“What are you talking about?”
Luke shook his head in defeat and closed his eyes, laying his head in the crook of the wingback chair. He looked like he’d aged a decade since he’d pleasured Angelina an hour or so ago.
Marc stood and reached over to take the glass out of Luke’s hand and set it on the coffee table, then grabbed the blanket that had been covering Angelina and used it to cover his friend. Given how much he’d had to drink in such a short time, it was probably safer if he remained upright, so he’d let him sleep it off in the chair.
Maybe Luke would see straighter in the morning—if he wasn’t too hung over to see.
* * *
“Red!”
Marc opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust to his surroundings. Where was he? He straightened out his cramped legs and hit the footboard. What the…looking down, he saw it wasn’t a footboard but an armrest. He was sleeping on a sofa.
He remembered where he was at last. Angelina’s living room. Shit. Some watch guard he was. Sleeping on duty. He looked over at Luke, who was passed out in a chair. What had awoken him?
“
Mio Dio!
Stop!”
Angelina! Marc sprang off the sofa and bounded down the hallway before his mind registered anything other than that Allen Martin had returned.
Please don’t let me be too late this time.
He entered the open door of the bedroom, expecting to find Asshole attacking her. She was alone in the bed.
“Hurts.”
Her whimper reminded him of when she’d come out of deep subspace. Oh,
Dio
. A nightmare. He crossed the room to the bed and touched her shoulder to awaken her.
“Wake up, Angelina. You’re safe now.”
When she didn’t respond, he scooped her into his arms and sat on the edge of the bed, cradling her.
“Shhh. It’s over.”
She shook her head. “Not real.”
“That’s right,
cara
. Only a dream.”
“But I wish you were real; my first Dom.”
He smiled, because he’d been wishing the same thing ever since he’d met her. So, apparently, she wasn’t thinking about Sir Asshole anymore. Did she remember Marc holding her that night at the club?
Ha! Dream on, man
.
But wasn’t it interesting she’d been dreaming of a Dom. He hoped Luke could give her what she longed for sexually. The thought of her needs not being met made his chest ache. She’d be an awesome submissive to train. Perhaps he could help her to express her interests in the kink and even offer to talk with Luke on her behalf, if she was too shy at first. Marc just didn’t know if Luke was interested in pursuing the lifestyle. He had some Dom tendencies, but had been uninterested in the club visit. Maybe it was just too soon after his wife’s death.
She stirred restlessly in his arms and he held her tighter. He brushed his hand over her hair, feeling his groin tighten. “I have you,
cara.
”
But only for tonight.
Luke would come to his senses soon and see she was the most perfect woman in the world. Every man’s dream. Marc closed his eyes. She certainly fulfilled his dreams. He regretted he would never be her Dom.
Shit. He had it bad. What the hell was he going to do about her?
Nothing.
“Open your eyes, pet.”
She blinked and looked up at him.
“Marc?”
“Yes,
Amore
. You had a nightmare.”
“Allen and my d…never mind.”
Had she been about to say “my Dom”? Or someone she wished were her first Dom?
“You can tell me,
cara
. I have been the keeper of many secrets.” As the Navy corpsman for the Marine unit, he’d been trained to be someone the troops came to for advice or just to unload their anxieties.
“Sometimes I’m angry at him for spoiling my fantasy.”
“What fantasy is that?” He wondered if she’d mention the club.
“It’s too embarrassing.”
“Fantasies are supposed to be a bit illicit. Forbidden. That’s what makes them so exciting.” Her breathing grew more rapid and shallow. Thoughts of her fantasy clearly turned her on. He wished she would share it with him.
“I read…well, erotic books a lot. Romances, but with a kinky side to them.”
“What type of kink?”
Her body grew tense and he stroked her arm to relax her. This could be an interest conversation.
“Promise you won’t laugh or get all weird? It’s not my fantasy anymore.”
More’s the pity. Asshole bastard ought to be horsewhipped for destroying her desire to explore her fantasies.
“I assure you your fantasies would be tame compared to mine.”
She laughed. “Probably so.” Her hand played with a button on his shirt front. “I used to be excited about being…tied down. Restrained. By someone…a man who is dominant.”
He felt his groin tighten and his own breathing grow more shallow.
Control yourself, man.
“Why do you say used to? Fantasies usually are pretty deep-seated and don’t vanish very easily.”
“Well, this one got beaten out of me.”
Chapter Nine
Angelina’s heart thudded against her chest. What had possessed her to tell him something like that?
“Oh,
cara.
I can’t tell you how sorry I am that happened to you.” He held her tightly, placing his chin on the top of her head and enveloping her in his strength and warmth.
“Let’s put that fantasy and bad memory on the back burner for now. Tell me about another fantasy. One you haven’t experienced yet. Perhaps something you’ve read about…or even seen.”
“Um, there was this one time when…I was at a private club in Denver.”
“What kind of private club?”
Oh, she didn’t want to admit she’d gone to a kink club. “Um, one where adults…couples mostly…do...things to each other.”
“Just what kinds of things do they do?” She could have sworn by his voice he was smiling, but didn’t want to pull away from his comforting arms to confirm her suspicions. Just what did he find so funny?
She sighed. “Well, pretty much anything you can imagine.”
“I can imagine a lot, pet.”
Oh, damn it all, apparently the man had never been inside one before. He was going to think she was a slut, but obviously, she was going to have to tell him now. He was like a dog with a bone. “Promise you won’t think badly of me?”
“It’s rather difficult for me to promise when I don’t know what you’ve done yet.”
Well, what did she expect, unconditional love from a near stranger? One who happened to be cuddling her on his lap on the edge of her bed?
Oh, Nonna. I hope you aren’t watching!
Angelina decided to just spit it out.
“I…We were…in a kink club.” She held her breath and steeled herself.
“Ahhh, I see. What was it like?”
He certainly didn’t seem to be judging her. But he wanted her to talk about it? Oh, God. This just got worse and worse on the embarrassment scale.
“I didn’t see much.”
She realized she’d unbuttoned his shirt and her fingers played idly with the springy chest hairs in the vee of his shirt. She didn’t want him to think she’d gone to a sleazy one, though. “It seemed like a nice place. Karla, she was the club’s singer, was very kind to me after…well, later. She brought me home. And the club’s owner, Master Adam, was very nice, too.”
His hand stopped stroking her hair. “Were there any other nice people you met there?”
“No. Mostly I just watched.”
After a moment, his hand began stroking her again, but she felt tenseness in his body. Maybe he was judging her.
“What did you see?”
“There were several couples in the great room who were engaging in different…activities.”
“Which activities interested you?”
Her mind returned to the main room of the club where one of the Doms had caught her attention while Allen was filling out guest papers on her. The Dom wore a Harley-Davidson jacket with the tail of a dragon tattoo curled around his bicep, the rest of the mythical creature disappearing under the vest. Very lethal looking—both the dragon and the man, who held a coiled whip against his leather-clad thigh.
“There was a Dom with a whip.” She felt Marc’s body tense even more, but wasn’t sure if it was the mention of the Dom or the whip that bothered him. Well, he asked, so she was going to tell him what she liked. “Kneeling before him was a blonde woman who looked up at him adoringly, waiting for him to do…well, whatever he wanted to do, I suppose.” The man had a whip, for Christ’s sake!
“Did the whip excite you?”
She pulled out of his arms, bumping his chin against her head in her haste to get away, but she wasn’t going to let him get the notion she was into whips. “God, no! Don’t even go there!”
He relaxed visibly and smiled. “Duly noted,
gattina
.”
Angelina felt the tension leave her, as well, and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. He seemed as relieved as she was, although she had no idea why.
“So, tell me what it was about the Dom/sub that interested you so much.”
She blushed. It was pretty lame as far as fantasies went, but she’d been so turned on by the two. “He put his middle finger deep into her mouth and, with the other fingers and the thumb of his hand, he…I guess you’d say caged her chin, forcing her mouth open.” Angelina felt herself getting wet just remembering. She shrugged and smiled.
“Do you know what it was about the scene that excited you?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. It just did.”
She lowered her gaze to his bare chest where her fingers were buried in the light sprinkling of his black chest hairs. She liked touching him. He waited, expecting more of an answer, she supposed.
“The woman’s expression was…well, she looked up at him with such, I don’t know the word—adoration maybe? Devotion? Trust?” She swallowed. “Or maybe it was the way he took control of her mouth like that. Of her.” She shivered. “I don’t know, but it blew me away.”
Marc’s gaze went to her mouth and Angelina’s clit throbbed in response as if he’d taken control of her mouth the way the tatted Dom had done with the blonde at the club. She squirmed on his lap. Her gaze locked on his mouth. She wanted him to kiss her again, only rougher than he’d kissed her last night.
She’d never tried to seduce a man, usually letting him make the first move. But then she wound up with guys like Allen. If this wasn’t the opportunity of a lifetime—sitting in the lap of one of the sexiest men she’d ever met—there might never be another one.
Her fingers glided across his chest, stroking his firm pecs and wishing he wasn’t wearing a shirt. His muscles were hard, too, and tight. She brushed the nail of her thumb across his nip and felt it grow even harder, but not as hard as his penis pressing against her bottom.
He stilled her hand by pressing it against his chest. “
Cara
, you’re playing with fire.”
She searched his eyes. “What are your fantasies, Marc?”
His lips curled into a smile, but his eyes remained hard. “I don’t think I’ll be in town long enough to tell you about all of them.”
“Which fantasy would you like to fulfill with me?” Had she just asked that? What had gotten into her? She’d never been brave, or brazen, in her life.
“None.”
Angelina felt his rejection like the jab of a knife into her chest. Oh, God! What had come over her? She wasn’t some sex goddess men fantasized about. Since Friday night, he’d made her feel so…beautiful and desirable. How had she misread his interest so badly?
Embarrassed, she tried to get off his lap. She needed to get away. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what…”
His arm tightened around her waist and he held her forearm to keep her in place. “Remain still.”
His tone of voice made her freeze in place, causing her stomach to fall about six inches, leaving her breathless. She blinked against the stinging in her eyes, nothing compared to the stinging blow to her ego. He took her chin and turned her to face him.
He seemed to struggle within himself for a moment, then a determined look flickered in his eyes and he looked down at her mouth. She felt his penis throb against her butt and held her breath, then his fingers wrapped around her jaw and he stared into her eyes. His thumb pressed against her lower lip. Never breaking eye contact, he pushed at her lower teeth until her jaw slackened, then his thumb invaded her mouth. Her clit jolted in response and she gasped. Her breathing increased as she felt her body respond to this show of control.
Marc’s thumb went deeper inside her, pressing against her tongue. He continued to watch her eyes as if waiting for some response. Her clit began to pulsate as if he’d touched her. He smiled. Surely he hadn’t felt it, too.
Her mind went back to the Denver BDSM club in Denver. Angelina wrapped her lips around his thumb and sucked, just as the blonde had done. His smile faded and when he began to remove his thumb, she used her teeth to apply gentle pressure and keep him from moving. This fantasy wasn’t over yet.
As if he came to some decision, Marc’s thumb and fingers caged her chin and opened her mouth wider. She could have sworn her uterus just spasmed, because that spot in her lower belly grew warm and tingly, her muscles melting like butter. The very act of touching her this way was so primal.
So…dominant. She sucked air into her lungs, realizing that was exactly the reaction he’d intended. Her gaze remained locked with his. Why hadn’t she realized all along he was a Dom? He’d taken control of his surroundings from the moment they’d met—of Allen, even Luke to an extent, and most definitely of her.
Mio Dio
, she hoped he wouldn’t be able to tell the effect he had on her. She didn’t want to be submissive to anyone ever again.
He smiled. Damn him. He knew she was turned on by his he-man display of authority over her. Then his thumb was gone and his hand gripped her lower jaw opening her further as his mouth came down hard against hers. His other hand went to the back of her head, gripping her hair as he tilted her head back, forcing her mouth open further. As if she could have denied him access at this point.
His whiskers scratched her cheek and chin, sending flashes of sizzling energy in a beeline to her clit, which began to throb in earnest now. His tongue plunged inside her thoroughly restrained mouth, plundering her. He knew she no longer had the will to resist him.