by Ann Cory
At that moment, an internal switch had been thrown inside him. The one he’d on purpose left off all this time. Because it had made sense. Now nothing made any kind of sense except the need to dominate her. The irrepressible desire to give her a long, slow lick and taste the woman of her. Feel the flesh-to-flesh contact.
The primal urge swarmed in his gut and he couldn’t deny her seductive pleas any longer.
“Maybe I don’t want to be with other women. Maybe I just want you.”
“Does this mean I’m going to get my way?” An impish smile followed.
“You’ll get whatever I give you,” he growled.
She went slack-jawed and arched her back. “Now you’re talking like a Master.”
The title gave him a final push. “Then it’s time to put actions to my words.”
Chapter Three
Cassidy’s insides went liquid-soft at the sight of Ian’s bare and sculpted body. It wasn’t overly done like a body builder, but an impressive array of muscles nonetheless. Her flesh cried out for immediate contact. She wanted to rub up against his erection until her clit throbbed. Hell, rub up against his entire body if it would silent the raging hormones inside her. She had felt the moment his resistance waned and part of her wanted to cheer. Except at the same time, she noticed another change take place—a change that took place inside of her.
It took just a moment of staring into his eyes to understand. At first, she hadn’t known why her intuition was so strong around him. Why she could read his thoughts much clearer than anyone else she’d ever met. And then it hit her. A connection.
Cassidy never realized she could have a deep connection with a man. A connection that went beyond the physical bonds of sex. Since being in Ian’s company, she started to care about him. Started to learn the inner workings of his mind, and what made him tick. This wasn’t her usual romp with a human who she never bothered to know beyond the blips she saw in her mind during sex. For the first time, she had an emotional link, a sense of fondness and affection, and a desire to be more than a lover, but a longing to be his companion. She wanted to explore this growing attachment further, if he would let her. Of course, she knew he wouldn’t. Not if she told him about her ability to shape shift.
The handsome officer tackled his belt and button. In anguish, she watched the slow dissent of the zipper and the glimpse of his dark briefs. As he pushed down his pants, her pussy dampened. For several seconds he stood, in only his briefs with the fabric extended. His fingers were hooked at the sides. She worried he’d changed his mind, and felt more helpless than before.
“Please,” she whispered.
He smiled and discarded the last of his clothing behind him. Her gaze fell on every breathtaking inch of his flesh and muscles. In the time it took for her to swallow and blink, he was straddled over her, his face a hairsbreadth away.
“I plan to kiss you all over. Any objections?”
His hot breath shot goose bumps along her skin.
“No. I wish you would.”
He lowered his face and ran his tongue along the seam of her lips. His taste was spicy and unexpected. She wanted more and welcomed the hungry assault of his mouth. Cassidy strained against the cuffs at the animalistic way his lips crashed over hers. She wanted to sink her fingers into his hair and press her body tight up against him. At the same time, with her back against the faux fur rug and restrained, she was right where she wanted to be.
She parted her lips and moaned at the exotic feel of his tongue against hers. His breath was hot and made her feverish for his lips to venture the length of her body.
As if he read her mind, he broke the passionate kisses from her lips and trailed his mouth along her jaw line and down the sensitive slope of her neck. The tip of his cock pressed into the softness of her belly, taunting her with its firmness. He paused over her breasts and she arched her back, giving him full access.
He cupped her breast in his warm, strong hand and brought his mouth close. She shivered as he rolled his tongue along her nipple. Moaned at the scrape of his teeth against the stretched tight nubs. If he kept it up for too long, he’d make her climax.
Instinctively she raised her legs to wrap around his waist. She wanted his cock inside her so badly. To scratch the persistent itch that he alone could reach.
He paused what he was doing and gave her a hard look. “If you try and rush things, I’ll stop.”
His voice resonated with authority.
“Sorry, Master.”
“I mean it. I’ll stop if you can’t behave,” he warned.
The threat sent a wave of fear through her. “I promise I’ll behave.”
“Good.”
He resumed his merciless assault along her body. Moving his mouth down, he trailed over her belly and lingered around her bellybutton. It took everything in her to fight the urge to beg him to fuck her. Finally, he positioned himself between the vee of her legs. His strong, warm hands stroked along her sides and hips, sending tendrils of pleasure all throughout her body.
He brought his mouth near her slit and inhaled.
“You have the most addictive scent.”
She shuddered at the close proximity of his lips.
“Lie still,” he ordered. “I’m going to taste you.”
Cassidy couldn’t draw her gaze from his mouth. She held her breath as she watched and waited.
His lips parted and she sucked in more air. Oh god, she moaned inwardly.
The moment his tongue lapped the length of her pussy, she saw stars. And damn if they weren’t the brightest she’d ever seen them.
“Yes,” she groaned and opened her thighs wide as she could. He dragged his tongue along her slit again, deeper this time. Such exquisite torture.
“Your taste is sweet, like you.” He traced his fingers along her clit and pinched it gently.
Her body vibrated.
“This is where you touched yourself.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Though his touch was a thousand times more potent.
“And here.” He delved his fingers between her folds.
Heat curled inside her. She watched the muscles in his arms flex and bunch as he pumped his fingers inside her.
“Mm, yes,” she moaned. “More.”
“My primed suspect.” He laughed huskily.
She was primed and nearing the point of no return.
Ian’s pulse thundered. He loved to watch the way she responded to his touch. The way her eyelids fluttered with each steady thrust of his fingers between her creamy thighs. The way a subtle blush streaked her flesh when he thumbed her clit. He didn’t realize how much he wanted to dominate, explore and control her skin-as-silk body. Wasn’t prepared for the aggressive lust he had for her. In the back of his mind, he worried he was getting too deep. He didn’t want this to be some casual one-night affair where he’d never see her again. He felt territorial, and didn’t want other men bringing her pleasure.
His fingers stroked the tangle of curls between her thighs. A soft sexy moan escaped her parted lips. She stared at him with glazed eyes. He had her on the brink and planned to tongue-fuck her into oblivion.
It turned him on to see her wrists cuffed above her head, vulnerable and in complete trust of him.
Ian lulled his tongue around her clit vigorously while pulsating his fingers deep inside her slick channel. His cock throbbed painfully as her tight heat clutched at him. He thrust faster and wrapped his lips around her clit, suckling intently.
“Yes, yes,” she cried out and grinded her pelvis against his mouth.
Her cries turned to whimpers as he made her come. A stream of juices soaked his fingers and ran down his knuckles, but he didn’t want to stop. Her taste left him wanting more. Craving more.
Amid her mixed sighs and moans, he thrust his fingers back into her, the wet suction sounds sending heat to his toes. Her body writhed and bucked beneath him. She moved like a woman possessed, and it empowered him. He wanted to do take her and feel his cock pu
mp swift between her thighs. But at the same time, it excited him to bring her such pleasure.
“I’m close,” she whispered, her breath labored.
He smiled. Her eyes pled to continue, and he would.
Bent over, he flickered his tongue against her clit, his fingers swiftly thrusting into her pussy until she came a second time.
When he’d licked her dry, Ian sat back on his heels and stroked her quivering thighs.
Her eyes were calm and serene, unlike before when they were wild with need.
“Don’t stop, please. I want all of you.”
He didn’t want to stop. He had to. “I think it’s best. I’ve gone as far as I feel comfortable.”
She blinked slow and nodded. “I understand.”
“You do?” He hadn’t expected that.
“Yes, and it’s okay.”
He passed his gaze along her body one more time and then leaned toward the piano.
“Guess I should take these cuffs off you now.”
Ian released one wrist, but didn’t let her other wrist free. Instead, he cuffed it to the piano leg.
She gave him a curious look.
“I might not be done with you yet,” he said and then winked.
“I like this side of you.”
He chuckled. “This isn’t like me at all. I don’t know what came over me.”
“I think you let a part of yourself out that you’ve kept hidden way down deep.”
“But the Master role is all new for me. I’m usually passive in the bedroom. I tend to save my orders for work.”
“Well, if you do what you did with me, the women will be lined up around the precinct to get with you. I don’t doubt for a minute that you have plenty of female fans. Women go nuts for men in uniform.”
Even if that were so, he’d never noticed. “That may be, but I haven’t paid any attention to other women.”
She flashed him a quizzical look. “Why not?”
His shoulders tensed. “My reasons are personal.”
Her lips pressed together. “We just shared a very personal moment. You don’t think you can talk about it?”
“No.”
“Haven’t you heard about the freedom in talking with a stranger?”
“I haven’t found that to be the case at all.”
She chewed her lip. “Maybe you’ve talked to the wrong people. You’re at ease talking with me. I can tell by your body language. You’re more relaxed then you were before.”
Ian couldn’t argue there. Earlier he’d been wound tight.
“Since I walked into this house and saw you, I can’t say I’ve acted anything like myself. I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Maybe you’re ready for change and just didn’t realize that until now,” she offered. “Maybe the right person needed to come along and help you.”
He thought about it a minute. “Maybe.” Somehow, she’d gotten him to let down his guard. It didn’t cause him the turmoil he’d expected.
“I think I’ve proven that I’m a good listener,” she said. “I obeyed my Master’s every command. Did everything he told me.”
Her carefree style was a breath of fresh air. He didn’t want to burden her with serious talk.
“I appreciate the offer to listen, but I don’t want to spoil what we just shared.”
“Is that what it will do?”
“It might.”
She rested her head on her arm and looked up at him, her eyes bright and warm. “I can handle whatever it is. Open up. I know you want to, but aren’t sure how.”
“Why is it you know things about me before I even do? You keep saying that you just do, but I want to know how. It’s starting to freak me out a little.”
“I don’t mean to freak you out. I’m intuitive. It’s a gift I’ve had since birth. I pick up on scents and signals the body gives off. Together they paint a portrait to me. Not a complete one, more like the foundation. My intuition has been extra strong with you.”
“Are you one of those gypsy fortunetellers who travel in a wagon with mules? Is that why you mentioned your home is in the forest?”
Her eyes narrowed. “No. I’m not a gypsy or a psychic, or even a witch for that matter. Honest.”
“Well if your intuition is so strong, why do I need to tell you anything?” There, that ought to stump her, he thought. Stump her and then change the subject so he wouldn’t have to talk about it.
“I only gather bits and pieces. Like I said, it paints a portrait of you, the bare bones. It isn’t magic where everything suddenly comes together.”
Ian hated to ask, but had to know. “What bits and pieces have you seen so far?”
“A sense of dread. Great fear. Terrible sadness. You’re holding onto something that has consumed you for years. Kept you from living. It’s painful, but you’re aching to let it out, and know that if you don’t, you can’t move on. Am I close?”
His jaw went slack and his pulse pounded. “Too close. But you can’t sense what the dread and fear is?”
“No, because you’ve got it stuffed down inside you pretty deep. I suppose I’m only freaking you out more.”
“A little. You really hit on what I’m experiencing. I didn’t think I was so transparent.”
Her eyes softened. “To others you aren’t. It’s because you are open to me that allows my gift to work so well.”
“How can that happen without me knowing?”
“Some people are drawn to the energy or scent of another and it changes their body chemistry,” she explained. “Makes you susceptible to new experiences and allows you to feel safe in taking risks.”
“Do you think I can move forward if I talk about my past?”
“I do, and somewhere deep in your psyche, you know it too. Try it. If you lose your nerve and want to stop, or can’t go on, I won’t press for more.”
He paused, his jaw clenching. The last thing he wanted was pity. And it always tore him up to relive the past. He wanted to forget it and move on, but without closure, he didn’t see how that was possible.
“When you let go of stuff you’ve been carrying around with you, it’s freeing,” she continued. “It lightens your load. Helps you see things with a clearer perspective.”
She’d had him convinced right up until then. “Now you sound like a shrink.”
Her brows furrowed. “Sorry. I guess I was wrong in thinking we had a connection. I refuse to drag it out of you. If you want to let it bury you alive, that’s your business.”
Hurting her feelings was the last thing he wanted to do. Tentatively he asked, “What kind of connection?”
“Never mind.” Her frown deepened. “It’s dumb. Why don’t you release my other wrist and I’ll be on my way.”
He leaned forward and removed the cuff. Now he felt like a total ass. It was one thing to push the guys on the force away, but he didn’t have to be so cold to a woman who was only trying to help.
Free of the cuff, she started to stand when he held his hand up. “Wait. Okay, I’ll try and talk about it.”
“I’m not forcing you.”
“No, I know that. I want to tell you. I want it off my chest, and you may be the only one I can talk to. This isn’t easy, though, and I might change my mind in the middle of it.”
She shrugged. “I have no expectations. I’m here to listen.”
Ian took a deep breath in, held it, and let it out. “I lost my wife eight years ago and it’s something I’ve struggled to get over ever since.”
“What happened to her?”
“She was cleaning the bedroom. We were going to leave for the beach in the morning and she likes to clean before we go so it’s spotless when we return. She had a lot of cute and quirky habits. Anyway, my gun holster slid off the dresser and my gun fell.” He paused to swallow a few times. “A shot went off. I was in the shower. Never heard it. It had to be the first and only time I didn’t put the damn safety on. When I’d dried and dressed, I came out from the bathroom t
o find her laying on the floor, barely breathing, a pool of blood that encircled her body twice her size.”
She put a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. “Oh god. What you must have been going through.”
“I rode in the ambulance with her, but she flat lined before she ever made it to the hospital. Too much time elapsed. Felt like I killed her twice. First, I didn’t put on the safety. Then I couldn’t revive her. The worst part is she hated guns. She supported my desire to be a cop, but she hated guns with a passion. Which is why I was always so careful.”
“I’m not too partial to guns myself. They’re loud and always make me jump.”
“I’ve never fired one on the job. I didn’t take the job to carry a gun.”
She tilted her head. “Then why did you?”
“With the idea I could make a difference. I knew I was hard-edged enough for it, but I had my boundaries. At first, I thought I was tough, but I’ve dealt with my share of criminals that made me question that level of tough. I stuck with it, though.”
With a soft touch, she rested her hands on his forearm. “You’re a brave man.”
“Am I? I haven’t felt brave for a long time. My head has been all over the place. I’ve gone over it and over it, to try to make sense of why I didn’t have the safety on the gun. It was my ritual when I got home. I did it in my sleep. There’s no explanation why the damn thing went off except that I screwed up.”
“That’s a heavy weight to bear for one person all this time. No wonder you harbor so much pain.”
“I took time off in the beginning at the demand of my captain, but once I realized that it only prolonged the pain and suffering, I came back in full force. Only, I refused to use my gun. I took lighter jobs for a while, just so I wouldn’t have to put myself in the position of needing to use my gun.” He chuckled wryly. “It’s funny. I always said if someone hurt my wife, I’d kill the bastard. That bastard ended up being me. I haven’t figured out what I’m still doing here.”
“Someday you might have an answer for that. But I doubt you’ll find it if you don’t move forward.”