Angel Without

by Rhiannon Ayers

  She overwhelmed him. Here he’d been expecting it to take her days, weeks even, to get up the courage to be with him alone. Yet there was no hesitation in her big blue eyes, no sense of the type of recklessness that came from making a spur-of-the-moment decision. Somehow, some way, Amber had come to the conclusion that she trusted him with her body.

  Somehow, some way, he’d managed to earn that trust.

  What if he fucked this up? And not in a good way? What if he frightened her? He wanted her desperately, with a passion that almost frightened him—how could he possibly avoid frightening her? She who had been abused so many times before, and by men whom she’d given her heart to the exact same way. How could he possibly trust himself with a woman as delicate as Amber?

  Especially when he knew what kind of animal he was inside. That beast that had broken loose once before, destroyed his relationship with Trina. Destroyed his confidence in his ability to restrain his baser urges, to protect the female submissives in his care. How could he possibly take this risk, knowing what he knew about himself? When he knew exactly what kind of horror he was capable of unleashing?

  And yet, this precious, priceless, awe-inspiring woman was giving him the chance to make up for his past sins, the opportunity to redeem himself. If he could pull this off, show her what a real lover should be, he just might be able to heal a few of their mutual soul wounds.

  If.

  God help me, it’s such a big if.

  Maybe he should wait for Riley. Insist that the three of them needed to be together for this first all-important joining. But no, he couldn’t do that. This wasn’t about their relationship with Riley, was it? This was between the two of them. In fact, it would be better for their chances of forming a lasting triad if he and Amber could work this out alone. Just as he’d needed to get Riley over his reluctance to be with another man in a private interlude with just the two of them.

  Okay, mostly private. That irreverent thought almost made him smile. Riley hadn’t exactly minded discovering that Amber had been an ear-witness to his sexual awakening—if anything, he seemed to have relished the knowledge. But then, Riley’s issues were much, much simpler to overcome than Amber’s were. Riley had just needed to be convinced that his attraction for another man was acceptable.

  Amber needed to be convinced he would never hurt her.

  And Maddox, with his dark history, was probably the very last man who should be trying to convince her.

  No pressure.

  He should refuse. Back away. Tell her they needed to wait, to hold off, at least until he had more control of himself. That was the safest way, the best thing to do, for all their sakes. But as he stared into Amber’s innocent yet too-knowing eyes, he knew he couldn’t disappoint her. She’d had the courage to make the first move.

  It was his turn to up the game.

  With trembling fingers, Maddox brushed the hair from her forehead before sliding his fingertips down to trace those gorgeous, full lips. He leaned in, gifted her with a gentle, chaste kiss, then stood straight and took a step back. Trying to hide the emotional turmoil rolling through him, Maddox slowly, reverently, held out his hand and waited for her to take it. When she did, he gently pulled her from the bathroom counter and led her into the bedroom.

  God damn, he felt like a teenager about to get his first sex. A zillion lightning bugs had taken up residence under his skin, zapping nerve-endings randomly throughout his body. He felt heavy, achy, so fucking turned on it was a wonder the power company didn’t call, wondering why his kilowatt-hours just went through the roof. Nothing in his entire sexual experience compared to this one moment.

  Please, God. Please, don’t let me fuck this up.

  Hiding a shudder, Maddox led Amber to the side of the bed. He turned to her, cupped her chin, and said, “Are you absolutely certain about this?”

  Amber nodded, her gaze unwavering.

  Maddox swallowed, passing his thumb over her lower lip. “Then kneel on the bed, here in front of me.”

  Amber complied with gratifying swiftness, without the slightest hint of her former fear. Apparently, when his angel made a decision, she made it whole-heartedly, because there was not one breath of hesitation in her expression or body language. The only emotions he felt from her were lust, anticipation, and a healthy dose of impatience.

  Well, that made two of them. With a groan he couldn’t have controlled if he wanted to, Maddox cinched both hands around her waist, dragged her in tight against his chest, and claimed her mouth in a hot, soul-searing kiss.

  * * * *

  Amber swam through a miasma of lust so chaotic, it was a wonder her body didn’t combust right there.

  Without the debilitating fear that had so destroyed her sex drive, she was overwhelmed by the desire that powered through her system. The feel of Maddox’s molten-hot body pressed so close, the way his big hands held her so tight and yet so gently, the way he kissed her as if his life depended on it, all combined into a sexual storm unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.

  And this was only the very beginning.

  Whimpering, Amber threw her arms around Maddox’s neck and held on tight while he plundered her mouth with deep, sure strokes of his tongue. For the very first time, she wasn’t intimidated by his show of aggression—she wanted it, wanted it with every fiber of her being. Maddox was so big, so solid, so very, very male that if he chose to overpower her, there would be nothing she could do to stop it. Yet she sensed the way he fought for control of that powerful body, sensed the way he desperately fought to contain all that overwhelming physical strength. Even in the heat of his passion, he was looking out for her, fighting to maintain control of himself, just so she wouldn’t feel threatened. And because she knew that, because she could feel it with every touch of his lips, every stroke of his tongue, Amber could finally, fully, for the first time ever, let herself go in a man’s arms.

  When they were both reeling from lack of air, Maddox finally released her lips. He slid his big, hot hands down her sides, gathering her T-shirt before pulling upward. She lifted her arms compliantly, shivering as the ceiling fan washed cool air over her burning skin. But he didn’t pull the shirt all the way off. When he had the material bunched around her wrists, he tightened the excess and looped it around both of her hands a second time—and tied a knot.

  Amber gasped, but didn’t even consider fighting him. Maddox’s silver eyes gleamed as he gently pushed her down until she lay flat with her arms stretched over her head, the soft material caging her wrists so her movements were restricted. She was so hot right now, practically vibrating with need, such petty considerations as freedom to move her arms went right out the window.

  He crawled onto the bed, looking for all the world like a jungle cat stalking his prey, his lips curved in a feral smile.

  “Mine,” Maddox said silkily, nudging her thighs apart with his knees. He rested his palms on either side of her torso, his big body hovering over her.

  “Yours,” she agreed breathily, panting through the waves of heat that rolled off him. His skin was achingly smooth, muscles deliciously tensed as he held himself over her, out of her reach. She loved the way those wicked-looking tattoos emphasized the size of his arms, how the muscles bulged and changed the outline around those jagged edges every time he shifted. He had another tattoo in the center of his chest, a funny-looking number three with a bunch of odd little swooshes and curls around it. She’d have to ask him about that sometime, find out what it meant.

  But not now.

  She licked her lips. “Please, Maddox.”

  He let out a rumble that vibrated right through his knees and into the bed beneath her, making her shiver. “Be still,” he crooned, eyes flashing with lust. “It’s my turn to play.”

  Amber moaned.

  Maddox chuckled, then bent his head and started kissing around her jaw while keeping the rest of his body away from hers. God, everything in her wanted to reach up, try to pull him down on top of her so she co
uld feel his weight pressing her into the mattress. But with his command ringing in her head, she could do nothing, nothing but lie there and moan while those achingly soft lips cruised her burning skin. Maddox kissed his way across her neck, tracing the lines of her collarbone with the tip of his tongue before sliding lower to skim the tops of her breasts, just beneath the line of her bra. Amber hissed as he opened his mouth wide and bit down hard, then soothed the marks he left behind with little licks and sucks that had her gasping.

  Maddox let out another sexy rumble, his quicksilver eyes flashing up to her face for a moment before focusing back on her breasts. He dipped his upper body forward, resting his weight on his elbows as he slid both hands behind her back and unclasped her bra with practiced ease. He pulled the cups away from her chest and slid the bra up her arms, but with the knotted t-shirt in the way, he couldn’t remove it completely. Instead, he left it tangled around her forearms, adding another layer of restraint that only added to the sexual miasma floating through the room.

  A purely male groan of appreciation poured from his throat as he got a look at her bare tits. He wrapped one giant hand around her left breast, engulfing her easily, and sucked her other nipple into his mouth. Amber hissed again, back bowing off the bed as she fought to get closer to those sinful lips. She threw back her head, gasping and panting as he lavished attention on both her breasts, switching back and forth as if he couldn’t decide which one was his favorite. It felt so good, his hot mouth around her nipples, the feel of his tongue tracing her areolas. It was like someone had tied a string between her nipples and clit, each strong suction from Maddox’s mouth pulling it tight enough to twang through her whole body.

  Finally, when she was teetering on the edge of insanity, he pulled off her with a satisfied pop and started kissing and sucking his way down her sternum, across her belly, and down to her waistline. He paused when he got to the button on her jeans, looking up at her with so much lust in his eyes it made her head spin.

  “If you were wearing a skirt,” he said silkily as he popped the button and started pulling her jeans down slowly, slowly, “I’d leave it on. Just pull your panties off and fuck you, just like that. So you’d have no choice but to feel what I did to your gorgeous pussy, but couldn’t see a damn thing. If, that is, you were wearing a skirt.”

  Amber let loose a breathy moan, overwhelmed by the flash of lust that washed through her. She normally hated it when guys talked dirty—it always sounded forced, like some bad soundtrack to a porn movie. But the silky, sexy purr in Maddox’s voice made her insides flame even hotter, making her wish he could do exactly as he described. Somehow, nothing Maddox did seemed forced, or contrived, or false in any way. The words just added extra spice to a dish that was already too hot to handle.

  Maddox finally pulled her jeans all the way off, tossing them to the floor beside the bed impatiently before reaching for her panties. Amber bit her lip, watching his silver eyes turn molten as he slipped his fingertips inside the waistband and pulled downward. The material was soaking wet, and her perfume permeated the air strongly the moment he slid them down her legs. The room already smelled like sex, and they hadn’t even gotten to the main event yet.

  No, not the main event. With Maddox, every part of their encounter was the main event. Not once had she felt like his impatience stemmed from boredom with unwanted foreplay, or wishing he was already inside her. No, his eagerness came from the desire to see, taste, and touch every part of her, all at once. He wanted her, not just sex with her body.

  He actually wanted to be with her. The thought alone was almost enough to set her off.

  When he had her completely naked, Maddox sat back on his heels and just looked at her. Under normal circumstances, she would have blushed furiously, tried to hide herself. But the way Maddox looked at her left her with no doubt as to how beautiful he found her to be. His silver eyes swept over every inch of her fair skin, burning hotter and hotter the more he looked. And when his gaze passed over her pussy, she nearly came right then.

  “Goddamn,” Maddox breathed, shoulders heaving unsteadily, “you really are an angel. Gorgeous, Amber. Absolutely flawless.”

  Her thighs trembled as she fought the urge to close her legs—not to hide, but to put pressure on her throbbing clit. It had been no more than a minute since he pulled her panties off, and she was already soaking the bed beneath her. She’d never been this hot before, this turned on, not even last night, when she lay between both of her men.

  But then, last night she hadn’t made the decision to give herself to them yet. Not fully. Even amidst the most intense sexual experience of her life, the fear had been in the background, ready to drag her under if she let it overpower her consciousness. Now, though, the only emotions running through her heart were lust, love, and a heady dose of anticipation.

  The fear was long gone.

  Maddox backed off the bed, reaching for his belt as he stood straight, never taking his eyes from her naked body. He dropped his pants and shorts at the same time, and Amber sucked in a sharp breath as she watched the way his enormous cock bobbed free and reached for his belly button. God in heaven, the man was hung. The lazy spiral of lust in her lower abdomen turned into an outright maelstrom, just from imagining that huge shaft sinking into her tunnel. She let loose a needy groan, watching as he pulled a condom packet from his bedside table, tore it open with his teeth, and smoothed it over his length.

  Maddox stalked over her once more, kneeling between her splayed thighs as he claimed her lips in another open-mouthed kiss. He still kept his weight off her, but now she could feel even more of that delicious heat pouring off him, soaking into her like rays from a noonday sun. Resting his right forearm beside her shoulder, he ran his free hand down the length of her body, palming her breasts briefly before making a beeline for her pussy. Amber gasped into that hot mouth as his fingers swiped through her honey, making her hips shake convulsively. Maddox rumbled appreciatively, did it again just to make her quiver even harder. Then, without missing a beat, he slipped two digits deep into her core and started finger-fucking her, hard and fast.

  Amber ripped her mouth away and threw back her head as a moan of bliss shot from her throat. Those amazing fingers had her riding the edge of an intense orgasm almost immediately. Maddox kept thrusting even as he dipped his head and took one nipple in his mouth, sucking hard enough to pull her soul from her body. He started alternating between thrusting his fingers as deep inside her as he could get and thumbing her clit in sharp little circles, until Amber was ready to scream from it.

  Maddox finally released her nipple and started kissing his way back up her neck, pausing to nibble her earlobe before claiming her lips again. He pulled his fingers from her aching pussy and rested his arms on either side of her shoulders, kissing her hungrily as he finally, finally, settled some of his weight on top of her. Amber wrapped her legs around his waist, rubbing herself up and down his length and whimpering.

  He shuddered in her arms, rotating his hips so his thick, heavy shaft rubbed over her clit repeatedly. Amber cried out, loving the way he swallowed the sound so hungrily. Maddox wrapped his big hands around her forearms, giving her yet another level of restraint as he notched the head of his cock at her entrance and began pushing his way inside.

  Both of them gasped as he sank in to the hilt in one long, smooth thrust. Her pussy convulsed as he forced her body to accept his penetration, one inch at a time, until he could go no farther. And the moment she felt the head of that glorious cock kiss her cervix, filling her in a way no man had ever filled her before, Amber came.

  Hard.

  The orgasm washed through her so fast, so unexpectedly, she nearly passed out. Maddox groaned on top of her, sealing their lips together and swallowing her desperate cries as her inner muscles tightened around him like a vise. It was like he’d set off a flash grenade inside her, the powerful explosion so intense it left her reeling mentally and physically. It was there and gone in an instant, yet left utter
devastation in its wake.

  “Fuck, that’s so goddamn sexy,” Maddox breathed against her lips. “You and Riley are going to give me a big ego, coming so fast like that. Let’s see if we can beat his record, hmm?”

  Amber was panting against his lips, still vibrating with aftershocks, when she felt him draw back and pull almost all the way out. Then, without any preamble, without any build-up, he started to thrust.

  The motion of his cock sent whips of fire shrieking along her inner walls. Maddox rode her hard and deep, his strokes fast and desperate, as if he couldn’t control himself. His huge shaft tapped her cervix with every inward thrust, making her lose control of her voice instantly. Amber sobbed her pleasure for the world to hear, her breathless cries adding counterpoint to the rapid slap of skin on skin that quickly filled the room.

  Maddox fucked her. There was no other word for it. His hips smacked the backs of her thighs repeatedly, driving her down into the mattress. His glans slid over her G-spot with every stroke, sending little zaps of lightning through her whole body. It felt so good, God, it felt so good, every part of her felt so fucking good she started wondering if it were possible to self-combust from sheer pleasure overload.

  The telltale pinch started deep in her core, a spring coiling tighter and tighter as Maddox drove her ever closer to that epic cliff. He watched her face the whole time, silver eyes burning white-hot as he rode her relentlessly. Amber found herself drowning in those gorgeous eyes, reeling inside and out as her orgasm got closer, and closer, and closer still, until she was teetering on the brink of yet another epic explosion.

  And then Maddox set it off with a single word. “Come.”

  She detonated the moment the word left his lips, as if her orgasm was a bomb and Maddox the trigger. Little lights flashed behind her eyes as wave after wave of intense pleasure washed through her system, yanking a scream from her throat. And all the while she was coming like a freight train, Maddox just kept fucking her, his steady strokes unwavering. The continuous glide across her inner walls extended her orgasm far, far longer than she’d ever experienced before.