by Angel Payne
She gave herself over to this moment, instead.
As Shane’s fingers learned more of her physically, he opened more of her spirit. Zoe relinquished the energy with willing trust, because he’d gifted it to her first. The feeling was surreal. She knew Shane still controlled every moment of what happened, guiding every touch and stare they gave each other, yet she’d never felt more important in her entire life.
Was this the beginning of what D/s was all about? Was this why so many referred to it as a “power exchange” and raved about the purity of its connection?
Her soul echoed with the only answer that made sense.
Yes.
Her heart joined the chorus as Shane formed a frame around her face with his hands, tilting her head up for a long, deep kiss.
He took over her senses in a different way than before. The storm still gathered in him but the front was more potent, requiring more power, needing her submission. He kissed her deeper, not harder. He didn’t leave a corner of her mouth unexplored. His mouth widened her with carnal intent, demanding more. He used her tongue as a plaything, sucking it then giving it back, twirling it in time with the whimpers she emitted, beseeching him to do more. Yes…more…
She couldn’t be blamed for the urgency. Just his kiss revved her blood better than her favorite vibrator, especially during the moments when he backed away, letting her anticipate his next action. Every nerve ending in her body leapt in awakening. A thousand drums began needy tattoos in her sex. Her lungs started rationing her breath to her throat.
She seriously started to hate her clothes.
Shane’s face betrayed his concurrence. No more smirks. No more persistent charm. The storm had taken command, darkening his eyes and clamping his jaw. His arms coiled as he plummeted his hands down her back, grabbing her shirt in fistfuls, the movements timed to his rough breaths.
He held back on kissing her again. Instead, he watched her face with while sweeping his hands beneath her shirt. His stare heated as he clawed the length of her spine with his fingernails, eliciting a keen deep in her throat.
“Sh-Shane,” she stammered. “That feels so—ahhh!”
She gave up the scream as he dropped his head to scrape her neck with his teeth. Shivers cascaded as he followed the sharp burn with the silken perfection of his tongue. After sweeping both hands over the solid perfection of his chest, she jammed into his hair to urge him on. The strands were thick and soft and perfect in her grip.
He groaned deep while suckling his way to her ear, shoving back her hair with his nose in order to bite the flesh there with more force. The surge of pain jacked her heartbeat, making her shriek the same second her bra snapped free beneath his fingers.
“Perfect.” His husky praise resonated through her ear. “You’re so fucking perfect, baby girl.”
His adoration made her head spin. Her blood simmer.
Before her world careened.
Everything in the room spun before her eyes as he twirled her around, making her face the bed. He anchored her by yanking her back against him, but not before shoving her shirt over her head and letting her bra tumble free after it.
Zoe gasped as her nipples responded to the air conditioning, though she owed just as many shivers to his big, conquering hands, marking every inch of her exposed flesh as his willing territory. His touch was hot and bold, claiming her in giant swaths from the waist up until he scooped his fingers around both breasts. She cried out in pleasure and agony as he squeezed until her nipples jutted into his palms.
Her head fell back against his shoulder. She moaned, once more breathing in the forest musk of his scent as his thumbs rolled against her skin. He closed in those seductive circles, nearing the center of her breasts with each rotation. “Ohhhh,” she whispered. Her eyes drifted shut as he licked from the bottom of her ear to the top of her shoulder.
Vaya, what his touch did to her, how exquisite he made her feel. God had skipped her on the way to endowing Ava with the great boobs in the family. Though Zoe always made the most of hers by working with costume designers on strategic padding, their nude truth was something her lovers tolerated instead of appreciated. But caught beneath Shane’s touch, she was a goddess. Adored. Caressed.
“Ay!”
And pinched. And tugged. Hard. Then again. She screamed again, trying to buck against him.
“Sssshhh.” The bastard was calm to the point of infuriating. “Breathe for me, Zoe. That’ll help you process it better.”
“Process it?” she flung. “You mean your torture pinchers?”
He sucked at the curve of her ear once more. “It’s only my fingers, beautiful. Not even real nipple clamps. Though fuck, these sweet little cherries would look incredible, squeezed by a pair of pretty clamps. I’d buy you a pair with dangling sapphires to match that fire in your eyes…” A growl took over his tone as he closed his fingers again. When he started twisting at her nubs as well, rolling and tugging, she squirmed harder.
“Burnett!”
“What?” So serene. So maddening. So sexy.
“It hurts, dammit!”
“And you’re not handcuffed to anything, beautiful. Step away anytime you like. We haven’t even established a safe word, though you can call a red on me anytime you need. Is that what you’re doing?”
“No!” She countered it with a huff. “I mean—I don’t know.” Dammit. Giving up on anything in her life hadn’t been an option since hitting double digit birthdays. She didn’t accept the loser card very gracefully. But was it giving up if Shane placed the safe word in her control, gave her the choice to stop everything? Fully acknowledged her power as well as his?
“It’s okay not to know.” He gave her a break. While twirling her tips with his thumb and forefinger, he grazed his other fingertips along the undersides of her breasts. The new sensations, mixed with the zings left behind from his pinches, were amazing. “Ssshhh. Breathe.”
“I—I’m confused.” Understatement of the century.
His reply was tinged in anger. “Let me guess. It wasn’t like this with the Dom behind Door Number One?”
She closed her eyes. Like that helped against the memories of that first awful night with Bryce. And the second. And the third. Her sexy cop boyfriend had transformed into a different person as a Dom, like Walter White donning the damn Heisenberg Hat. He’d always kept his face shrouded in darkness, concealed by the dungeon’s deep shadows—though he sure as hell made sure she could see his cock. Right after he strapped her down to a spanking bench by her ankles, knees, elbows, and wrists, he shoved the swollen thing at her lips. Take the whole thing down your throat, or I’ll flog you until you scream. Service me well, you slutty little submissive.
“Sí.” She finally found her way back to the present, forcing a nod for Shane. “But—but it’s okay. I’m here now.”
“Oh, yeah.” He rumbled the word through his whole body, along with hers, while suckling her neck. His fingers drifted toward her nipples again. “You really are.”
Zoe released a long breath. “And I’ll try to stay.”
“Mmmm. That’s my good girl.”
His praise made her tingle. Even so, she charged, “But I can step free any moment I want?”
“Affirmative,” Shane murmured. “But dear God, I hope you don’t.” He tightened his touch, tugging at her sensitive nodes, again twisting harder at the erect points. “Stunning, amazing Zoe…I could look at you all night. Play with these magnificent tits for hours.”
She fought to pull in breath. “I—I almost want you to.” As far as hiding the astonishment in her voice? Forget about it. “But how is that possible? Even though…you’re hurting me…”
“Only a little.”
“Only a little?”
He spread warm breath along her neck as he slowly pulled on her taut areolas. “Only because it feels so good to have this effect on you.”
“Ahhh.” The breathy syllable was all she could manage. Mierda, what an “effect” the man had.
Every new pinch brought a jump to her pulse and a jolt to the depths of her tender folds. She pulsed for him now. Ached. Because of the pain he’d brought her—and the expertise he delivered every moment of it with.
“You like it, too, don’t you, baby girl?” He rubbed with the pads of his thumbs again, mixing his low growl with her extended moan. “You like the way I touch you. And yes, you like the pain, too. You like it because every time you take more of either, part of your spirit becomes mine. And you like that, too. You long to know how I’m going to return that gift to you, converted into something new by my passion…my power.”
His words sounded like they’d been tossed through a filter of shale. Joined with the pressure of his erection against her ass, Zoe was helpless to fight the demolition of his seduction.
“Vaya. Yes.” She lilted the words with hope. Maybe she really could do this. Perhaps it would all be different this time. Everything felt different, thanks to this man who’d seen her soul from the start…who focused on her like it was their last night on earth.
She mewled as he skidded one of his hands down to her hip. Cried out as he used a belt loop on her jeans to pull her tighter against him. His other hand flattened against her throat, locking her head back. He ravaged her neck in another greedy bite. The whole time, his crotch pulsed against her backside. The ordeal had to be hell for him, but the simple knowledge of how she affected him…it was like taking a drink of the world’s best sangria. Sweet. Wild. Delicious. Addicting. Her limbs went limp, washed in the potency of it—but she didn’t fall fully into the mush puddle. She hadn’t paid for that privilege yet. And submissives always had to pay first. In some way.
To her shock, Shane broke her reverie with a frustrated growl. “You’re going somewhere else again, baby girl. Someplace that’s not on my approved destinations list.”
“I’m sorry. It’s—it’s so hard to fight it—”
“Then why are you?” He slid his fingers over her eyelids to close them, then spread his fingers across her forehead. “Don’t fight it, tiny dancer. This is exactly what I want. Your surrender…from here first. Breathe. Then yield it to me.”
Beneath his touch, her brow furrowed. “But don’t you want me to—”
“Let it go.” The pads of his fingers pressed above her eyebrows. “That’s all I want from you right now.” The husky strength of his voice helped his effort, ushering pools of honey through her mind and body. The thick warmth slackened her limbs, luring her spirit to float away on its shiny bronze waves. “That’s it, beautiful. You’ve already been here, remember? You were ready to give it all then everything switched back on. Shut it all down again. I’ll light it back up.”
“Promise?”
“Oh, baby girl, I certainly do. You’ll be amazed at the places we’ll go together.”
She still struggled to decipher his words but the man made it damn hard to connect to coherent thoughts together. He didn’t ease up on the sensual cavalcade, either. One of his hands stroked backed into her hair and started pulling with steady, commanding tension. His other hand strayed lower, playing in her navel for a moment before continuing lower.
Zoe sighed as he unhitched the button on her jeans. Once more as he lowered the zipper. And as his hand slipped beneath her panties—
“Ohhhhhh!”
His fingers were nirvana.
“Fuck.” His growl was a verbal version of his touch, slow and dark and seductive. “You’re perfect, Zoe. So fucking perfect.”
A shaky sigh stirred the air. She vaguely recognized it as her own. Didn’t matter, anyway; not when she needed to focus on the long, warm digits that parted her flesh, waiting for him in engorged readiness. Though Shane didn’t say a word, his harsh breaths conveyed his own pleasure, swirling hers higher as he folded back the hood of her clit with an expert push.
Don’t stop. Oh please don’t stop!
God heard her prayer. He moved a second finger down, gliding it over her most sensitive nerves in a perfect little sweep. A mewl tore up her throat. Shane gave her an approving grunt as he continued his exploration deeper, his fingers reaching the edge of her most intimate entrance.
“Ohhhhh!”
Zoe’s whole body stiffened. Streaks of silver and gold appeared behind her eyes. Who the hell was she kidding? Her whole body was suddenly formed of the lightning, electric and alive, brilliant and dazzled.
And terrified.
She pulled in a quivering breath. And never let it out.
“Whoa, baby girl. Ssshhhh. Easy.” Shane rolled his hips, forcing her body into the same lazy ocean motion. “Let it out. Let it go. Trust me, Zoe. We’ll get there, I promise.”
“Sooner than later,” she gasped back, “if you keep all of this up.”
“I’m keeping a lot of things up, baby girl.”
“No shit.”
She wasn’t sure how he’d react to that. She was guilty as hell when it came to deliberate goads of the man tonight, but her new confession was simply the truth. Thank God he discerned that, proving it by emitting his sexiest growl of the night. He ended the eruption by turning her around again, bringing her body flush with his once more, not wasting another moment to slam his mouth back down to hers.
Before their lips touched, Zoe caught a glimpse of his face. The glory of him flipped her heart all over again. The passion on his stunning features was defined by the gold hues of the hotel’s floodlights, sifting in through the curtains. With his prominent jaw and cheekbones cast into such dramatic relief, her imagination re-outfitted him from the business attire into a gladiator’s galerus.
It was her last cognizant thought for a while.
Forget nirvana. The man’s embrace took her straight to heaven. She moaned as he opened her wider, tangling their tongues, filling her mouth with his. Heat blasted her like desert wind as he ramped his assault on her lips, inviting her vital organs to join her heart’s acrobatic act.
A deep sigh vibrated her throat. She felt sixteen and breathless and new again. She was certain she blushed to her toes as he forced her jeans and panties down her legs, then simply hoisted her a few inches off her feet in order to kick off her boots himself. Her jeans followed within seconds, leaving her completely naked before him. Thank God for her Spanish and Greek heritage. Olive tints were awesome for hiding the pink of uncertainty.
After he set her back down, Shane relocked his stare with hers. The light from outside hit his irises directly now, turning the caramel silk into an amber glow that was almost intergalactic. With his chest pumping on hard breaths, he pressed her hands to the buttons on his shirt, silently ordering her to set them free. Inch by tantalizing inch, she released the fabric, exposing the naked breadth of his torso.
“Dios mio,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Maybe you are an alien.”
“What?”
She shoved the shirt farther back, then all the way off his torso. His pecs were like twin plates of steel, his abs twin ridges of defined perfection. A tattoo of swirling smoke covered his left shoulder and bicep, with a bold capital I wrapped in the middle. His right bicep was circled by a band of tribal-influenced chain. “You. You’re—” She bit her lip. “I’m a dancer. I’ve been around some beautiful men in my life. But this—you—” She stepped back, letting him laugh at her quivering cry. “You’re otherworldly.” The itch from the back of her mind pushed forward again, begging to be let out. “Either that or you secretly moonlight as a model.”
“Do I look like I model?” His gaze narrowed. “Answer that very carefully.”
She laughed. He didn’t. “Fine. You’re leaving me only one other option for a conclusion.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“Conditioning this excellent usually comes courtesy of the United States military, Mr. Burnett. Or is it Sergeant? Or Captain?”
She almost held her breath waiting for his answer. If he confirmed her contention, what would she do? She’d declared a freeze-out on military men onc
e, not a surprise to anyone considering the ordeals her sister had endured by falling for a string of jerks in uniform. That was before Ava found herself a soldier who obliterated those stains, then put a giant ring on it for good measure. After witnessing Ava’s happiness with Sergeant Ethan Archer, Zoe had reconsidered her stance, even giving it another go with Bryce. He’d been a proud member of the Las Vegas PD for a year at that point, collecting some department commendations and seeming like he’d gained enough distance from his US Marines days to accept a few imperfections in people—perhaps even his girlfriend.
Right.
How did that saying go? The definition of insanity: doing the same thing and expecting different results.
A second round with Bryce had been a giant bite of insanity.
Or maybe, as she’d desperately feared, all lifestyle Dominants were like that.
She’d been too scared to research the point beyond that, opting to keep her remaining D/s fantasies intact—until tonight, when Shane Burnett had stepped out of her dreams and into that airport bar. Now here she was, naked in his arms, perhaps more than physically—and the man’s features were an agonizing zero for clarification. His face barely changed beyond his vigil on her, which was too damn arousing for comfort. She squirmed a little, wondering why his scrutiny made her pussy clench instead of setting her nerves on high alert, until he swept his mouth down to hers in another consuming kiss.
Damn, could the man kiss.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t so important to dissect him this very second. Especially when the alternative was so delicious.
Their moans mingled as he intensified their embrace. Vaya, how his rich, spicy taste made her thirsty for more. How his dark, decadent scent surged her senses. How his big body was a muscled marvel against her. Over her.
He gave her more of it all when he grabbed both her wrists then redirected her hands over the muscles she’d just been craving. Zoe moaned as he guided her fingers up his taut stomach, over his massive chest then atop the shoulders that bunched, hard and mesmerizing, beneath her exploring fingers. Hesitantly at first but encouraged by his aroused hiss, Zoe let her lips follow along the same path.
