by Dawn Ryder
“Do you like doing that, Celeste?”
She pulled her hand up and teased the slit, wiping away the first drop of his cum before pumping her hand down to the base again. “Yes.” She felt the power shift between them.
“Why?” he asked softly.
He was asking for a confession that she wasn’t sure she’d even made to herself. She pumped her hand up and down his cock. “What does it matter?”
She tried to lower her head and suck him, but he kept her in place.
“Did Caspian order you to suck him off?”
She stilled, tightening her grip without realizing it. His cheek twitched and she opened her fingers. But the truth was already out, even unspoken. Reactions always were the truest.
“All the time,” she whispered.
“Did he ever repay the favor?”
She slowly shook her head and reached for his cock again. It suddenly made more sense to her and she twisted her head to loosen his grip on her hair. He released her and she smiled with victory.
“I like sucking you off because it’s the only time you aren’t pressing in on me.”
Instead, she was pushing him to extremes. The idea shimmered with promise, and she opened her mouth and closed her lips around him. He jerked, thrusting forward out of instinct. She felt an anxiety tonight, a pulsing need to wring him out like the sight of him holding another woman had done to her.
“Keep your eyes open, Nartan.”
She was cradling his balls, toying with the soft sack as she looked back up at him. “Make sure you see who is here with you…”
His jaw tightened.
She rolled over onto her back and his eyes widened with surprise. Her breasts moved out of the little lace-edged cups, allowing her nipples to slip into view.
“I see the merits of you following directions…”
He stepped forward and she leaned her head back so that she could lick his balls. She began to work moisture up his stiff penis until it was slick and easy to pump. She closed both of her hands around the stiff length. His breathing was heavy, his body tense as he began to fuck her hands.
“Open your legs…”
His tone was raspy but hard with demand.
“Show me your slit…”
She shuddered with the erotic thrill his command sent through her. She was crazy with need, her clit pulsing. It was a relief to open her thighs and allow it space. But her motions faltered as she watched him look at her spread sex.
“Don’t you think I enjoy looking at you as much as you like looking at me?”
He leaned over, instantly flipping the power between them as he trapped her arms against her chest and kept her thighs spread with his shoulders.
“I’ve become obsessed by being in contact with this pretty…pink…pussy…”
She squirmed, his breath hitting her wet sex and unleashing a powerful twist of sensation. It was so sharp that she whimpered.
“There are so many things I want to do with it, but you make me feel like a teenager again, unable to control my lust long enough to taste your cream.”
“Nartan—”
He touched her and she arched, fighting to buck his weight off her. Whatever she’d been about to voice, it died in a sizzle as he rimmed the opening of her body with his fingertip.
“Hmmm?”
His cock was pressed between her breasts, mocking her with how hard and thick it was. She craved it. She moved her fingers on it, just a small amount because of how tight the space was.
“I always keep my promises, Celeste. Which is why I’m careful about making them.”
He placed his knee on the bed and rolled over, coming up between her spread thighs. There was a glimmer in his eyes.
“You’re going to scream first.”
His expression was unyielding. He settled over her, his shoulders once more bracing her thighs apart. She watched in stunned fascination as he leaned down and drew his tongue along the edge of her slit.
That was the last thing she saw. Her eyes closed and she arched up in a crazy need to press herself against his mouth. There was no reason, no thought process, only the need to satisfy her craving. Desperation controlled her.
He didn’t disappoint her. Nartan leaned forward and sealed his lips around her clit. Her hands fisted in the comforter. His tongue was velvet soft, stroking, licking her slit and swirling around the pulsing nub of her clit. She was withering, working her hips up against his mouth. He pulled her folds away from the center so that he could tease her clit with his tongue.
He had no mercy, licking and sucking on her until she was ready to scream with frustration. He groaned against her, the vibration sending her over the edge into a climax that threatened to tear her apart. Her body contorted, caught in the grip of it, the wave cresting higher and crashing down to flood her with a pulsing satisfaction.
She felt like she’d been flung onto the bed, her body feeling too heavy to move for moments that felt like hours. Nartan lapped across her swollen clit a final time before sitting back. When she opened her eyes, he was sitting back against the pillows in the center of her bed. He had his arms resting on top of those pillows as he looked down at her.
He was making his mark.
Carving his persona into her bedroom.
It was deeply personal and she rolled over, feeling threatened. The moment she moved, he stretched his legs out straight, taking up more of the center of her bed. Her eyes narrowed.
“Are you staking your claim?” she asked.
“Yes,” he bit back.
“You’re so arrogant.”
He curled his lips back and grinned at her. “So take me in hand.”
“Like you wanted me to at Angelino’s?” She sat back on her haunches and watched his gaze travel to her breasts. She teased the swells of her cleavage with her fingertips before finding the little clasp that held the garment closed.
“I like the way you try to dominate a conversation.”
His eyes were on her breasts as she let the bra slip down her arms. Hunger was glittering in his eyes again, filling her with confidence. He locked gazes with her.
“I can’t wait to see what your tactics are going to be during this debate, counselor.”
She crawled toward him. “Since you just tried to pin me down during your opening statement—”
“I did pin you down,” he countered. “Flat on your back.”
She lifted her leg and straddled him, holding herself above his cock as she settled her hands on his shoulders. “Which makes it imperative that I get on top of you immediately.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” He cupped her hips, smoothing his hands over her bottom before returning to grip them again.
But she held herself above him, letting only the head of his cock nestle between the wet folds of her sex. “Maybe I should make you rise to my bait…”
“Maybe I plan to hold out and count on my ability to resist your barbs.”
She rotated her hips and watched him grind his teeth. “In that case, I’d have to plunge straight on to my hardest point.”
She was drenched from the orgasm he’d sent ripping through her. When she pressed down on him, his cock penetrated with a smooth, hard thrust that filled her to bursting. But she stopped once she’d sheathed him and tightened her internal muscles, squeezing him as hard as she could.
He gasped, his expression losing focus. He was dissolving into the same pit of savage hunger that she’d been mindlessly mired in only minutes before.
“I wonder who is getting more of the point, you or me?” he rasped out.
She lifted herself off him, unable to stay still. A new craving was pounding through her, one that was rooted deeper and only satisfied by the hard flesh she was riding.
“Maybe I like it,” she growled, perspiration coating her skin
as her heart began pounding.
He cupped her hips and shoved her down as he thrust up into her body. “You love it.”
Yes, she did, if she told herself the truth, but that was too much to absorb right now. For the moment it was enough that she craved him with the same insanity as an addict.
She was fascinated by his face. His eyes dilated, his lips thin as he worked beneath her, commanding the tempo even as she tried to control it from above. It was a battle between them, a challenge both of them rose to. Her hands curled into talons on his shoulders as she dug in for the hardest part of the ride. He was slamming his cock up into her, fucking her with a ferocity that made her snarl at him.
He yanked her back down onto him as he grew harder and thicker inside her. The need to close her eyes was strong, but she wanted to watch him crumble at the moment of release, needed to see him ripped apart by what was between them.
But her own body was tightening, release only a few more thrusts away.
“That’s right… Come on my cock, Celeste… Squeeze me again…”
She tumbled into climax, crying out as she felt him give up the first spurt of cum. It was hot and scoring, and he hammered himself up into her as his cock jerked and emptied its load.
“That’s it… Squeeze me…yes!
Pleasure was ripping through her but she clamped her muscles down, the rapture in his voice demanding action. He shoved deep and shuddered as his cock let lose its last jerk. For a moment, he was frozen, rigid as he lifted his body off the bed to make sure he was buried inside her.
But he relaxed at last, the bed rocking as it took both their weight. She rolled over in a jumble of uncoordinated limbs that felt too weary to control. He followed her, cradling her and curving around her body.
It was tender.
So tender she shifted away.
He blew out a long breath and followed her. He cupped her shoulder and stroked her arm. “I was being an asshole. The art of being in a relationship is going to take some practice.”
He kissed her shoulder before getting up. She sat up, startled by his exit. She didn’t care for how exposed it made her feel. He found his jacket and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. He tapped something into it before dropping it on her dresser.
“We’ve got enough time for a shower.” He offered her a hand.
“Before what?”
“Dinner.” He grasped her hand and pulled her out of the bed. “Third time’s the charm. One of the boys will be over with it in about half an hour.”
He strode right into her bathroom and opened the shower door to turn on the water. Celeste hesitated in the doorway, soaking up the sight of him. He turned and lifted an eyebrow in question.
“Like what you see?” he asked.
“Do you like your current position?” she countered. “This is hardly what you’re accustomed to.”
He turned and caught her in a gaze that mesmerized her.
“From my vantage point, it’s perfect.”
He crooked his finger, beckoning her forward. She was moving before she thought. Placing her hand into his without hesitation as something new moved through her. A familiar sensation that she hadn’t had any experience with in a long time.
It was happiness.
Chapter 7
“You threw out my flowers?”
Nartan had picked up the card that came with the basket and was fingering the edge while he looked at the few petals that had fallen onto her table. Celeste considered him over the rim of her coffee cup the next morning.
“I was a bit…passionate when I got home last night.”
His expression didn’t relax.
“Let’s examine the facts.” She put her coffee aside. “I think this calls for a reenactment of the crime scene.”
She moved toward him and pressed up against him. “Your hand goes on the top of my butt…”
“It was her lower back.”
“Eyewitness account says the fingertips were definitely on the swells of the gluteus maximus.”
His expression gave little away as he complied, slipping his hand down until he was cupping her bottom. “Satisfied?”
“Hardly.”
His eyes narrowed. “Liar.”
Heat teased her cheeks as the memory of the night before rolled through her mind with a vividness that started to turn her on. Which was astounding with the lack of caffeine in her system. She was not a morning person.
“You’re redirecting,” she accused before pressing her body against his and slipping one fingertip beneath his tie.
“Just as I suspected…” His cock was thickening behind the fly of his trousers. “I knew she could feel your cock.”
“Except that I wasn’t hard.”
His words astounded her. She was frozen for several moments before breaking away from him to return to her coffee.
“Which was a real game changer for Laura,” he finished. The card landed on the counter next to her.
“Have you slept with her?” She probably shouldn’t have asked, but she really couldn’t stop herself.
He shook his head.
“That was too fast.”
He pressed his lips into a tight line. “Laura is Apache.”
“Why is that a problem?”
He was gripping the tile lip of her countertop so tightly that his fingertips were white. “When I left with Tarak to go up to Alaska, we were the joke of the reservation. The girl I was stupidly in love with drew a line in the sand when I told her I was going. I crossed it and never looked back.”
Satisfaction glittered in his eyes.
“Was that Laura?”
“Her cousin. Laura showed up about six months ago with a head full of personal knowledge about me, and she’s been cozying up to my grandparents for the last year.”
“Gold-digger land mine.”
His lips twitched.
“But it proves I wasn’t overreacting.”
“It proves you don’t trust me.”
His words hit her hard. She took another slow sip of her coffee.
“You’re a stunning woman, Celeste. I expect men will hit on you. What matters is our commitment to each other. Trust is what makes a relationship solid.”
“True,” she answered. “But Laura is a special case.”
“How so?” he questioned gruffly.
“She’s the approved, pure-blooded bride being sent after the wayward son. Bet she’s already got a list of baby names picked out.”
He made a low sound in the back of his throat and eyed her for a long moment before lifting his hands in surrender. But his lips twitched with a very familiar arrogance.
“I think I love the fact that you’re jealous.”
She had been. Even after the night they’d shared together, it was still smarting. “What are we doing, Nartan?” she blurted out. “I think I really need to know the boundaries of this thing between us.”
He settled back against the other counter and took a long draw off his coffee before answering. “The short answer is, you’re making me crazy.”
She choked back a dry laugh. “I told a perfect stranger to insult you in your own restaurant. I win points for insanity.”
“I chased you out of there, in front of a member of my tribe, and left a business I built from the ground up. Game point.”
She picked the card up and pressed it against her chest. Another long pause stretched out between them. It was awkward, but that was fine by her. There was one thing about Nartan she was pretty sure she couldn’t handle, and that was a polished brush-off.
She didn’t doubt he was accomplished at them.
“Why are you still here?” The question sounded pathetic, unmasking her uncertainty completely.
He drew in a deep breath and moved toward her. He didn’t stop un
til he was curled over her, his body pinning her against the counter.
But today, there was a difference. She felt sheltered instead of cornered.
“I need to be.” His words were rough, his jaw tight. “I can’t explain it, but the idea of leaving before I get a commitment out of you for tonight is unacceptable.”
“I have class Monday through Thursday.”
He smoothed his hands down her sides. “That’s important to you.”
“Essential,” she confessed. “It’s the only way I got past the nightmares.”
He stiffened and she laid her hand over his lips when he started to ask more questions. “Small steps. No one, not even Sabra, knows everything about my marriage. I was very much a typical victim of spousal abuse. I thought it was just a rough patch. Made excuses, avoided the truth.”
“Now you doubt your judgment.”
She slid her hand down his chest and locked gazes with him. “Logically, no.”
“Emotionally…yes,” he confirmed before pressing a kiss against her lips. He squeezed her in a quick hug.
“Go now, or all bets are off and I’m keeping you home. In bed.”
“Ha.” She turned off the coffeemaker and grabbed her purse and cell phone. “Like you don’t have a business day to get to. No one enjoys the sort of success you do by being lazy. You’re a workaholic too.”
“But that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in keeping you in bed all day.”
She scoffed at him before heading for the garage. The workday was suddenly not her haven. The piles of work waiting for her were no longer a welcome relief from being alone with her memories. It was like some great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Nartan caught her before she made it to her car and claimed a last kiss before he headed for his Jeep with that sexy prowl of his. The sensual way he moved sent a tingle through her as she slid behind the wheel of her car. His collar was open, his tie stuffed in the pocket of his designer suit jacket that he had slung over one arm. She was seeing a private side of him. Something she doubted anyone else had witnessed.
Yeah, she doubted her choices but there was no way she was going to stay away from him.
