Warren groaning and panting, her name falling from his lips helplessly, over and over again. She gazed at her breasts now, breathless as she remembered how it had felt for him to release all over them. In that one act, he’d claimed her. Marked her. Made her his own.
Shay knew now that no amount of water on the planet was going to scrub him from her skin, because he’d stripped it off her bones and slid on beneath. Nothing she did was ever going to erase him from her body, because he’d become part of it. He was in her now, in all the ways that mattered: in her mind, and in her heart. She’d carry Warren Kane with her forever – even if she never saw him again. It was done.
She was his, and he was hers. Who cared if it was just for now. That didn’t make it any less real, or any less emotional. So OK, yeah, it was insanity, and not much of an argument there. But it was sadly also temporary, and it was damn amazing. She was going to enjoy it. Every. Single. Second.
Shay wrapped a large towel around her body, slowly limped down the hallway to the kitchen, holding on to the walls for support and balance. While she’d been in the shower, Warren had made coffee, and she poured a huge mug of it, inhaling gratefully. She was just wondering if he already had a cup, or maybe if he’d want a refill, when she heard a phone ring.
She froze, perplexed, but also super-curious. Of course she’d assumed that there was a land line around here somewhere, and now she was going to find out exactly where it was.
Tugging the towel around her more tightly, she followed the sound of ringing back to their bedroom. That was when she saw Warren digging through the bedside table drawer, muttering.
“The phone?” Shay said.
“Locked under the bed.” He pulled out a key, got on his knees on the floor, unlocked a sliding drawer under the bed. The ringing got louder now, and Warren snatched the receiver. “Yeah?”
Shay stood there for a few seconds, watching him. He didn’t make any move to indicate that she should leave the room, so she sank down in to the large armchair next to the door, set her coffee on the floor. She listened intently, trying to figure out what was happening at the other end by his responses and questions.
He wasn’t being very chatty, though. Quick as a blink, he’d reverted to his usual surly, stone-faced persona, the one that had undoubtedly kept him alive thus far. She saw straight through it, of course, and so she was able to stay calm as he grew cold and hard right in font of her eyes.
“Yeah,” he was saying. “Uh-huh.” Pause. “Right.” Another pause. “When?”
<
br /> That was about all that he contributed to the conversation, such as it was, and so she resigned herself to staying in the dark until he got off the line.
It didn’t take long. After less than three minutes, he hung up, slid the drawer under the bed shut again. That was when he looked over at her, really took her in. When he saw that she was just in a towel, he crossed the room in two strides.
She’d barely let out a gasp when he had her in his arms, then in his lap as he sat back down in the chair. Somehow, she found herself straddling him, her towel slipping, and her body heating up.
“Warren…”
“Hey, baby,” he said softly. “You good?”
“Yeah.” She tried to stay focused, but it wasn’t easy when all that separated their lower bodies was his boxer shorts. “Can you tell me who that was?”
“Of course I can.” He kissed and licked her neck, loving how she shivered as his beard scratched her sensitive skin. “It was Ace.”
“And?” She found her hands moving to his strong upper arms and clinging there. “What’s going on?”
He stopped teasing, went still and tense, and she blinked at the dramatic change. He stood up now, carefully set her back on the floor.
“Warren? What’s wrong?”
“Let’s talk, yeah?”
“OK,” she said, picking up her coffee cup from the floor. “Kitchen?”
“Living room, kitten. You’re almost naked, and I built up the fire while you were in the bathroom. You’ll be warm in front of the fireplace.” He gave her a sexy little wink. “Maybe even warm enough to take that damn towel off.”
She giggled, then took his hand. Slowly, Shay favoring her leg with every step, they walked back in to the main room, and he settled her on the bear-skin rug. He went to get himself a coffee, then he joined her.
“OK.” He took a sip of his sweet, milky coffee, then got right to it. “Lots has gone down at that end.”
She nodded and braced herself for impact. “Alright.”
“Ace says that Kirk’s been in touch with your brother.” Warren hesitated. “He was furious to hear that you’ve been taken, apparently.”
She was silent, watching him. She knew there had to be more.
“He’s on his way to Denver now, and he’ll be meeting with Kirk privately to talk things over.”
“Is Hal the rat?” she asked, her lips numb.
“He says he isn’t.”
“Does Kirk believe him?”
“I don’t know, honey. Ace doesn’t, either.”
She asked the next question in a rush, asked before she could lose her nerve. “If Hal can’t convince him, then will Kirk kill him?”
Warren was quiet, and she knew the answer. She’d known even before she’d asked.
“Right. OK.” She sat up, took a shaky sip of coffee. “And us? What do we do?”
“We stay put for now.”
“For how long?”
Warren shrugged, his muscled shoulders rippling. “Ace said that nobody can leave the city for a while, so we don’t need to worry about any surprise guests. He figures the clubhouse is being watched, and he knows that he is.”
“Who’s watching?”
“Maybe someone from your brother’s MC, maybe someone else.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “So we’re on our own for the next few days for sure. We’ll see how things go with Hal and Kirk, and then we’ll have a better sense of when you’ll be set free. Ace will also be back in touch about when he may come up here, just to see how things are.”
She nodded, then dropped her eyes to her hands. “And when he does, that’ll most probably be it for us, right? He’ll come up when it’s safe for him to be seen doing so, and it’ll be safe because it’ll all be over?”
“That’s my guess, baby.”
“OK.” She sucked in a deep breath, then met his eyes again. “So we really are on borrowed time, huh?”
“Yeah. We are.” He surprised her by standing up and moving away a few steps. “And we need to get a few things organized around here before anyone shows up.”
“Like what?” she asked, startled at the business-like briskness of his tone. “What things?”
“Like where you’re supposed to be sleeping.”
“You mean – the basement?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m going to start sleeping down there?” she said, stunned and a bit afraid. “But – but I thought –”
That was all that she got out before he was kneeling in front of her, his palm roughly cupping her cheek.
“No,” he growled, and even though she knew he wasn’t about to hurt her, she froze at the ferocious look on his face. “How can you even think that, after everything that just happened between us? You sleep with me. I thought I made that fucking clear last night.”
“You did,” she whispered, feeling chastened. “I just – I was startled.”
He regarded her closely, his eyes narrowed. Then just like that – she blinked, then blinked again – he softened. His eyes gentled, his mouth curved, his body let go of all that tension. That was when she felt like she knew him again.
“Sorry, kitten.” He kissed her nose, and she smiled at the surprising sweetness of the gesture. “I wasn’t being clear. I’ll try again, yeah?”
“Yeah. That’d be good.”
“What I mean is that it needs to look like you’re staying down there. My instructions were to basically put you down there 24/7.”
“Really?” She knew she shouldn’t put anything past an MC, but that was pretty appalling, even for a bunch of cretins. “You were supposed to – what? Throw me down there in the dark and shut the door?”
“And handcuff you to the bed,” he added, his lip curling up in disgust.
She felt the color drain from her face. Oh, God, no. Anything but that.
“Hey,” he said, alarmed at the look in her eyes. “What? What is it?”
“Handcuffs?” she choked out. “I was supposed to be cuffed to the bed? For hours and hours on end?”
“Yeah. But I wouldn’t have done it, no matter what I said,” he rushed to reassure her. “I hated the thought of it, right from the word go.”
His words didn’t register, couldn’t permeate the fog of fear circling around in her brain. All she knew, all she felt, were the ropes around her wrists and ankles, cutting in to her tender flesh as she fought to get free. Good sweet Lord, what a way to lose your virginity. What a way to be treated by anyone, under any circumstances, full-stop.
No choices. God, for so long, I just had no choices.
“Oh.” Automatically, Shay rolled in to a ball, hid her face in her arms, started to rock back and forth. The memories came back full-force, and she felt panic rising in her throat. “Oh, no.”
He had no idea how he knew what was happening, but he did. He had no proof, and she certainly hadn’t explained her behavior, but he knew in his gut that some fucking asshole in the Utah MC had restrained her against her will… probably tied her to a bed. God only knows what had happened after that, but Warren didn’t want to know. Her reaction said it all. Fuck, her reaction screamed it all.
“Shay, baby.” He sat next to her, didn’t touch her. He wasn’t going to do that until she said it was OK. “Look at me.”
She shook her head, pushed her face deeper in to her arms.
“Alright.” He moved a bit closer. “You just breathe for me. Take your time, and when you feel ready, you come on out. I’m not going to touch you, but I’ll be sitting here, waiting. You decide when you want me to hold you.”
She nodded, fighting to slow down her breathing. Her years of therapy kicked in at last, and she started to talk herself down. She reminded herself that she was safe now, that she was away from that whole life, that she was with someone who respected her. Someone who cared about he
r, and who’d protect her from harm, if that’s what it came down to. Someone that she could trust.
Warren wasn’t going to hurt her. He’d cut off his own goddamn leg before he hurt her, and he’d kill anyone else who tried.
Yeah, she knew all of that. She really did.
Slowly, she got control back, and after a few minutes, she was able to raise her head to peer at him.
The look on his face stopped her cold. It was pure, sheer, undeniable rage. When he spoke, though, he was nothing but gentle.
“OK, kitten?” he said quietly.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m OK now.”
“Can I touch you? Hold you?”
“Yes.” She took a shuddering breath. “Yes, please.”
When he took her in his arms this time, it felt – different. Deeper, stronger. More raw and more real, somehow. Like he’d just seen her at her most broken and vulnerable… and for the first time, she was actually OK with that. Like she trusted him to see her like that, and believed that he’d be able to put her back together again, that he was capable of making her feel safe. Like he was the kind of man that she could look to to do that for her.
Shay held on to Warren, just held on. She knew that she didn’t need to tell him anything, or explain what had just happened. He knew, and he was furious for her, and he was there for her. She sat there in the caging circle of his arms, and just felt safe and protected.
She felt loved.
“Shay,” he said now, keeping his voice low. “How you doing?”
“Better.”
“That’s the truth?”
“Yes.”
“OK.” He shifted her so that he could take a look at her face. That was when he saw that she was still pale, and her lips were gray. “Hey, you cold?”
Despite the roaring fire, she was. She clutched the towel tighter around her naked body, and she nodded.
Warren got to his feet. “Let me get you some clothes.”
Dark Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 6) Page 17