Beneath the Scars (Masters of the Shadowlands #13)(112)

He continued, pumping lightly, until she hovered on the precipice of coming. The world narrowed to his fingers, his tongue, his lips. Couldn’t he go just a bit faster? Harder?

Then he moved up her body. Kissing her stomach along the way.

“Holt,” she whined.

“Who?” He nipped the side of her breast in reprimand.

“Sir. Please.”

“Eventually.” Holt took her mouth, hard and fast, silencing her completely. Then, with teeth and fingers and tongue, brought her nipples back to throbbing, aching peaks.

Her pussy was next. He used only his tongue this time, teasing and teasing, too lightly to get her off, touching her until she was again close and straining upward.

When he paused, she moaned a protest and yanked at her hands.

He sat back and watched her in silence. His lesson was clear. She had no power. No control. Couldn’t even move. Something inside her seemed to fall, crumbling like concrete walls.

“Very nice.” His touch was gentle as he stroked her open thighs.

Finally, he rose and stripped off his jeans.

His cock was perfectly straight, wonderfully thick in the middle, more than at the glans or base. Her fingers curled in a longing to touch. “It’s so beautiful.”

He followed her gaze and let out a huffed laugh before sheathing himself with a condom.

Back between her legs, he braced a hand next to her shoulder, rubbed his cock against her entrance to wet it, and pressed inside in one steady, ruthless thrust, making her struggle to accommodate him. She gasped for air, squirming beneath him.

He’d filled her completely, and her pussy burned with the intimate joining, the solid presence within her. Her clit was making urgent demands for more. “You feel so good.”

“We fit well, don’t we?” As he propped himself up on his forearms on each side of her head, his weight came down on her hips and belly.

All his weight. How was he going to be able to thrust?

Confused, she tilted her head back to look up at him. “Sir?”

“Now, let’s talk.”


Holt watched confusion fill Josie’s lust-glazed eyes.

Her brows drew together. “Talk?” Her voice was husky from passion, strained from need.

She hadn’t come.

Neither had he.

First, they’d talk.

“I love you, Josie.”

Pleasure filled her gaze as she inhaled with a soft sound. “I wasn’t sure you still…”

“Yes, I still love you. I want to be with you—in your life, yours and Carson’s. When the time is right for you both, I want to marry you, be his father, and give him a brother or sister. And a dog. Definitely a dog.”

“That’s so…” Her voice trailed off, and slowly, her brows drew together. He saw her realize his cock wasn’t moving. That he was settled in…to talk. She yanked at her wrists, glared at him. “You’re fixin’ to have a discussion now?” Her attempt to wiggle was frustrated by his weight on her torso, and she gave a frustrated shriek.

“Yes. Now while I’m deep inside you.” As he slowly eased out and back in, then stopped, he had to exert all his control. “You need to understand what kind of a man I am. What kind of a Dom I am.”

He pressed deeper, her cunt snug and hot around him. “If we’re together, decisions will be made by us both—even if it takes hours of talking to reach agreement. I’ll share in raising Carson. It’ll no longer be you alone.” He smiled slightly. “That’s the good news and the bad news. You won’t have to decide everything on your own, which can be a relief, but…you’ll no longer get to decide everything, even if you want to.”

Her mouth dropped open, and her body tensed as she grasped his meaning. If they were together, she would no longer have sole charge of her boy.

His chest felt tight, but…this was important. A make or break moment.

Her gaze took in his face, and her frown disappeared. As her lips tipped up, his heart did a slow somersault. She nodded. “I understand. That’s how real families with two parents work. You might have to remind me now and then.” Her eyes were still red from lack of sleep…and crying. He wasn’t the only one who’d done a lot of thinking.

He nuzzled her temple, teasing the tiny hairs there before nipping the top of her ear. Her muscles contracted around his dick. Mmm. “I will.”

Now, how to explain the next part.

“More?” She rubbed her breasts against him provocatively.

“You little brat,” he muttered. “Yes, there’s more.” Tipping his weight to one arm, he slid his hand into her hair and fisted it.

Her pupils dilated with her pleasure.

“I like control, pet. Now, the only time where I demand control is in anything having to do with sex. However…if you want to relinquish more, I’ll pick up the slack. Gladly.”

“You’re saying you want me to…lean on you?”

Her years of bartending had given her a wealth of knowledge about people. Yet, when it came right down to it, she’d never lived with a guy. Loved a guy. She was frighteningly inexperienced. “Sweetheart, in a healthy relationship, you lean on each other. Usually in different ways, but it’s mutual leaning.”

She gave a tiny spurt of laughter. “I like it. Mutual leaning.”