by HELEN HARDT
“That’s silly.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know you.”
He shook his head. “Oh, blue eyes, you don’t know me.”
“Then what do I need to know? Tell me, Talon. I love you. I want to know everything about you.”
His facial features hardened. Up went the wall.
Damned if I was going to stand here on his front porch. I walked past him and into the foyer. I knelt down and let Roger lick my face while I scratched him behind his cute little ears.
“Have you eaten yet?” I asked.
Talon shook his head.
“What’s for dinner, then? I’m sure Felicia made something wonderful.”
“She left early today. She had to take her mother to a doctor’s appointment.”
“She never leaves you high and dry.” I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Sure enough, a Mexican casserole sat on the top shelf, along with instructions for making it. I preheated the oven and put it in.
“Casserole will be ready in about forty-five minutes. Or”—I smiled—“if you’d rather, I can make you a grilled cheddar and tomato sandwich.”
He didn’t smile. Then he cast his gaze to the manila folder I had set on the kitchen table. “What’s that?”
“Some stuff I brought for Marj. Where is she?”
“Not sure. Just out, I guess.”
I grabbed my purse and checked my phone. Marj had responded to my text.
Sorry. Went into town to have dinner at our instructor’s restaurant with some of the guys from cooking class. Sorry to miss you. Let’s chat tomorrow.
“Looks like she’s in the city for dinner,” I told Talon.
I itched to touch him. I had been in the house for ten minutes now, and I hadn’t yet caressed his skin, kissed his lips.
My body was on fire just being in his presence.
“Talon, do you still love me?”
I wanted to smack myself as soon as the words left my mouth. I was so not going to be that insecure girl who had to be told she was loved every five seconds. He opened his mouth, but I shook my head at him.
“Forget I asked that.”
“I love you, Jade,” he said.
Warmth gathered in my heart. As much I didn’t want to be that needy girl, hearing it at that moment really helped.
I walked toward him and snuggled up to his chest. Slowly his arms came around me, enveloping me in his spicy warmth. I inhaled the crisp scent from his neck. So musky and masculine.
He stroked my back, such a tender, loving touch.
Tender and loving, yes, but still my pussy began to throb. I sighed and pressed a kiss against his bronze neck. I wanted him so much. I wanted him to grab me and pick me up and drag me to his bedroom.
But that might not happen today, and I had to be okay with that.
“Can I fix you a drink?” I asked.
He shook his head and cleared his throat. “No, I’m good for now. Do you want something?”
“No, I’m fine. Do you want to go into the family room and sit on the couch? It’ll be a little while before the casserole is done.”
He didn’t answer, just took my hand, led me out of the kitchen, down the couple of stairs, and into the lush family room. We sat down together on a leather couch, and I cuddled against him, wrapping my arm around his chest. I closed my eyes and inhaled his essence again, savoring the heat of his body.
Maybe this was what he needed right now—to just know I was here and that I loved him. That I wasn’t going anywhere, no matter what.
We sat like that for a long time…until the bell on the oven rang, signaling that the casserole was ready.
I tore myself away from him, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and went to the kitchen to get dinner together.
Dinner was small talk and mostly silence. When we had finished and I was cleaning up, Talon came up behind me.
“That’s a nice pearl necklace,” he said.
I looked down, and my cheeks warmed. I had forgotten to take off my rope pearls when I changed clothes. I let out a giggle. “I can’t believe I left it on. It probably doesn’t look great with the T-shirt and cutoffs.”
“I think it’s cute.” He stood beside me and helped me get the dishes loaded into the dishwasher.
His nearness made me tingle. Did I have the same effect on him? I looked down at his crotch, and sure enough…the bulge. I couldn’t help a sly smile. Yes, I had the same effect on him.
Our physical chemistry was off the charts. It always had been. But as wonderful as it was, it was nothing compared to the love I felt for him, the way I felt like half of me was missing when I wasn’t with him.
I knew, as much as I knew anything to be true, that Talon would never hurt me. He would stop himself before it ever got that far. He had been asleep the other night, and once he had awakened and realized it was me, he had ceased immediately.
I wanted to prove to him that I trusted him. I looked down at the long necklace. It was a fake. A good quality fake, but a fake nonetheless. And I knew exactly what I wanted.
I set the last dish on the top shelf of the dishwasher, and Talon added some detergent and started it. When he stood, I faced him, winding my fingers around the pearls at my neck.
With my other hand, I played with my nipple through my bra.
Talon groaned. “Blue eyes, not tonight.”
But I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I continued to play with my nipple until it hardened into a tight little knob poking out from my bra, and then I switched to the other one, until two ripe berries protruded against the cotton of my T-shirt. My pussy was fluttering, and I knew I was getting wet. I grabbed Talon’s hand and brought it to my breast. He thumbed my nipple.
“God, blue eyes.”
“Touch me, Talon. Please touch me.”
He fingered my nipples through the two layers of clothing. Lust coursed through me.
“I want you,” I said.
“I can’t… I want… Oh, fuck…” He pulled me toward him and crushed his lips to mine.
I kissed him with all the passion I felt, letting my tongue wander into his mouth, twirling with his. We kissed hard. As sweet as it had been to sit with him on the couch before dinner, saying nothing and just snuggling, now I wanted passion, fire, unbridled lust.
I grabbed the cheeks of his ass and squeezed, pulling him into me so that his erection probed my tummy.
He groaned into my mouth, and I answered with a moan of my own. My nipples were still hard, aching for his touch, his lips. I pressed against his chest.
When he finally broke the kiss and took a gasp of air, I pulled his head toward mine, gave his earlobe a sharp bite, and whispered, “Take me to bed. Please.”
He didn’t answer. Just took my hand and led me to his bedroom.
I undressed slowly, provocatively, until I stood naked before him, wearing only the long string of pearls.
Then I moved toward him, and slowly, achingly slowly, I unbuttoned each button of his shirt, even though what I longed to do was rip it off of him so the buttons went flying. When the last button was finally released, I slid the soft fabric over his shoulders until it landed in a wine-colored heap on the floor. I sat him down in a chair and removed his boots and socks. Then I pulled him up again and unbuckled his belt, still going slowly, achingly slowly.
I unbuttoned his jeans and then unzipped him. Still slowly, achingly slowly.
I slid his jeans and boxer briefs down his narrow hips and taut buttocks. Still slowly, achingly slowly. I savored each new inch of bronze skin revealed to me, skimming his strong thighs and firm calves. He stepped out of his jeans and boxers and stood before me, naked, glorious, his cock extended as far as I’d ever seen it.
I knelt before him and gave his cockhead a lick. He groaned. How I wanted to suck it to the back of my throat, to show him how much he meant to
me, but that wasn’t what tonight was about.
Tonight was not about showing my love.
Tonight was about showing my trust.
I took his hands and led them to the shiny pearls around my neck.
“Take these beads, Talon. Take them and tie me to the bed, facedown.”
His eyes glinted with fire, smoking black in their intensity. Was he turned on by the idea? I couldn’t quite tell, so I waited, biting my lower lip, bringing my fingers to my nipples and squeezing, my pussy heating.
He said nothing to me, just gazed at me, never letting the dark fire of his eyes stray from mine.
He lifted the necklace over my head. “Are you sure, blue eyes?”
I nodded.
“Verbal,” he said.
“I’m sure.” I walked to the bed, got on my hands and knees, and grasped two bars of the headboard. “Tie me up, Talon, and then fuck me. Fuck me like you’ve never fucked me before. I want you to take my ass tonight, while I’m tied up, at your mercy.”
“Oh, God,” he groaned. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.” I turned my head and looked into his blazing eyes. “I want to be yours tonight, Talon. I want to be yours in every possible way. No one’s ever taken me there before, and no one ever will again. I trust you to do it. I trust you to do it while I’m tied to a bedpost.”
“No one’s ever”—his voice cracked—“placed so much trust in me.”
I doubted that was true. The men under his command in the military had probably placed that much trust in him. They hadn’t had a choice. But I did have a choice.
“I trust you, my love,” I said. “I know you would never hurt me. And I know you’ll stop if I tell you to stop.”
“Oh, God,” he groaned again.
My nipples were so hard they poked into the mattress, and my pussy was gushing wet. I wasn’t sure how I would handle not having that hard cock shoved up my cunt, but I would deal. One way or another, Talon would bring me to climax. Of that I had no doubt.
Talon came to the bed, and his fingers grazed my skin as he tied one wrist to the bar and then stretched the string of pearls to my other wrist, binding it. It was tight, but not so tight that it hurt. I tried to get loose, and I couldn’t. He had done a good job.
“Lift your ass, baby,” he said. “Present yourself to me.”
I complied, and he slid his warm tongue up my slit and over my asshole.
I nearly burst into hot blue flames.
“God, you’re wet, baby,” he said.
I sighed into the pillow. “It feels good, Talon. Eat me.”
“You taste so good, baby. Always so good. Strawberries, champagne, green apples, and sex.” He licked my pussy again and then shoved his tongue inside. He moved downward a bit and sucked on my clit, and then he plunged two fingers inside me, bringing me to instant orgasm.
I cried out as the waves of pleasure erupted around me.
“That’s it, baby,” he said, “come for me. I need you really relaxed if we’re going to do this.”
His words drifted around me in a sea of passion, coming to my ears in slow waves.
Funny, I hadn’t been tense, or at least I didn’t think I had been, but once I came down from this climax, I knew coming had been a good idea. I was definitely more relaxed now.
He got up from the bed for a minute and came back a few seconds later. “This is just some lube, baby. Makes it easier.”
Something cool and wet drifted over my anus. He massaged it with his finger as another finger entered my pussy.
Lord, it felt so good. My nipples were hard, my pussy so wet.
I gasped when his finger breached my tight rim.
“Easy, baby. Everything is good. So good. If you want me to stop, just tell me.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
My muscles relaxed around the invasion, and he began moving his finger in and out, in tandem with the finger in my pussy.
“How’s that?”
“Good, Talon,” I said. “Good.” Surprisingly, I wasn’t lying. The smooth intrusion into that forbidden part of me did feel good. Really good.
“That’s it. Your ass is so tight, baby. I can’t wait to put my cock in.”
I was stretched wider, and I gritted my teeth, moaning.
“Just another finger,” he said. “You tell me if you want me to stop.”
“Don’t stop,” I gritted out.
“Relax. You’ll get used to it.”
The burn ceased a few seconds later, and the fierce sensation turned to pleasure. God, so intense. Kinky. Kinky and obscenely delicious. The intensity overshadowed his finger in my pussy. In-fucking-credible.
I had heard from others that anal sex was amazing, and though I was afraid, this was the ultimate way to show Talon that I trusted him.
“I’m going to give you my cock now, baby,” he said. “The hardest part is the beginning, when I push past that ring of muscle. Breathe out when I tell you to, okay?”
“Yes. Okay.” I held my breath.
He spread more lube around my anus, and then the head of his cock nudged the tight hole. He pushed against the tight muscle, but it didn’t give.
“Relax, baby. Let it go.”
I breathed in and let it out slowly.
And he thrust his cockhead past the tight circle of muscle.
God, the pain! I clamped my hands around the bars where they were tied and let out a loud moan.
“Breathe, baby. In. Out. The sting will stop. You tell me when you’re ready.”
A few more breaths, and the pain died down. I was full. So full of Talon’s cock. And I wanted nothing more.
“I’m ready now.”
“Okay, baby, I’m going to go in quickly. It’s best that way.” He pushed his cock far into my ass.
I had never felt so full. Never felt so close to anyone in my life. I had never known how intimate this act could be.
“I’m going to come out now and then go back in. Remember, if you need me to stop anytime—”
“God, no.” I bit my lip. “Please don’t stop.” I wanted to jerk my hips backward into him, taking his cock, but because I was tied I couldn’t.
He went in slowly again and then withdrew.
But what I wanted was fast. I wanted him to really fuck me. I wanted him to know how much I trusted him.
“Talon, please…”
“What?”
“More,” I said. “Harder.”
He jammed into me. How I longed to touch my clit. I was on fire, but my hands were bound.
“You like it, baby?”
I nodded into the pillow. “Yes.” God, yes. It hurt, yet it tantalized me, shooting prickles of pleasure outward, to every last limb. It was wrong, yet so right. How was I feeling this in my clit? But I was. I so was. I wanted to come. Wanted to touch my clit so damn bad.
“It’s so good, baby. You’re so tight. Feels so good around my cock.”
He increased the speed a bit but still not to the point I wanted.
“Damn it, Talon,” I said into the pillow. “Faster! Fuck me faster.”
This time he obeyed me. He jammed his cock inside me and then out again and then in, faster, thrusting.
Thrust.
Thrust.
Thrust.
If only I could reach my clit… If only… And then it didn’t matter, because I was splintering into an orgasm so intense, so rapturous, that I wasn’t sure where he ended and I began.
“God, Talon, God. I’m coming! I’m coming!”
“That’s it, baby. Come. Come for me.”
I continued wailing into the pillow, my whole world fusing into this one intimate act with this man I loved so much.
And still he thrust.
“Tell me you like it, Jade. Tell me you like it.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Talon
I forced my withdraw from her tight sweet body and curled into a fetal position at the foot of the bed.
Tell me you li
ke it, boy. Tell me you like it.
How could I have said those words to her? What kind of monster was I?
“Talon?” Her sweet voice came from the head of the bed. “What happened?”
She was out of breath. I had interrupted her in the middle of an orgasm.
I couldn’t answer with the truth. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. “I’m sorry, blue eyes. Maybe I just wasn’t ready for this.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Could you untie my wrists, please?”
I lay, still curled up, hearing her words and comprehending them but unable to move.
“Please?” she said again.
I jerked my head up. I couldn’t leave her tied up when she was asking to be released. She trusted me, and no matter how misplaced that trust was, I had to honor it. Willing my muscles to move, I crawled to the head of the bed and unbound her.
She sat up, rubbing her wrists. “What happened?”
“I…told you. I wasn’t ready for this.” There was a grain of truth in the words. I’d had anal sex before, despite my past. But anal sex with Jade… God, the pleasure… I’d been so inside myself, inside her, feeling everything she felt, feeling the love, the trust…
She smiled. “Talon, I love you, but that’s bull, and we both know it. You were enjoying yourself. Now what happened?”
Yes, I had been enjoying myself. Why had I said those terrible words to her? “I…can’t…”
“You can’t what?”
“Can’t…”
She caressed my cheek with her soft hand. “It’s okay.”
I shook my head. It wasn’t okay. It wasn’t okay at all. I had been so close to her, one with her, and I had ruined it. My eyes filled, but I willed the tears not to fall.
“Do you believe I trust you now?”
I cleared my throat but couldn’t speak for a few seconds. Then, “You’re amazing,” I said softly.
She smiled again.
“I…”
“What?”
“I’m not worthy of you, Jade.”
She dropped her beautiful ruby-red lips into an O. “Why on earth would you say that?”
I let out a scoff. “Because it’s true, that’s why.”
“Isn’t that for me to decide? I chose to put my trust in you, and you didn’t let me down. We’ll try another time. It doesn’t matter.”
