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  Ohhh, yes. Best to callate—shut her mouth—than lure out too much of the Dom who lurked so near the man’s surface. She wasn’t stupid. She only had a few hours of Shane’s time. A fleeting taste of his passion would have to be enough, so tempting him to share a whole meal wasn’t something her senses, perhaps even her soul, could take…

  He interrupted her thoughts by nudging her face up even higher. “Where you going, baby girl?”

  She blinked slowly. Clearly, his charge referred to emotional, not physical, distance. “N-Nowhere. Don’t gawk. It’s the truth. Honestly, I just—”

  “Just answer my question, beautiful. It wasn’t rhetorical. How big is that mental research paper of yours now?”

  Mierda. Connection or not, he wasn’t going to make this easy. With the arrogance in his stare and the expectant angles of his brows, impossible only began to describe his persistence.

  “Fine,” she snapped. “You want to know? I do have a list—and contrary to what you may assume, I didn’t just pull it out of my ass.” She stepped away from his grip. “Were you not listening earlier? I’m not some starry-eyed girl who’s only read about D/s in romance novels. I had a man in my life who cared enough to try it with me. I failed him.” She shook her head, hating the way his eyes tightened and his jaw clenched. “So stop it with your brooding stare and your continuing mission to dissect me, okay? I don’t want or need your damn Dommy pity.”

  His eyes widened. “‘Dommy pity?’ Is that where you think I’m going?”

  “It’s laser-etched in your eyes, Burnett. You think I’ve been misled, maybe even abused. You want to paint yourself as my he-man hero—and you’re so cute about it, I wish I could grant you the wish—but the truth is, I’m not a helpless damsel. I have never been anybody’s victim. That’s a fact you need to deal with. Sir.”

  The word spewed out as accusation instead of respect, a mistake realized much too late. Tension washed over him like storm clouds on a mountain range. No. Not just tension. She’d hurt him. He took this seriously. It was already clear that he took the role of Dominant as an honor to be accountable for, not an excuse for commanding a woman into sexual favors. That alone earned him more awareness, arousal, and respect from her than Bryce ever had.

  And echoed one set of words through her mind as his silence stretched on.

  Oh, shit.

  Her dread grew as he grabbed her shoulders, drew her to her feet, and then slowly pulled her close, reminding her even more of the growing electrical storm between them. When would his thunder break loose? His lightning? Her breath hitched, her senses sizzling with consciousness. Every inch of his body was equally taut, hard, commanding.

  “Zoe. Look at me.”

  His voice, soft as wind but strong as rain, pulled her head up. His golden gaze waited for her, its ferocity barely leashed. Damn. Damn. Damn. She was scared. Really scared.

  And had never been more aroused in her whole life.

  Her whole body confirmed the conflict. Her shoulders burned where he still held her, though now the heat radiated into the tips of her nipples. The center of her belly, awakened from the edict of his huge erection, curled with anticipation. Her thighs clenched against the muscled ropes of his, sending tingles to the tips of her toes.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally rasped.

  He dipped his stare to the lip she nervously bit. “Why?”

  She glanced away. Zoe knew he watched every moment of the action, making it more important to get her answer right—including its contrition. “Because…I suppose I’m being a brat.”

  “Hmmm.” He rubbed circles into her shoulders with his thumbs. Dios, even that felt good. “That’s probably true. Anything else?”

  She pushed out a little huff. “Fine. You’re probably right about the dungeon research paper.”

  “Approaching a mini novel?” He kept his baritone low and controlled. And thoroughly captivating.

  She indulged another tiny fume. “Yes. Probably.”

  “And you like all the facts you’ve learned? Is that it?”

  His adamancy stunned her into silence. Vaya. Burnett actually thought she might answer him yes—and hadn’t reacted by ordering her to her knees, yanking at her hair, or ripping off her top. Though the options sounded like paradise, what he’d really done was a huger broadside. Knowingly given her a peek at his vulnerability. Wasn’t that a big “Dommy Don’t” in a lot of books? Yet now, she was even more fascinated with him. She yearned to reach to him, learning the new lines of his face even as she soothed them…

  She surrendered to the craving.

  Then rejoiced as he did the same.

  He was beautiful. She reveled in stroking the fullness of his eyebrows, the strong slope of his nose, the forceful cliffs of his cheeks. As Shane explored her face the same way, she felt a smile bloom. A silent reverie. A perfect proxy for time.

  She’d called her best friend with the knowledge she’d be getting naked with this man but couldn’t imagine nudity being more magical than this. Or more intimate. He stole her breath with his intense concentration, tracing the little curves at the bottom of her nose and then drawing a finger into the deep indent of her upper lip…even learning how ticklish she was at the base of her ears.

  In return, she discovered a lot of new things about him too. Scars. The man was riddled with them. One at the base of his throat. Another hidden just inside his hairline. A few nicks along the left side of his neck. He’d either moonlighted as a stunt man five miles north in Hollywood or had been through a few war zones. While she burned to complete the riddle, she also sensed the answer wasn’t as simple as one sentence—even if he were inclined to give it.

  She gave herself over to this moment instead.

  As Shane’s fingers learned more of her physically, he opened more of her spirit. Zoe relinquished the energy because he’d gifted it to her first. The feeling was surreal. She knew Shane still controlled every moment of what happened, guiding every touch and stare they gave each other, yet she’d never felt more important in her entire life.

  Was this the beginning of what D/s was all about? Was this why so many referred to it as “Power Exchange” and raved about the purity of its connection?

  Her soul echoed with the only answer that made sense.

  Yes.

  Her heart joined the chorus as Shane formed a frame around her face with his hands, tilting her head up for a long, deep kiss.

  He took over her senses in a different way than before. The storm still gathered in him, but the front was more potent. He kissed her deeper, not harder. He didn’t leave a corner of her mouth unexplored. His mouth widened hers with carnal intent, demanding even more of her submission. He used her tongue as a plaything, sucking it and then giving it back, twirling it in time with the whimpers she emitted, beseeching him to do more.

  Yes…more…

  She couldn’t be blamed for the urgency. Just his kiss revved her blood better than her favorite vibrator, especially during the moments when he backed away, letting her anticipate his next action. Every nerve ending in her body awakened. A thousand drums began tattoos in her sex. Her lungs started rationing her breath to her throat. And she seriously started to hate her clothes.

  Shane’s face betrayed his concurrence. No more smirks. No more persistent charm. The storm had taken command. His eyes darkened. His jaw clamped. His arms coiled as he plummeted his hands down her back, grabbing her shirt in fistfuls, the movements timed to his rough breaths.

  He held back on kissing her again. Instead, he watched her face while sweeping his hands beneath her shirt. His stare heated as he clawed the length of her spine with his fingernails, eliciting a keen deep in her throat.

  “Sh-Shane. That feels so— Ahhh!”

  She gave up the scream as he dropped his head to scrape her neck with his teeth. Shivers cascaded as he followed the burn with the silken perfection of his tongue. Zoe jammed her hands into his hair, urging him on. The strands were thick and soft and perfect i
n her grip.

  He groaned deep while suckling his way to her ear, shoving back her hair with his nose in order to bite the flesh there with more force. The surge of pain jacked her heartbeat, making her shriek the same second he snapped her bra free.

  “Perfect,” he praised, his voice husky. “You’re so fucking perfect, baby girl.”

  His adoration made her head spin. Her blood simmer.

  Before her world careened.

  Everything in the room spun before her eyes as he twirled her around, making her face the bed. He shoved her shirt over her head, letting her bra tumble free after it, and then re-anchored her by yanking her back against him.

  Zoe gasped as her nipples responded to the air-conditioning, though she owed just as many shivers to his big, conquering hands, marking every inch of her exposed flesh as his willing territory. His touch was hot and bold, claiming her in giant swaths from the waist up until he scooped his fingers around both her breasts.

  Her head fell back against his shoulder. She moaned, once more breathing in the forest musk of his scent as his thumbs rolled against her skin. He tightened those seductive circles, nearing the center of her breasts with each rotation.

  “Ohhhh…” Vaya, what his touch did to her. How exquisite he made her feel. God had skipped her on the way to endowing Ava with the great boobs in the family. Though Zoe always made the most of hers by working with costume designers on strategic padding, their nude truth was something her lovers tolerated instead of appreciated. But caught beneath Shane’s touch, she was a goddess. Adored. Caressed.

  “Ay!”

  And pinched. And tugged. Hard. Then again. She screamed again, bucking against him.

  “Sssshhh.” The bastard was calm to the point of infuriating. “Breathe for me, Zoe. That’ll help you process it better.”

  “Process it?” she flung. “You mean your torture pinchers?”

  He sucked at the curve of her ear once more. “It’s only my fingers, beautiful. Not even real nipple clamps. Though fuck, these sweet little cherries would look incredible if I did put real ones on you. I’d buy you a pair with dangling sapphires. They’d match that gorgeous fire in your eyes…”

  A growl took over his tone as he closed his fingers again. When he started twisting at her nubs as well, rolling and tugging, she squirmed harder.

  “Burnett!”

  “What?” So serene. So maddening. So sexy.

  “It hurts, damn it!”

  “And you’re not handcuffed to anything, beautiful. Step away anytime you like. We haven’t even established a safe word, though you can call a red on me anytime you need. Is that what you’re doing?”

  “No!” She huffed. “I mean…I don’t know.” Damn it. Giving up on anything in her life hadn’t been an option since hitting double-digit birthdays. But was it giving up if Shane placed the safe word in her control, gave her the choice to stop everything? Fully acknowledged her power as well as his?

  “It’s okay not to know.” He gave her a break. While twirling her tips with his thumb and forefinger, he grazed his other fingertips along the undersides of her breasts. The new sensations, mixed with the zings left behind from his pinches, were amazing. “Ssshhh. Breathe.”

  “I… I’m confused.” Understatement of the century.

  “Let me guess. It wasn’t like this with the Dom behind Door Number One?”

  She closed her eyes. Like that helped against the memories of that first awful night with Bryce. And the second. And the third. Her sexy cop boyfriend had transformed into a different person as a Dom, like Walter White donning the damn Heisenberg Hat. He’d always kept his face shrouded in darkness, concealed by the dungeon’s deep shadows—though he sure as hell made sure she could see his cock. Right after he strapped her down to a spanking bench by her ankles, knees, elbows, and wrists, he shoved the swollen thing at her lips. Take the whole thing down your throat, or I’ll flog you until you scream. Service me well, you slutty little subbie.

  “Sí.” She finally found her way back to the present, forcing a nod for Shane. “But…it’s okay. I’m here now.”

  “Oh, yeah.” He rumbled the word through his whole body, along with hers, while suckling her neck. His fingers drifted toward her nipples again. “You really are.”

  Zoe released a long breath. “And I’ll try to stay.”

  “Mmmm. That’s my good girl.”

  His praise made her tingle. Even so, she charged, “But I can step free any moment I want?”

  “Affirmative,” Shane murmured. “But dear God, I hope you don’t.” He tightened his touch, tugging at her sensitive nodes, again twisting harder at the erect points. “Stunning, amazing Zoe…I could look at you all night. Play with these magnificent tits for hours.”

  “And I…”

  “What?”

  “I almost want you to.” As far as hiding the astonishment in her voice? Forget about it. “But how is that possible? Even though you’re hurting me…”

  “Only a little.”

  “Only a little?”

  He spread warm breath along her neck as he slowly pulled on her taut areolas. “Only because it feels so good to have this effect on you.”

  “Ahhh.” The breathy syllable was all she could manage. Mierda, what an “effect” the man had. Every new pinch brought a jump to her pulse and a jolt to the depths of her tender folds. She pulsed for him now. Ached. Because of the pain he’d brought her—and the expertise with which he delivered every moment of it.

  “You like it, don’t you, baby girl?” He rubbed her with the pads of his thumbs again. Growled low as she let out a long moan. “You like the way I touch you. And yes, you like the pain. You like it because every time you take more of either, part of your spirit becomes mine. And you like that too. You long to know how I’m going to return that gift to you, converted into something new by my passion…my power.”

  His words sounded like they’d been tossed through a filter of shale. Joined with the pressure of his erection against her ass, Zoe was helpless to fight the demolition of his seduction.

  “Vaya. Yes.” She lilted the words with hope. Maybe she really could do this. Perhaps it would all be different this time. Everything felt different, thanks to this man who’d seen her soul from the start…who focused on her like it was their last night on earth.

  She mewled as he skidded one of his hands down to her hip. Cried out as he used a belt loop on her jeans to pull her tighter against him. His other hand flattened against her throat, locking her head back. He ravaged her neck in another greedy bite. The whole time, his crotch pulsed against her backside. The ordeal had to be hell for him, but the simple knowledge of how she affected him… It was like taking a drink of the world’s best sangria. Sweet. Wild. Delicious. Addicting. Her limbs went limp, washed in the potency of it—but she didn’t fall fully into the mush puddle. She hadn’t paid for that privilege yet. And submissives always had to pay first. In some way.

  Shane broke her reverie with a new growl. “You’re going somewhere else again, baby girl. Someplace that’s not on my approved destinations list.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s…it’s so hard to fight it…”

  “Then why are you?” He slid his fingers over her eyelids to close them and then spread his fingers across her forehead. “Don’t fight it, tiny dancer. This is exactly what I want. Your surrender, from here first. Breathe. Then yield it to me.”

  Beneath his touch, her brow furrowed. “But don’t you want me to—”

  “Let it go.” He pressed the pads of his fingers above her eyebrows. “That’s all I want from you right now.” The strength of his voice helped his effort, ushering pools of honey through her mind and body. “That’s it, beautiful. You’ve already been here, remember? You were ready to give it all, but then everything switched back on. Shut it all down again. I’ll light it back up.”

  “Promise?”

  “Oh, baby girl, I certainly do. You’ll be amazed at the places we’ll go together.”
<
br />   She still struggled to decipher his words, but the man made it damn hard to connect two coherent thoughts together. He didn’t ease up on the sensual cavalcade, either. He stroked a hand through her hair and started pulling with commanding tension. His other hand strayed lower, playing in her navel for a moment before continuing lower.

  Zoe sighed as he unhitched the button on her jeans. Once more as he lowered the zipper. And as his hand slipped beneath her panties—

  “Ohhhhhh!”

  His fingers were nirvana.

  “Fuck.” His growl was a verbal version of his touch, slow and dark and seductive. “You’re perfect, Zoe. So fucking perfect.”

  A shaky sigh stirred the air. She vaguely recognized it as her own. Didn’t matter, anyway, not when she needed to focus on the long, warm digits that parted her flesh, waiting for him in engorged readiness. Though Shane didn’t say a word, his harsh breaths conveyed his own pleasure, swirling hers higher as he pushed back the hood of her clit.

  Don’t stop. Oh, please don’t stop!

  God heard her prayer. He moved a second finger down, gliding it over her most sensitive nerves in a perfect sweep. A mewl tore up her throat. Shane gave her an approving grunt as he continued his exploration, reaching the edge of her most intimate entrance.

  “Ohhhhh!”

  Zoe’s whole body stiffened. Streaks of silver and gold appeared behind her eyes. Who the hell was she kidding? Her whole body was suddenly formed of the lightning. She was electric and alive, brilliant and dazzled.

  And terrified.

  She pulled in a quivering breath. And never let it out.

  “Whoa, baby girl. Ssshhhh. Easy.” Shane rolled his hips, forcing her body into the same lazy ocean motion. “Let it out. Let it go. Trust me, Zoe. We’ll get there, I promise.”

  “Sooner than later,” she gasped back, “if you keep all of this up.”

  “I’m keeping a lot of things up, baby girl.”

  “No shit.”

  She wasn’t sure how he’d react to that. She was guilty as hell when it came to deliberately goading the man tonight, but her new confession was simply the truth. Thank God he discerned that, proving it by turning her around again. At once, he brought her body flush with his and slammed his mouth back down to hers.