by Lexi Blake
He could feel his balls drawing up, readying to shoot off, and he tugged on her hair to draw her away.
“There’s time for that later. For now, give me permission to take you. Just once and then I’ll play all the nasty games you like, but I need to know you want this. That you want me. Not some random-ass Dom. Me.”
She sat back on her heels. “You should untie me.”
His whole soul sank. He shouldn’t have pushed her. Now she wouldn’t get what she needed and they would be worse off than they’d been before. “Erin, forget I said anything.”
Her eyes flashed at him. “I asked you to untie me.”
He had to honor the request. With a clenched jaw and aching cock, he got to his knees and undid the bindings on her feet and hands, unwrapping her more slowly than he’d tied her because his eagerness was gone. He’d fucked everything up because he was selfish. Tonight was supposed to be about her. She was the one in need, but did he care? Fuck, no. He had to have his words. His ego wouldn’t allow him to be used. Fuck his ego.
“Erin, I’m sorry. I knew what you wanted.” He winced as he undid the clamps, but he seriously doubted she would allow him to soothe the ache the way he should, with his mouth and tongue.
She hissed as he unclamped the second breast and then allowed him to help her stand. When he thought she would turn away, she stepped close to him, her hands going to his shoulders, body brushing his in a way that had his cock right back to eager-puppy mode. “First, you have to replace the bite of the clamp with the suction of your mouth, Sir. Am I the first sub you’ve clamped?”
He wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, but he wasn’t about to question it. She was here and not stalking away. Those same nipples he’d tortured were grazing his chest. She moved like a sensuous cat who’d found her favorite scratching post. What did it matter that he was about to blast her hopes of a dream Dom? She was here with him and he was the dumbass he was. The one who wanted only her. “I practiced, but I let other Doms perform the aftercare.”
Her jaw tightened as she looked up at him. “Why would you do that, Theo?”
How to explain that to her? “It was too intimate. I was only learning so I could top you. I didn’t want that intimacy with another woman. Only you. I won’t ever take another sub, Erin. I know you don’t believe me, but I worry if you walk away from me, I won’t have another woman at all.”
“Fuck you, Taggart.” But she’d gone up on her toes and her lips hovered close to his. “I swear to god if you’re fooling me, I’ll make your life hell. Do you understand me?”
She wouldn’t take kindly to him being a liar or a cheater. Yes, he’d figured that out about her. The good news was he’d never been either of those things. “I do, brat.”
“Next time you clamp me, you better take care of my poor breasts,” she said. She was silent for a moment, looking up at him as though memorizing his face. “I want you, Theo. I know deep down I probably shouldn’t, but I’ve started to wonder if that’s the part of me I should listen to. She’s kind of a downer bitch and I think she listened far too much to people who didn’t matter. You’ll kill me if you change your mind. You should know that.”
His heart practically thumped out of his chest. They weren’t through the woods, but he could see some light. It was all he could ask for. “You won’t regret it. I’ll take care of you. I’ll need you to take care of me, too.”
“I think I can handle it. You’re a delicate flower,” she said with a hint of a smile.
He let his right hand smack her ass hard, loving the way her eyes lit up. “Watch it. I’m still in control here. I’m going to kiss you now and you need to understand that I mean it. I mean every kiss, every caress. I’m going to eat you up because you’re what I need to survive.”
He lowered his mouth to hers and she flowered open, allowing him entry. Their tongues danced against each other and he could feel the difference. Always, she held a part of herself away from him. This time her hands moved up his neck and over his head, exploring and holding him close. This time she’d decided and she was in.
He wasn’t ever going to let her get away again. He would take such good care of her that in a few months she wouldn’t recall why she’d ever fought him.
Her skin was silky and smooth under his hands, though at times he could feel the slight raising of the scars she carried. He adored them. Each and every one. They meant she was tough, that she’d survived in a world that hadn’t been built for her. He intended to create one where she would thrive. A private world for the two of them where she was the queen and she learned her worth.
He backed her toward the bed as he let his hands explore. She sighed and offered more and more of herself to him. This was what he’d been doing in the shower and late at night with her, making her comfortable with long, slow caresses. She didn’t realize it, but she’d changed over the weeks. At first she’d been hesitant, a bit chilly. Now her back arched, a veritable demand that he pay attention to her breasts.
He lowered his head and did what he should have done when he’d taken the clamps off. He gently sucked one bud into his mouth. Her body shuddered, her arms dropping away as she let him take complete control.
He lowered her to the bed, knowing he had to please her first. He’d waited so long there was zero chance he was lasting once he got inside her. Later he would fuck her for hours, but tonight he feared was going to be more perfection than he could handle.
Theo followed her down, covering her body with his. Her legs moved restlessly against him as her hands eased over the muscles of his back and ass. She squeezed him there.
“Have I ever told you how pretty you are, Master?”
The first time she’d said the word Master and he believed she was talking about him. He would give her the pretty. If she wanted him to be pretty, he could handle it. He could handle her. “I try for you, brat.”
Erin’s eyes closed as he played with her other nipple. She was stunning when she let go, a creature of pure sensuality. He’d sensed it in her but rather thought this was a first. She wouldn’t let go for anyone. She would find her pleasure, but this utter submission was only for him.
He sucked her left nipple into his mouth, his teeth grazing the sensitive flesh. Her legs moved against his, allowing him to find a place at her core.
His cock throbbed, but his cock wasn’t in charge. Learning what brought her the most pleasure was the quest of the day. And comfort. Even while his body was engaged, he couldn’t forget how hollow she’d looked as she realized her friend had passed away. He needed to give her something soft and safe, something to let her know the world wasn’t as awful as it seemed.
He needed to know it, too.
“You’re as beautiful as I thought you would be.” He kissed between her breasts, starting to inch his way down her body.
“I never feel that way except with you,” she admitted.
“You should feel that way every single day, every hour. You should walk around knowing how fucking gorgeous you are.”
“Somehow I don’t think the rest of the world thinks freckles are gorgeous,” she murmured. “It’s the price I pay for being a natural redhead. You wouldn’t believe all the bullying I got.”
He found one of the tiny dots she was talking about. “I love your freckles. One day I’m going to kiss each one, moving from one to the other like a connect the dots that makes my perfect woman.”
“I wish I’d known you when I was in high school.” She groaned as he dipped his tongue into her belly button.
He wasn’t about to point out that he’d been in elementary school. She was sensitive about that but he kind of thought he needed the advantage of youth with her. She was too fierce, too strong. He needed all his damn energy to keep up with her.
“I would have carried your books and been the nerd who worshipped you.” So close. He brushed his lips over her pelvis and breathed in the scent of her arousal. It was better than any perfume.
“You’ve never
been a nerd once in your life.”
Thought she knew everything, did she? “You didn’t know me during my Dungeons and Dragons years, brat. Hush. I want to enjoy this. Hold on to the sheets. Don’t move. This is my time.”
She whimpered as his mouth hovered over her pussy. “God, Theo, you’re going to kill me. Please kiss me. Kiss me there. It’s been so long and it was never any good. It’s going to be good with you, isn’t it?”
She was beginning to understand. It would all be good because he loved her. “Oh, baby, we belong together. This is going to be the best. I know. This is going to be the best, sweetest pussy I’ve ever eaten. It’s going to be the last pussy I ever eat and I won’t ever get my fill.”
He lowered his mouth and kissed her briefly before getting down to what he’d wanted to do pretty much five seconds after she’d put him on his ass that first time. He’d wanted to get a taste of the most interesting woman he’d ever met.
He’d been right. Her arousal coated his tongue, and he couldn’t help but want more. He knew he should tease her, draw out the play more, but he wanted her too much. He was a starving man.
He parted her labia and let his tongue explore.
“Do I have to be quiet, Master?” Erin’s voice was reedy and thin. “I’m being still, but it’s hard to stay quiet when your mouth feels so damn good.”
“Make all the noise you like.” Her clit was a pearly, creamy jewel poking out of its hood and tempting him.
She gasped as he ran the flat of his tongue over her clitoris.
When he sucked her into his mouth, she screamed out his name.
He eased two fingers into her pussy, but she was already coming. Her body tensed under him, though she held herself beautifully still. So disciplined. He sucked at her and curled his fingers deep, drawing the orgasm out while she moaned and her hands fisted in the bedsheets.
He let his eyes gaze up her body, seeing the way her head thrashed, but she kept her body still. She was biting her lip as she rode out the rest of the orgasm. Her chest was heaving as she dragged air in.
He got to his knees and reached for the condom he’d put on top of his bag. He tore it open and rolled it over his dick with shaking hands. He was so hard he could easily cover it. Theo stared down at her flushed body. She was a damn goddess. He didn’t deserve her, but he was going to take her. Someone had convinced her she wasn’t the stunning warrior princess she was and that she didn’t need a prince. Well, that opened the way for the lowly soldier to take his queen and make her the center of his world.
He spread her legs further, lining his cock up with her pussy. “This is serious for me, Erin. Tell me to stop if you don’t want this. If you don’t want to try with me, let me know now.”
He would fucking die if she turned him away now, but he had to give her the chance.
“Shut up, Taggart. We’re together. I get it. Take me hard.”
That was his girl. He gripped her hips and thrust inside.
His vision focused down to her, to her face, her body. He pressed inside, lowering himself down so their bodies were pressed together. “I don’t want to be apart from you again.”
Her hands came up to his back, nails lightly sinking in. “You talk too much.”
She shoved her pelvis up and her legs wound around his waist.
He couldn’t hold back a second more. She was everything he’d ever wanted and now she was his. He wouldn’t let up. There was nothing she could do now. Erin was in his trap and he wouldn’t open it again. He’d played fair and given her every opportunity, and now he was going to be the bastard who kept her close at every single turn. She wouldn’t be able to get away from him now.
He thrust in and dragged his cock back out, the sensation spiraling through his system. She was tight and perfect. The heat of her body sent him reeling but he held on to her. He fucked inside her, working his way in inch by inch. The deeper he got, the more she gripped him.
She sighed under him, her body soft and submissive, and he couldn’t wait another second. He fucked her hard, his hips pumping in and out. He rode her because she was his in that moment. Her hips pumped up, matching his rhythm like she’d been born to make this particular music with him.
He ground down on her, hitting her clit with his pelvis. Every breath brought him closer to paradise, but he was determined to keep going until she’d found her pleasure again. He twisted and shifted. He leaned over to kiss her, letting his tongue penetrate her as surely as his cock was.
She was his home. It struck him firmly as she took every inch of his dick that he’d searched all his life and this woman was his home. Where he belonged wasn’t a place. It was a person. Erin Argent. His soul mate.
“God, I’m crazy about you.” He couldn’t not say it. It wasn’t what he wanted to say, but she might not be ready for that yet. I love you. He loved her so much. He’d always known it.
She smiled up at him, but her eyes were hot, her nails biting into his back as she worked with him.
He felt her clench around him and watched as her eyes dilated. She opened her mouth and moaned out his name as she came again.
He went wild. He didn’t have to hold back. He could fuck her as hard as he liked and she wouldn’t care. She’d been built to take him the same way he’d been born to please her. Made for each other. He thrust in and pulled out, his spine starting to bow. His balls drew up and he couldn’t hold it back a second longer.
His body went tense as the orgasm rushed through him, shooting out of his body. Every muscle seemed infused with pleasure, with energy.
And then he collapsed, the moment passing and a sweet languor seeping through him. He didn’t hold himself off her. He didn’t have to. His girl was stronger than anyone he’d ever met. She could handle him.
The moment lengthened as he breathed her in, loving how their bodies meshed together.
A sudden shudder went through her.
He lifted his head and was shocked at what he saw. His warrior queen had tears running down her face.
“Baby, baby, it’s all right.” This wasn’t about him. It was about what had happened. She’d finally found a place where she would cry. He’d given her that. He kissed her cheek and her forehead. “It’s all right to mourn her. She needs someone to mourn her. Baby, I’ll cry with you.”
She was silent for a moment, but her arms were still around him. He shifted off her, still holding her close. After a long minute where he thought she might ignore him, he heard the sweetest words ever.
“She was so young, Theo.”
She trusted him with her grief, trusted him to share it and take some of it from her. If she could do that, perhaps she would let him double her joy. That was how the world worked when you were loved well. The pain was lessened. The happiness was multiplied.
He held her tight, trying to give her the comfort she needed. Erin required intimacy to admit her vulnerability. “She was, love. You were close to her. Tell me everything.”
He would listen all night if it helped her shed an ounce of pain. He kissed her over and over, taking her tears.
She sniffled and settled her head on his chest and slowly began to talk. Her arm wound over his chest and she tangled their legs as though she couldn’t stand to not have an inch of their skins touching.
And Theo knew it was the beginning of their lives.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
London, England
Present day
Theo sat in the conference room, unable to forget what had happened the night before.
He’d remembered. Not a foggy, distant, maybe that vision was real thing. He’d remembered how it felt to have her mouth on his dick, her tongue rolling over his flesh. He’d recalled how her eyes had lit up and he’d realized she needed to serve as much as to be served. That had been the moment he’d known they could work.
The conference door opened and Erin strode in looking cool and collected and totally calm. If he’d expected drama from her because he’d left the bed befo
re she’d gotten up, he wasn’t getting it. In fact, she barely looked his way. She walked right to Penelope Knight and smiled and started talking as Penny handed her a cup of coffee. There was another woman standing with them, a pretty woman with raven black hair. He was almost certain she was the London team’s psychologist, Ariel Adisa. She smiled, greeting Erin with a hug and then pouring her own cup.
No crappy paper cups for McKay-Taggart and Knight. Nope. While Big Tag might be happy with that, the Knights obviously needed something a bit more formal. One side of the conference room was a beautifully laid out buffet complete with coffee and tea service and lovely china cups and plates. There was fruit and Danishes, but Theo hadn’t been able to eat.
Because he was an idiot and when he realized that his “dream” was actually a memory, he’d tried to force it. He’d tried to shove through the cobwebs and ended up throwing up from the migraine he’d brought on. He’d stumbled down the hall to Robert’s place so he wouldn’t wake her up and spent the rest of the night shaking.
He hated Hope McDonald.
What should have been a peaceful night with his sub had been turned into gut churning hours away from her, and now she was acting like none of it had mattered. She was talking to Penny and joking with another chick when she should have come and greeted her Master, offered him her morning kiss, allowed him to be the one to get her coffee and see to her comforts.
McDonald sucked ass.
“Dude, I don’t think that’s a good sign.” Robert leaned over.
“She’s fine. Look, she just smiled at me.” It was a bad fucking smile. It was Erin’s fuck-you smile, but he had to play it cool. He hadn’t told Robert exactly what had happened the night before. He hadn’t mentioned that Erin had fallen asleep telling him the story of how they’d first made love and that his own memory had taken over and finished it. She’d almost been to the really good part when her eyes had closed and she’d drifted off. His own mind had taken over and he’d lived it. He hadn’t told Robert how he’d rolled out of bed, desperately seeking the rest as though a few moments couldn’t possibly be enough. He’d needed more. He’d needed everything so he could be the man she’d loved, the man everyone had loved.