by Kit Rocha
Jealousy formed an ugly knot in Dallas's gut, especially with Lex holding down the opposite end of the couch, sleekly beautiful in a little red dress and acting like Dallas didn't fucking exist.
That was fine. That was just fucking fine. Dallas could have any woman in the room on her knees for him by twitching a damn finger. For all the soft-focus lighting and pretty hors d'oeuvres, the night would devolve into fucking soon enough, and that would take the edge off his temper.
It was an O'Kane party, after all.
Noelle's soft laughter washed over him from where she leaned away from Jasper, her head tucked close to Lex's. Dallas nudged his friend. "How you holding up, old man?"
Jasper finished his drink before answering. "Parties aren't my thing. But this is Noelle's night."
Dallas eyed the fresh ink on the inside of Jasper's arm. Noelle's name, in Ace's inimitable style. "Not just hers."
Jasper followed his gaze and nodded, though his words contradicted Dallas's. "The ink is mine. The party's hers."
That, Dallas supposed, wasn't worth arguing. People had been drifting up to the dais all evening long with congratulations and gifts, and most of it had been heaped on a glowing Noelle. "Fair enough."
Movement at the door caught Dallas's eye--Bren, with his seemingly ever-present shadow trailing him. Jasper was Dallas's right-hand man, and Brendan Donnelly was Jas's mirror. The strong, silent man who stood at Dallas's left, his cold-blooded intellect a good balance for Jasper's more tempered compassion.
The girl hovering just behind Bren's left shoulder might as well have been Noelle's mirror. They'd come under Dallas's protection within a week of one another, but Noelle had fallen from the privileged grace of the city, and Six--if the girl had another name, she refused to give it--had been dragged out of the hell of Sector Three. Noelle was sweet softness in white ruffles, and Six was nothing but wary, hard edges and baggy clothes that covered her from her chin to her borrowed boots.
Her eyes were wounded. Broken, maybe. Sometimes Dallas woke from nightmares where Lex stared at him like that, shattered and hurt because the need inside him had crushed her.
Bren grinned as he approached the dais, one arm behind his back. "Especially for you, Noelle," he said, presenting her with a small flogger festooned with a red bow.
It had a multitude of tails, all light, butter-soft suede, and Noelle flushed a pretty pink as she caught one of the tails and rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger. "It's beautiful."
Lex leaned forward to peer at the whip. "Stuart make this?"
"He did." Bren dipped his head. "Thanks for recommending him."
"No problem." She brushed the back of her hand over the braided handle, her expression contemplative. "He does good work."
"That he does," Dallas agreed, watching one tail slither over Lex's skin. Wrapping leather around that woman's body could be a full-time hobby, one to which he'd gladly devote himself. It was an effort to tear his gaze away and smile at Noelle. "Bren knows his toys, kitten. I think you'll like this one." Jasper would like it too, once he had Noelle stretched in front of him, writhing through the pleasure she took from pain.
Jasper set aside the flogger and folded his hand around Noelle's. "Should we ask Bren to dance?"
"It's only polite." Noelle dropped a kiss to Lex's cheek before hauling Jasper to his feet. "Six, do you want to dance?"
Her dark eyes widened just a fraction, and then she was giving Noelle that look, the one Dallas had seen on the poor girl's face a dozen times. It screamed, You cannot be for real, and sometimes it seemed like that was the only look anyone got from Six.
Except Bren.
Dallas gestured to a chair tucked in a dark corner on the dais. It was far enough out of the way to give the wary woman a little privacy, but not situated so that she'd have to worry about being cornered. Not with him--and Lex--between her and the rest of the room. "Why don't you park yourself over there, Six? Watch until you feel like joining in, eh?"
After an awkward moment, she nodded jerkily and mumbled something that sounded like a congratulations as she slipped past Jasper. Dallas arched an eyebrow at Bren, who threw a wave over his shoulder as he followed Noelle out onto the floor.
"They left you alone with me," Lex muttered. "I guess you'll be making them pay for that later."
Dallas laughed and stretched his arm across the back of the couch. "How do you know this wasn't part of my plan?"
She moved fast, and her hair spilled over her shoulders to tickle his cheek as she straddled his thigh. "Was it?"
It didn't matter what his plan had been. When Lex's perfume hit him, his cock got hard and his plans got muddled. He slid one hand up her leg, edging his fingers under the hem of her dress. "It sure as fuck is now, love."
She slapped his hand away.
He couldn't help his grin. "What's the matter, Lex? Don't want to ride my fingers?"
"Mmm." She leaned down until her lips grazed his ear. "I'm not that easy."
Nothing about Lex ever was. "Congratulations on your protégé's big debut. You were right, back when we took her in. She's gonna settle down and make Jasper real happy."
"Told you so." Lex slipped a hand between them, pressing her fingernails to his chest through his shirt.
Her dress rode up her thighs, and Dallas braced both hands on her hips and raised his leg, grinding up against her. "And you don't get tired of being right, do you?"
"With you? I've learned to take what I can get."
It was a challenge, one he couldn't keep himself from answering with one hand cuffing her throat. Gently, so gently, but he liked the way his fingers looked wrapped around her neck, with his thumb along the opposite side. A collar of his own making and a gesture of dominance, even with his grip soft enough to caress. "You should be careful what you wish for."
For some reason, it made her laugh, though the sound melted into a moan.
That was better. "Keep rocking. I like having you squirming on my thigh."
Her eyes drifted open, oddly intent as they focused on his, and the rest of the room vanished. Lex's clever, intimate lighting, her carefully set stage, the heat in his blood--all of it conspired to melt everyone else into the background. "Gonna slap my fingers again?"
"I think..." Her throat worked under his hand. "I think I'm going to go dance."
He could tighten his fingers. Keep her with him. That was the eternal battle, the constant temptation. "You could do that."
"What do you want?" Lex reached down and rubbed her palm over the hard bulge of his cock through his pants.
People were watching them. Friends, members of his gang that might as well be family but would always be his. He was Dallas O'Kane, leader of Sector Four, and he was expected to get everything he wanted.
Which meant he was only allowed to want what he could get. Easy things. Casual things. Her fingers around his dick, her mouth, sucking him deep.
Not enough. Not tonight. "I want you to take off your panties."
She rose with a shiver, hesitating only a heartbeat before easing her thumbs under her skirt. The fabric rucked up a little, and she dragged her panties down. The skimpy black lace fell to her knees and then her ankles, tangling around the high spike heels on her shoes.
For one breathless moment, Dallas could only stare at her, high on the thrill of this woman's obedience.
"Hell, yeah! Throw me your underwear, Lex!"
Lex started, as if Ace's drunken words had drawn her out of a fantasy, and she threw him a glare that was more flustered than angry as she kicked free of the lace. "You don't deserve my panties, jackass."
When Ace jerked to a halt two steps from the dais, Dallas realized he was glaring at him, too. Belatedly, he smoothed his features, but it didn't diminish his urge to smack the irreverent artist. "You're pushing your luck, Ace."
"I'm too pretty to kill," Ace drawled, full of fake bluster and confidence as he sprawled on the edge of the platform. "But if you two were having a private party..."
"If it were private, we'd go someplace else," Lex said quickly.
She was right, much as Dallas hated it in this moment. Just beyond Ace, Noelle was pinned between Jasper and Bren, their dance a slow grind. She looked blissful under their attentions, her skin already flushed with the slow heat of arousal.
The highlight of any party celebrating a couple taking marks tended to be the couple taking each other, a public consummation played out in loving, explicit detail. This wasn't a time for private moments. It was a time to celebrate Jas and Noelle and their crazy, dirty love.
Telling himself it was about them and not the buffer they provided, Dallas grinned up at Lex. "Think we can lure the happy couple back? Or should we start without them?"
But the moment was gone, and Lex's answer was light, breezy, with no hint of her previous intensity. "Why don't we just play it by ear?" she asked as she stepped off the dais and headed into the crowd.
Ace flashed him an apologetic look. "Sorry, boss."
Dallas sighed. "Get lost. Go find some woman dumb enough to let your face between her legs."
"Oh, you mean damn near all of them?" Ace sprawled back on his elbows. "The trick is having a dexterous tongue, you know. If you brooded less and talked more, yours might--"
Dallas raised an eyebrow and dared Ace to finish the thought.
"...I think Amira's flagging me down," Ace said instead, coming to his feet in a rush. Before Dallas could say another word, the smartass disappeared into the mass of dancing bodies, vanishing as surely as Lex had.
Dallas tensed to follow, but forced his muscles to relax. He stretched both arms across the back of the couch and sprawled out his legs, every inch the lazy king surveying his court. Dallas O'Kane didn't chase after women who ran. Dallas O'Kane lifted a finger and women came running.
"I don't know how you're still in charge," a quiet voice murmured from behind him.
Craning his head, Dallas met Six's gaze and stilled his angry retort when he saw the honest bafflement in her eyes. As clumsy as the words were, there was a bone-deep need to understand hidden beneath them.
She'd come into adulthood under the brutal hand of a man too weak to hold his people without abuse and violence. Of course she didn't understand the obedience that came from loyalty and respect instead of crippling fear.
So he tried to explain. "This is my family, sweetheart. These are my people. I'm in charge because they trust me to make life a hell of a lot better for them than it would be without me. I don't need to beat them into line, and I don't need to prove I'm the strongest."
She blinked at him, her eyes huge and painfully wary. "Everyone needs to prove they're strong."
"The truly strong only have to do it once." But no comprehension showed in her eyes. Maybe you couldn't explain safety to someone who'd never experienced it. Dallas contented himself with a smile and a shake of his head. "Stick around, Six. We'll revisit the topic every couple months and see if you've changed your mind."
From the way she watched him as she curled deeper into the chair, she thought he was insane. She probably wasn't wrong. As he settled facing forward again, his gaze caught on Lex moving toward Noelle, and his dick strained against his fly.
He was a liar. If he didn't have to prove he was in control, he'd be down there already, sliding a hand under Lex's dress while Noelle writhed against them both.
Strength. Control. Two things he needed more than life. Two things Lex shattered when she was around.
God help him, Six was right. He was insane.
"You're in my spot."
Bren laughed at Lex's words and lifted his head from Noelle's shoulder. "Pardon me."
"Lex, you have to share." Noelle's scolding tone was ruined by her smile as she stretched up and kissed Bren square on the lips. "But I've been waiting for my dance with you, so Bren and Jas will just have to deal with it."
"I don't share," Lex grumbled as the men melted away, headed for the bar in the corner.
Except the words weren't true. Share--that was one thing she always did, without fail. It was the secret to maintaining the harmony in their little gang, sexual freedom and pleasure without jealousy. Lex had always excelled at it, getting close but never too close.
So what the hell had happened?
She pressed her face to Noelle's cheek. "I'm losing my mind. I don't know if I'm cranky because I'm horny or because Dallas is driving me nuts."
"Aw, honey." Noelle wrapped her arms around her. "What did he do now?"
"I don't want to think about him." Lex drew her thumb over the new tattoo framing Noelle's throat. "This is beautiful on you. Did I tell you that?"
She shivered. "Ace works magic. I swear, it feels like more than just ink."
It must, because it seemed to have changed the way Noelle and Jasper looked at one another. "I'm happy for you."
Slender fingers tangled in Lex's hair, and Noelle pulled her down for a long, slow kiss. "I'm horny too," the other woman said against her lips. "You know Jasper's going to spend all night letting me stew before he gets around to fucking me."
"And you'll love every second of it," Lex said. Noelle was already soft against her, open and hungry in a way she recognized.
"Especially if you help him." Noelle dug her teeth into Lex's lower lip. "Are you going to help him?"
The two of them together burned so hot, and it would be easy to fall into them, to borrow a little of that fire for a while. Easy to walk away when it was over, too, secure in the knowledge that Jasper and Noelle had each other to hold.
As simple as it was arousing, as satisfying as it was safe. "Help him fuck you?" Lex asked softly, drawing aside the lacy white strap of Noelle's dress, baring her shoulder. "How would I do that?"
Noelle arched her neck, putting all of that gorgeous ink on display. "I was thinking we could be bad girls. Sometimes that inspires Jasper to hurry."
"So I'm a means to an end?" Lex couldn't keep her amusement out of the words. "I see how you are."
"I'm wretched." Noelle teased her hands over the curves of Lex's breasts. "A wicked, wicked girl."
"More like delicious." Lex watched as Noelle's dress slipped low enough to bare one hard nipple, then bent to circle it with her tongue.
"Oh, oh." Noelle clutched at her shoulders and moaned. "God, I love your tongue."
"More than mine?" Jasper stepped up behind Noelle, wrapped his arms around them both, and stroked Lex's cheek.
Noelle laughed and raised her arms, curling them around Jasper's neck. "Don't be jealous, baby."
"Oh, I'm not." He cupped her breast and met Lex's eyes. "Suck."
A command, but Lex was already so wound up she parted her lips without thinking. Pleasure thrummed in her body, a quick pulse that left her pussy aching as she drew Noelle's nipple deep into her mouth.
Noelle's soft cry drowned under dark laughter. Familiar fingers slid around Lex's waist, strong hands that found the flare of her hips as if every curve belonged to him. "I love watching you make her writhe," Dallas murmured against Lex's ear.
She shuddered. Her and Noelle, sandwiched between Jasper and Dallas. Lex had been here before, and she knew how it would end--with all four of them naked on the floor.
And she was helpless to stop it, helpless in a way she never was when Dallas wasn't part of the equation. Lex tilted her head back on his shoulder, both making room and inviting him to lick the taste of her mouth from the tight, slick peak of Noelle's breast.
And he did, flicking his tongue over Noelle's nipple. When she gasped, he gave her teeth, more than Lex would have used so soon. But Dallas had a rougher touch, and Noelle seemed to like it.
"Fuck," Jasper rasped. He combed his fingers through Noelle's hair and urged her head to one side, baring her neck for a slow, lingering kiss. "I'll fuck you, sweetheart. Nice and hard, the way you like it--" he glanced at Dallas, "--but only if you make Lex come."
Sleepy eyes met hers. "Do you want that?" Noelle asked, already tracing the neckline of Le
x's dress. The words held a breathless undertone, a plea for her to play along with the fantasy, the one where Jasper withheld satisfaction until Noelle satisfied every one of their lurid demands.
Oh, the hunger. Lex swallowed a moan and nodded. "I won't make it easy, either," she lied. "You'll have to be so, so good."
Noelle actually shivered, and Dallas chuckled again as he caressed Lex's cheek. "She'll have to be so, so bad. Put her on her knees, Jasper."
He did it with nothing more than a twist of his hand in her hair, as if Noelle's body had been finely tuned to his touch. He sank to the floor behind her, one hand already sliding the ruffled hem of her skirt up. "Fingers or tongue?" he asked roughly, then swatted Noelle's ass without waiting for an answer. "Tongue tonight, I think."
No straight-faced adherence to fantasy could keep the glee from Noelle's eyes as she eased her hands under the hem of Lex's dress. But there was something else there too--awareness. Noelle bared only Lex's thighs, holding the fabric tight across Lex's hips, shielding the new tattoo on her lower abdomen.
If Dallas noticed Noelle's precision, he didn't understand the significance. He was too busy wrapping a hand around Lex's throat and whispering silky commands. "Part your legs, love. Let Noelle and her sweet tongue at you."
Lex knew she'd fall without Dallas holding her up. She leaned back, sliding her hands into his pants pockets and drawing in a shaky breath when her ass rubbed against his erection. "This makes you so damn hard," she said softly.
"Of course it does." Dallas stroked the top of Noelle's head. "I love watching her bury her face in your pussy. Tonight everyone's going to love watching it."
They'd drawn stares already. Part of it was the attention due Jasper and Noelle, but Lex knew the rest revolved around morbid curiosity. They were watching her and Dallas. Probably had a fucking pool going. Fifty credits says they blow up tonight.
Lex laid her hand over Dallas's. "You feeling a little wild, Declan?"
He tensed behind her, and the fingers around her throat tightened. "When am I not?"