Silver Tongue (a PowerUp! story)

by Marie Harte

  “The one with the attitude.”

  “Yep.” Dane couldn’t help himself. The jarhead within took over. “Who the fuck are you?”

  The dark-eyed stranger didn’t seem to like his tone, and excitement lit Dane from the inside out. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in a fight with someone who might prove a challenge. The cowboy looked like he chewed up trees for fun. If anyone could match him, this guy could.

  But the man just stared at him, hard. He shook his head and narrowed his gaze, leaning closer.

  Dane scowled. “You going to stare me to death or what?”

  Jethro blinked and cocked his hat back. “Well, now. If that don’t beat all.”

  At that moment, a feminine hand wrapped around the cowboy’s huge bicep and yanked him back. Dane didn’t like the sight of her touching him. At all.

  “Damn it, Keegan. I do not need your interference.” Kitty then said over her shoulder, “And I don’t need you barging in either, James.”

  Another guy appeared, this one leaner, with model good looks.

  Dane’s sister had a point. Kitty seemed to attract men like bees to honey.

  “I thought we had work to do,” Dane reminded her, not liking how possessive he felt.

  “Go on, James. Try it.” Keegan nodded in Dane’s direction.

  Kitty’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare.”

  They all stood stock-still. Dane frowned, feeling that familiar buzz of energy licking over his body. And then nothing.

  “Shit.” James moved forward, switching places with Keegan in the doorway—still blocking Dane’s entry. “How are you doing that?”

  Dane’s patience had run out. He pushed past James and entered the house. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and I don’t want to know. You and you—out. Kitty and I are busy.”

  “About to get busy, I’d say,” Keegan muttered. Then Dane sensed energy again, an almost feminine tug of power that he’d swear came from Kitty.

  Keegan grimaced. “Christ. Okay, I’m leaving. Quit it.”

  “You look like you’re going to throw up,” James said with a big grin.

  “I feel very uncomfortable. Nauseous, even.” Keegan frowned at Kitty. “Thanks a lot.” Then he turned a menacing look at Dane. Impressive—and not friendly in the slightest. “You hurt her at all, you’ll pay. Fist to face.”

  “Whatever.” Dane brushed past him.

  “Did he just…?”

  “Blow you off? Yep. Now hold on—” James muttered something else Dane couldn’t make out.

  When Dane glanced over his shoulder, he saw James holding Keegan back. Barely. The guys amused him.

  He forced a sigh. “Can’t you two play somewhere else?”

  Kitty choked on a laugh but couldn’t quite hide her grin. “Yeah, Keegan. Go play footsie at home. I have a job to do. Just a job, and Dane’s going to help me do it. You and James are in charge at the gym. Please, please keep a tight rein on Ian, or Jack might fire me on principle for even thinking of leaving Ian unsupervised.”

  “Will do.” James nodded and shoved Keegan out the door. He narrowed his gaze on Dane. “But Conan, what he said. You screw with Kitty, I’ll set your whole house on fire.” With those ominous words, James and Keegan left.

  “Interesting friends you have there.” Dane dropped his duffel on the floor in the entryway and stared at Kitty with hungry eyes. Two days apart had been two days too many. Stupid to feel that way, but hell, he needed to get this fixation for the woman taken care of, and fast. He was sure time spent with her would aggravate him well enough. Karen was normally the only woman in his life he could bear. Then again, he loved his sister. But other women? He could only tolerate them for so long; then the neediness and eventual crying wore down his last nerve. For some reason, his girlfriends and lovers had always equated submission with weakness, and their inevitable clinginess grated. No doubt the reason he remained happily single.

  He raised a brow at her. “So were you really that scared of me you needed the barbarian and the pretty boy to warn me off?”

  She flushed that becoming red he just loved. “No. They arrived unannounced, worried about the investigation. I assured them I had it under control, and then you and your overloaded testosterone showed up.”

  He snorted. “You know, I’d think you’d be a lot nicer to me, considering you need my help. But it’s swearing and stomping and insults with you.” Dane stepped closer and stopped her when she would have backed away. To test her, he gripped her arm hard enough to mean business, but not enough to bruise. “Can’t you be nice, sweetness?”

  Her eyes widened, and her pupils dilated. Oh yeah, she liked a harder touch. Dane could all but smell her creaming. Man, he wanted a piece of her. Now.

  That hunger forced him to gain control of himself. He refused to let her go. “I’m here, and I have questions. Before we start fucking like rabbits”—he paused and ignored her outrage—“let’s talk about what’s really going down with you and this case.”

  She tugged at her arm, but he refused to let go. She muttered under her breath but let him hold her as they moved together into the kitchen.

  The entryway flowed into the open living and kitchen area. An island separated the kitchen from the living room, and he found the uncluttered counters and pristine sink very telling. Kitty liked order in her neat little world. And she needed someone to muss her up a bit. Someone like him.

  He walked with her to the island but didn’t sit. He pushed her onto a stool and let her go but remained close, forcing her to look up and acknowledge his power.

  He loved that she made a face at him. So bratty. She needed to be spanked. Hard.

  “Talk.”

  “Fuck you.”

  He leaned down but didn’t kiss her. Instead, his mouth hovered over hers, feeling her breath on his lips. He touched her lower lip with his tongue, then moved slowly back. Stroking her tense shoulders down to her arms, he eased her into relaxing until she nearly leaned into him.

  “That’s it. Now try again. Talk.”

  She snapped to attention, her cheeks red, her mouth pursed.

  “And know that if you backtalk me again, I’ll beat your ass until you can’t sit. I’m not kidding.”

  She swallowed hard, and the hint of fear in her dark blue gaze appeased him. “You’re right. We need to talk. I distinctly remember telling you I’m not into pain.”

  He nodded. “There’s pain, and there’s pain. You need discipline. A bruised ass from the spanking you’ve more than earned isn’t pain, Kitty. I’ll never make you bleed, and I won’t break any bones. But there’s a whole lot of territory to cover in between painful pleasure and abuse. You’re bitchy and defiant. Just my type.”

  “Great. I feel so much better now.” She took a few deep breaths, and he waited to see her try to reassert herself.

  “Look, Dane. Just because you’re bigger than I am doesn’t mean you’re in charge.” There she goes. “We have to set some ground rules.”

  “Well?”

  “I realize you think you hold all the cards because you blackmailed me into this. But I’m in charge. You follow my orders, or you can stay here in Bend buried elbows to ass in clay. You got me?”

  Sassy. “Sure thing, kitten.”

  “And quit with the pet names.”

  “Yes, Katherine.”

  She clenched her jaw. “Kitty or Miss Nelson. That’s it.”

  “You can call me Dane. Or Master. Sir works too.”

  She groaned. “God, you are going to annoy the crap out of me.” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly while he laughed. Then she stared at him with that weird look she’d shot him a time or two before. A heavy weight seemed to settle over the room, and his skin prickled.

  “Explain that.”

  She scowled at him. “You are so… Okay, you asked. I’ll tell you. The truth,” she said before he could remind her. “I read your file, so I know you’ve worked with a lot of classified i
ntel during your time in the service.”

  Her verbiage alone would have told him the woman had spent time among government types.

  “I worked for the PWP a few years ago,” she confessed.

  That sounded familiar.

  “The PWP—Psychic Warfare Program,” she explained. “It disbanded over a year ago due to funding issues.”

  “And abuse of power, if I recall.” He watched her with interest. “The PWP was full of psychic warriors, right? Bizarro, but real. So, Miss Kitty, what can you do? Anything supersexual?” He wiggled his brows, pleased when she laughed.

  “You don’t seem like you’re going to have a problem accepting this.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve worked with my share of different. You have to keep an open mind to succeed around the darker variety of life. When the shit hits the fan, I find it’s best to know as much as I can about everything.”

  “I’m an empath.” She watched him closely. “I can sense others’ emotions, and I can manipulate them to a degree.”

  He pondered that, easily accepted it, and came to a bad conclusion. “Shit. So you did force my sister to go with that loser. I knew it.”

  “Oh my God. Like a dog with a bone. No. I did not force your sister to fall in love with Doug McKay.” She rolled her eyes. “I tell you I’m an empath, and the first thing you can think of is your stupid ranch?”

  “If you can really sense emotion, what am I feeling now?”

  She gave him a disgruntled look. “I wish I knew. Other than aroused, which I can tell from that iron rod in your pants, I can’t read you.”

  He liked the fact she’d noticed his erection, even if he wished he didn’t constantly have one for her. “Why can’t you read me?”

  “I don’t know, but there’s something about you that’s different. We’ve all sensed it.”

  “We? You mean you and your buddies that were just here?”

  “Keegan, the big guy, is a telekinetic. He couldn’t move you with his mind. And James is a pyrokinetic. So when he threatened to set your house on fire, he’s not talking about using matches. He can literally set and control fire.”

  “No shit.”

  “No shit.” She smirked. “So don’t think about screwing with me.”

  “Honey, I’ve been thinking about screwing with you since I first laid eyes on you.” He smirked back.

  She swallowed hard. “Anyway.” She coughed. “The ground rules. I’m in charge. This is a PowerUp! investigation, and believe it or not, I’m good at this. I used to do this officially for the government before everything ended. You’re the muscle, I’m the brains.”

  “I can live with that.” Unless the fool woman put herself in danger, and then he was stepping in. But they’d cross that when they came to it. “Okay. You said your piece. Now it’s my turn.”

  She tensed.

  He fingered her rosy cheeks. “You’re calling the shots on the mission. Okay. But in the bedroom, I’m in control. Period. What I say goes. This isn’t a typical D/s relationship. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about, so don’t pretend the thought of subbing for me isn’t turning you on right now. You know the language, the rules, the trust that should be there, because you know the lifestyle. Not saying you live it, but you know it, don’t you?”

  She stayed quiet for so long he didn’t think she’d answer. But before he could take her over his knee, she nodded.

  “Kitty, I’m real. I master. That’s me. And you can say what you want, but I sensed it in you that first time I saw you. You’re a natural submissive. I have an instinct about these things.”

  “You don’t know anything about me.”

  “You wouldn’t think so. I mean, we just met. I came over your breasts, and you’ve jerked me off. But that’s about it.”

  “You’re so crude.” She frowned.

  He gripped her chin and angled her face up so that she stared right into his eyes. “I’m anything I fucking want to be. And you’re mine. You’ll get scared, and you’ll want to quit this. But you agreed. I’m a man of my word. You do what I say, I’ll get you The Little Death.” He smirked. “In more ways than one.”

  She shook her head free of his fingers, her face pale. “You just need to get me close to the statue. I’ll do the rest.”

  “You don’t know me yet, but you will,” he continued, now caressing where he’d gripped her chin. “We’ll build trust. But you won’t get a chance to deny me.”

  “No safe word? Yeah, that’s building trust,” she scoffed. “That’s insane.”

  “Look at me.” He waited until she stopped trying to avoid his touch. “Anytime you can’t take it anymore, you say Katherine, and I’ll know you want to quit. I’ll stop whatever I’m doing to you. And we’ll be done. I’ll go home, and you can find your missing art on your own.”

  “B-but you can’t. That’s not right. You promised to help me.”

  “And you promised to obey. Now what’s it going to be?” He saw her fear, more than he wanted to instill, and he sought to soothe what he’d churned up. “Kitty, I swear I won’t harm you. Before this is through, you’ll feel so much pleasure, you won’t want me to go.” He kissed her softly on the lips. “In fact, I bet you’ll be begging me to stay as your master.”

  “Dream on.” Her anxiety seemed to ease.

  “Remember, you’re the one with violent tendencies. You threatened to kick my ass. I’m just promising to fuck yours.”

  She grimaced. “I hate that.”

  He grinned. “You won’t when I take you.” He leaned closer and whispered, “I brought my bag of tricks. I’m going to stuff you, pretty Kitty. And you can play Amazon for me while I cram you full of cock. You’ll come so hard, because you need a bit of force to climax, don’t you?”

  He felt her answer in the trembling she tried to hide.

  “It’s okay, Kitty. Master is here to help.”

  She tried to glare but couldn’t hide her arousal. “Master?”

  “Try it on for size. I dare you.”

  Chapter Six

  Kitty bit her lip, wanting badly to take his lead but unsure how far to follow him.

  “Come on, baby. Feel me.” He picked up her limp hand and held it over his racing heart.

  Good to know I’m not the only one affected. She gazed into his dark eyes, caught in the knowledge that somehow, this man who didn’t seem to like her understood her. Though she still couldn’t feel any psychic energy from him, there was something more to Dane than an ex-special forces guy who happened to be a brilliant sculptor on the side.

  She blew out a breath, conscious of the heat of his chest under her palm. “You mess with me, and I’ll—”

  “I know, I know. You’ll kill me. Your buddies will kill me. Ian will eat me for lunch.”

  “And dinner and dessert,” she had to add. “He’s gay, you know.”

  “Yeah, I got that when he kept staring at my package.”

  She laughed.

  “There we go. That’s not so hard, is it?”

  He seemed to take up all the space around her. She couldn’t breathe without smelling his aftershave. And man, he smelled good.

  “So Kitty, what’s it going to be?”

  He stroked her neck, and his hand on her vulnerable throat pressed all her buttons. She swallowed hard. “I guess I can agree to do what you want. So long as you don’t hurt me.”

  “Oh, I’m gonna hurt you.” He squeezed her neck, tight enough to show her who was boss, but not enough to bruise. “You’ll be coming so hard on my cock, it’ll feel like hell and heaven at the same time.”

  On any other guy, that line wouldn’t work. But Dane sounded more like a man promising than bragging. “Well, Master. You going to prove it or what?”

  He grinned, but the smile looked more mean than sexy. So freaking hot.

  “Stand up, sub.”

  “Yes, Master.” She tried to put a little sneer in there, but being called a sub by the hottest guy on two legs had an adverse effect on her
aggression. She wanted to kneel and bow at his feet. And how the hell did he know that about her?

  “Oh yeah, that’s nice.” He pulled up on her throat, and she stood. “Turn around.”

  She turned, nervous that he stood so close behind her. She could feel his front pressed against her, his hips moving against her ass. He pushed her down so that she rested her forehead on the island’s granite counter.

  “Put your hands flat on the counter on either side of your head.” He tugged at her jeans and pulled them down. Then her panties joined them. Her ass felt cold, more so against the contrast of his hot hand.

  “So firm. You have a really tight ass.” He sighed. She felt him moving behind her, not surprised when something hot nudged between her legs. “I wanted to wait. But fuck it. Why bother now? Get ready, sub. Here I come.”

  He pushed his broad head between her folds, and though she was excited, his fit wasn’t easy. So thick he had to work his way into her, her position and jeans around her thighs restricting movement.

  “That’s it. Keep still.” He held her down with the flat of his hand against her lower back, over her shirt. And then he rammed himself home, and she gasped at the intrusion. “That is one tight cunt.” He groaned as he pumped. “Tell me how it feels.”

  “You’re too big.”

  “Master. Too big, Master,” he corrected with a swat on her ass.

  “Too big, Master,” she repeated and squirmed, hoping for some relief from his bruising thrusts. Because the hell of it was she sat perilously close to coming.

  “You’re so tight, so hot. And I’ll bet that little clit is rock hard, because you’re so slick. I’m gliding in and out of you, like a warm bath all around me.”

  Dane had sex talk down to an art.

  She bit her lip as he changed his angle and startled a gasp out of her.

  “That’s it. Why don’t you come around me, sub? Make Master happy and cream all over his cock.” He shoved harder and reached around her to pinch her clit.

  She seized in a powerful climax. She couldn’t help crying out as she came, and then Dane slammed inside her once more and moaned as he climaxed. Knowing she’d brought him equal measures of bliss gave her a warm, heady feeling.