by Lexi Blake
He frowned. He knew what she wanted. He just didn’t know if he should give them to her, didn’t know if it was right. “Penelope, I’m not sure that I believe them. I want you. I care for you. I need you.”
“You don’t have to believe them. I believe them. Damon, I can love enough for both of us. Say them. Say them for me. Say them because I need to hear them.”
When she put it like that, he couldn’t refuse. “I love you, Penelope.”
“I love you, my Master.” The tears shining in her eyes were worth the little lie.
If it was a lie. Maybe he just didn’t understand. She’d said she spoke his language. He should try to speak hers. “I love you. I love you.”
Maybe, if he said it enough, he would believe it. Maybe he would believe he was capable of more than fighting and killing, that he was capable of nurturing her, of giving her a home she could be happy in.
Maybe if he said it enough, he would believe he could give her a family.
He couldn’t hold back a moment longer. She’d been a good girl. She’d held the plug through everything. She’d been steadfast.
“Turn over for me.” He helped her turn over, getting her to her hands and knees.
“Oh, god, Master. The chain.”
It was pulling on her, forcing her to focus on her nipples and her clit. “Tell me if it hurts.”
Her back moved with a chuckle. “It hurts. It aches. I need more.”
She was perfect for him. And he would give her so much more. He reached for the lube, finally able to give his dick some small relief. He lubed up his hand and stroked himself, preparing for her. He gently pulled out the plug, watching her hole struggling to keep it now. He brought it out by the base and placed it on the stand, his whole being focused on making this good for her.
He needed to take her every way he could, to push past any barriers that were still between them. He wanted to bind her to him in every way a man could bind a woman.
With a long sigh, he pressed the head of his cock against her sweetly puckered hole. She moaned as he rimmed her with his dick.
“Open for me. I won’t let you keep me out. Press back against me. Take me inside, Penelope.” Heat was already coursing through his system. The pressure was building and he wasn’t inside her yet.
Penelope straightened her back, her arse moving toward him.
He slipped inside, just a bit, but he wouldn’t give up his territory. With ruthless intent, he gripped her hips and began to impale her on his cock, the tight hole fighting him all the way.
He fucked his way inside, her muscles already threatening to milk his dick.
She clenched around him. Pleasure raced along his skin. Little thrusts. He kept them tight, giving her time to adjust to his size. His whole consciousness faded to the point where only their connection mattered. His whole world was Penelope and the pleasure they shared.
“Master. I can’t. You’re too big.”
He reached down and jingled the chain and she cried out again. He slid home. “You can handle me.”
Her head fell forward. “You’re killing me. I’m so full. I can’t breathe. I can’t even think.”
Because he was stimulating her everywhere. He pulled the chain gently, toying with her clit. Penelope responded with a low moan, clenching around him. “I don’t want you to think. I want you to feel. Feel me.”
“I can’t feel anything else. Oh, god, Master. Please move. You have to move. If you would just move I think…”
She could breathe? Oh, he was going to show her. He dragged his cock slowly back out.
“Oh, my god.” Her whole spine straightened, her body moving back toward him, trying to get his dick back, fighting for the sensation. “It feels so good.”
That was what he wanted to hear. He pulled out so just the tip of his cock remained within the tight ring of her muscles. He stroked her back, soothing her as he tilted his pelvis up and fucked his way back in.
He gave over to the pleasure, moving in and out of her, letting the world fall away because nothing else mattered. He lost himself in her, giving and receiving pleasure because she was his.
He finally understood that meant he was hers. He belonged to Penelope Cash and that was a good thing. Before her, the power exchange had been a mere transfer of responsibilities. It was a contract that could be easily broken.
He could never break with her. He could never be complete without her.
Damon felt her body shake with her orgasm. She called out his name over and over. Damon. Not Master. He wouldn’t punish her because in that moment he was hers. Her Damon. He’d hidden behind Master because he understood the role in a way he’d never understood himself.
Now he realized he liked being Penny’s Damon. He wasn’t exactly sure who that man was, but he intended to find out.
The minute she relaxed beneath him, he let go. His balls drew up, come exploding from him in a hot wash of joy and pleasure and connection unlike anything he’d felt before. He pumped into her until he had nothing left to give.
Peace settled on him as he moved out of her, drawing her to her side as he fell to the bed. He settled her on her back, admiring the way her skin flushed and her breasts moved with the force of her breaths.
He hated to do it, wanted to see the marks of his possession on her always, but he couldn’t leave them there.
He slipped the first clamp off, delighting in her squeal and the way she squirmed as he eased the pain with his tongue and lips. He moved to her other nipple, and she didn’t fight him at all. Her hands found his hair, holding him to her breast.
“I love you, Master.”
He looked up at her. “Damon.”
A soft smile spread on her lips. Her hands smoothed his hair back. “I love you, Damon.”
“I love you, Penelope.” The words came easier.
He rather thought that had been her point in making him say them. He chuckled as he kissed his way down the chain.
* * * *
Two days later, Penny sat in the suite Damon had rented for her and the rest of the team in Berlin. She wished she could spend time enjoying the city, but it looked like this would be a very short trip. After a three-hour train ride from the cruise terminal, Damon still wasn’t done going over and over all the logistics with the afternoon’s operation. Penny gave her Master her surest smile. He was so nervous. It made him a bit crabby with everyone.
“Do you understand what I’ll do if anyone deviates from the plan?” Damon asked, looking sternly at the man and women assigned to keep her company.
Damon had told her it was so she wouldn’t be lonely, but she rather thought he was leaving them behind as bodyguards.
“Yeah, yeah, you’ll murder me in cold blood,” Simon Weston said, rolling his eyes. He turned to Ian Taggart. “Why am I babysitting the women?”
“Because Jake let the girls run wild last time,” Taggart announced.
“Hey, I could stay behind. I’m good at watching a couple of pretty ladies.” Brody Carter looked a bit more cheerful without his hands cuffed behind his back and his mouth ball gag free.
The Aussie had proven perfectly charming once he realized they weren’t the enemy. They had been careful to keep him in one of the cabins and out of the sight of the ship’s many cameras just in case. He seemed to spend all of his time either eating massive quantities of food or working out. She had to admit she and Charlotte had spent a nice afternoon watching him do one-armed pushups. He was a lovely man.
But she would never let her Master know it. He was a tad possessive.
“I believe you’re required at today’s mission. I think Mr. Bennett would be a tad surprised if you didn’t show up,” Penelope said. She put a hand on Damon’s shoulder. She’d discovered she could calm him down by touching him.
She’d had to do a lot of calming during their days at sea. When he wasn’t on top of her, he was pretty much coming up with all the ways the mission could go wrong and she could die. She’d had to promise to sta
y at the hotel in Berlin. Then he and Taggart had decided that Charlotte should stay with her.
Now she and Charlotte needed a bodyguard and they’d decided Jake was too indulgent.
“I’m merely saying I could be more helpful in the field,” Simon said with a frown. “Charlotte can handle this. For that matter, Penny is quite smart. I think she can bloody well lock her door and stay in her room.”
Ian frowned his wife’s way. “Leaving Charlotte in charge is a very bad idea. She could blow up the hotel while we’re gone.”
Charlotte smiled. “I would yell at him but he’s right. I can’t help it. It’s fun to cause trouble.”
“And he’s not watching me.” Chelsea shot Damon a grumpy look. She was nearly lost behind a mountain of computer equipment she was hooking up. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“I’ll make sure Simon knows he can let you die,” Taggart said.
Chelsea sent him her middle finger. “When I hack into the CCTVs, if I see you being horribly murdered on one, I’m just going to watch, asshole.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You two make my life complete.”
God, she hoped her brother and sister got on with Damon. “I really would be all right here with Chelsea. I can help her monitor the CCTVs. I promise I won’t try anything crazy.”
Candice looked up from her computer. “I would feel better if we had a man with us.”
Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Why isn’t she at the airport?”
“Because Walt wanted to talk to her,” Brody replied. “And I don’t like the thought of her being on her own, what with that boyfriend of hers up and leaving like he did. She cried all day when she found out he left the boat in Helsinki. We have to protect her. That bastard in Finland knows what she looks like.”
Candice smiled the Aussie’s way. “At least there are some real gentlemen left. Like I said, I would actually feel better with two guards. I think you’re going to scare Walter off if he sees too many of you.”
“He won’t realize we’re not tourists. Now if you’re all done complaining about the plan, let’s go over it again,” Damon said.
The room groaned collectively.
“I just think it’s a little sexist,” Charlotte said. “You’re leaving the women behind. What if Walter Bennett would feel better talking to a woman? We’re far less threatening.”
“And far more unpredictable,” Ian said. “No. You stay, Charlie. After that shit you pulled with the van last time, it’s going to be a while before I let you go into the field alone again.”
Charlotte stood up. “We wouldn’t have Brody if I hadn’t pulled that shit with the van.”
The Taggarts squared off. “We damn near lost Damon because of it. And you and Penny are staying behind because Damon and I can’t think about a goddamn thing but our women when you’re in danger.”
Charlotte softened. “Oh, sweetie. See, you can learn.” She went on her toes and kissed her husband. “Fine. Penny, Candice, and I will get in-room massages. I didn’t even get to go to the spa on the boat. Oh, and let’s order room service. SIS is paying, right?”
Penny needed to calm her Dom down. She put a hand in his and nodded to Charlotte. “Why don’t you go ahead and call for tea? Simon takes his with milk and sugar. The least we can do is properly feed our poor guard. I’m going to say good-bye to this one.”
The men had to leave in fifteen minutes. She didn’t like the thought of Damon out there, but she had to get used to it. He wasn’t going to stop working anytime soon. She would spend every day they were apart worried that he wouldn’t come home, but she was determined to not waste the time they did have.
She led him back to the bedroom. He was dressed in khakis and a polo, ready to blend in with the rest of the tourists who would throng around Berlin’s sights. “Calm down.”
He stopped, staring down at her. “Is that any way to talk to your Master?”
Oh, he was on edge. She gave him her big sub eyes and bit her bottom lip. She’d noticed it seemed to do something for him. He’d kept her in bed for almost two days. She’d learned a lot about how to distract him from his troubles. “I’m sorry, Master.”
He sighed, his head shaking ruefully. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
She hated that word. She wrapped her arms around him, praying she didn’t have to hear the word “death” for a long while. “You’ll be careful?”
His heart beat against her ear. The steady sound had become her whole world. His hand soothed down her back. “I think it’s going to be all right, love. Carter is sure he can talk Walter into coming in. He called Candice because he got it in his head that they couldn’t touch him if he went public. We’re going to convince him there’s another way. He can talk to the press without giving away the information.”
“I just want you back safe.”
He tilted her head up. “I will be back before you can finish your tea. And dear god, don’t let Charlotte bankrupt me. I don’t think Nigel will let me expense personal masseuses.”
A long moment passed between them.
“I love you, Penelope.” He said it without prompting now. She’d read somewhere that it took a human being about eight times to memorize something, to commit it to memory. Damon seemed to be well on his way.
“I love you, too.” It was so easy now. He’d been tentative at first. His face would tighten every time she said it, ask her to say it again. Now he often said the words first.
He was educable, her Dom.
There was a knock on the door and Taggart’s voice came through. “Damon, we need to go.”
His eyes closed briefly and he put his forehead to hers. “I won’t be long. In a couple of hours this is all over, and we’ll get on a plane for London tonight. We’ll be back in The Garden before you know it. You’re living with me now, you know.”
She smiled. He couldn’t help but be a bit bossy. “Well, I better because I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
His arms tightened. “Your place is with me.”
She nodded. Her place was with him for as long as they had. She didn’t mention that if he kept it up, she might be a widow before her time.
Her arms wound around him. She wouldn’t think that way.
He kissed her again and then he was gone, walking out the door with Brody Carter, Taggart, Jake, and Jesse. He would stay close to the Aussie. The others would be in the area, staking the place out.
And she was going to spend the entire afternoon worrying.
There was nothing for it. This was the way her life would be from now on. She would kiss him and send him off and pray he came home to her. Women had been doing it from the beginning of humanity. They sent their warriors off with a heavy heart. Unfortunately, her warrior had a damaged one, but that wasn’t a fight she could win.
She stood by the window overlooking the magnificent Brandenburg Gate. The Platz surrounding it was mobbed with tourists out on a lovely summer day. The sun shone, making everything around it seem crisp and clean.
“He’s going to be okay.” Charlotte put an arm around her, leaning into her as she looked down as well. “He’s not going in alone. Ian will watch his back.”
But Taggart wouldn’t always be there to watch his back. Perhaps if Taggart and his crew were around, she would feel better. But they would be back in America and Damon would be on his own. Still, she nodded, not wanting to spend the next few hours crying.
“Ladies, the tea should be here in a moment.” Simon smiled at her, seeming to forget the fact that he’d railed at being left to babysit. “Chelsea, how many headphones do you have?”
Chelsea’s eyes came up warily, as if Simon was a tiger who would attack at any moment. “Two or three, but only two that have communication capability. If you want to sit in front of that monitor, you can talk to them through these.”
She held out a pair of state-of-the-art headphones that would be connected to the communication devices each member of the team had placed in their ears
before they left. Simon reached out, his hands brushing hers as he took the headphones from her. Their fingers touched, lingering slightly before Chelsea pulled away and her shell came snapping back down.
“Thank you,” Simon said in his smoothest tones.
Chelsea frowned. “Don’t screw up my system.”
Charlotte groaned, shaking her head. “You really know how to make a moment special, sis.”
“That’s not my job.” She touched something on her computer and then she wasn’t talking to the people in the room anymore. “I’ve taken over the few CCTVs here. Apparently this is a country that doesn’t like being watched. Something about the former USSR and occupation and crap. Get over it, people. How can I watch you if you don’t have cameras everywhere? Get me back to England.”
“What coverage do you have?” Penelope asked, not wanting to debate the long history of abuse of power that had plagued Germans from World War II until the Berlin Wall had come down.
“Well, it’s shit. It’s mostly from private shop owners but I can get some coverage. Satan, I have you in my sights. I can see Jesse. I’ve lost Damon and the big guy. No. I have them. And they’re gone.” Chelsea groaned her frustration.
Simon put the headphones on, chuckling lightly. “Thank you so much for leaving me here, Tag. I’ll pay you back somehow. No. We’re not going to be able to see the meet. There’s no camera there. We can’t see anything but the area around the memorial.”
Chelsea stiffened suddenly. “Oh, shit.”
“What?” Penny asked.
Chelsea shook her head. “Probably nothing.”
Simon frowned her way, pulling his headphones off. “What is it, Chelsea?”
She bit her bottom lip, her hands flying across the keys of her laptop. “I couldn’t monitor all the sites I would normally monitor while I was on the boat. I was stuck with their crappy Internet and downloading the proper browser onto their systems would have outed me.”
“They don’t use Google?” Penny asked.
Chelsea snorted slightly. “Google is a search engine, hon. I’m talking about a browser and not the kind a normal person uses.”
