Beth Kery

by Sweet Restraint

  Neither of them spoke for a minute. Shane’s hand spread across the back of her skull. He kissed her once on the forehead.

  “You, Joey, and I went with Peter across the street to Union Park to let the bird go. Derrick was adamant that Peter couldn’t keep it,” Laura reminisced.

  “Poor Peter. He was so solemn. It was like he was attending an execution or something.”

  “Do you . . . do you remember what you told Peter before he let the bird out of the cage?”

  For a stretched moment she thought Shane wasn’t going to reply.

  “I remember. My dad had said the same thing to me when I took home a stray puppy when I was seven years old and the original owner eventually showed up to claim it.”

  “If you love it, let it go. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, then it never was,” she whispered against his neck.

  She felt Shane nod and swallowed a painful knot in her throat.

  “Go to sleep, babe,” Shane murmured, kissing the top of her head again. “Gotta get you rested up for tomorrow.”

  “Why? So you can use more of those implements of torture you keep pulling out of that bag over there?”

  He chuckled and swept his big hand down the sensitive skin at the side of her torso. She shivered with pleasure before he pulled up the sheet around her. “No, so you can help me shovel us out of this mountain of snow. Maybe after you’ve done some good hard labor, I’ll consider torturing you some more.”

  “A girl can only hope,” she mumbled.

  “I believe it pays to treat my captives well,” he growled near her ear. “Laura?”

  Her eyes blinked open at the change of his tone. “Yes?”

  “Tomorrow you’re going to tell me. Everything. We’ll weather the truth together. No matter what it is. Okay?”

  It seemed for a stretched moment that her heart completely stopped in her chest. When it resumed, it did so sluggishly, as though a weight pressed on it.

  “Yes,” she whispered. She took his head in her hands, the degree to which she cherished him nearly overwhelming her. Even though she knew Shane couldn’t see her in the darkness, she smiled up at him as she spoke, her soul in her eyes. “Tomorrow.”

  She lay awake until Shane’s breathing became deep and even, refusing to sleep, needing to treasure the feeling of being in his arms.

  What Shane had told Peter about his bird had been kind . . . quaint. But Laura knew the hard truth of the matter. There were so many reasons a creature may not return to the hearth where it belonged, where it was most loved, reasons that had nothing to do with the heart’s true desire.

  Laura awoke to the delicious sensation of Shane mouthing her neck. When she murmured in profound contentment and proceeded to fall back into the warm cocoon of Shane’s arms and sleep, he nipped at her sensitive skin teasingly.

  “Ouch,” she muttered even though it hadn’t really hurt much. She blinked her eyes open and saw that the room was still cloaked in darkness.

  “Don’t go back to sleep,” Shane preempted when her eyelids sagged heavily.

  “Shane, it’s not even dawn yet,” she complained.

  “It’ll be light soon enough. I’ve only got so much time with you here. I don’t want to spend too much of it sleeping.”

  That forced her into alertness. She only had so much time, too.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “Come on. Put on your sweats and a pair of socks. No shirt needed. You’ll have on your coat.”

  “Wait . . . we’re not going outside, are we? Shane, we’re in the middle of a snowstorm!”

  “The snow stopped over an hour ago. Come on, don’t be a wuss,” he said as he sat up and prodded her ribs with his fingers before segueing into a tickle.

  Laura snorted with laughter before she bolted out of bed quicker than a startled cat. Damn him. He’d remembered that the sure way to torture her was to tickle her. Joey and Shane had frequently brought her into a frantic state of combined laughter and tears by tickling her.

  “You really have turned ruthless in your old age.” She ducked her head to hide her smile. Shane turned on a bedside lamp. She yelped when he swatted her bare butt as she bent over to retrieve her sweatpants from the floor. Her cry of surprise segued to a soft moan when he boldly trailed his long forefinger along the crack of her ass.

  “You gotta be cruel to be kind,” he murmured under his breath on the way to the bathroom.

  A few minutes later they stood at the back door of the cabin fully dressed, Shane holding two towels in one hand.

  “Just stay here for a minute and I’ll come back to get you,” Shane instructed as he opened the door, grabbing the shovel that leaned against the wall. He switched on an outdoor light. Laura’s eyes widened when she saw the nearly three-foot-tall drift that had accumulated against the door. Shane just lifted his long legs and plowed right into it, holding the shovel over his head.

  “Shane?” Laura protested, but he ignored her. Understanding of his actions slowly dawned when she saw him shovel the snow over a raised hillock in the backyard and finally lift a cover. Steam billowed up around him. He pushed down on what appeared to be a button near his feet and Laura heard the distant sound of agitated water. She laughed when he came back to retrieve her and lifted her into his arms.

  “I didn’t know there was a hot tub out here,” Laura murmured with delight next to his ear. He carried her through the thick accumulation of snow and set her down next to the hot tub he’d just uncovered.

  “I’d forgotten about it, too, until Tim Brandt mentioned it. He maintains it when my dad is away for extended periods.”

  “Oh . . . wait,” Laura exclaimed when Shane reached up under her coat and jerked down her sweatpants. Cool air struck her bare skin, raising goose bumps all over her body.

  “Come on, buck up. The sooner you strip the sooner you can get in the water.”

  She shivered as he pulled on one foot, then the other, whipping off her socks. She stood on the concrete enclosure for the hot tub wearing nothing but her coat over her naked body, her feet quickly turning to blocks of ice.

  Shane whipped off his own spare clothing. Laura’s gaze stuck to his muscular back and flexing bare ass before he submerged himself in the water. He groaned in sensual satisfaction.

  “Feels great. It’s not that bad outside, you know. There’s no wind and it must be in the low thirties.” He sat on the deepest step of the tub and stared up at her, amusement gleaming in his blue eyes. “Go on, baby. Strip and get in.”

  Her chilled fingers fumbled clumsily with the belt of her coat. She held both sides securely together at her waist, dreading the moment of full exposure. She finally held her breath and whipped the coat over her shoulders. Her nipples pulled tight at the blast of frigid air. She carefully arranged her coat on the other clothing and the towels to keep it off the snow, sensing Shane’s stare on her all the while like a tingling caress.

  She stepped into the water and met Shane’s gaze before she plunged into his arms. He laughed, the warm, masculine sound striking her as being every bit as delicious as the steamy water.

  “Oh, this is nice,” Laura said once she’d spread her knees and settled in Shane’s lap, their faces just inches apart. She hooked her forearms behind his neck. Her skin prickled and tingled from the abrupt contrast of going from cold air to hot water. She purred in sensual delight when Shane began to stroke her body along her sides from hip to below her armpit.

  He’d been right. It was relatively warm for a winter day, the temperature hovering just around the freezing mark. Not a breeze tickled her cheek as she luxuriated both in the hot water and Shane’s equally steamy stare. An outdoor lamppost cast enough light for her to see that the surrounding trees looked like they’d been dipped in thick white icing. Dawn must be coming soon, Laura thought, because the night sky seemed impenetrable and black.

  Shane must have noticed her gazing upward.

  “Always darkest before the dawn,”
he murmured.

  She glanced down at him and they shared a smile.

  “It’s just like being at a ski resort, isn’t it?”

  “Hmmm?” Laura murmured distractedly as he stroked the sensitive sides of her breasts with his long fingers. “Oh . . . I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been.”

  He considered her thoughtfully. “Why not? You must have wanted to, considering all those travel brochures you’ve been collecting.”

  Laura studiously examined one of his wet, muscular shoulders. “Those were just some dreams I had.”

  He placed a hand on her chin and tilted her face toward him.

  “Why were they just dreams?” he asked gently.

  “I don’t know. I guess I was always too busy with the studio,” she lied. Like most prisoners, Laura continually dreamed of escape. She could tell by Shane’s furrowed brow he was about ready to pursue the subject so she headed him off at the pass.

  “Do you like to ski?”

  “Sure,” he said slowly after a few seconds. “It’s a rite of passage to strip down and get in the hot tub during a snowstorm.” His hands spanned her hips, nudging her forward. “Come here.”

  Laura bit her lip in rising sensual awareness when she pressed against Shane’s growing erection. He lifted and settled her so that her right ass cheek and thigh rested on his cock. He burned beneath her, feeling even hotter than the water.

  “Put your mouth on me,” he ordered gruffly.

  “Where?” Laura asked, surprised by his request.

  “Anywhere you fancy will do.”

  Laura’s smile lingered as she leaned forward and lightly brushed her lips against his. The vapor made them feel warm and damp beneath her. He remained motionless, letting her nip and pluck at his mouth at her leisure.

  “Is that what you want?” she whispered as she slid her lips against his seductively. His cock throbbed beneath her.

  “It’ll do for starters.”

  She smiled wider and traced his lips with the tip of her tongue.

  “You have the sexiest mouth in existence,” Shane told her quietly while she continued to nibble and tease.

  She took advantage of his parted lips and plunged her tongue between them. He groaned and tightened his hold around her waist, bringing their bellies flush together. Laura kissed him deep and thorough before she backed up. He came after her, a man-beast suddenly deprived of its meal. She chuckled.

  “Wait. I thought you said I was supposed to put my mouth on you.”

  “So put it on me,” he growled, craning toward her.

  “Sit still. I’ll come to you at my own pace,” she directed despite the allure of his seeking lips and steamy, determined stare. She could tell by the hard line of his mouth he didn’t like it, but he leaned his head back on the edge of the tub and waited for her to come to him.

  It felt decadent to sit in Shane’s lap with that hot water bubbling around them, sipping at his firm lips at her own pace, tasting him with her tongue . . . indulging in a sensual feast. He held out for longer than she would have expected, knowing what she knew of his demanding, dominant nature. But when she bit lightly at his lower lip and sucked it between her teeth, he tilted his head, pulled her tightly against him, and consumed her.

  They kissed voraciously, then sensually, then with wild abandon again for delicious, suspended moments. She grew so light-headed from the heat, Shane’s caresses on her ass, hips, and waist, and a kiss that could have been the main event for sex versus merely foreplay. Eventually, however, Shane lifted her hips and set her down next to him on the seat.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered hoarsely as he stood before her. She stared in stunned lust when he put one foot on the seat next to her and lifted his cock fully from the water, the smooth, ruddy, mushroom-shaped head gleaming just inches from her face. She squeezed her thighs together tightly over the pinch of excitement at her clit. He loomed over her as he slowly stroked his cock, his pose blatantly, unapologetically dominant.

  “Now it’s your turn to keep still while I sample that pretty, teasing mouth.” He furrowed his fingers into her hair and spread them across her skull, keeping her steady.

  He leaned forward.

  Laura was so hungry for him that she strained against his hold, lips spread wide. But he tightened his grip and kept her in place.

  “Put your hands behind your head and lean against the tub. That’s right. Now don’t move.”

  Laura did as he directed, her gaze fixed on the thick head of his penis. She felt the saliva pool on her tongue as he slowly . . . deliberately speared his cock between her lips.

  She ran her tongue over the thick head in mounting excitement and then applied a steady suck.

  “That’s a girl,” Shane murmured as he flexed his hips forward.

  Shane watched her through eyelids weighted with intense arousal. Her lips clamped tightly around the tip of his cock, her tongue dancing around the head to taste his pre-come. He pressed forward, using his foot on the seat to steady himself. He grimaced in pleasure at the sensation of sliding his cock along her tongue into her delicious, humid heat. His hips moved, pumping her mouth rhythmically while she applied a firm, eye-crossing suction. The cold air around his wet torso cooled a raging internal inferno.

  “That’s right,” Shane murmured as he fucked the most beautiful face he’d ever seen in his life. Every time she strained forward to try to control the movements, he tightened his grip in her hair. His cock stretched her lips wide. He knew her hunger from her strong, thirsty suck. She seemed to want more so he gave it to her.

  “Try to relax,” he whispered as he watched her struggle to take him down her throat. “Ahhh, yeah,” he moaned in ecstasy a moment later when he breached her body’s defenses and the tip of his cock penetrated her tight opening. He slid back along her tongue and plunged deep once more. He felt the familiar tingling at the base of his spine.

  “I’m going to come now,” he grated out.

  He thrust deep, feeling her muscles constrict around the tip of his cock, squeezing him tightly. A roar erupted out of his lungs and ripped at his throat as he climaxed. It felt so damned good that he nearly didn’t have the presence of mind to unblock her throat. He still shot what felt like gallons of come on her tongue when he withdrew, fucking her mouth shallowly. Laura stared up at him, her eyes huge and glistening with sexual excitement as she slurped on the end of his cock, swallowing every last drop of what he gave her.

  How could she trust him not to hurt her while he face-fucked her forcefully, and yet be unwilling to entrust him with anything else? An urge to totally possess her, to show her exactly to whom she belonged, overwhelmed him.

  He savored his final stroke in her hot mouth before he slid the length of his cock out of her clamping lips.

  “Thank you, baby. That felt so good. Now it’s your turn,” he muttered. He turned and reached for one of the towels, folding it at the edge of the hot tub. “Sit up here.”

  He helped her stand because she looked a little unsteady on her feet. The intense heat must be getting to her. His gaze toured her slender, curvy naked body hungrily when she placed her bottom on the towel. Her breasts looked round and full, the nipples fat and succulent from the heat. Mist rose rapidly all over her flushed skin. He parted her thighs and knelt in front of her on the tub step.

  “Have I ever told you you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen?”

  She merely shook her head, her slanted green eyes glistening as she looked down at him.

  “Well you are.” He reached around her, his fingertips burrowing into the deliciously cold snow. “Look at all the steam coming off you. You’re so hot. Let’s see if we can’t cool you off a little.”

  She jumped when he covered a relaxed pink nipple with snow. “Shane!”

  “Shhh,” he soothed as he rubbed the frozen water over her, the contact with both of their heated bodies melting it almost instantly. He smiled when he felt her nipple pebble against his fingertips. She
cried out brokenly and grasped his head when he placed his mouth over the turgid peak, both agitating and soothing the chilled flesh with his tongue.

  “Ummm,” he murmured, giving a tender bite to the firm flesh surrounding the nipple and finding it succulent. Laura’s nipples were made for a man’s mouth—made for his mouth. He suckled the sweet tip until it turned dark pink and distended and all vestiges of snow had turned to steam.

  Then he turned his attentions to the other breast until Laura clutched at his head, clamped her thighs together tightly and wiggled her hips against the towel. He put his hands on her knees and spread her thighs, exposing the tempting, slick folds of her pink pussy.

  He held her gaze as he grabbed more snow.

  “No,” she protested softly when he reached between her thighs.

  “Yes,” he whispered. They both watched as he pressed up on her firmly with a snow-covered hand. Laura gasped and trembled. Shane grunted in tense arousal. “Look at the steam coming off you. Nothing’s going to chill that hot little pussy.”

  “Shane, please.”

  He looked up into her beautiful, steam-glazed face.

  “Lean back a little,” he instructed.

  She cried out sharply when he placed his mouth over her snowy pussy, his tongue avidly seeking out the warm cream lying beneath the ice. Melting snow flooded his mouth, but he suckled and swallowed greedily, eager to have Laura’s musky sweetness running down his throat instead. Soon every last drop of cold water was gone and only hot, delicious woman-flesh remained for his tongue and lips to plunder.

  He ran his tongue languidly over her labia, savoring her flavor. She thrashed her hips against him desperately, but he restrained her with his hands. When he sensed her rising desperation, he stabbed at her erect clit with a stiffened, relentless tongue.

  She screamed as she quaked against him in orgasm, her fingers forming claws in his hair. He continued to eat her throughout her climax, refusing to let her escape his rubbing tongue. When she slowed and quieted he turned his head and sucked her clit firmly, enormously gratified when she cried out with renewed tremors of climax.