Tempted & Taken

by Rhenna Morgan

  She fisted her hand in his shirt, all the lightness of the moment surging to a fine point of fear. “Please, don’t say that. I’ve already lost too many people I love in my life. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

  With a tender smile, he tugged her hand free and kissed her knuckles. “Sweetheart, I just claimed you for my own. You couldn’t shake me if you tried.”

  Claimed her? The part of her who’d seen one too many women lose their independence, if not their life, under the dictatorial hand of men balked at the statement. Made her want to scramble for distance and give her mind a chance to think and process.

  The other, far more instinctive part of herself, blossomed beneath the idea. As though he’d wrapped her very spirit in the finest silk and laid the world at her feet.

  He guided her hand to the bed and pinned it beside her head. “Now, I’ve waited all night to show you how much your words meant to me. Any questions that can’t wait until I’ve shown proper gratitude?”

  Oh, she had questions. Tons of them. Though, with the hungry way his gaze devoured her, few seemed important enough to warrant air—save one. “What do you mean, you claimed me?”

  For a few, heightened moments he studied her, his shrewd gray eyes undoubtedly taking in far more than she wished. “I’m not him. Ruslan wants to put you in a cage. I want you to be free. With me. Beside me. Part of me.” He released her wrists, slid his palms flush with hers and laced their fingers together. “I won’t lie to you, though. If you ever run, I’ll be right behind you. Not to lock you down against your will, but to win you back. Everything that happens between us is because you choose it. Because you deem me worthy.” He paused a beat, eyes roving her face. “You understand?”

  “I think so,” she whispered, her throat too clogged with emotion to manage more.

  “Good. Then I’ll cover the other worry I figure is dancing around in your head while we’re at it.” He dipped closer, his voice nearly as hushed as her own. “You shared the kind of life Yefim lived. His involvement with dangerous men. So, I think you understand how men like that operate. Their mindset, what they’re capable of and how they operate.”

  A weight settled on her chest and the pulse at her throat fluttered so fast she felt light-headed. She nodded. Or at least she tried to, uncertainty and fear making the simple motion a Herculean feat.

  “Wherever you’re goin’ in that head of yours, come back.” His lips quirked in a cocky smile. “We’re ballsy bastards and not all that interested in rules outside our own making, but we’re not mafiya. I only bring it up to give you an idea of what we’re capable of. Their mindset—their tenacity and focus—is what we share. We’ve built a good life that provides for the people we love. Sometimes that means we play nice and color inside the lines drawn by other people, sometimes we don’t. But whatever decisions we make, we make them based on our own code. On honor. No plays are ever made that might hurt an innocent.”

  “So, it’s just business? Investments and connections?”

  He held her gaze, silent and watchful. “Unless one of our own needs something more. Then all bets are off.”

  “Knox, please don’t—”

  His mouth slanted across hers, silencing not just her words but her swirling thoughts with his all-consuming kiss. Lips, teeth and tongue, he worked her mouth until every vestige of worry disintegrated, leaving her pliant and primed for more of his touch.

  Still, he kept his fingers twined with hers, his weight pressing into her palms. Only when she moaned, bucked her hips against his and tried to slip her hands free, did he surrender the kiss. He rested his forehead against hers. His breath huffed heavy to match hers, a beast who’d not only chased, but snared his prey. “You trust me?”

  “Yes.” No doubt. No matter the atrocities she knew Ruslan was capable of or what fears she harbored deep, there was no one alive she trusted more than Knox.

  He lifted his head and met her stare head on. “Then trust me in this. Trust me to know what we’re capable of and to keep you safe. To make you free.”

  There were no words, not in English or her own tongue, worthy of the emotion swelling inside her. But she could show him. Could put everything she felt—every hope, dream and fear—into this moment and offer her surrender. “Knox?” she asked softly, a careful whisper against the room’s silence.

  In lieu of an answer, he tipped his head to one side and cocked an eyebrow.

  She tugged her hands and surprisingly, he released them, letting her frame his face within her trembling fingers. “I think I’m done talking.”

  One second. One blisteringly perfect second, and his whole demeanor changed. A caged tiger faced with freedom and poised to pounce. Yet instead of the consuming attack she’d expected, he pressed a soft, reverent kiss to her lips.

  Weeks, they’d spent every night together. Tussled and explored each other’s sexual desires with an endless, ravenous appetite. Always after, he was gentle. Attentive and present in a way he hadn’t allowed himself to be at first, but during sex, he was always aggressive. Demanding and bold to the point their play sometimes ran deliciously rough.

  But this was different.

  Special in a way that went beyond words and tapped into the deepest part of her.

  Back and forth, he skimmed his lips against hers, his breath mingling with hers for a delightful new level of intimacy. While his kiss was infinitely gentle, the air around them zinged with a supercharged energy that left her skin prickling in the most delectable way.

  Coiling her hands around the back of his neck and lifting her head from the mattress, she tried to deepen the kiss.

  Knox pulled away, not enough to ease his weight, but enough to rob her of his heavenly taste. Of all the expressions she’d seen on his face, this one was new. A trace of the vulnerability he’d shown the night he shared his past, but overshadowing it was a resolute solemnness. A vow given even before he spoke. “I’m not rushing this. Not tonight. What I want to give you, what I want to show you, deserves more than that.”

  Even after all the ups and downs of the day, her stomach still managed a swoop and twirl to rival an amusement park thrill ride and her breath caught in her throat. She smoothed one hand along his jaw. “Whatever you want. You lead and I’ll trust you.”

  His eyes flared at that, the same greedy expression of a covetous man who’d just stumbled on a cave full of lost treasure. He covered her hand with his, squeezed, then pushed back and sat on his heels, using his hold on her hand to pull her upright with him. In one smooth move, he gripped the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it up and over her head.

  The room’s chilled air settled against her exposed skin, raising goose flesh in its wake, but it was the awe behind the way he looked at her that stilled her thoughts. Like he was seeing her for the very first time. Experiencing the beauty of the two of them together from a whole new perspective. He skimmed his fingertips along the upper swell of one breast. “I should have known that first day.”

  “Known what?”

  He lifted his gaze to hers. “That you were different.” Taking his time, he peeled her bra straps off her shoulders, traced a teasing path from her rib cage to her spine and unsnapped the clasp. Not once did his eyes leave hers. “Just looking at you made me stupid. Made me want to forget I ever had a past. Forget all the hurt and throw my rules out the window.” He peeled the silk free, tossed it to the floor and guided her to her back. “I should have known you were mine.”

  Mine.

  Such a simple word, but it detonated inside her, unleashing a maelstrom of sensations in its wake. Beneath his gaze, her breasts drew taut and heavy, and tingles danced beneath her skin.

  With achingly slow movements, he freed her of her jeans and panties and tossed them to the floor. He stood beside the bed and studied her in the moonlight. “Beautiful.”

  So many times he�
��d seen her bare, but never had it felt this intimate. This exposed and raw. “You’re not even touching me, but I swear I can still feel you.”

  He grinned at that, a little of the playfulness she loved about him slipping free. “Interesting. Care to share where?”

  Oh, yes. Knox’s mischievous side had definitely engaged and she was more than ready to play along. She cocked her knees to one side and teased her fingertips above her belly button. “It starts here. Sometimes a flutter. Sometimes something deeper. A tug or a pull.”

  He inched closer to the bed, his body angled as though drawn and desperate for contact, but holding himself in check. “Only there?”

  “No.” Engaging both hands, she gently cupped her breasts, the sensation greatly welcomed against her sensitized mounds, but still not the caress she craved. After the nights they’d spent together only his hands would do. The power behind them. The tightly leashed strength he wielded with each touch. “I ache here.”

  His gaze rained down on her, utterly devoted, lids heavy and lips parted. His hands opened and closed in loose fists.

  She kneaded her breasts and rasped her thumbs across her distended nipples. “You like looking at me?”

  He licked his lower lip and his voice came out low and hungry. “Like’s the wrong word.”

  “What’s the right one?”

  He lifted his gaze to hers. “Necessary.”

  Pleasure speared straight between her legs and she whimpered, her hips flexing into the pulse building in her sex. Pinching and rolling her nipples, she amplified the sensation, each tug darting straight to her clit. “It’s necessary for me, too, but you have on too many clothes.”

  With a frustrated grumble, he wrenched his T-shirt over his head. The second it cleared his face, his gaze latched back on her hands at her breasts and tossed the shirt to the floor. “Where else?”

  She liked this game. Very much. A heady mix of visuals, temptation and strategy. And oh, how she loved looking at him. Appreciating the tightly compacted and defined muscles at his shoulders, arms and chest. Of all the ways he took her, her favorite was to see him above her, watching each ripple and flex of his abdomen as he worked his cock inside her.

  Eager to push him more, she lifted one hand over her head and arched her back, offering herself to him even as her other hand smoothed toward her stomach. “I’ll show you if you’ll give me the rest of you. All of you.”

  The muscle at the back of his jaw twitched, the shadows from the bold moonlight streaming through the window making the move even more pronounced. “Want to give you slow.”

  “Then give me slow. But let me love you with my eyes the way I love you with my heart.”

  Something flashed across his face. Perhaps surprise at the reminder of her feelings, or just the unfamiliarity of the confession. Whatever it was spurred him into motion. He shoved the denim past his hips, pushing his black briefs down with them and unveiling his perfect cock. Hard and thick it jutted proudly toward his belly, the lingering movements as he stepped out of his jeans and kicked them aside, making it bob in a way that made her hands itch to cradle and stroke his length.

  As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, he curled one hand around the base and squeezed. “Show me.” The words rumbled up his throat as a command, but need was there, too. Her man starved for what only she could give.

  She traced a leisurely circle around her navel then dipped lower, slowly moving toward her sex. In one blinding moment, everything shifted. What had started as a game—a sensual tease to heighten and build the moment—shifted to something bigger. An all-encompassing connection that coiled and pulsed around them even without physical contact. Her mind scrambled to process it all, but failed under the sensory input. The way he slowly pumped his shaft, the possessive heat in his gaze as he watched her, his shoulders pushed back and chest rising and falling on each deep breath. It all coalesced and consumed her. Pushed aside everything, but the need to feel him. His weight pinning her down. His skin hot against hers. His cock slicking inside her.

  Teasing her fingertips through the tight curls atop her mound, she drew in a shaky breath. “I need you here.”

  Gaze locked on her fingers, he crawled on the bed, gently grasped her ankles and kneeled between them. He smoothed his hands up her shins and palmed her knees, opening her further for his unflinching study. “Keep going.”

  As if she could do anything else. The way he watched her, devoured every inch she covered, practically demanded her obedience. She slicked her fingers through her folds, the wetness she found matching the slow, pushing ache. “Knox.”

  “Just like that.” He sat back on his heels and skimmed the flat of his hands down her inner thighs. “So slick for me. Ready.” His thumbs skated only inches from her core, up and down, flaming her need until she could barely draw a decent breath. “Draw it up. Coat your clit with it.”

  Her thighs shook and the muscles in her sex clenched at his command, but she did as he said, circling the tight swollen bundle and flexing her hips into each stroke. Her muscles fluttered, release whispering just out of reach.

  “Don’t come,” he growled. “Wait for me.”

  She moaned and added more pressure, gaze shuttling between the beauty of his muscled body kneeling tall above her in the moonlight and the rapt craving on his face. “I’m close.”

  “You’ll be closer before I give you my cock.” He gripped his shaft with one hand and squeezed her thigh with the other. “Slide your fingers inside. Show me where you want me.”

  Eagerly, she dipped her fingers and pushed two inside, desperate for the fullness she longed for, but finding her own touch sadly lacking. She whimpered and circled her hips. “It’s not enough.”

  “I know, baby. But I want a taste and you’re going to give it to me.” He gripped her hips, dragged her close enough the fine hairs along his thighs tickled her ass and guided her hand to his mouth. “Best of both worlds.” He licked one finger and teased the side of his cock against her clit still damp from her juices. “The taste of you in my mouth and your hot pussy teasing my dick.”

  Her hips surged on reflex, a low grated moan dragging up her throat as she banded her legs around his hips. She lifted her hips, angling to catch the tip of him at her entrance, but the one hand he kept on her hip held her just out of reach. God, but she loved the feel of him bare. Of all the changes in their relationship the last few weeks, deciding they were ready for a commitment befitting the trust of skin-to-skin contact had been the most intimate. Until now. “Knox. Please.”

  Pulling both her fingers into the wet heat of his mouth, he sucked her clean, eyes closed and savoring every drop. Through it all he undulated his length against her swollen clit, driving her higher and higher with every stroke. Only when he’d lapped and sucked every inch, did he kiss the center of her palm and guide her hand to his chest. He leaned over her, relinquishing his hold on her hip to anchor his hands beside her. His dog tags fell on her sternum with a soft jingle, the metal a welcome chill against the fire burning her from the inside out.

  Frozen in place, he stared at them a moment, thoughts she couldn’t identify moving across his face. “You’re mine now.” He lifted his gaze to hers, the resoluteness in his eyes searing straight to the heart of her. “Mine to keep. To protect. Always.” He shifted his hips and she nearly wept at the tip of him prodding her entrance.

  She flexed to take him, rolling her hips in welcome. When he held himself back, she sunk her nails into his shoulders and dug her heels into his ass. “Please.”

  He nudged forward just a fraction. Enough to make her muscles flutter in anticipation, but not enough to ease the ache. “Take them off me.”

  She moaned and writhed beneath him, the odd command not penetrating beyond the need to feel his length inside her. “Take what?”

  “My tags.” He slid one hand behind
her head and gently fisted her hair, forcing her eyes to open and her gaze on him. “Take them off.”

  Stunned by the intensity in his eyes, she forced her fingers to release the death grip she’d placed on his shoulders and smoothed her shaking fingers to the thick chain around his neck. “You never take them off.” Not ever. Not in the shower. Not at night. Not when they were together. And from what the other women had said, the rest of the brothers were the same.

  Never.

  His hips pressed forward, notching himself inside her. “Do it.”

  She lifted the chain up and he ducked his chin. The second it cleared his head, he pinned his gazed on hers and commanded, “Put them on.”

  Oh. My. God.

  She’d understood his claim. Understood the importance of tonight and what her words had meant to him, but until that moment, she hadn’t understood what he was trying to say. What he was trying to show. Knox wasn’t just claiming her, he was giving her himself. Showing his love the best way he knew how.

  Fingers trembling, she lifted the chain over her head. The tags’ heavy weight rested on her chest, a brand searing deep beneath the skin. She moved her hands away from their smooth surface and splayed her hands against his chest.

  Pride and possessiveness filled his expression and when his focus shifted to her eyes it was as if something between them locked into place. He held her gaze and inched his hips forward. Filling her with agonizing slowness. “Mine.”

  She wrapped her hands around his shoulders, needing his inherent strength to anchor her through the moment. “Yours.”

  Deeper he pressed, slowly taking what she freely offered and burning it into her memory in a way not even death could steal. He filled her to the root and lowered his mouth to hers. “Swear to me, Darya. Swear you won’t ever run and you’ll let me keep you safe.”

  There it was. The vulnerability laid bare in the most intimate of moments. No matter what it cost her. No matter what the future brought the two of them, this was the moment she chose him for her own and took a stand beside him. “Never.” She banded her arms and legs around him, tangling her fingers in his hair and holding his head to hers. “I’m yours. Completely.”