Collared for a Night (Crimson Romance) (21 page)

No words, only feelings, swirled around and between them. He took her almost to the point of savagery, but that wasn’t what this act was about. Primitive, a bit brutal, but there was no anger or rage. Only possession. He sought to claim her and he did; beyond body, he came for her psyche, if not her soul. She didn’t know if she was ready for the ultimate form of mating. To be bonded to him. But it was enough that he came for her. All. Of. Her.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Shawn pushed her back into the mattress. “More than you imagine. You are mine. I promise to make you feel safe and secure. I expect that you’ll follow my command. If you don’t, I will teach you for your own good. You came to me to learn to be an alpha and you will become that and so much more.” He spoke, and the embers from his eyes warmed her and released her.

She nodded, running her hands over his shoulders. Shawn leaned over her, swiping his palm against the side of her face.

“And you? Baby, I’m about to come. Is this what you desire?” he asked, in a voice hoarse and low.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He kissed her shoulder; his large hands gripped her body, turning her over. She rolled to face the mattress, his body moving over hers. He tugged her thighs open, and then his hands were back at her hips, pulling her upward. “No, only your ass,” he said, “keep your head down. Relax. I’m taking what’s mine.” Tucking his crown up against her opening, he thrust forward, mercilessly claiming her. Completely. He ground himself against her, growling and making her ass burn and pulsate. Shawn began to pump, seating himself deeper, forcing himself into her body. She held back, even though she wanted to open to him. A wall cracked, but didn’t come tumbling down as she’d expected. She closed her eyes, not fully understanding this need to keep herself protected. She fought against him, and fought harder against herself. “That’s it, baby. I’m going to come,” he rasped as he bowed back, driving himself into her deeper, further than before. “God, I’m going to come so deep inside you, I’ll mark you from the inside out. Are you close to coming?”

“I’m already there. Yes, I’m here.” She closed her eyes.

“Look at me. Diana, let me see your emerald eyes flash as you come. You’re mine. All mine.”

She nodded, staring back at him over her shoulder, and giving in to what she could release. Flinging open as far she could, he moved faster, harder and wilder than before. His sweat-sheened body powered back and forth against her ass. The sounds of flesh slapping flesh, rapid and sharp, filled the room. She kept her gaze trained on him, pushing back on his cock impaling her body against him. His shoulders bunched, he grimaced as his cock filled her, and he pumped a hard thrust. One. He exploded, releasing a body-wracking spasm and spray of hot semen inside her.

Shawn remained wedged between her legs, picking up the pace as his fingers found her clit. “That’s it, baby. Come for me. You’re
all
mine.”

Diana’s orgasm unraveled, making her go hot and slick; her climax had her dripping, sated as she relished Shawn’s swollen cock that remained embedded deep within her. She tried to hold back from him, even though she felt more vulnerable than at any time in her life. He came for her at the Den and took without giving her the ability to stop him. Tonight was no different.

His mouth sought hers, and she let him in, kissing him, stroking him, holding him. His kiss was gentle, giving in to her, and had her floating. He positioned her against him, with her back resting right next to his chest, securing her in the crock of his arm. After tossing his leg possessively over hers, he whispered against her hair.

“Always. Mine.”

Chapter 14

He could just stay here and watch her for hours. Diana had given herself to him. After a year of avoiding all thoughts of intimacy with her, he had her right where he wanted her. The added worry about how to keep her still plagued him, and after last night his concern ran deeper. That answer would take planning, an iron will, and much patience in dealing with his hardheaded leopardess.

Plans … he definitely had plans for Diana. With his cock straining for release, he turned her and gently opened her legs wide to him. She moaned once he began stroking her pussy.

Getting his fill didn’t seem like something that would happen soon. After being with her for a week and fucking her from sun-up to sundown, his appetite had only increased. Today was the first day they’d return to Matrix and he intended to take the edge off in the only way he knew how — fucking.

“Good morning,” he whispered into her sleepy face. He kissed her briefly and sat back to roll a condom down his dick. She gasped as he positioned himself at the mouth of her slick center. “Come on, baby, I’m not about to start the day without you.”

Insofar as her training, Diana had mastered everything he’d sought to teach her over the last week. She could outdistance most leopards in her ability to run a course and navigate her way from one point to another. Her memory was rock-solid. Whether in human or shifter form, she retained the ability to recall events with precision.

He, on the other hand, was losing the battle to stay afloat, feeling more and more as though he’d booked passage on the Titanic. Sinking fast in maintaining his own self-control where she mattered, he was prepared to be a son-of-a-bitch. No argument. A bit of guilt — not enough to put him off. No way to stop from wanting to possess her, even though she hadn’t committed fully to him.

He had no intention of stopping, either. All he could envision was the day he’d bond with her and stop this hunger that threatened to tie his usually streamlined thoughts into knots. The only way clear that he could see was taking the final step with Diana.

But would she ever trust him if all he could do was break the one promise she’d asked? All she wanted was her freedom. All he wanted was her freedom. Or rather, her lack of freedom to run about wildly, as if time was always going to be on her side. She had a wild streak she tried to bury, but it came out and then there was no stopping her. For her safety, she needed guidance and a modicum of restraint. They both were after the same thing and he’d play dirty if that’s what it meant to protect her.

It had been easy instructing Diana. She readily grasped any and all points. Whether abstract theories or physical challenges, she was the near-perfect alpha. Strong, determined, and single-minded in overcoming challenges. It was just that small part of her that tended to refuse to listen to reason if someone was in danger. He gritted his teeth. And that loyalty was exactly what spurred him to want her even more.
She was the perfect mate
. In confirming this, with every glance she cast, each sigh, and whenever she touched him, he become edgier to get to the finish line and do whatever needed to be done to seize his right to claim her entirely.

He could assert control to dominate her, simply because she’d allowed him intimate entrance into her body and she was marked as his on many levels. Apparently, she didn’t know — or remember — that one small loophole in shifter mating. He could demand that she submit to him. But would he do that to her? His patience was ebbing as his craving for her increased.

Her history and his respect for her kept him from acting like a complete bastard in claiming her for her own protection. And her desire that he train her kept her near him instead of her returning home when the worst part of her heat was over. She’d remained in his household and he’d gotten to know her, as well as let her into his world. She said she’d give him her answer about a living arrangement, but she still remained noncommittal.

The day she’d try to sever their bonds, he wasn’t about to fool himself — he’d stop her, not let her go; not even if it meant he had to keep her captive until he convinced her they were meant to be together.

He held his cock, poised at her slick opening, and in one forceful thrust, he slammed into her. Diana’s eyes widened, her body flexing, and she took hold of his arms, moaning softly. He wanted to embed himself inside her.

Shawn growled, “I need you.” Hauling her legs up over his shoulders to gain better access to her body, he pulled back on her thighs, rocking and plunging back into her. He was so deep, but he wanted to go deeper still. He worked his dick, thrusting hard, making certain she was aware who claimed her. Last night he’d fucked her up against the wall, and then he mounted her, hardly able to contain himself. Now was no different. Instead of sating his desire, each time made him hungrier to possess her entirely.

Well, enough patience, he was about to press his point. “That’s right, darling. Open to me.” His dick hardened the more he pumped. He wanted her filled with his semen, but that day wasn’t today. “Look at me, Diana. Who do you belong to?”

A look of bewilderment entered her eyes as she gazed up at him. “You, of course.”

“When I take you, I want to see my ownership in the marks I leave on your skin and deep inside you. Your eyes are so volatile. Come for me. I’ve got to have you.”

Her gaze connected and held with his, and she nodded. “You’ve got me.”

This morning he had no desire for lovemaking in this act of domination. He gave into the roiling hunger to fuck her forcefully as her alpha. This was their last morning together before heading into the office. He was pounding his cock into her as though it was the only way he could make her understand. She was his. With each thrust, her body rebounded from his pounding into her. She closed her eyes and he stopped fucking her to nip the skin at her neck.

“I said to keep your eyes on me. Don’t make me stop and haul you over my lap. I will, even if it means you have to sit on a pillow today at work.”

“You’ve got me, Shawn.”

Fueled by a burst of worry and concern, egged on by his yearning to tell her his feelings, he let his emotions rule him and move him to pound against her. “God, you’re so hot and wet. Are you coming?”

Her pussy enveloped his cock in the most erotic grip. “I’m there. So there.”

His release came on with a hot spurt of semen, but he kept ramming into her body. He could do this forever and he didn’t want to stop. Not when he had more to give her. The electrical snap and burn at the base of his spine rocketed up his back and then his cock throbbed with the force of semen spraying out from him. He yelled her name, caught up in a final jet-stream burst of cum in a release that bordered on agony and ecstasy. The sight of her wrapped around him, so swollen and red, her whole body heated, the searing glow in her eyes, made him want to do it all over again. He shuddered, and lowered himself over her body.

“When you look at me like that, I could call in for a personal day or two.” This time he held onto her even when she wiggled under him, a sign that she was more than awake. He sighed, not wanting to let her go. A raw edge to his urge irritated him more and more, as though his skin had shrunk.

“I’ve got a client meeting this morning,” she whispered against his cheek.

He inhaled. “Then we’d better get a move on.” Christ, he’d wished she would just stay here; he could deal with her client. Why on Earth had he agreed to be a modern, democratic shifter? The hell with being just and operating with principles.

A fine attitude for the person in charge of a newly-codified justice system for shifters. Crap, if he couldn’t control his own emotions, how the hell could he expect any other shifter to demonstrate self-control? He wanted her no less amongst the scales of justice. Bloody hell, when it came down to it, he wanted all of her.

He didn’t want to watch her walk across the bedroom naked. That would be tantamount to torture. He punched the pillow, not knowing what else to do.

• • •

On the ride back to the city, she sat next to him while using the laptop he had given her. Another dazzling brainstorm. Too late to take back the damned thing. He sullenly gazed out the window of the car.

“Are you all right?” she asked, squeezing his fingers.

“Just thinking about the day ahead. We’ve got a short staff meeting.”

“Are we just going to enter the office together?”

“Yes. No one need know anything other than we met this morning. As far anyone knows, we were in L.A. meeting with clients this last week. And this morning, we were scheduled for a breakfast meeting already. I see no problem if everyone knows that you’re mine, but I will respect your need for privacy.”

“Thank you,” she said, squeezing his arm and making his gaze linger, just to contemplate her mouth.

“At least let me get the door.” The car pulled up to the building’s parking garage entrance. He pressed the intercom, alerting Fin to drop them off in front. He walked around the car, opened her door, and almost closed it again when he noticed her skirt hiked up her thigh and her inadvertent display of a white garter belt. Glancing over his shoulder, he glared at the two men standing slack-jawed on the curb.

He helped Diana from the car, taking hold of her attaché case regardless of how high her brow arched. It was only morning and she was dressed for a business meeting, but, fuck, she absolutely took his breath away in the body-hugging suit she wore. Without the half-crazed look of a wild heat, her coolness made him think about licking her, and putting a sign on her that she was his. Their gazes snapped together, and he had a sinking sensation that his inability to touch her at will was going to test him in ways he could only imagine.

“Steady,” he whispered, when she pulled back at his cupping her elbow. Several of the graphic designers from a competing firm stopped outside the door and stepped aside. Every one of those jackasses smiled at her.

The senior partner of Allister Art Designs walked up next to her. “Congratulations, Diana, on the nomination.”

“Peter. Thank you,” she said, smiling and gazing over at Shawn.

He returned the smile while the idea of hauling her back inside the car, fucking her one last time, took hold of him. He shook it off. Partly.

The doorman greeted them. “Mr. Barclay, Miss Hambre.”

Shawn nodded curtly, unable to say a word, his throat so constricted it felt as though he was choking. He had little comfort in the knowledge she was his if every Tom, Dick, and Peter was going to make his move on her. This morning he’d arranged a small office get-together to celebrate her nomination. Next week they’d travel to Vegas. He’d booked several rooms and had scheduled this ceremony as a means to get her away, not expecting his staff to agree to travel. But, hell — everyone invited had wanted to come. A weekend in Vegas and he’d be flanked not only by Tristen and Fin, but by the entire Matrix staff. If this was any indication of what would happen next week, he needed to make plans quickly. He’d be put out, to put it mildly, if he had to spend the entire weekend watching men fall over themselves fawning over her. She deserved it. Sure. But he didn’t like it.