by Angel Payne
“Speaking of the kids,” he said against her lips, “how long do you think we have?”
Zoe pried her eyes open. “How long? For what?”
“Until your roommate stumbles in.”
She grinned wider. It was refreshing to be with someone who knew so little about her world. Even Bryce, for all his surface charm, got a little tiresome about showing off her lead dancer status, as well as her comp show seats and other perks, to all his friends. “The lead gets her own room, Mr. Burnett.”
His groin pulsed against hers. “Dear fuck.”
She giggled again. “Yes, please.”
He dipped his gaze to her lips and kissed her soundly there again before returning her to her feet with a reluctant expression. “In that case, grab your phone.”
Her smile fell. “Qué? Why?”
“Safe call.” His brows jumped when Zoe stared like he’d just said squirrel farts. “You think I’m going to ask for your nakedness and trust after knowing me a little over an hour, without a safety net of some sort?” His gaze turned dark bronze. “You need to call or text a friend, preferably one who isn’t drunk at the terminal, and tell them that if you don’t re-contact them in three hours, they need to call the Los Angeles PD and send them to this room.”
“Mierda.” Zoe had slipped her cell from her pocket but now froze, eyeing him as if the squirrel had done more than fart on him. “You’re joking, right?”
The air gained a chill as Shane stepped back, clasping his hands at the small of his back and widening his stance. “Not by any stretch of the word. Your trust is key to me, dancer. As much as you’ll give me, as far as you’ll let me go. The power here belongs to you as much as me, and having a back-up for your safety gives us a clearer path to that.”
He looked thoroughly dominant now. Totally breathtaking. Nevertheless, Zoe blurted in confusion, “I’m still not sure I understand.”
The man stiffened his stance and shook his head. Great. He had her a little scared as well as a lot muddled now.
“Why don’t you sit?”
His stiffened stance and hardened jaw told her the polite phrasing was a courtesy. As tempted as she was to go for a cheeky comeback, something in her psyched nixed the move.
She lowered her butt onto the edge of the bed.
Shane positioned himself directly in front of her. She looked down at his shiny black dress shoes, strangely afraid about looking up again—and embracing that sweet thrill.
“Zoe, what do you want from this—from me—tonight?”
A pile of rocks tumbled into the base of her throat. “You—you just want me to say it?”
“That would be the purpose of the question. Yes.”
“I—I just can’t—”
“Take a deep breath. I’m not asking for fancy words. Just tell me the way you did when you explored the D/s dynamic with others.”
She nervously licked her lips. “There weren’t others. There was only one, okay? And he sure as hell didn’t ask me questions like that.”
Burnett let out a slow but dense breath. “Let me guess,” he stated. “The conversation revolved around how you’d serve him, all the things he’d do to you, and all the pleasure he’d get out of it?”
Zoe pressed her hands together between her thighs, sandwiching her phone with them. The sizzle from their kiss had faded from the room, aided by the palpable tension from Shane—no doubt because he discerned how her silence confirmed his accusation.
In return, she couldn’t let go of her astonishment. How had he known? He’d quoted, nearly word for word, what Bryce had said to her on both their disastrous visits to the dungeon outside Henderson. But he hadn’t been the only Dom in the place saying things like that. She’d simply been the only sub who couldn’t seem to get mushy from it.
“He wasn’t a bad guy, okay? Just because I couldn’t get with the program or be turned-on because—”
“Your Dom didn’t learn anything about your needs before you two stepped into the dungeon?”
“Look, we dated for a few months first. We got along great. He knew a lot about my needs alr—” His angry snort not only stopped her, but irritated her. She gave into the temptation to glare. “Forget it. I don’t want to hash this out with you tonight.”
“Believe me, dancer, your asshole ex-Dom isn’t my fascination, either.” His grim laugh turned his features into a portrait of dark sensuality, especially as he snaked a hand around the back of her head. “You’re my priority tonight.” His long fingers curled into the roots of her hair, pulling gently—then after her blissful sigh, not so much. “Goddamn, you’re beautiful.”
Zoe turned her sigh into a full gasp. “And you’re my priority, too.”
She only had these few special hours with him. It was what she had to believe. For all she knew, the guy was actually based in Vegas too, but something about him, lingering in his eyes and voice, said his passion was only ever on loan to a woman. There’d be nothing between them after the hours in this room. That meant every moment counted more. Every touch. Every word. Every kiss.
“You asked what I wanted?” she whispered. “Well, it’s this.” She reached to press a hand along the breathtaking line of his jaw. “To see more of this desire on your face. To know whatever I’m doing is okay…is good enough to please you. To see how I make you feel and to feel it with—”
She hesitated, suddenly embarrassed. Caramba, she probably sounded like a cheesy soft porn script. She wondered if the tremble she felt through Shane’s body was his way of stifling a chuckle.
No. Not a laugh. Instead, as he cradled the other side of her head, he emitted a growl so lush, her skin tingled. “Don’t stop there.” The veins in his forearms stood out as he yanked her face higher, pinning her with his heated stare. “Say it, goddammit. The whole nasty, sexy truth of it. You want to feel my cock inside your body, don’t you? You want me to fill your beautiful cunt until you scream from being stretched by me…fucked by me?”
“Yes.” She quivered, too. “That’s exactly what I want. Your hands all over me. Commanding me. Showing me how to please you…”
She surrendered to breathlessness when the thunder from his throat took on a savage edge. The world narrowed to a pinpoint. Every heartbeat was a sweet struggle. Even that awareness was impossible to grasp as he slammed his mouth over hers again. With her head bent back, she was an open vessel for his lust, accepting every vicious stab of his tongue and drop of his passion. There was no other choice. And she didn’t want one.
A cry of protest escaped as he pulled away. Shane hovered his lips above hers, letting their breaths continue to tangle as he softly ordered, “Get the fucking safe call handled, Zoe. I have plans for you.”
“Yes, Sir.”
She finished it off with a giggle, mostly out of nerves. The man did not copy the humor. He turned back toward her while pulling off his jacket, jaw set and brows arched, turning her into a puddle of equal parts fear and arousal. “Patience, girl. You’ll be speaking that ‘Sir’ for me again very soon and sounding just as beautiful doing it. Get the call handled first.”
Puddle? She was a whole lake of sensations now. “Yes, S—” While stopping herself in the nick of time, she hit the button showing a picture of Ryder with a dazzling grin on his face and a margarita in his hand.
There was no way her best friend wouldn’t answer. Once, the guy had even picked up on a frantic call from her while having sex. After her sister Ava, he was her lifetime rock for the worst storms. They’d been through calculus, prom, college applications, dorm life, real life, and moving to Vegas, where they’d both nearly starved for two years before Zoe landed her first show gig while Ry was picked up by the city’s biggest modeling agency.
Halfway through the third ring, her friend’s smart-ass baritone filled the line. “How’s la-la land, hot stuff? Everyone good and passed out now? Have you tucked everyone in and are calling to squee about meeting David Gandy in the hotel bar, who insisted on showing you what really
rhymes with ‘candy’?”
Zoe had no idea how she kept a straight face. “Actually…it’s better than that.”
There was a rustle on the line. She’d made Ry sit up. “What the fuck? You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I sorta am.”
“Fuck. Me.”
“That’s my line tonight.” She tugged her bottom lip with her teeth and bashfully glanced at Shane. “At least I hope. That’s why you’re getting the honor of the safe call.”
“Thank God. Your ticket is way overdue for a punch, Zo-Glow.”
She couldn’t help a soft giggle at his nickname for her since high school. “Thanks for the vote of support.”
“So…” Ry extended the word with anticipation. “Is it David Gandy?”
She laughed harder. “Better, sweetie. Much better.”
After Ry confirmed details with her then expelled a celebratory whoop even Shane could hear, she disconnected the call with a smile.
Her mirth dipped into perplexity all too fast when she looked up—and found a similar smirk on Shane’s face.
“What now?” she blurted. “Did I do it wrong?”
He instantly frowned again. “Why do you keep obsessing about ‘doing it wrong’?”
She tugged at the edge of a pillow. “You were smirking.”
“I was smiling.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s beautiful when you smile.” The admission caused a chain reaction across his gorgeous features, as if bigger doors of comprehension opened in his mind. “Actually, baby girl, you’re breathtaking.”
Zoe dropped her head to hide her flush. This was loco. So silly. She was a dancer in one of the sexiest shows in Las Vegas. She was used to a lot of people ogling her, cheering for her, and desiring her, all while she was dressed in a lot less than a T-shirt and jeans.
But none of those fans, even the ones who came to the show weekly, ever truly knew her. None saw her as this man did only an hour and a half after meeting her. Had ever studied her as Shane did now and called her breathtaking in a way doing nothing with what she wore, how perfect her makeup was, or how alluring her dance steps were. Could stand more than six feet away yet awaken her whole body with the knowing caress of his molten gaze.
Most profoundly, how he fhad her blinking back tears because of the thousand ways she felt connected to him already.
Dios. They hadn’t even taken their shoes off.
Had she ever felt this way with Bryce?
Contemplating the answer made her clench teeth to fight off the tears.
“Whoa, baby girl.” Great. Their chemistry included him taking instant notice of her struggle, despite how she tucked in her chin to hide it. He crossed to stand in front of her again, tugging her face with a couple of long, beautiful fingers. “You’re not supposed to be crying…yet.”
She attempted a dismissive laugh. “And you’re not supposed to be smiling.”
He dipped his head. And the timbre of his drawl. “Is that so?”
“Doms don’t smile.”
“Hmm. Is that what it says in the ‘Dungeon Rules for Dummies’? Same place you got the notion you’re a sucky subbie? Guess I missed that riveting bestseller.”
She looked back down and pressed her lips together. If she didn’t, a zinger of a retort was certain to fly from them. She wouldn’t be able to sift the snark from the words, either—which meant she’d get hammered with his look again. And now, any of the methods he’d choose to enforce it…
Ohhh, yes. Best to callate—shut the damn mouth—than lure out too much of the Dom who lurked so close to the man’s surface. She wasn’t stupid. She only had a few hours of Shane’s time. A sweet taste of his power and passion would have to be enough, so tempting him to share a whole meal wasn’t something her senses, perhaps even her soul, could take.
She almost laughed aloud. There was a term for this kind of thinking. Topping from the bottom. If the man could hear all this buzzing in her synapses, would he still believe she was a natural for this “subbie” stuff?
He interrupted her thoughts by sliding a finger back down to her chin and nudging her gaze up once more. “Where you going, baby girl?”
Zoe blinked slowly. Clearly, his charge referred to emotional, not physical, distance. “N-nowhere. Don’t gawk; it’s the truth. Honestly, I just—”
“Just answer my question, beautiful. It wasn’t rhetorical. How big is that mental research paper of yours now?”
Mierda. Connection or not, he wasn’t going to make this easy. With the arrogance in his stare and the expectant angles of his brows, impossible only began to describe his persistence.
“Fine,” she snapped. “You really want to know? I do have a ‘list.’ A big one. And contrary to what you may assume, I didn’t just pull it out of my ass.” She yanked her face away from his grip. “Were you not listening earlier? I’m not some starry-eyed girl who’s only read about D/s in romance novels. I had a man in my life who cared enough to try it with me. I failed him.” She shook her head, hating the way his eyes tightened and his jaw clenched. “So stop it,” she seethed. “Just stop it with your brooding stare and your continuing mission to dissect me, okay? I don’t want or need your damn Dommy pity.”
His features widened. “‘Dommy pity?’ Is that where you think I’m going?”
“It’s laser-etched in your eyes, Burnett. You think I’ve been ‘misled,’ maybe even abused. You want to paint yourself as my he-man hero—and you’re so cute about it, I wish I could grant you the wish—but the truth is, I don’t need one. I’m not a helpless damsel, nor have I been anybody’s victim.” When his expression didn’t waver from its skepticism, she exploded, “It’s the truth! It’s my truth. You need to accept it, okay?” Dios, his diligence was maddening. “You need to just be happy with it. Sir.”
The word spewed out of her as accusation instead of respect, a mistake realized much too late. Tension washed over him like storm clouds on a mountain range.
Not just tension. She’d hurt him. He took this seriously. Took her seriously. It was already clear that he took the role of Dominant as an honor to be accountable for, not an excuse for commanding a woman into sexual favors. That alone earned him more awareness, arousal, and respect from her than Bryce ever had.
And echoed one set of words through her mind as his tight silence stretched on.
Ohhhh, shit.
Her dread grew as he grabbed her shoulders then drew her to her feet. The refrain continued as he slowly pulled her close, reminding her even more of the growing electrical storm between them. When would his thunder break loose? His lightning? Her breath hitched, her senses sizzling with consciousness. Every inch of his body was equally taut, hard, commanding.
“Zoe. Look at me.”
His voice, soft as wind but strong as rain, pulled her head up. His golden gaze waited for her, its ferocity barely leashed. What was he thinking? What did he plan to do with her?
Damn. Damn. Damn.
She was scared. Really scared.
And had never been more aroused in her whole life.
Her whole body confirmed the conflict. Her shoulders burned where he still held her, though now the heat radiated down her arms, across her chest, sending merciless stabs into the tips of her nipples. The center of her belly, awakened from the edict of his huge erection, curled with anticipation. Her thighs clenched against the muscled ropes of his, sending wonderful tingles to the tips of her toes.
“I’m sorry,” she finally rasped.
His stare, fascinating as smoked copper, dipped to the lip she nervously bit. “Why?”
She glanced away. Zoe knew he watched every moment of the action, making it more important to get her answer right—including its contrition. “Because…I suppose I’m being a brat.”
“Hmmm.” He rubbed circles into her shoulders with his thumbs. Dios, even that felt good. “That’s probably true. Anything else?”
She pushed out a little huff. “Fine. You’r
e probably right about the dungeon research paper.”
“Approaching a mini novel?” He kept his baritone low and controlled. And thoroughly captivating.
She indulged one more tiny fume before admitting, “Yes. Probably.”
The copper clouds in his gaze changed into intense smoke. “And you like all the ‘facts’ you’ve learned? Is that it?”
His adamancy stunned her into silence. Vaya. Burnett actually thought she might answer him yes—and hadn’t reacted by ordering her to her knees, yanking at her hair, or ripping off her top. Though the options sounded like paradise, what he’d really done was a huger broadside. Knowingly given her a peek at his vulnerability. Wasn’t that a big “Dommy Don’t” in a lot of books, not just the ones she’d read for her “research project?” Yet the moment sealed her fascination with him deeper than anything since they’d met. It made her yearn to reach to him, learning the new lines of his face even as she soothed them…
She surrendered to the craving. Then rejoiced as he did the same.
He was beautiful. She reveled in stroking the fullness of his eyebrows, the strong slope of his nose, the forceful cliffs of his cheeks. As Shane explored her face the same way, she felt a smile bloom.
A silent reverie…a perfect proxy for time.
She’d called her best friend with the knowledge she’d be getting naked with this man, but couldn’t imagine nudity being more magical than this. Or more intimate. The man, already so stunning, stole even more of her common sense with the intensity of his concentration. He smiled while tracing the little curves at the bottom of her nose, then while drawing a finger into the deep indent of her upper lip…even learning how ticklish she was at the base of her ears.
In return, she discovered a lot of new things about him too. Scars. The man was riddled with them. One at the base of his throat. Another hidden just inside his hairline. A few nicks along the left side of his neck. He’d either moonlighted as a stunt man five miles north in Hollywood, or had been through a few war zones. While she burned to complete the riddle, she also sensed the answer wasn’t as simple as one sentence—even if he were inclined to give it.
