“He's up to no good, you know. He and Patrice. I hope they don't have many followers in the pack.”
“Some. We're a bit scattered. I keep the ones like Kevin close to me. Make sure they have jobs and a chance at school. The ones like Brian and Patrice don't depend on me so much, so that makes it easier for them to rebel.”
“They all need you. A wolf pack is a social structure. They all need the approval and support of their alpha. You need them to need you.”
He smiled but didn't look up at her face. “You know an awful lot for a lone wolf.”
“You're the one who told me it was in my genetic wiring. I just think maybe you're being a little too human. Too civil.” She looked at him soberly. “You're alone at the top. That can't feel good.”
She reclined on the pillow and let the wonderful sensation of Harte's hands flow over her. She closed her eyes, picturing the club in her mind. Mentally she tracked the movements of Harte's wolves and the Abraxas hunters.
“I never realized that I could isolate so much information. The jumble of sounds and smells always overwhelmed me. Now when I remember leaving the faire tonight, I clearly recall the scents of the two men who were down here.” She wiggled her toes as he pulled at them. “I remember hearing their whispers. They were upwind of me.”
He worked quietly for a while. Finally he put the oil away and wiped down her feet with a towel from his bag.
“Not the third?”
She shook her head. She'd never gotten a bead on that one.
“I was…surprised by what you did to me tonight.”
“What part?” He was back against the wall, giving her space. She looked over at his body; it gleamed in the dim light. Suddenly she wanted to touch him, to run her hands over the sleek muscles of his chest. Once again her gaze settled on the ridge of his erection. She'd climaxed, but he hadn't. She scented his arousal. It had to be uncomfortable, but Harte seemed at peace with it.
“When I was blindfolded, I anticipated a blow, but you stroked me. The whips hurt a bit, but they were arousing.” She rolled onto her side and looked at him. “The wax was hot but not painful, yet my brain told me it burned.” She knew the term for what he'd been doing to her. They called it “mindfuck.” She'd expected pain and instead received pleasure. He'd been messing with her head. “It was scary and exciting and…”
“And…” he prompted.
“Intimate. I've never allowed anyone control me that way.”
She didn't want to talk about the climax. She didn't want to tell him that she'd never allowed a man to go down on her before. All those years living hard, sometimes days—even weeks—passed without her being able to take a shower. She'd always associated her genitals with being unclean. Tonight he'd performed oral sex and capped it all with a finger up her ass. He was right—she'd crossed some major boundaries in the past couple of hours.
Eva sighed. How could she communicate all this to him when she barely understood her own reactions?
“Have you ever been hungry, Harte? I mean honest-to-God it's-been-days-since-you-ate hungry?”
He swallowed and shook his head. His eyes glowed, catching the dim light.
“Sometimes I ate scraps out of Dumpsters. Sometimes I begged. A lot of the time I was dirty, and the people around me were dirty. I could smell them… Intimacy was a huge issue. Yet I hungered for touch. I still do, but old habits…” She closed her eyes.
“Eva, you coped well with everything except one punishment. I don't know that you were even aware you reacted as strongly as you did.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “The wax?”
He smiled grimly. “No, not the wax. I doubt you even remember what it was.” He looked her over steadily. “In fact, I would say that you stayed in remarkable control this evening. And staying in control was not what I wished for you.” His eyes looked dangerous and feral. Goose bumps ran down her arms. Nervously she showed him her throat.
“I'm sorry.”
“I'm not. It just means that we aren't finished.” He smiled slowly.
Great. Just great. She was hot and horny. All she wanted right now was to lie on her back and feel his weight between her legs. She wanted his naked skin against hers. She wanted to fuck.
But he wasn't finished playing his games.
“Yes, Sir.” She rolled to her knees and assumed the position of submission, waiting for his next instruction. He left her there long enough that her knees began to ache. He rose gracefully from the floor and crossed to the chair, then sat like a king on his throne.
“Come to me.” She started to rise. “On your knees, sub.”
Her heart picked up its pace. Eva settled back onto her knees and made her way to where Harte sat waiting expectantly. He watched her curiously, as though expecting her to react with something other than obedience. She bit her tongue, marveling at her own compliance. Was this the training, or was she truly submitting to Harte?
Soon enough she was on a cushion, kneeling between his spread legs. When she dared to look up, he'd unzipped his pants. His rigid, erect phallus jutted from the fly. His waistband was still fastened.
“Lick me.”
Her gaze shot from his face back to his cock, and instinctively she licked her lips. Eva didn't like being on her knees before anyone. She didn't like being forced to subjugate her will like this. Nevertheless she shifted a bit closer and reached up to grasp him in her hand.
“No hands. Clasp them behind your back.”
She looked at him, barely disguising her frustration. She straightened her posture and linked her hands behind her back. She leaned in and tentatively ran the tip of her tongue from the base to the head of his cock.
He was uncut and long, but wide enough to fill a woman. When she ducked her head for another pass, he hooked one leg up over the arm of the chair. This close, she scented his sweat and his musk and the mouthwatering scent of his arousal.
Again she licked, swirling her tongue over the shiny head of his cock when she reached the top. She flicked her tongue into the slit, taking the salty taste of his precum. With her lips, she worked the foreskin back, nibbling the tiniest bit.
Her creativity was a mystery, as she'd only gone down on a man a couple of times in her life. Perhaps it was the command that he'd given to not use her hands. Or maybe it was just Harte. She licked long and slow and then quick and fluttery.
He didn't make a sound. He simply looked down, watching her through hooded eyes.
Eva worked at his pants with her teeth, carefully making space for his balls to be revealed to her ministrations. Harte's first sign of frustration was when he pushed her head away, adjusted himself, and offered them up like ripe fruit. She licked and nuzzled before blowing lightly over the velvety sac. She gently worked one and then the other into her mouth, sucking lightly. He gasped.
“Enough.”
She leaned back, feeling a bit of triumph to see that sweat glistened on his torso. Eva knelt humbly between his legs, looking down at the floor, a satisfied smile on her face.
Harte glared down at her bowed head. He used his displeasure to hide his complete loss of balance. He'd been so close to the edge that he'd literally felt the climax cresting; it was ready to swamp him still. He took a moment to gather his control.
“I told you to lick my cock.”
“I did! Sir.”
She looked more than a little peeved at his displeasure. It was only a mask on his part. She'd well and truly upset his applecart. But there was punishment to be applied. She'd obeyed him to the letter, but not to the spirit of his command.
Little vixen.
“I said lick. You did a bit more than that.”
“But…” she protested in righteous indignation. He lifted a single brow. “Yes, Sir.” Her head dropped again, and her shoulders sagged just a tiny bit. “I was just trying to please you.”
“That was pleasant. Incredibly pleasant. But I didn't tell you to suck me. I told you to lick me.”
He wa
s quite certain she got his point. She didn't like it, but she understood. She also understood the opportunity that her disobedience had offered him. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Get up on your feet.”
She rose, looking humbled and a bit confused.
“Now lie over my lap.”
“What?”
He smiled at her outrage. He'd flogged her, caned her, pushed her into a public orgasm, and now she bristled with outrage!
“You know what I just said. Over my lap.”
She took a step back; for a moment, he thought she'd refuse. “Are you using your safe word, Eva?”
He watched as she considered it. He waited, watching the emotions flow over her open face. He'd been right earlier—spanking was her hot button.
“No, Sir.” She still didn't move, so he waited. He counted her breaths. She was gathering her courage, one deep breath at a time, stifling her outrage and humiliation. She took a step to his side and carefully lowered herself over his knees. When she was settled, Eva's cute little bum was offered up to him like twin peaches on a plate, and he couldn't resist stroking her smooth, fine skin. The pink had faded. Even if he'd marked her with the cane, she'd have healed by now.
Alluring as she was, Harte recognized this as a critical point in their evening. He rubbed her ass, feeling her stiffen.
Crack!
“That's one.” The skin on her arms pebbled. If she'd been in her wolf form, she'd have her hackles up.
Crack!
“Count for me.”
“T-two.” Her voice was raspy. She exuded fear, panic, and fury. He gently rubbed the pain away. Normally he'd move this up an erotic notch, but not this time. Eva's emotional state was too precarious.
“I'm going to ten. Keep counting.”
By the time he reached seven, her voice was tremulous. At ten, the tears began. She lay over his lap like a limp rag, the skin of her bottom pink and rosy.
“How many times did you swear at me?”
“I don't know.” Her voice wavered. “Four… I think four.”
“Count them.” He spanked quickly, pausing just to let her get the words out. He leaned down and kissed the rosy skin on her bottom. He hadn't spanked her that hard, just enough to sting and bring up color. Harte gathered her in his arms and cradled her like a child.
Gently he kissed her forehead, and the real storm began. Sobs racked her body; tears ran freely down her face. The spanking had brought her to a state where she could free herself in a cathartic storm. This had been his goal the entire evening. As a dom, Harte's goal was always to push his sub into an emotional as well as a physical experience. Until Eva unburdened herself, she'd be unable to see him with the eyes of her wolf.
He wondered when she'd last cried.
He rocked her a bit, stroking her hair, not minding in the least that her crying was noisy, that her tears were wetting his chest. The panel on the door slid open as a DM checked on Harte and Eva. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, her face buried in the crook of his neck.
“It's okay, Eva. Let it out. You're safe now.” Carefully he rose and settled her among the pillows and silks that mounded the floor, smiling when she clung to his neck. “Sh… I'm not going anywhere. I just want to get you a tissue. Or maybe two.”
She covered her face and laughed a tiny bit. He returned with the box and handed it to her, then settled onto his side as she wiped her face and blew her nose. Finally she lay to face him.
“Why'd you do that?” She was inches from him. Her blue eyes were reddened with tears, but she was beautiful. So beautiful. He reached up and stroked her full lips, then leaned in for a kiss.
“Your emotions were all bottled up. You were frightened, and that fear goes back years, doesn't it?”
Her lips trembled, but she didn't look away. “I can't remember not being afraid. Ever.”
“Grief. Anger. Something terrible happened. Did you cry then?”
She shook her head. “No. Never. I could never show any weakness. If you're weak, you're a victim.”
“Will you tell me what happened?” He waited, wondering if he'd truly managed to break down any walls tonight.
“They took my mother—Abraxas. I was just a kid…” She didn't cry as she spoke, but grief throbbed in her voice.
Another kiss. A tiny smile. She could tell him more later.
“How do you feel?”
She continued to study his face, and he wondered what she saw there. Did she see the worry lines from the fine line that he walked with his pack? The never-ending fears about the danger of exposure? Her eyes grew dark with knowledge. She saw the loneliness that ground right to his bones. He was humbled before her.
“Euphoric. I feel…weightless.”
“That's exactly how you should feel.” He ran his hands over her body, marveling at how she fit him.
Love.
That was the wolf. Things moved fast for their kind. His human side wasn't so quick to concede, but the wolf was already gone on Eva. If he took her body and she left him, there would never be another. There would be lovers and bodies, but never another who completed him.
“I whipped you pretty hard out there. I put you up for public display. I made you come to me on your knees and service me. Why did the spanking set you off? It surely didn't hurt as much as the cane.”
She moved closer then and curled into his body.
“I didn't remember this till just at the end. When I was little, I ran off. We were living in a crappy old studio in some city—probably back east. I was just a little kid and didn't know any better, but Mom caught me talking to strangers. They were men in black suits. She was so scared… I smelled it all over her. The men were just young Mormon missionaries, and they were asking if I was lost. She didn't know that. To her, they were dangerous.” Eva paused and bit her lip. “She took me back to the apartment and made me lie over her knees. She told me what I did was wrong, and then she spanked me. The entire time I didn't cry. When she was done, she got up and turned on the TV for me, and then she went into her bedroom. She cried and she cried.” Eva's eyes watered up again. “I never ran off again.”
He wrapped her in his arms and held her until the emotional storm passed. He kissed her forehead and then her nose, her eyes. He kissed her lips. She kissed him back.
“I was so good after that. I always did what she told me to do, but she left me anyway.” She curled up tighter, tucking her body closer to his.
“It wasn't your fault, Eva.”
She shook her head. The words registered, but it would take time for her to release the guilt that had taken root in her soul so long ago.
“Who am I, Evangeline?” he whispered in her ear, praying that she understood what he was asking. She did.
“You're my mate.”
Harte closed his eyes hard, feeling the magic of the moment sweep over him. A true mating. He'd never thought to experience it.
“When this night is over and done with, where will you be?”
“With you. I'll be with you.”
He sighed, and the terrible knot that had been in his chest for so very long suddenly loosened. Harte felt his heart beat freely for the first time in years.
“Do you promise?” He'd asked for her trust; now he needed to trust her.
In answer, Eva leaned in and kissed him—fully and deeply.
Chapter Seven
Eva rose to her knees, straddled his hips, and leaned forward, then ran her hands over his chest, playing with the flat disks of his nipples. She didn't ask permission. He didn't bother to stop her. She'd earned her time on top. She leaned down, her dark hair trailing over his skin as she licked him. Her tongue etched a trail from his belly to his chest. He lay back with his eyes closed, content to let her play.
He was achingly, painfully hard, but that was a small matter compared to the sudden understanding that had blossomed between them. She explored his arms, running her fingers along the distended veins under his skin. She ta
sted the insides of his elbows, then finally moved to the side so she could unfasten his pants. He toed off his boots, then settled back to let her finish undressing him. Once he was nude, Eva bent toward his groin, but he clasped her hips and rolled her to her back. Her eyes were wide as she watched him go down on her.
She was uncomfortable with the act, and he exerted all his skill to send any remaining inhibitions out of her head. She was propped on her elbows, her legs draped over his shoulders, and when he looked up at her, she was watching uneasily.
Clearly he wasn't doing his job right. Harte slid a finger inside her channel and pressed up into her G-spot. When she slithered bonelessly from her elbows to her back, he grinned against her swollen flesh. He brought up her arousal, reveling in her transparency, cherishing her honest response. He moved away and stared down at her newfound abandon. This time, he stopped before she climaxed. He wanted to feel the grip of her flesh around his cock when she came.
Eva moaned when he drew away, then opened her eyes as Harte moved up and knelt with his cock arrowed at her entrance.
“Yes?”
“God yes. Please.” She smiled a bit coyly. “Sir.”
He couldn't hold back the grin. Harte reached to a low table that held a bowl of condoms, then quickly opened and slipped one on.
“You don't need—”
“Rules are rules. That's why they're here.” They were immune to human venereal diseases and carried none of their own. Eva wouldn't get pregnant this time, but just the same, they were in Xavier's house, and his word was law. Harte gently pressed against her swollen flesh before sliding his cock through her folds, making it slick with her cream. Once again, he pressed with agonizing deliberation.
She was groaning, fighting to impale herself on his shaft, but he backed off, only to return slowly. He wanted to savor every second of this first time with Eva.
She lay back in a mound of velvet and silk, her pale skin gleaming in the dim light of the room. Her hair tumbled around her flushed cheeks, and when she opened her eyes, they were dreamy with desire.
“Please, Harte… Inside me…” She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him to her body. She reached her hands out to him, but he was too far away. He grinned wickedly and pulled his hips back.
Doms of Dark Haven Page 13
