Before the End (Beyond Series Ultimate Glom Edition)

by Kit Rocha

  As if she gave a damn. "Should I care what he thinks about it?"

  Suddenly, Dallas was there, his breath against her ear, his free hand covering hers where it pressed between her legs. "What if he wanted to take his belt to your ass for it? Would you want the collar gone if I tied you over my bench and let him whip you over the edge? Or maybe Mad or Bren. Or all three of them."

  She wanted to say yes, to give him a line he couldn't cross--but this wasn't it. "No," she whispered. "I wouldn't want it gone."

  He sucked in a sharp breath, and the hand blanketing hers trembled. Simple words of submission, but if his groan was any indication, they inflamed him. He cupped her breast, his thumb and forefinger closing on her taut nipple. "Fuck yourself, Lex. Now."

  She moved, rocking her hand in a grind that gave way too quickly to fucking, sharp, hard thrusts of her fingers that splintered tingles up her spine until only his grip on her hair kept her upright.

  That, and the fact that he hadn't yet given her permission to sink to the bed.

  She had no warning before his mouth closed around her nipple. He was simply there, rough heat, his teeth digging into soft flesh and his tongue lashing back and forth, flicking over her in time with her thrusting fingers.

  Her shaking legs would barely hold her. She gasped his name, and the sound was still dying on her lips when she orgasmed. It singed her all over, a burning pleasure quick enough to wrench a cry from her throat but deep enough to curl her toes. Lex crooked her fingers, desperate to prolong it.

  He let her ride the waves, but when the final one shuddered through her, he gripped her wrist and dragged her hand away. "Looks like you need a lesson in asking first, don't you, love?"

  Fuck. She swallowed hard. "I forgot."

  "I noticed." His lips brushed her ear in a teasing, reassuring kiss before he planted one hand in the center of her chest and pushed. "Fold your arms behind you and lie back."

  She was still kneeling. Bending back on the bed, especially with her arms beneath her, would leave her helpless and at his mercy. "I'm trusting you," she murmured, then yielded to the pressure of his hand.

  Once her head and shoulders rested on the bed, Dallas drew both hands down her body, pausing to tweak her nipples before his fingers came to rest on her upper thighs. He circled his thumbs, stroking her pussy before spreading her outer lips wide.

  Not just at his mercy. On display, open and bare. Helpless. He gave her a silent eternity to feel it before answering, "Trust is the point, love."

  His tongue found her clit.

  Her legs flexed, but he held her hips still. She was still buzzing, and the inexorably direct contact almost hurt...for a heartbeat. Then the buzzing mellowed into heat, and Lex moaned. "Dallas..."

  No reply beyond the clever swipe of his tongue. He knew how to toy with her, when to ease off and build anticipation with slow licks that dragged the rough flat of his tongue over every sensitive spot, and when to return to hard and fast to work her clit with arrogant assurance.

  He hauled her closer and closer to the edge, until it was sharp enough to cut. Heat built in her belly until her entire body tensed in anticipation--

  And he lifted his head.

  She groaned and gripped the bedspread in one fist. "Don't stop, damn it."

  His chuckle flowed over her. "I'm saving you from yourself, Lexie. I don't think you were about to ask if you could come."

  She'd thought that his reasons didn't matter, but the knot in the pit of her stomach said otherwise. "Tell me why first."

  The bed tilted by her head, and she could feel him looming over her, his weight braced with one hand on the mattress. He tugged at the silk, lifting it up and away from her eyes. His face filled her vision, a strong jaw with a day's worth of stubble, his crooked nose and those dark, dangerous eyes.

  "Because I'm a selfish bastard," he answered, stroking her cheek. "When a woman's mine, she doesn't take pleasure. I give it to her."

  Selfish, yes, and conceited. But she'd half expected him to need to prove there wasn't anything he didn't own, including her, so the answer filled her with relief instead of rage. "Then give it to me." Her gaze locked with his. "Let me come. Please."

  "Mmm." He straightened and stroked her trembling inner thighs. His thumb touched her clit, jolting her back toward arousal as he worked two broad fingers into her body. "Not yet. Remember to ask when you're close this time, and I'll consider it. Or we can do this all night."

  Lost in desire, she rocked her hips. "I will. I'll ask."

  "We'll see." The tattoos wrapped around his arms rippled with his flexing muscles, each one working in graceful concert for the sole purpose of fucking into her, faster and harder with each advance, but when she tried to push up, he planted his other hand on her belly and pinned her against the bed.

  Caught again, and this time Lex didn't hold back. Waves of hot, insistent bliss began to build, teasing her with how very, very good she could feel--if she'd only let go.

  "Please," she whispered, writhing against his hand. "Can I--holy fuck, please. Please let me come--"

  "Who gets to decide, Lexie?"

  "You." She squeezed her eyes shut as her breath tangled on a sob. "You do, you decide."

  "That's right." His fingers crooked, working her G-spot, shoving her toward oblivion. Testing her. "Why, honey? Tell me why."

  She barely had the wits to answer, and her voice sounded far away and strained. "Because I'm yours."

  "You're mine," he agreed. So warm, so approving. His voice wrapped around her as his thumb settled on her clit, the perfect, piercing counterpoint. "So come for me."

  Lex tensed, and her eyes snapped open. How did he do it, have her body responding to the words as if triggered for exactly that? Her arms were going numb, her muscles were cramping, and she didn't give a flying fuck. All that mattered was his hand, his fingers, and the sheer, overwhelming ecstasy flooding her.

  "Just like that, love." He dragged her through her climax with relentless stroking and his thumb working in circles that wouldn't stop. "Feels so good to let go, doesn't it?"

  Good didn't describe the torturous pleasure. "Dallas--" Her voice shuddered, broke.

  "Want something, honey?"

  So satisfied. So smug. "Fuck you," she panted.

  Laughing, Dallas pulled his fingers free of her body. "Not unless you ask nicely." He traced his slick fingertips over her nipple. Before she could respond, he bent to capture the stiff peak between his lips, sucking the taste of her from her skin with an appreciative rumble.

  She'd given him so much, and still he wanted more. Everything. "I won't ask."

  "You will." Rough hands closed around her shoulders without warning. She barely had time to smack his arm with one numb hand before he dragged her from the bed and flipped her to her stomach.

  The edge of the mattress bit into her abdomen as he braced his thighs on either side of hers and pinned her in place. Lex struck at him, but he caught her arms and held them tight. "You will," he echoed, "but maybe not tonight."

  He'd fuck her like this, pinned down and protesting.

  He'd do it.

  The thought shuddered through her, echoing in rhythmic pulses of hunger that left her wetter than ever, her pussy swollen and her upper thighs slick. "No." Another pulse as she breathed the denial. The plea. "Don't."

  Dallas gripped both wrists in one hand. The other trailed up her spine as he ground his leather-encased cock against her ass. "I know this is the game you want to play, but that's not how it works, honey. You don't get to skip straight to this. You're not ready."

  She had to bite her lip to hold back a cry of sheer frustration. He not only craved her submission to his touch, he had to define exactly how she gave it to him--and her clumsy offerings always seemed to be wrong. "Then can I get up now?"

  "No." He stroked her back. "I want to fuck you, just like this. I wanna hold you down and ride you so damn deep we're both screaming for mercy. You don't have to beg. You don't even have to
ask, not tonight. But you have to tell me you want it, because you're not the only one who isn't ready for that game."

  The hint of vulnerability in his words melted her resistance. "How can you still wonder? I want you. I always want you--I always have."

  The backs of his fingers grazed her ass as he jerked at his pants, and she knew she'd won. Maybe more than one battle, judging from the rough way he pushed her feet wide and repositioned himself between her thighs.

  "Someday." He guided her arms down to her sides and folded her fingers around the edge of the mattress. She had no warning before his fingers twisted into her, driving a cry from her throat, pushing deep as his thumb teased between her ass cheeks. "Someday, we'll play your game, Lexie. Right out to the edge and over it. That's a promise."

  A promise, and Declan O'Kane never went back on his word.

  Lex gripped the mattress. "I need you with me this time."

  He pumped his fingers lazily--once, twice--only to withdraw them and trace one slick fingertip up to push against her ass. "You'll get my cock as soon as I decide where I want to put it."

  She hissed in a breath. "Anywhere."

  "That's what I like to hear," he whispered as the blunt head of his cock prodded her pussy. One long rock took him inside, thick and hard and stretching her inner muscles, and he groaned and wrapped both hands around her shoulders. "You'll let me fuck you any goddamn way I want, won't you?"

  Lex couldn't answer, not with Dallas walking the edge of her darkest fantasies. She tried, went so far as to open her mouth, but all that emerged was a pleading whimper. In response, he tightened his grip on her shoulders, holding her in place for a single hard thrust--rough, claiming.

  Fire.

  Her pulse pounded in her ears as she tried to center herself, but Dallas stripped it all away with another deep drive of his hips. Fast, faster than her racing heart.

  Exactly what she wanted.

  His satisfied groans rose behind her, raw animal sounds that prickled over her skin and punctuated his speeding thrusts. He cracked his open palm across her ass with his next advance and growled. "Up on your elbows," he commanded, pulling back on one shoulder to lift her upper body. "I want to watch your tits bounce in those ridiculous fucking mirrors."

  He wanted her to watch, to see the quick slam of his cock into her pussy. To watch him take her.

  She arched her back and gave it to him--but not too easy. "Motherfucker." Reaching up, she slipped her fingers into his hair and pulled. Hard.

  Dallas just laughed and fucked her faster. Oh, he liked the hint of pain, almost as much as he liked the control.

  And he had it. He shifted her hips with one hand, guiding her back into a deeper arch. He always knew just how to fuck her with his fingers--when to hold off and when to drive her higher--but this was different. Possessive. Desperate.

  Fierce.

  When she found his reflection in the mirror, the truth hit her as hard as his next thrust. He was wild, his lips parted in a needy snarl, his eyes narrowed and dark, so dark. Every inch of control he gained over her stripped away a layer of the control he had over himself.

  Give and take. Not about bodies, or even the breathless ecstasy lighting her up from the inside out. Suddenly, it made sense, and she knew what he really needed.

  Every thrust bordered on pain now, grinding her against the bed. She could barely speak, but she managed to hold his gaze in the mirror and let him see her truth. "You have me," she rasped. "I'm yours."

  He shuddered, his fingers digging bruises into her skin. "Come for me. Come all over me."

  Her head hit his shoulder. She couldn't stop shaking, but there was something, something-- "Harder."

  "No." One hand caged her throat as he slammed into her with a grunt. "Just like this." Another thrust, angled just right and riding the sharp edge of too much. "Just hard enough."

  His hand tightened a little, and Lex shuddered. She gripped his wrist, her nails digging in to his skin. "More."

  "Filthy girl." His lips crushed against her ear, teeth scraping her lobe as he carefully, oh-so-slowly tightened his fingers. "You want it rough and raw," he rasped in a low whisper. "I'll give you that, love. I'll give you the fucking world."

  Yes. The world he spoke of, beautiful and bright, spun around her in dizzying, white-hot circles. The pressure of Dallas's hand collided with the pressure building inside her--until it all exploded in a blinding, choking rush. And this time he was there, riding her ecstasy, his obscene torrent of words reduced to a guttural snarl of her name as he came inside her.

  Her knees wouldn't hold her. As soon as the hand around her throat eased, Lex stumbled. Dallas caught her and swung her up onto the bed, though he didn't seem particularly steady, either.

  It didn't stop him from pushing her hair back from her face and brushing a soft kiss to her lips. "You with me, darling?"

  Her tongue felt thick, useless, but she managed a slow nod.

  "Good. I'll be right back."

  The mattress shifted, Lex opened her eyes and watched the low light gild the hard, muscled lines of his Dallas's body as he stripped off his clothes. "The lamps should have voice controls."

  "Damn waste of resources," he grumbled, but she noticed he still took advantage of it, sliding into bed beside her before ordering the lights to a bare glow.

  His warmth bolstered the soft haze of pleasure that still blurred the world around its edges, and Lex curled up in his arms. "The big meeting's tomorrow?"

  "Mmm. A few hours of backbiting and arguing while everyone circles like stray dogs. And, if we're really lucky, maybe an assassination attempt by lunch."

  She might have laughed--if it hadn't been so terribly likely. "Watch yourself, okay?"

  He curled a hand around her rib cage, spreading his fingers until his thumb brushed her breast. "You, too. And don't you try'n ditch Mad, either. If he loses sight of you outside this room, I'll beat his ass down."

  "I wouldn't." Wandering around Sector Two with no backup appealed to her about as much as sticking her hand in a snake pit.

  "Good. I don't like this place. Don't like letting you out of my sight." His sigh tickled her temple. "Not just for your benefit, either. I don't have a damn clue how I'll keep my temper tomorrow."

  He'd do it, like so many other things, because he had to. She turned her face and kissed his jaw. "It'll be over soon."

  "Yeah? Do I get a reward for getting through the day without stabbing anyone?"

  She rubbed one bare leg over his. "I'll think of something creative."

  His laughter was a low rumble that vibrated through her as he rolled her beneath him. "I like you like this," he murmured against her lips. "Sleepy and sweaty and disheveled. Sexiest fucking thing in the world."

  Any other time, she might have fought the pleasure that rose with his words. But here, now, the satisfaction seemed not only acceptable but necessary.

  This was what it meant, the collar. The marks.

  She didn't hold back the slow smile that curved her lips. "Don't you forget it."

  Rachel

  You can do this. Rachel wrapped her hand around the slightly crooked door handle and hesitated. She'd wanted this tattoo for too long to punk out now, just because Ace was the man for the job. She was an O'Kane, and he laid O'Kane ink.

  Pure and simple.

  The door creaked as she pushed it open. Ace stood next to a table, straightening his pens and markers. He didn't turn or even look up, but his voice washed over her, warm and wry. "Rachel."

  "It's two o'clock." She dragged her gaze away from the muscled lines of shoulders, bare under his white wifebeater. "Are you ready for me?"

  "Of course." He glanced back with one of those easy smiles she hadn't seen in too long. "Hop up on my table, angel, and tell me what your heart desires."

  For a moment, all her heart did was shudder to a halt. She shook it off and climbed onto the table. "The tattoo we talked about--the O'Kane emblem across my chest."

  His gaze set
tled on her chest, and his smile took on an edge of teasing. "How big are we talking?"

  Her cheeks heated, and she cursed herself for wearing the sexy retro getup Trix had picked out for her. The capris were okay, and she'd worn the outfit specifically for the tight strapless top, since it meant she might not have to strip half-naked for her tattoo.

  Right now, though, it just felt like she'd tried too hard.

  She cleared her throat. "You're the artist. You know what would look good."

  "Damn near anything." But he relented and dropped to his stool. "Hanging out with that city boy's bad for your constitution, angel. I haven't seen you blush that pink in years."

  "Maybe you haven't been paying attention."

  "You think not, huh?"

  He'd been paying attention. Watching. Biding his time, and that was the part that made her irrationally angry--because now it was too late. "I think I want my tattoo."

  Ace sighed and rolled his stool back to the table that held his pens. "I can do a sketch on paper first if you want, but if you just want our logo..."

  "That's all I want."

  "Message received, angel." He rose and returned with a collection of blue markers clenched loosely in his fist. "Wiggle that top down. I need to see what I'm working with."

  She glanced down. "It's not low enough?"

  He didn't touch her, not with his fingers. Instead, he took the capped tip of the marker and set it against her skin, just beneath the hollow of her throat. "The logo's shaped kind of like an inverted triangle." He dragged the tip of the marker along her collarbone and down the inside curve of her breast. "The hilts of the daggers stick out a little, but for the most part it'll nestle nice and sweet, right between your tits."

  He'd need room to work, and the way he traced the pen over her flesh made her realize something else--the shirt would pull at her skin, distorting the tattoo.

  It had to go, and making a big deal out of that could reveal far more than her body.

  Wordlessly, she tugged the fabric down, doubling it over the wide belt cinched around her waist.

  "There we are." His gaze was tangible, a warmth that prickled over her skin as he studied her. It wasn't even all that lascivious--she'd seen Ace ogle women's breasts plenty of times. This was something else, something more. This was the deadly serious artist who lived beneath Ace's joking exterior, studying her like she was a masterpiece he intended to improve.