Beyond Control(37)

Jas blew out a sharp breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "Asshole."

Grinning, Dallas slapped his second on the shoulder. "Whatever. Tell me you wouldn't say the same thing."

"I'd only say that about a chick if I couldn't get her the hell out of my head, either."

Lex had been carving out a permanent place in his subconscious since the day he'd caught her trying to steal from him. So f*cking young, so unrepentantly brazen. He'd told her she'd be the death of him, and she'd blithely agreed.

They'd both meant it. He hadn't changed his mind.

And he still wanted to be back in that bathtub with her, danger be damned. "She's not just in my head. She's in my blood."

Both of Jasper's eyebrows shot up at that. "Christ, you're serious, aren't you?"

Ignoring the wide-eyed incredulity, Dallas took a long drag from his cigarette and blew smoke up toward the night sky. "I was talking marks. Damn right I'm serious. You of all people should know."

"Guess I never thought I'd see it." Jasper rubbed his chest through his shirt, right over the spot where Noelle's name had been inked into his skin. "You've collared other women, but you never really wanted to, did you?"

"Sure I did. I wanted sex, and I needed it to be simple." Not quite a lie. Once Lex had pushed him to start accepting women into the gang, he'd had to draw a line to keep applicants off his dick. Nothing killed his hard-on faster than a woman counting the ceiling tiles--or mentally counting the money she hoped to get.

"Simple," Jasper echoed in agreement. "Yeah, that's the last damn word I'd use to describe Lex."

"Guess I got tired of it." He snuffed out the cigarette on the wall and turned to face Jasper. "Gonna have to learn to be flexible again."

"Uh-huh. Your woman doesn't play by anyone else's rules."

She'd play by his, if he was smart enough to keep the game too addictive to quit. And she'd given him a good idea of where to start. "Speaking of playing, I think she misses you and Noelle. Next time we have a night off, we should fix that."

He shrugged. "I'm down for it. Don't think I need to check with Noelle."

"What if it wasn't just the four of us?"

Jasper choked on a lungful of smoke. "You mean, like a party?"

"A little more exclusive than that," Dallas grumbled. Sharing Lex with Noelle was tolerable, and Jas was damn near an extension of her. As for the rest... Well, at least Lex's fantasy included a jealous rampage. That was pretty much a guarantee. "Lex wants something. I wanna give it to her. That's all there is to it."

He nodded slowly. "I'm down," he said again. "Just let us know where and when."

"Soon." The sooner the better. He'd tested plenty of Lex's boundaries, shoving her to the edge of her comfort zone and coaxing her beyond. Time to find out if he could do the same.

A trio of shadows parted from the darkness below, and Dallas put thoughts of Lex and pleasure aside as they approached the building. "At least they're punctual. Now we just have to worry about whether or not they're here to kill us."

"I won't be impressed unless they try."

Grinning, Dallas turned to the propped-open door that led into the abandoned building. They'd already cleared out a room and righted a beat-up old conference table and a few rickety chairs. He'd meet them here, in their territory, and feel out their motivations. If he was lucky, he'd find that same mixture that made Jasper so valuable--greed tempered by sense and a healthy dose of self-preservation.

If he wasn't, he'd stare across that table and see his own suicidal ambition reflected back at him. And he'd grant their death wish.

There was only room for one crazy bastard in his territory.





Chapter Fifteen



Someone was at her door.

Lex heard the latch and saw the door swing open, reflected in the large mirror backing her vanity. It had to be Dallas, a fleeting thought confirmed when he stepped across the threshold, dressed in jeans and a simple dark T-shirt.

Just as presumptuous as before, and she made him wait until she finished sweeping blush across her cheeks before speaking ruefully. "Come on in, O'Kane."

He leaned against the wall behind her and met her eyes in the mirror. "Not gonna throw something at my head and tell me to knock?"

"Have I ever?" She spun around on her stool. "Wait--don't answer that."

"Mmm, best not to." He studied her face for a silent moment as his smile settled into a more serious expression. "I need you to pull off one of your miracles this weekend."

That sounded ominous as hell. "It doesn't involve a trip to another sector, does it?"

"No. But it involves bringing people from another sector here."

It could only be one thing. "A party for the prospects from Three?"

"Yep." Dallas pushed away from the wall and strolled toward her with all the lazy arrogance of a man secure in his welcome. "We'll invite others. Allies and friends of the gang, a few fighters from all over. But they already know what we're about. The guys from Three are the ones who need the right first impression."

The ones who could round out Dallas's power base in their home sector. He could take over in Three and lead with fear alone, but if they could be trusted and useful, bringing some of Trent's former men into the fold would be smarter. "No problem," Lex agreed.

He traced one fingertip along her jaw before sinking his hand into her hair. "I want to close down the club for the night and hold it in the Broken Circle. Dancers, but not any of our girls. Everyone needs to be shined up pretty, but I want you to double-check the lieutenants and their women. And no sweet white lace for Noelle. The two of you will be front and center, and I want you both as fierce as you get."

"Dallas," she chided softly. "I know how recruitment works."

"I know. But this is a whole new playing field." His fingers curled around the back of her neck, commanding and possessive. "For all of us."

Lex shivered. "I'll get it done."

"Tomorrow." A word that allowed no argument, and he didn't give her a chance to make one. "You got plans tonight?"

"Asks the man who just barged into my bedroom," she whispered. "Would it matter if I did?"

"Maybe." His grin returned, edged in wicked promise this time. "But mine are better."

"Yeah? Why don't you tell me about them?"

He reached into his pocket and dragged out a two-foot length of black silk. "Were you telling the truth about your fantasy?"

Her mouth went dry as the implications of the silk hit her. "I wouldn't make something like that up."

"The blindfold is for me," he admitted, watching her with dangerous intent. "But the hands and the mouths and all that comes after... That'll be for you, if you trust me and take it."

If you trust me. There was no going back. If she denied him now, they'd lose the careful, fragile balance they'd fought so hard to find. And if she said yes...

Could she say yes?

Lex swallowed hard, held his gaze in the mirror, and nodded. "You won't let anything happen that I don't want."

He smiled and settled the silk over her eyes, dropping her world into darkness. His breath danced over her ear as he tied it, and his words...

Wicked words. Evil words. "Jasper and Noelle know all about what you want. They're waiting for you already, and you're right. She's so hungry to touch you. So are Ace and Mad. But they still know you're mine."

"Six of us?" she asked, her voice hitching over the question.

"Two of us." The knot pulled tight, and he dragged her head back. "Don't ever forget it, Lex. I don't care how many people are piled on a bed, in the end it's still about me giving you what you want and getting off on getting you off."

No, it would always come down to just them. Everyone else, no matter how cherished a companion, was secondary. No one else could compete because no one else was Dallas.

No one else was her.

Lex relaxed against him. "They can touch me," she murmured, "but they can't have me. Only you."

"Damn straight," he said, then hauled her out of her chair and into the air.

The world spun around her, all the more dizzying from behind the blindfold. She landed across his shoulder a heartbeat later, pinned by a strong, unforgiving hand dead center on her ass.

Lex dug her nails into the small of his back through his shirt. She could only track their progress through the disorienting dip of his steps and the sway of his turns. It seemed to take an eternity, but finally he paused, and she heard his boot thump against a door.