Tempered by Her

by Lynn Burke

  “Hey, gorgeous,” I said, my gaze traveling down the little black number hugging her curves and stopping mid-thigh. “Nice dress.”

  She glanced up, but didn’t clutch her opened coat or purse tight like usual. “Is it too much? Jenny insisted I wear it.”

  “It’s perfect.” I stepped back and let her inside. I slid the deadbolt, locking us in for the evening—or however long I could convince her to stay.

  “Something smells amazing.”

  “Scallops in a white wine and butter sauce,” I said, taking the purse from her grasp. A swipe of my hand pushed her flowing hair aside, and I stepped in to brush my lips across the soft curve of her neck. Her skin shivered beneath my touch.

  “You can cook?”

  “Yes.” I nuzzled beneath her ear while slipping the coat off her shoulders. “Surprised?”

  “I shouldn’t be.” Her head tipped to the side, allowing me better access to her berry-scented skin. “You keep proving my assumptions wrong.”

  “I’m a regular Michael Chiarello.”

  She laughed and stepped away from me. “A Food Network fan? Now that I never would have guessed.”

  “Second only to NESN.” I laid her coat and purse across the couch’s back and motioned her toward my gourmet kitchen. Her black heels clicked on the hardwood flooring, drawing my gaze downward.

  “I see you have his cookbooks.”

  I tore my attention from her round ass to find Raquel gazing at the open shelving above my stainless fridge. “Ina, Batali, and of course Giada.”

  Grinning, I pulled out a chair for her. “Of course.”

  A candle flickered atop the table, and I’d set two settings beside each other rather than at the table’s ends.

  “Do you entertain much?” she asked, settling into the chair and eyeing the precise placement of the flatware and glassware.

  “No, but my grandma made sure I could take care of myself in the kitchen.”

  “Grandma?”

  “Yeah.” I slid the skillet of scallops out of the oven with a mitt and plated them with the orzo and green beans I’d sautéed. “She lived with us until her death in ’07.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It was a tough loss, but she lived a full life, one filled with joy, family, and good food every night.” A pinch of chopped parsley topped the main course off, and I set the plates on the table.

  “Wow. Grandma taught you well,” Raquel said, eyeing our dinner.

  I grinned and grabbed the chilled salad plates with their sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella from the fridge along with the rest of the White Bordeaux I’d used for the wine sauce. Once seated and filled wine glass in hand, I breathed deep, trying to imprint my mind with a memory of what I hoped would be the first of many meals at my table.

  “To you, my gorgeous angel.”

  Raquel’s eyes widened at my word usage, but I wasn’t going to pussy-foot around. I’d already decided she was mine. It was just a matter of getting a collar around her neck—and a rock on her left hand.

  Our glasses clinked as though signaling their agreement with my thoughts, and we both sipped.

  “Better than the red at Valentino’s?” I asked.

  “Much.” She smiled and placed her napkin on her lap.

  I tried not to think about what lay beneath the fabric, but the thought she hadn’t worn panties like I’d told her twitched my cock. A quick jerk-off minutes before she’d arrived gave me a short time of control over him.

  “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” I asked, cutting a scallop in two and trying like hell to cut off my sex drive for a little while.

  Nervous laughter accompanied her sip of wine.

  “What?” I grinned. “Didn’t think I’d be much of a conversationalist tonight?”

  “I … I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

  “You thought I’d tie you up the second you walked through the door?”

  Red infused her cheeks, and she turned her attention to her plate. “The thought had crossed my mind, yes.”

  “Were you hoping I would?”

  A shrug lifted her shoulders as she took a bite of the seafood. Eyes closing, she let out a moan, causing my cock to twitch again.

  “Was that moan for the food or the idea of being restrained by my ropes?”

  She smiled and glanced up at me through her lashes. “Both.”

  Stiffening to his potential, my cock obviously liked her answer. “Christ, woman, you’ll be the death of me.”

  Giggling, she took another bite, and I struggled not to stare at her moistened lips as she chewed.

  “You are the sexiest, sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  She offered another smile.

  “Don’t believe me?” I asked, half a scallop still speared by my fork and resting on the plate.

  “You’re full of compliments all the time, and I’m sure I’m not the first to receive them.”

  “I’ve never told anyone that last one, and I meant when I said you were my angel.”

  She stared at me as silence settled.

  “You’re pure, kind, compassionate … like I said before, you’re perfect.”

  A deep inhale lifted her chest. “And you’re a naughty, horny, confident and cocky Dom. In my mind that’s almost perfection.”

  I slumped back in my chair at a loss for words.

  She continued to peer at me, food seemingly forgotten. “Now if I could believe you’d be a faithful one, well…” Her voice wavered. “That would be perfection indeed.”

  Fuck dinner.

  Adrenaline rushed, and I pushed my plate aside to lean forward onto the table. Time to find out what she wanted, what she intended, and what she expected our night together would hold. “What do you want out of life?”

  Her brow furrowed for half a second as she took in my ignored dinner. “What I think everyone does—to find a soulmate.”

  “You believe such a thing exists?”

  “I believe there are hundreds of men out there I could make a good life with, but only one who will fulfill my heart, mind, and soul. Someone willing to know me, to understand and genuinely want what’s best for me even when I don’t know myself.”

  Damn butterflies took off in my stomach again, but I plowed on. “Tell me why you’re here, gorgeous.”

  She dabbed her lips with her napkin, gaze on her plate. “I’m tired of living a lie.”

  “Lie?”

  “My whole life, I’ve striven to be what my parents wanted, to be like my sisters, but that’s not who I am.” She peered up at me, unsmiling, a crease lining her brow. “Or what I want.”

  “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  Goddamn. I groaned and sat back as my cock pressed against the fly of my jeans. “I’ve been dying to hear the truth from those lips, but I’m not going any further without a promise from you.”

  The pulse in her neck jumped like mad, but she nodded.

  “No regrets, Raquel.”

  “It’s my life.” Her voice shook along with her head. “I’m tired of waiting to experience everything I’ve read about—dreamed about doing with you. I want you to show me everything. Passion unleashed. A mind-blowing orgasm beyond what my fingers can give.”

  ‘Nuff fuckin’ said.

  I stood without a word and held out my hand.

  She glanced down at the uneaten food on our plates.

  “Take my hand, gorgeous.”

  Her trembling fingers touched my palm, and I grasped tight, pulling her to her feet. She wavered, and I slipped my arm around her waist to hold her steady.

  For the first time in my life, I wanted to do the sweet, cuddly sex thing. Sink into her wet heat and make love to her until she shattered around me, cinching our souls tight in an unbreakable bond. But, that’s not what she’d come over for.

  “What’s your safe word?”

  “R-red,” she whispered, gaze locked on my face.

  “Do you trust me?”

&nb
sp; “Yes, Sir.”

  I slid my hand down to cup her neck, empowered by the pulse thrumming against my palm. “I won’t hurt you.”

  Unease slid across her face, and she glanced away.

  “Look at me.” I forced her chin up. “I’ll give you exactly what you need, my angel.”

  She cleared her throat as a shudder rippled down her body.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “N-nothing.”

  “Tell me.”

  She wet her top lip with the tip of her tongue. “Do you call all your subs ‘my angel?’”

  “I’ve never called anyone mine before. Ever.”

  Her lower lip trembled and wetness coated her eyes.

  Fuck.

  No way in hell I could tie her up and lash her pink with my favorite flogger. That time would come, but she needed assurance of what I wanted. What I intended for our future—before I got all kinky on her ass.

  I cradled her face in my hands and brushed my lips across hers. Goddamn, she tasted so fuckin’ good, I wanted to sink into her. Suck in her breath, drown in her soul. Thunder boomed in my ears, and I pulled her flush against me, letting her feel exactly how much I wanted her.

  Time for two souls to connect—or so I begged Mother Mary to make happen. Time to brand Raquel without pain, only pleasure. Time to make her mine forever.

  Chapter Twelve

  That air of confidence and power oozing from Zane’s gaze dissolved a second before he leaned down to kiss me. But the passion in his kiss, the hunger of his mouth was a thousand times headier than anything I’d ever experienced.

  I desired to fall to my knees, do whatever he commanded. Please him until he lost control, fighting back my own needs, but Good Lord … his kiss slayed the anxiety and fear that he only wanted me to warm his bed for a night or two.

  He’d called me his angel, and without doubt, he meant it.

  Glory hallelujah, Jenny was right.

  All other thought fled as he swung me up into his arms, lips searing a line down my neck. “I’m going to leave my marks across your flushed skin, but not tonight, my angel.” He whispered the words against my skin. “Tonight there is only room for pleasure.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and kicked off my heels as he walked toward the open door of his bedroom.

  Jitters plagued my muscles, and I struggled to calm myself.

  Zane lowered me to my feet at the foot of his bed and picked up a length of blue silk off the coverlet. “Turn around.”

  I did as told, my shaking knees knocking against the footboard.

  He removed my glasses with a gentle touch and tied my blindfold in place. “I want you to feel, my angel. Nothing else.”

  Warm fingertips brushed against my neck, pushing my hair over my shoulder. The zipper on the back of my dress lowered, the slow clinking of tiny metal teeth loud in the stillness of my darkened world.

  He pushed the straps off my shoulders, and the material pooled around my feet.

  A shiver slid over my skin, pebbling my body in a thousand goosebumps. Naked as a newborn baby, I stood unmoving. Waiting. The apex of my thighs throbbing and embarrassingly wet.

  “Turn around.”

  The sound of his unsteady voice, full of restrained desire, melted my bones, but I did as told without slumping to the floor.

  His hands grasped my shoulders, sitting me on the bed. “Lay back and let me feast my eyes on you, my angel.”

  I wanted to be all sexy, slide over his coverlet like a little vixen, temptation he couldn’t resist, but the shaking of my muscles made for one stinkin’ awkward scooting across his bed.

  “Spread your legs. I want to see how wet you are.”

  Heat erupted within my skin, flushing my body. I did as told.

  “You are so fuckin’ gorgeous, Raquel. I wish you could see yourself, all sprawled out and trembling for me.”

  Clothing rustled, and I wanted to rip off my blindfold to see him. I grasped at the cover beneath me, needing to touch him, but waiting to be told I could.

  The mattress dipped near my feet, and awareness of his presence crept up across me, until the heat of his body and the scent of wintergreen caressed my entire length.

  My breaths escaped in pants.

  “You have permission to touch me,” he said before capturing my lips and lowering himself flush against me.

  Good God Almighty, my body melted. I relaxed as his mouth and tongue swept all thought from my mind. He nibbled, sucked, and stroked every inch of my lips. My tongue.

  I fisted my hands in his hair, hanging on for dear life, wanting to capture every shift of his skin against mine, the muscles of his chest pressing against me. One of my legs wrapped around the back of his knee involuntarily, and he grasped my thigh, lifting my leg higher to his waist.

  “Fuckin’ A.” He backed off, but didn’t release me. “I want to make this good for you, my angel, but you tempt my self-control.”

  “No more waiting. Please,” I begged, trying to tug him back to my mouth.

  “Wait.”

  I released my hold, and he half-rolled off me, muscles flexing, rippling along my length. A second later, he settled between my legs. Something ripped, and realization of what he did entered my mind.

  “No,” I whispered.

  All movement ceased. “No, what?”

  I tried to swallow my sudden nervousness, but failed. “Are you…” I cleared my throat. “Are you clean?”

  “Yes. I have to get tested every month to remain a member at Chantelle’s.”

  “I don’t want anything between us.” The words left me in a rush as heat flooded my face. “I went on the pill a few months ago without my parent’s knowledge, just in case.”

  “Just in case what?” His voice betrayed his smile.

  “In case you proved to be too much a temptation.”

  “You naughty little girl.”

  He had no idea, but I expected he’d find out before long just how sinful of a mind I had.

  A fingertip trailed up through my wetness, and my body jumped as he flicked my clit.

  “G-Good God.”

  He groaned, his warm breath caressing across my lower stomach. His tongue replaced his fingertip, and I wrapped my legs around him, tugging him closer. My hands found his hair and latched on as he licked, suckled, and nibbled on my tender, throbbing flesh.

  A fingertip slid down through my wetness and pressed inward. My hips lifted in welcome, and I rose to meet every gentle forward glide of his hand.

  “Please, Zane.” The words left my lips as a panted plea.

  “You want to come?”

  “God, yes.”

  “You have my permission.”

  A second finger pressed into me, stretching me as his tongue attacked my clit with rapid flicks.

  Starbursts exploded behind the darkness of my blindfold, and I held on tight as shudders of exquisite pleasure burst through me. I bit my lip to keep from screaming, but Zane slid up my body and claimed my mouth, swallowing my cries, my moans of release.

  Tingles of warmth still swept through me when my muscles went slack and he slipped my blindfold off. “Look at me.”

  I blinked in the bright light, my gaze settling on his blue eyes—eyes filled with so much more than lust. He shifted his hips, his hardness nudging between my thighs.

  I tensed, and he stilled. “I’ll make it good for you,” he said, the strain in his voice letting me know how much he wanted to please me without pain.

  I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms about his neck. “I know you will,” I whispered, drawing him down.

  His lips swept across mine as he pressed forward into me. I didn’t think he’d ever fit, but inch by inch, I took him in with only a slight burn, a sting that disappeared the second his pelvis bumped against mine.

  Instead of feeling violated and filled with a foreign invasion as my mother had spoken of, I felt filled in the most glorious way. Like two souls in unity. Two spirits twining aro
und each other and erasing all space between them.

  “You all right?” he asked, his voice breaking. Sweat coated his brow. His jaw clenched.

  I cupped his cheek in my hand and smiled. “Never been better.”

  “Thank Christ,” he said on an exhaled rush of breath.

  He pulled out, his entire length caressing my inner walls in what I could only think of as pure bliss.

  “Oh,” I whispered, my eyes widening as desire swept through me.

  His cocky grin appeared. “Like that, do you?”

  I tightened my legs to bring him back, and he complied, sliding in to the hilt again. “Oh, yes.”

  Zane grasped my wrists and pushed my arms overhead, holding them in place. “You are so fucking tight. So wet. So fucking hot. Christ.” He crushed his mouth against mine and rocked into me again, hitting my clit with his pelvic bone.

  The raw power of his body atop mine flooded me with need. With every slow glide into me, I groaned against his lips, tugged against his hold on my hands.

  “H-harder,” I managed the second he let me breathe.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Please, Zane.” I sounded like a whiny little girl, but he didn’t seem to think so. He thrust into me so hard, I slid across his bed a few inches.

  “Fuck,” he growled, pulled back, and thrust again.

  I panted my agreement, my eyelids fluttering shut against the overwhelming feelings—emotions coursing through my body and mind. I wanted more. Needed more.

  As though hearing my silent pleas, Zane released my arms and reached between us. I grasped at his hair and moaned as he swirled a finger around my swollen clit while filling me completely. “Look at me, my angel.”

  I forced my eyelids open and reveled in the love pouring from Zane’s eyes. “Come for me.” He pulled out and slid in, pinching my clit and sending my nerve ending soaring.

  “Fuck, Zane.” The words slid past my lips on their own as wave after wave of the strongest orgasm I’d ever experienced rolled over me.

  His control slipped, and I gloried in my power as Zane growled my name and buried his face in my neck, his hips grinding into me, rolling and bumping in erratic movement.