Collared for a Night (Crimson Romance)

by Susan Arden

  Setting a rhythm, he stroked her waist as she rocked back to him. Fuck, he rode her hard, his balls slapping her ass. The burning in his lungs escalated and spread across his skin, but a desire like none he’d ever known spurred him onward as he held back from shifting. Barely. Diana clutched the column between her hands. Her body glistened in sweat and then he noticed her skin was under the same attack. They were mirror images of one another, leopard and leopardess shining through the human forms. Her body was breathtaking, every muscle outlined under feminine curves and she took what he dished out. He was almost out of breath from fucking her past this heat. She slowed and shuddered. Her pussy wrapped around him, squeezed and then hugged his cock. She shuddered again and he buried his cock deep inside her.

  Not wanting this to end, he continued thrusting into her narrow folds, unable to contain himself, and then a snarl broke from his mouth, signaling his descent.

  Shawn released his hold on her, running his hands down her spine. “Sweet Jesus, the things you do to me.”

  He untied the knot and picked her up as she swooned against him. Thankfully, her eyes were closed. After laying her on the bed, he switched off the nightstand lamp and went to the wet bar in the corner of his bedroom. In the darkness, their breathing came out in gulps.

  “Here, drink this,” he held out a bottle of mineral water to her. “We definitely need a fully stocked wet bar inside this room,” he murmured, settling down next to her on the bed. He closed his eyes to the darkness, focusing on an illuminated triangle behind his mind’s eye. Right in the center of forehead, the place he’d learned to find a calming peace during meditation. He stroked the outline of her face, memorizing each curve and plane.

  “That was incredible,” she whispered.

  He opened his eyes, staring into her red-hazed, dilated pupils. What must he look like to her? His heartbeat resembled something closer to a mallet striking a wall instead of an insane power tool gone haywire. Shawn opened his arms to her, cradling her against him as he rubbed his cheek along the top of her head. Her body had cooled remarkably and he’d dulled the razor-edged, insatiable appetite to mindlessly fuck.

  If he could gain some control over her, enough control that she’d not question him openly. And perhaps more importantly, silently, she’d accept his advice. Then they’d be safe to flee up the side of the mountain. The freedom to roam would allow Diana to test her leopardess nature without losing control as she’d done in the past, going at this solo. The question was how to push her to openly test the boundaries they tenuously treaded. As leopards, this was part of being in a pack. Learning the pecking order. Up to this point, as an adult she’d learned a small part by being with a partner outside a clan. Eventually, if things worked out between them, he would take her to meet his family. But only if things worked out. Christ, what would Shannon think? Or any of his family? It had been a long time since he’d returned to his clan to share anything other than business news.

  She’d have to learn he was the one who commanded. Sure, he’d be the one to dominate, but in reality it was she who held the power. He tilted her chin upward. In the darkness, his mouth searched for hers. She licked his mouth and then kissed him, enfolding him within her arms, a continuous purr emitting from her chest.

  Most definitely, she held the ability to wrap him around her little finger if she ever got the idea into her beautiful head.

  Chapter 9

  The filtered rays of the morning came through the large windows in Shawn’s bedroom. Several immense oaks were outside, dappling the light, and creating a whirling pattern of shadows whenever the breeze caressed the branches.

  She’d refrained from stirring in bed, preferring to observe Shawn as he slept. His arm had curled around her waist at some point during the night, keeping his hold on her. She longed to touch the dark hair that fell over his chiseled face. During sleep, he appeared much younger without the thoughts that she supposed worried him incessantly. Her chest tightened. He did so much and it wasn’t something that was publicized, giving him credit for being more than just a rich bachelor or the gorgeous entrepreneur who made the social section of the newspaper. She sighed without thinking and his arm squeezed her.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered, and swept his hair from his brow.

  He opened his golden eyes, still unguarded, and smiled radiantly at her. “I’m glad you did. I haven’t slept that well for years and might have piddled the day away in dreamland. We’ve much to do today.” He stretched, and she watched as the sheet dropped; his muscles rippled over his shoulders, arms, and down his belly.

  “May I take a bath?” she asked.

  He pushed her back against the pillows, bringing his body over hers. “Only if you want company.”

  She innocently asked, “Why, is there another shifter here who can help me bathe? You must certainly be tired. Perhaps you can catch up on your beauty sleep.”

  He growled a sharp warning. “Don’t play, kitten. I don’t share what’s mine. I’ll bathe you this morning and we can talk.” The tip of his stiff cock probed the mouth of her pussy. She could feel her own desire heighten. Again he demonstrated lightning fast reflexes and bounded off the bed, pulling her with him. Shawn effortlessly hauled her up against him, his erection a vivid reminder of his hunger this morning. “Still want to play?”

  “Inside a warm bath would be heaven,” she said.

  “Give me a second to run the water.” He lifted her hand, kissing her palm, and tugged her into the adjoining bathroom.

  She’d seen it late last night, but in daylight it was breathtaking with a vaulted ceiling and skylights. The bathtub was located in the center of the room with vanities on either side. Shawn used the dimmer to adjust the lighting and pressed a button; soft music flooded the room. “Pick your pleasure,” he said, pointing to a tray of bath gels and soaps.

  Diana selected a sandalwood and rose combination. She walked over to the bathtub with water gushing from the double spigots, and squeezed gel into the steaming water. The scent filled the air as thousands of bubbles foamed over the surface of the water.

  “The water feels just right. May I?” Shawn stood and held out his hand.

  She nodded and he gently lifted her up and placed her into the tub. He sat on the edge, peering down at her. “Your skin is so beautiful tinted pink by the warm water.”

  “Join me,” she said softly.

  “Scoot forward.” He settled in back of her, and squeezed water over her shoulders using a natural sea sponge. “Pass me the gel,” he murmured, his beard bristling over his jaw scraped against her shoulder.

  Soon, he had her skin invigorated with the wiping motion of the sponge and the aromatic foam covering her upper body. This was the first time she’d enjoyed this type of luxuriating experience. “I’ve never been pampered like this before.”

  “You deserve to be. Each and every day.” He rinsed the soap off her skin, and his body tensed. “But what we’ll do tonight is far from pampered. I’m going relish chasing your lovely ass up that mountain and down.” A low purring rumbled deep in his chest.

  She glanced over her shoulder and up into his face. Shawn would be right next to her tonight. Nothing to freak out about. “You’re certain that us skittering along a ledge is safe?”

  “Yes. Trust me, Diana. It’s the reason I brought you up here. I own this whole bloody mountain top. Fin will drive us down into the valley.” His voice burst past the back of her head. She scooted forward and he immediately recaptured her, pulling her against his chest. His cock lay against her bottom, a rigid pole. His arm caught her along her rib cage, under her breasts. Inside the bathtub he reclined, placing both of his legs over hers and locking her against his hard plank of a body.

  “And what if I get away? I can’t promise I’d run back up the mountain. I don’t know what my thoughts are when I’m in leopard form.”

  “Well, doesn’t that sound a bit alarming? You should know what you think at all times. It’s not as
though you morph and body jump. Your brain is still your brain.”

  “Sure. This is my brain on human time. And then there’s my brain on leopard time. It’s like there’s a wall that’s erected. I don’t know that I’m the same as you. What if I’m different? Some sort of ADHD for leopards.”

  “That’s nonsense. I promise I’ll make it so. The trauma you’ve been through since leaving home has taken its toll. Even if you don’t remember everything, you’ll remember where you belong.”

  “How?”

  “You’ve got to trust me.”

  She played with his hands, threading their fingers together. “I already gave you my trust.”

  “Yes. In word. But we’ll begin today and see how much you really trust and how far we’ll need to go to teach you I can be trusted. Kitten, trust isn’t something that people can just give away. Even if you wanted to.”

  His insistent hands were down between her legs, making it impossible to sit still. “You’ve a fascination with my ass. Why is that?”

  “Because I want to possess all of you.”

  “That’s only physical.”

  “By giving yourself to me and letting me care for you, it’s one way that you’ll learn to trust me. I’ve got to have you. All of you.” He sucked her earlobe between his teeth and bit down.

  Her clit throbbed at the feel of his body and each of his movements made it hard to think. She was nearly unraveled. “What do you mean? This sounds like an excuse for kink, not an exercise in whether you’ve got my back.”

  “Really, a lot of what goes on in BDSM clubs originated with shifters. Being tied up, bound, learning to yield and to submit. It’s all about power and trust. It’s just not exactly the diluted version of what is offered.”

  “I’ve never been to one.” His tanned fingers crept over her skin, weaving a tantalizing trail, and she sat mesmerized by the things he said and the sensuous way that his hands caressed and squeezed her.

  “Do you like it when I’m rough with you? Like last night, spanking your ass.” He took her breasts in his palms, her nipples pinched between his fingers. She closed her eyes, struggling to control herself. “I want your ass. I plan on taking it and filling it. I want you wrapped around me.”

  “I see,” she whispered. She told herself that Shawn was a good man. A man she’d known for a year. He was demanding, but no less from himself. Everyone at Matrix respected and admired him. Yet she’d not known this side of the man. The part that wanted to possess every inch of her body.

  Last night when he’d spanked her and then brought out the silk tie, his eyes had flashed with a challenge. This would be the type of man who’d enjoy the chase. The question of aftereffect still plagued her. How much domination would he have over her?

  “What about control? After the chase, what will be my position? Complete submission?”

  “Hardly. There’s not trickery here. If I wanted a mate, the last thing I’d want is to gain such a relationship without mutual consent.”

  “I don’t mean to imply you would. I’ve seen the ill-effects of arranged marriages between shifter clans.”

  “Diana, we all have. But I’ve no desire to be part of that tactic. Ever. I won’t take by force something a precious as a female’s gift of bonding. It’s archaic.”

  “Those types of arrangements still exist. They did in my family.” She’d seen those types growing up. She’d feared those types, and it was why she didn’t hang around to be bartered off to the shifter chosen by her father. The memory of an arranged marriage had kept her from ever returning home. To this day, the image of that wereleopard her father had selected as her mate crouched in the recesses of her mind. His laughter resounded at the forefront of her memory, and still had the power to make her skin crawl.

  Diana shivered, recalling how the shifter had slyly whispered vulgar suggestions to her, alluding to what their life would be like once he had her in his power, so sure in his control over her family. From the moment she’d met the frightful shifter, his eerie eyes had followed her with a rapacious hunger and a lascivious grin that her family either failed to see, or simply ignored.

  But inside of her, his attention left her cold and troubled. More so after she’d overheard him bragging about how he planned to subdue her and his abominable ambition to control her, making her nothing more than his submissive slave. She’d tried to complain to her parents, but they accused her of being selfish. She couldn’t go through with the arrangement, not with a shifter whose eyes were empty, cavernous pits.

  If it hadn’t been for Cole, she’d have run away on her own. Cole, with his gentle laugher and soft voice, didn’t scare her. Cole was all comfort. Her friend from childhood. Gone for good.

  “Tell me your thoughts,” Shawn whispered against her neck. “What troubles you?” He turned her body around so that she lay over his chest and torso.

  “It’s nothing. Just the past,” she murmured.

  His cock was hard under her abdomen. He pulled her up by her biceps until her mouth was against his. “Tell me or I’ll tickle you.” He lowered her onto his broad chest; his hair was matted wet over his nipples, and he ran his fingers lightly down her spine. She tried not to breathe … not to think, but he knew. His fingers tweaked a spot right over her hip and she jerked without meaning to, letting out a squeak.

  “I know your sensitive spots. You’ve more than just this one.” His fingers deftly moved over a line riding from left to right above her bottom. She shuddered, her nipples tightening, and she flexed her hips, slamming against his balls.

  “Christ,” he swore, throwing his leg over her hip.

  “I’m sorry. Oh Shawn. Please tell me what to do.”

  He sucked in huge gulp of air. “Nothing. Well, there is something. If I could just … ”

  “What, tell me? Please.”

  “Help me up. And then if you’d let me find some comfort in your succulent bottom.”

  “You’re teasing me. Do you know how worried I was? Shawn Barclay, that wasn’t funny.”

  “It was worth a try. I think you need to take one for the team, kitten.”

  “I think you need to take a cold shower.”

  “Baby, you’re only hours from letting me have my way with you. We can do it nice and easy, or we can do it leopard-style. But either way, I will own your ass. It’s mine.” He bit his lip in such a provocative way that she almost wanted him to take her right then and there.

  She crossed her arms over her chest to prevent him from seeing how erect her nipples had become from just his words. “The water’s getting cold.”

  “Well, we mustn’t let you catch cold. Come.” He pushed up from the bath, his arm a band of steel around her waist.

  He lifted her easily, reinforcing her conviction that if he ever hankered for anything from her, she’d have no easy way to deny him. She hooked her arms around his broad shoulders.

  After he took her in the manner he described, she’d be marked in another way by him. Little by little, he was casting his scent over her. She imagined he wouldn’t wear a condom, and although not fully mated, she’d wear his scent. Another layer added to the bite and serum he’d infused into her bloodstream. His semen would cross another barrier. She didn’t know if she feared the penetration of his thick cock; hard to believe it would fit where he wanted it to go, or the fact that she’d be further linked to him in a way that required an expert healer to sever.

  He set her down and removed a bath wrap from the warmer. “Let me cover you up. Your skin is chilled. Now, Diana.” His tone snapped her focus back to him.

  “What if you decide that we’re temporary? We hardly know one another.”

  He enfolded her in a soft, warm, terrycloth heaven. When he came back around her body, facing her, his urbane expression grew darker by the second. His eyes captured her attention, going deeper than his words.

  Without touching her, he connected with her. “I know. Down to my core. And yes, we do know each other. In the important ways that
get muddy when people start out in bed and then have to learn to be civilized. A lot of game-playing goes on. We know each other in the ways that matter. I respect you. Jesus, I admire you more than ever. As a matter of fact, we have a business meeting planned. Don’t we? Just because we’re not downtown at the office, do you still want to meet? Let’s go down and have our meeting as planned. Perhaps not as formal or as professional, but the outcome will be the same. Do you agree?”

  “Who will be downstairs this morning?”

  “Not a soul besides staff. Would you rather meet up here?”

  “No. I just wondered.”

  “Mrs. Wells will be about. Tristen should be around this morning. As the day goes, he more than likely will make a few appearances with something he wants to discuss. Business is never far away, and I have several corporations to run regardless of my personal commitments. Quinn may do a webcam meeting. Fin will be about. I meet with them every day. They’re not strangers to you.” His voice softened finally.

  “Barely. What will they think when they see me here? That I’m sleeping my way to the next level?”

  “That I’m the luckiest son-of-a-bitch in the world.”

  “That’s you. Not me. Shawn, be serious.”

  “Fine. They’d say you’re the luckiest woman on the planet. You must realize that of anyone who is part of Matrix, those two aren’t going to judge you.” His somber expression left her silent.

  She had known Tristen and Fin since she’d begun at Matrix, and it was only now that she had understood that with Shawn’s other professional interests that maybe Fin and Tristen’s shadowy existence was linked to the justice council more than Matrix. That made much more sense and explained why they weren’t exactly staff.

  And now that she thought about it, there were others at Matrix, people who seemed to hover around Shawn without an apparent purpose, routinely coming and going. Other than conversing in hushed voices, Shawn and his mysterious staff’s interactions were not part of her interest at work. Not when she’d been bombarded with preparing for a client presentation, working on a design, or trying to figure out how to keep sane on one side of a heat cycle. She didn’t have time to spend at the water cooler gossiping and so she’d never actually paid them much mind. Until now.