Beyond Control(14)

"No." Despite the refusal, she was already lifting her hands to obey. Instead, she grazed them lightly, teasing the hard peaks with her thumbs.

His cock ground between her * lips as he leaned down and closed his hand around hers, forcing her finger and thumb together on her nipple. "Yes."

Rough and sweet. It set off a shudder, and Lex dug her teeth into her lower lip when the reflexive movement rubbed her clit against the hard ridge at the head of his erection. Fuck.

Dallas laughed and forced her to tug at her nipple, guiding her fingers in short, rough jerks that skated close to pain. "That's right, love. Control, not obedience. If I have control, I can get obedience, whether you give it to me or not."

"Only if you take it," she managed to rasp.

A rock of his hips rubbed his cock over her clit again, but it seemed unconscious, instinctive. His focus was on her, his eyes dark as he moved his hand. "Pinch those tight little nipples, Lex. Do it, and I'll f*ck you."

Another denial sprang to her lips, but she held it back, held his gaze as she cupped her breasts and slowly squeezed her fingers together. The denial melted into a moan as pleasure and anticipation tingled up her spine.

Dallas straightened, sliding his hand down her body as he went. Her hip, her abdomen, soft touches, almost gentle. They might have been too gentle if he hadn't gripped her inner thigh, his fingers biting into flesh with impatience as he thrust her leg wide.

And thrust into her.

The sensation that rocked her was more than physical, an awareness of the harsh stretch and hardness of his cock. It wasn't new, not exactly, but oddly familiar. This was how he would own her, with a possession so complete it had always existed, in glances and whispers.

He'd never been in her like this, but he'd always been in her.

For once, Dallas was as speechless as she felt, his face slack and his eyes almost closed. He dug bruises into her leg as he stilled, buried deep in her body. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them breathed.

Before she could get air into her lungs, his eyes snapped open, searing the space between them as he skated that hand from the tender flesh of her inner thigh to her even more sensitive clit. His thumb slicked in one slow circle, then another. "I've been waiting forever to feel you coming on my dick."

"Oh, God." She tried to keep from moving, but her shoulders pressed into the couch cushions as she arched against him. "Not too fast."

His thumb stroked faster. Harder. "You trying to tell me what to do again?"

"No, I--" Control. She needed it, but her body didn't care. It cared about now and f*ck and the way his hips flexed, grinding his cock deeper inside her.

"Give me this, Lexie." His voice was a coaxing rumble, the gentleness a thin mask over hard command. Each time he rocked into her was a little rougher as his patience unraveled. "Tell me my cock's the hottest thing I've ever f*cked you with."

"You know it is." She barely recognized her own voice, low and strained. Every muscle trembled, as much with tension as with bliss, a heavy anticipation that tangled her in knots.

He rewarded her confession with a long thrust that drove a cry from her throat. "Next time, I'll tie you open like this." It sounded like a promise--to himself or her, she couldn't tell. "I'll f*ck you slow."

Next time, because this had to be fast. Lex drew in a shaking breath and clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. "Dallas."

Another thrust. "I'll tie you up and suck your clit." Again, harder. "Fuck you with my fingers, or something bigger. Maybe I'll let you choose. Wood or glass or steel."

Every word was a tease, a weapon, and knowing he was desperate enough to use them shook her restraint. One more quick thrust destroyed it, curling her toes as a throb of pleasure tore through her.

The noise that escaped her was barely human, all primal need and naked desire. Too much, too open, but she couldn't think enough to care, not with Dallas riding her release, dragging it out with the kind of f*cking she'd always imagined he'd like. Hard and demanding, their hips slamming together, the sound raw and slick.

Better. It could get even better, and all she had to do was reach for it. "Please." Lex clawed at his arms and bucked, sheer animal hunger driving away everything but him. "Please, baby--"

He hauled her half off the arm of the couch and cupped his hands under her knees, pushing them back toward her chest.

It should have been impossible to feel more pinned, more helpless, but the new angle was brutally sharp, and so goddamn deep. So full, and nothing held back. Lex opened her eyes and focused on his face, on his almost pained expression as he sped his thrusts, rough and frantic, his balls slapping against her ass.

The world was hazy around the edges, dulled by ecstasy--but not Dallas. She could see him as clearly as she could feel him--intense, fierce.

Hers.

He came with a snarl, his rhythm faltering, bleeding to quick, jerky thrusts before he slammed home with one final grunt and froze. A sound rattled free of him, barely coherent, but it echoed in her bones. "Lex."

She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. The trapped feeling that had been so delicious only seconds earlier now tripped off panic, rising in her throat to choke her. It didn't dissipate when he lowered her legs and pulled her close to his chest, lifting her with him as he straightened.

"Lex?" His fingers smoothed through her hair, slow and gentle. "You with me?"

"I'm here." Here--and with no idea what to do next.

Dallas caught her chin and tilted her head back, but as soon as his mouth opened, the door rattled under a brisk knock. His brow furrowed as he glared past her. "If someone's not bleeding or invading, go the f*ck away."

Bren's low voice drifted through the door. "You're gonna want to see this."

Sighing, Dallas swung Lex up in his arms. He crossed the wide room to deposit her on the edge of his bed, then fastened his pants and swept up a discarded T-shirt for her. "Sorry, love. You know how it goes."

"It's business," she murmured, grateful for the distraction as she drew the soft cotton over her head.

Dallas didn't bother with a shirt or even buckling his belt. She could read his irritation in the muscles of his back, tense under his tattoos as he stalked to the door.

On the other side, Bren leaned against the doorframe, an ivory-colored envelope in his hand. "Messenger delivered it just now."

"Great." Dallas glared at the envelope like it contained live explosives, but after a moment he plucked it from Bren's hand. "Well, we knew it was coming. Have Rachel make us something to eat and pry Jas out of Noelle. Tell him I need him in my office in an hour."

"Anyone else?"

"I need you to stick close. And find Mad."

"Will do." He glanced past Dallas, and a hint of a smile curved the corner of his mouth. "Hi, Lex."

Dallas slammed the door in his face.

Lex didn't have time to be pissy about Bren's amusement. She couldn't stop staring at the envelope in Dallas's hand, at the thick but graceful slashes of royal purple ink across the front. "From Cerys?"

He returned to the bed and flipped the envelope, revealing an intricate orchid seal imprinted in purple wax. "Guess so."

The tattoo, the collar, the f*cking... "You'll want me to go with you, I guess."

Instead of answering, Dallas pulled a switchblade from his back pocket and flicked it open. The sharp edge sliced through wax and the envelope alike, and the scent of orchids assaulted her as he withdrew the letter and unfolded it.

It was concise, to the point. His gaze traveled from the top to the bottom of the letter twice before he turned it over to her wordlessly.

A summons, as she'd suspected. "It was inevitable."

Dallas dropped his knife on the dresser and reached for the whiskey. "Doesn't mean I have to like it." Forgoing glasses, he took a swig directly from the bottle before meeting her gaze. "I can't imagine you like the idea of going back to Two, but I need you with me."

For so many reasons that were strictly political--for her knowledge, for the sake of appearances. To watch his back and fight if necessary. But she suspected those reasons had little to do with why. "I understand."

He offered her the whiskey. "I'm going to be dealing with this most of the day. We'll leave tomorrow afternoon, with Bren and probably Mad."

"Anyone I should bring?"

"The queen of Sector Four." Dallas grinned at her before hauling on a shirt. "Anything we do, we do together, love. I agreed to it."

She realized with a jolt that he was right. She'd been thinking of sex when she'd written the words--hadn't she?--but they applied to everything. As far as the world was concerned, their names went together, and so did their authority. They still had personal shit to muddle through, but that took a back seat. They had to present a united, harmonious front, to their own people and everyone else.