Beyond Control(21)

She licked the corner of her mouth and tried to catch her breath. Dallas's gaze was riveted to her breasts, which heaved with each panting breath. "All yours," she rasped. "Is this what you wanted at dinner?"

"For starters." Dallas continued to watch her as Mad eased the corset out from under her bound arms. His hands were warm and strong but carefully, deliberately impersonal. Not even Ace would have tested Dallas with that possessive glint in his eyes.

When the fabric slipped away, Dallas touched the corner of Lex's mouth. "Mad?"

"Yeah, boss?"

"Go jerk off on your own or wait for the hooker. I'll make it up to you."

Mad leaned in just enough to whisper against Lex's ear. "Have fun, honey." Then his heat vanished, and there was no one left but Dallas, looming over her with an insatiable hunger in his eyes.

She didn't speak. There was nothing to say--not yet.

Dallas took his time refastening his pants and shedding his vest. He looked out of place in the delicate surroundings, his broad, tattooed chest too raw and unrelentingly uncivilized.

He didn't match the polite lie of a fancy French whorehouse, but his sudden, cocky grin flipped that thought on its head. Then the room looked out of place around Dallas, as if he was the one who truly belonged and the whole place was flawed for not bending reality to suit him.

Everything else did. Even her.

After an endless silence, Dallas traced her jaw and put the tip of his finger under her chin. "I'm feeling possessive tonight, Lexie love, so here's your choice. I can untie you and we can have a little tease and cuddle...or you can stand up and go into the bedroom. If you do that, I'm going to play with you until you think you can't take it anymore, and then I'm going to ride you so hard your legs won't work in the morning. Pick one."

"Just cuddling?" She managed to climb to her feet. "Don't be such a girl, Declan."

"Hey, I already got mine." His gaze flicked to her chest, and she could taste the smugness in the air. "If you want your turn, less backtalk, more walking."

As if he didn't know the truth. "There's more to sex, the really good kind, than orgasms." She turned for the bedroom, but instead of his steps trailing hers, he veered off into the washroom.

Lex waited, one knee propped on the velvet-covered bench at the foot of the bed. Mirrors lined the walls, inset into the panels laden with delicate, fussy woodwork. Each one was framed with drapes that could be released to cover the mirrors.

They were open now, and reflected Dallas in dizzying multitude when he returned with a damp towel in hand. He swiped it over her breasts with a teasing tenderness that undercut his low, intense words. "Obedience, Lex. I'm going to take it tonight." His knuckles grazed one nipple, and he paused to tug on it. "But you go ahead and be as sassy as you want. I'll get off on shutting you up."

She shivered, as much from the dark look in his eyes as the sensual contact. "You always do."

His brows drew together as he tossed aside the towel and grabbed her hips. He hauled her off the bench, then jerked her pants open roughly. "That's my girl. Always going for blood."

Because she couldn't stop, even when her words kindled that stormy frown. "Why don't you ask yourself why you like it so much when I hiss at you?"

"Who gives a f*ck why?" He hooked her pants and underwear and dragged both down her legs. "I'm not worried about psychology with your * two inches from my face, love. Lift your foot."

She began to obey automatically, and that alone was enough to slam her heel back down on the floor.

"No?" No anger in the word, just amusement, so she wasn't ready when Dallas lunged. His shoulder thumped against her abdomen as his hand slapped down on her ass, and then he was on his feet with her dangling over his shoulder.

Instead of a shiver, this time it was a shudder, one that shook her whole body and left her nipples in hard points that got even harder when they rubbed against the hot, bare skin of his back.

Dallas circled the bed and dropped her onto her stomach with her feet on the floor. Nothing had been left to chance in the design of the furniture, even the height of the bed. It was high enough to support her upper body once Dallas stripped away her pants and nudged her feet apart, and no matter which way she turned her head, she was treated to her own reflection--her body bent submissively in front of him and her wrists deftly bound at the small of her back.

With her heels gone, Lex stood stretched up on her toes, naked and helpless. She turned her cheek to the soft fabric covering the bed and closed her eyes, waiting for the slow burn of continuously flexed muscle to start.

"You gonna let me be sweet to you now, Lexie?" His fingertips grazed the curve of her ass. "I don't think you are. I don't think you like it as much when I'm sweet to you."

He didn't wait for an answer--not that she was willing to give one. He crossed the room, footsteps fading bit by bit as he moved, and she kept her eyes shut. Waited.

It didn't take long for him to return. Sensuous silk slithered over her back, more like the fabric looped around her wrist. Dallas left it there and smoothed both hands down her sides until his fingers dug into her hips. One foot nudged the inside of her ankle. "Open wider."

It left her even more exposed, with cool air on her heated flesh and the teasing promise of Dallas's touch. "Like this?"

"Good girl." He slid one hand between her legs, fingers slicking over her * before he spread her outer lips wide and plunged one broad finger inside her. Pleasure buzzed in her ears, and she clenched around him. "How long have you been wet? Did it get you hot, fondling my dick under the dinner table?"

"Yes." She could barely move, but it didn't stop her from trying. "I wanted to f*ck you then."

"Not much of a show, was it?" He worked his finger in and out, shallow, lazy strokes that brushed over sensitive spots without enough pressure to do more than taunt. "Those bastards couldn't handle watching you and Noelle writhe on each other."

"Neither can you."

"Smartass." He swatted her ass with his free hand, a mere warning slap before his hand fell again in earnest.

The third blow left her skin burning, and she bit her lip to hold back a moan. "Fuck."

"You'll have to settle for my hand tonight," he murmured as his finger resumed its leisurely thrusting. "Unless you come without asking. That might earn you a round with my belt."

Would he do it while he f*cked her, lay the leather across her back every time an orgasm swept her into its clutches, mixing ecstasy and pain until she couldn't separate them anymore? "I don't need permission to find pleasure. You wouldn't stop me."

Rough fingers twisted in her hair, and he dragged her head up until she was forced to meet his gaze in the mirror. His expression was rough, a short step from wild. "I never used to." It was barely more than a whisper, but the words were stern. Hard. "But then, you weren't wearing my collar before, were you, love? You ask permission now."

It was instinct to struggle, to make him earn that control. He clenched his hand, his grip steady and implacable, and when she twisted he pulled his finger out of her and slapped her ass again. "Tell me you understand. I want to hear it. If you come without asking, you might get my belt." He leaned over her, his breath warm on her cheek. "Or maybe I'll just stop altogether. You'll have to take that risk if you're feeling bratty."

Lex met his eyes in the mirror without guarding her own hunger. "I understand."

"Good." He tugged at her hair, sending another jolt through her, before releasing it to fall around her face. "Because you're mine, honey. And I'm not in a sharing sort of mood tonight."

She bowed her head to rest her forehead on the bed. "I didn't ask you to."

Dallas dragged his hand from the nape of her neck to the small of her back. "I know, but I promised. I thought I'd be able to go through with it, but I couldn't. Not tonight. Not here."

Not in someone else's territory, when everything else was far from under his control. Lex hummed softly and rocked up against his hand. "You have me."

She watched his reflection as he retrieved one swath of silk and smoothed it between his fingers. "Crawl up on the bed. Kneeling, legs together."

She wiggled her hands in their bindings. "I can't. It's too high without my hands."

Dallas dipped into his back pocket and pulled out a familiar knife. The blade caught the light, twinkling dangerously, as he flipped it open. "Be still," he warned her, then slipped the steel beneath the silk. The flat of the blade brushed her arm, cool against heated flesh, but the sharp edge sliced through the fabric before she even thought of moving.

Her hands slipped free, and Lex rubbed her wrists. "Kneeling, legs together?"