Of Silk and Steam (23 page)

“…Do you want to know the damnable truth, Duchess? No matter how much I want to walk away, to let you leave, I can’t do it.” His hand caught her throat, tilting her head back and pinning her there, balanced on the edge of the precipice. Black eyes blazed in the center of her vision. “You enthrall me. I feel my heart beating and it’s all you, you,
you
.”

You.
Mina’s eyes shot wide as his face lowered. That dangerous mouth closed over hers again, tongue thrusting past her lips and teeth, forcing the kiss upon her.

The thin veneer of civility washed away, drowning her in a man that was more primal than rational. This…this was what the craving meant, what lust meant. This was the choice he’d offered, one that she hadn’t anticipated.

And one that undid her.

Yes.
She made that choice again, with her whole body screaming the word. Past time for games, for fear. Tiptoeing around each other for years, because maybe a part of her had always known it would be like this. Consumed. Stripped bare. All that she was, offered up to him on a platter.

Then he was coming up for air, breathing hard. “I hate the hold you have on me.”

More shocking words, an honesty of sorts. It seemed sacrilegious not to reply in kind. “No, you don’t,” she whispered. “You would love it, if only you too had such a hold on me.”

All four feet of the chair hit the floor, jerking her forward. Breathing hard, half-dazed, she collapsed against her bonds, shuddering in every nerve of her body.

Boot heels echoed on the timber floor. Barrons circled her slowly in a dangerous prowl. Blackened eyes locked on hers. Leaning down, he caught the edge of the chair seat and dragged her forward until her knees hit his. Control was a knife edge within him.

Slowly he reached out, hands tugging the pins from her hair and scattering them disdainfully until it tumbled loosely down her back. Barrons twisted her hair into a rope, then wrapped it around her throat, the ends of it tickling her jaw.

“And do I not have such a hold?” Soft, dangerous words.

She
couldn’t
answer that.

Instead she bit his thumb. Heat flared in his eyes at the feel of her teeth, his breath catching. “I will never let any man own me,” she said, kissing the bite mark to soothe it. “But you can try.”

At the sound of her sultry whisper, he let her go. Her hair unraveled, tumbling down around her shoulders. Neither of them looked away.

“Then I will.”

Hands slid over her hips, then under her thighs. Somehow he lifted her into his lap as he settled on the chair beneath her. Barrons dragged her forward with one hard thrust, seating himself fully beneath her, his muscled thighs clenching beneath hers.

He brushed her hair back over her shoulders, baring her corset to his gaze. Thumbnails scraped over her skin, bringing the barest shiver to the fore. His eyes were shadowed now, unreadable. Palms cupped her breasts through the stiff boning of her stays. Mina twisted uneasily, pulling at her wrists.

“Let me go.”

“No.” He leaned forward and bit her throat, one thumb sweeping beneath her corset and rasping over her nipple.

The sensation shot all the way through her. “
Please.
” She twisted again, feeling the hard steel of his erection rock between her thighs. “If we do this, I want to touch you.”

“
No.
” His voice came a little harder, fingers dipping and rolling her nipple between them, breath warm against her throat as his lips grazed her skin. “We don’t always get what we want, Duchess.”

Duchess.
The correct way to address her, and yet it only emphasized the distance between them. A hand slid down her calf, tugging her boot off, making quick work of the other one before he settled her more firmly in his lap.

“Now,” he murmured, a strange light in his eyes, “let us see who’s telling the truth.”

Obviously he was still smarting over that “
never
let
any
man
own
her
” comment. “About what? About how desperately you want me, Barrons?”

He stilled, the backs of his fingers brushing over her corset, then looked up slowly with dark, dangerous eyes. “I already admitted that. That makes you the liar. Are you lying, Duchess?” His thumb swirled dangerous circles around her hardened nipple, sending a hint of seduction through her corset. “Do you want me too?”

“Do you need me to want you?” she countered and his face darkened as if she’d struck a direct blow.

“No, you’re right.” Something cleared in his expression. He caught her hips between his hands and ground her against him, earning a hiss. “I just need you to want
this
.”

This
was safe. She bit her lip, letting her hips ride over his again. Silent confirmation.

“I’m not going to be gentle, Mina—”

Mina
. It threw her out of the moment, forming a connection between them that she shouldn’t want, and yet her heart clenched in her chest.

“Not tonight. I want you to remember this.” He lowered his head, tugging at the top of her corset. Her nipple tumbled free, drawing his heated gaze. “I want to mark you so that you can’t deny this tomorrow.”

“Then mark me,” she whispered. “Make me feel it.”

Teeth bit her nipple, drawing a cry from her lips. The pain was sharp, swallowed in warmth as his mouth softened over her, sucking at her. Exquisite. She felt it between her legs, as though his mouth were there instead.

His hands jerked at her trousers, tugging at her buttons, then ripping the fabric down her legs until his hands hit her thighs. Bending her knees up between them, he stripped the trousers off. Her drawers went with them, his mouth finding hers as she gasped at the shock of her sudden nakedness, his teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

No time to think about it. He spread her thighs wide in his lap, tearing at the buttons holding his own trousers closed until his cock jutted free. Lifting her hips, he hissed as the blunt head of his cock wedged between her slick thighs. Her entire focus narrowed to the sensation of their joining, as if nothing else mattered. Barrons looked at her and she saw the silent question in his eyes.

She had no answer. None but this… Inch by inch, she impaled herself upon him.

The shock of it stole her breath.
Oh
God.
Then she was moving, the muscles in her thighs straining as she rolled her hips. Or tried to. The ties at her wrist dug in, giving her no leverage.

Large hands slid under her bottom, holding her there. The feel of him stretched her inside like a molten brand. “You’re at my mercy, Duchess.” His cool whisper shivered over her skin, a taunting smile darkening his lips. Muscles bunching in his arms, he lifted her hips until the blunt head of his crown threatened to leave her, then slowly let her sink back down.

“Do you want this?” A hiss escaped him as his cock glided all the way back in again. Mina buried her face against his shoulder, shuddering. She nodded.

Again those hands lifted her, holding her at the very edge. “Then beg me,” he demanded. “Tell me how much you want it. How much you want
me
.”

Years’ worth of secret desire burned between them. Mina shook her head, and he rubbed the blunt head of his cock against her sensitive flesh. The ache of withdrawal was bittersweet, and she realized that he was telling her the truth.

He would take no more unless she surrendered to him.

“Why is it so bloody important?”

His eyes darkened as he held her there, face-to-face, his body threatening—promising—to breach hers again, if only she whispered those few little words. And she could tell from the stiffening line of his jaw that he wasn’t going to answer her.

“I want you.”
There, damn you.
“I’ve always wanted you.” She nipped at his lip. “And I want this—” Her words ended on a hiss as he thrust back inside her. “All of this. All of you.”

“I’m not letting you go.” A part of her didn’t care. Teeth sank into her arm as he turned his head to the side and bit her. “
Never
, Mina. This is the only thing that makes sense anymore.”

Somehow she dragged a hand free of the shirt and cupped his face, tilting his mouth to hers in a whisper of a kiss. Those damning words burrowed deep inside her soul. She couldn’t let him say any more.

She wanted to hear them too badly.

Tongue thrusting into her mouth, he slid her up and down in carefully controlled glides, his cock gliding wetly between them. Mina moaned, clenching her inner muscles. She didn’t want slow. She didn’t want controlled. She wanted to drive him crazy, to finally see the darkness that lurked under his skin.

He broke the kiss, lip curling in a silent snarl as he lowered her back down and she squeezed
harder
.

“Damn you.” The breath exploded out of him, the whites of his eyes gleaming as he nipped at her chin. Muscle bulged in his forearms as he urged her up, thrusting his cock into her harder, faster, until she could feel the burn between them.

Nibbling along his jawline, she bit his earlobe gently. “Fuck me, Barrons.” A dirty little whisper that earned her a hard thrust.
Yes.
Mina reveled in it. “Untie me. Let me touch you,” she murmured, gasping for each breath as he pounded into her. He liked her to beg, did he? “Please.
Please.
”

Barrons tore at the shirt holding her other hand and she sank both of her hands into his hair, curling her palms against his scalp as she tried to press closer. Barrons caught her under the bottom, thighs straining as he lifted her out of the chair.

One step. Two. Her back hit the bed as he followed her down, Barrons’s entire weight crushing her down into the mattress as he slid back inside her. She couldn’t stop herself from writhing beneath him. He was plunging into her now, years of pent-up tension between them coming to the fore. The tendons in his throat tightened, his teeth bared as he clenched his eyes shut. So close. Her heart reveled in it. She couldn’t take her eyes off his face.

Barrons ground to a halt, his breath harsh and muted against her shoulder as he shuddered. “You are the devil, you know that?”

“Don’t stop,” she whispered.

“I don’t intend to.” The next thrust was slow and deep. He laughed under his breath. “But you make me forget myself. A gentleman always takes care of his lady…” The smokiness of his voice spilled heat all the way through her.

“You are taking care of me.”

Easing up onto his elbows, he shifted the angle of her hips, the next thrust taking her by surprise. She felt it deep within her, her entire body tightening and her nails digging into his upper arms. Not quite certain if she liked the raw intensity of this feeling.

“Mmm.” He closed his eyes, lips parted. “That feels good. So fucking good.”

Mina writhed, trying to tempt him. “I like it when you lose control.”

His eyes opened. A dangerous challenge filled them. “You first, Your Grace.” Rolling onto one elbow, he slid his hand between them, fingers gliding down through the thatch of red hair between her thighs and over slick, sensitive skin. Mina grabbed his shoulders, holding on for dear life. With his hips pinning hers, she had no escape. It was shockingly intense. She couldn’t hide from him here—couldn’t control
any
of this…

“No. No,” she moaned, shaking her head, crying out as he stroked the small, hard bud just above where they joined. Her entire body shook.

“Yes.” Barrons slid her knee up, her heel resting on the indentation of his buttock as he rocked his cock into her. Filling her so deeply that she ached.

Pleasure was a hot, wicked flush in her abdomen. She couldn’t stop her body from clenching around his as he slowly fucked his way into her. A strangled sound tore from her throat, one hand fisting in the sheets as she shook her head, trying to deny it.

“Do you ever touch yourself?” he whispered.

Their eyes met. A finger stroked over her lazily and Mina bit her lip as her body arched helplessly.

“You do,” he whispered. “Don’t you?” Another lazy stroke, his fingertip circling that swollen bud.

Mina held her breath, her hips arching up, up…

He bit her ear, the words a hot temptation. “Do you think of me when you do it?”

The words followed her over the edge. She couldn’t control herself, thrashing beneath him, her nails scoring desperate marks in his flesh. Her entire body shook, locked around his.

The second she felt herself coming down from the edge he thrust hard, riding over something deep inside her. Mina came again with a shocked cry, clutching at the hard sinew of his shoulders.

Again.
Her eyes shot wide and she threw her head back as he surged inside her. Hard, wet slaps. Flesh against flesh as he finally let her hips tilt back down until she could manage the explosive sensations inside her. She was shaking all over.

With a rough growl, Barrons quivered, spilling his hot seed inside her. “Mina,” he breathed, collapsing atop her. “
God.
”

A little blaze of warmth lit inside her at the sound of her name and she reached out, hesitated, then rested her hand on his back, feeling the breath shudder through him. A tenuous touch, a silent question. Wanting to ask him to say her name again.
Mina,
he’d whispered, and it shivered inside her, all hot and molten.

Damn him, what was he doing to her?

It was all she could do to hold him. She had no energy left. Just enough to lie there, completely shattered, as his weight settled firmly on her, sinking them both into the mattress. Her ribs compressed and she couldn’t quite get enough breath, but when he moved to shift off her, she dragged him back down.

For the longest time, she clung to him and he held her, his face nuzzled against her throat. His breathing softened, his heart pounding against her breasts where they were crushed to his chest. She could feel him inside her still, wet and thick and softening…

Barrons finally lifted his head. “Hell,” he whispered gruffly. “I didn’t hurt you?”