Hers to Choose (Cannon Cousins) (9 page)

“Did you, uh, want to
have dinner now?”

“I see you aren’t in your
outfit,” he continued in an annoyed voice. “Dan was specific.”

He made her crazy. In a
fury, she lifted the sweater over her head and threw it down on the floor
before unlatching the bra, then kicked off her boots and shimmied out of the
jeans. “Is that good enough?” she demanded. She felt his inspection burning on
her breasts and her thong-clad crotch as she shoved her feet back into the
boots.

“You only have to please
Dan. About dinner, I’m starving. So yes, bring it please.”

She heard him seating
himself as she sliced off a hunk of meatloaf and spooned up the mashed
potatoes. Nothing about him now seemed remotely connected to the intense
pleasure he had given her that morning. Why this distant,
condescending
attitude? But, she reminded herself, wasn’t this better? Wouldn’t this help her
stop wanting him?

And there was this detail
about her being submissive.
To Dan.

The heavy plate of food
made a satisfying thump as she set it on the white tablecloth. She hurried back
with the iced tea and the salad.

“Anything else?” she
managed. His scent was driving her crazy.

He swallowed and wiped
his mouth with the napkin. “Yes, add the nipple chain.”

Her clit stiffened as she
latched the silver clips onto her hard nipples.

“Sit down,” he said.

The clips’ metallic links
picked up the candle reflection as she pulled out a chair.

“So Miss McClure, I’m
curious about your circumstances. Don’t you believe your situation is somewhat
precarious, living here alone?”

She sat in silence for a
moment, considering what he said, her mind briefly skipping over Brent
Thompson. “I never saw it that way. I grew up roaming around this land. I’ve
got
guns,
I know how to use them.”

“But a young woman
alone...” He paused from eating and sipped tea. “Do you always live here?”

“Only
the last year.
I’ve made it my place now.”

“I see.
And no man around to help out?”

“I don’t need a man to
help out,” she said, stiffening. Ethan, the despicable ass, wouldn’t have a
clue about which end of a hammer to use, much less how to build a fire. “My
experience is that men don’t necessarily have anything worthwhile to offer.”

He eased his fork down to
the table and stared at her in the dim light. “Is that right?”

“Yes,” she continued,
lifting her chin slightly.

“And in your vast
experience with men, have you concluded anything else?”

“Well,” she considered,
“yes...that men can be a pain in the ass.” She bit her lip, wondering if she was
pushing it too far.

He finished off the food
on his plate, leaned back, and crossed his arms across his bare chest. A faint
smile hovered on his lips. Or, she thought, maybe it was simply the pleasure of
no longer being cold and hungry.

“Help me understand,” he
began, keeping her locked in his luminous stare. “You’re incredibly beautiful,
live on a killer piece of land out here in the middle of nowhere, cook up some
of the most magnificent food I’ve ever tasted, and all of that without fear or
interest in sharing any of it with a man.” He leaned toward her. “Is that what
you’re telling me?”

Beautiful, he said.
Magnificent food.
Her brain reeled with the sudden wealth of
compliments. Heat rushed to her cheeks. She felt she must be blushing, a
ridiculous development. She looked at him, trying to figure out what he was up
to. “Yes, I mean, I have had interest in men. And may in the future,” she
managed. “But in general...”

He tugged the chain
clamped to her nipples, coaxing her from the chair and toward him. “In general,
you were saying...” he said quietly, bringing her within two feet of his body.

Heat poured off his
muscled chest. Or maybe it was her. Or the wood stove, she thought frantically.
What the hell was she saying? She couldn’t remember. His thumb was stroking her
nipple around the clamp. She clenched her buttocks.

“What do you want right
now, Miss McClure?” he whispered.

“I...I,” she stammered.
Had he decided to join Dan in this discipline thing?
Because
she desperately wanted his discipline.
She wanted him to punish her,
hold her down,
force
her. “I want... oh, I can’t.”

“Don’t you feel you’ve
pushed far enough, Miss McClure? Isn’t discipline what you need?”

“Yes,” she said
immediately. Damn
damn
damn
.
“I mean, no.”

He smiled, boring into
her with those intense blue eyes. God, he was gorgeous, such sensual lips, the
jawline starting to show beard shadow. His bare shoulders and chest gleamed in
the candlelight. If she could put her fingers through that unruly hair, bring
his lips to her mouth. She closed her eyes.

“What do you want?” he
asked again.

“I want...you,” she said,
her pussy pulsing with the words. She couldn’t face him, kept her view set on
the floor.

He scooted back his
chair. The front of his white
Thinsulate
pants
stretched upwards with his enormous erection. “Me.
To
do…what, Miss McClure?”

Her mouth watered, her
skin flushed, and she had lost the capacity to form words. She looked at him,
her survey wandering over his tempting mouth before startling up to meet his
intense gaze. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

His biceps bulged as he
forced her over his lap so her breasts crammed unceremoniously against his
thighs. She couldn’t believe what he was doing.

Whap!
His big hand slapped her bare butt
in a resounding blow.

“Oh!” she jumped,
stiffening.

Another
whap!
and
another. Her crotch surged with juices as a warm glow
spread from her buttocks. Her breasts throbbed against his thighs. His hot hand
briefly rested on her stinging ass cheeks, and then another series of slaps burned
across her ass.

His hand roughly pulled
her up and forced her into a kneeling position on the floor beside his chair.
“Is that what you like?” he asked in a hoarse voice. “Is that part of your
general idea about men, Miss
McClure, that
you can get
away with defying orders?”

“Yes.” She shook her
head. “I mean, no.”

He tugged at the front of
the tight pants and released the staggering length of his cock. “And so I’m
left to guess that what you gave Dan this morning was disgusting beyond
description.”

His tight hand on her arm
directed her to a chair and pulled it toward him.

“No. I mean, yes.” Oh god
she wanted nothing more than to run her tongue down that silken shaft, around
its swollen head, take his heat deep into her throat. She licked her lips.

A slight chuckle escaped
his throat. The sound of his laugh thrilled her, soft and intimate. “Whatever
your intent, the message was lost. Dan received a great deal of pleasure from
your talented mouth. So if you meant to convey your general displeasure with
men, you failed to do so.” He pushed his hand between her legs, spreading them,
and began thumbing the throbbing nub. “And from what I saw afterwards, it
wasn’t exactly distressing for you.”

“Yes, well...” Her gaze
jumped from his teasing eyes to the rigid length of his cock.

“And from what I’m
finding now in my preliminary examination, Miss McClure,” he shoved his thumb
along the crease of her wet panties, “you aren’t exactly distressed at this
moment.”

“No, well...”

“Show me how you pleased Dan.”
He shoved his hips slightly forward in the chair, moving his stiff cock higher.

She licked her lips with
a lingering glance at his face. A broad smile hovered there, something in his
eyes she couldn’t quite place. His wide chest gleamed in the dim light. If she
could run her hands over those fabulous shoulders… She leaned to his cock and
slipped the tip of her tongue around its swollen crown, gripping it with both
hands and smiling to herself as she heard him draw breath. Two could play at
this little game.

Her mouth burned over his
tender flesh, wreathing his glorious thickness with her tongue, taking him deep
into her throat. His scent swelled in her nose, woody and green like the
forest. She felt his hands stroking her breasts and she had to fight herself
not to straddle his hips and plunge herself down on that incredible erection.
Her insides ached for it.

Over and over she
laved
his bulging penis with her greedy tongue, brought it
against the roof of her mouth and deep to the back of her throat, increasing
with speed and pressure as she felt him swelling toward release. His groans
drifted past her hearing. His hips shifted in the chair, shoving his cock
upwards. His hand brushed over her head and she felt the clasp go on her hair,
sending the long curls over his taut belly and rigid thighs.

Her pussy throbbed and
she found herself shoving hard against the chair seat as she raked her tongue
against his cock. His chest rumbled and he shuddered. The rhythm of their
bodies overtook her in a mindless drive toward completion, until his liquid
fire began pulsing into her mouth in blazing spurts. His hands locked into her
hair, moving her head around on
himself
as he groaned
and shoved his hips. She sucked and swallowed him, giddy in the sultry pleasure
of his satisfaction.

In seconds, he had kicked
his chair backwards and pulled her up, crushing her against his chest with his
strong arms wrapped around her and his mouth plundering hers. Oh god, he was
kissing her with those taunting lips and it was more wonderful than she could
have dreamed. His demanding tongue forced her swollen lips open, thrusting into
her mouth. His hands caressed her bare back and pulled her hips toward him,
pressing his still-erect cock against her black silk panties.

Oh please. Please let
that magical cock find its way inside me.

His hands came around her
sides and grazed her breasts, his strong fingers releasing the clips on her
burning nipples and then massaging the tortured knots. His mouth left her lips
and lowered to her engorged breasts. His tongue swept across the nipples then
his teeth nibbled as he held one breast then another in his hands.

“Oh, god,” he muttered,
burying his face against her incandescent flesh. “Bryn…”

Her hands rushed through
his hair, along the sides of his neck and onto his shoulders. His skin was like
silk, his muscles underneath smooth steel. Her brain had long since ceased to
function. Whatever he wanted to do, she gave herself completely to him.
To hell with games.
This was heaven.

One of his hands slid
under the elastic of her panties and she felt him stroking her clit. Yes.
“
Ohh
.
Yes. Yes
yes
yes
.”

Abruptly, he groaned and pulled back.
Bryn nearly sobbed as the cool air of the room slipped between their bodies. Headlights
bounced across the curtains.

Damn it, Dan was back.

Alex picked up the chair,
glancing back at her with tortured expression. “Damn it,” he said in a raspy
voice. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

What the hell? Why not?
It wasn’t like she forced him.

“Dan won’t approve of the
outfit,” he grumbled, glancing at her.

She didn’t care if Dan
approved. Dan could go fly a kite. Alex was what she wanted, and she had enough
of him just now to know she couldn’t wait to have more. Her nostrils flared.

But evidently she would
have to wait. She sighed, bringing herself back to the reality of the situation
as she fastened the nipple clips and pulled back her hair. Dan would have to
deal with the missing outfit.

Dan slammed through the
front door with a burst of icy air.

“Damn road is getting
slick,” he said, glancing over her body in its clips and thong before looking
at Alex.
“Freezing rain.”

“I’ve got to get some
clothes out of the truck,” Alex replied, grabbing his coat.

Dan’s gaze raked over
Bryn. “I’m taking a shower,” he announced, stripping off his hunting clothes as
he headed to the bathroom.

Bryn stood in the kitchen
trying to regain some control. She was shaking like a leaf, barely able to put
her hair back into the semblance of a knot on her crown. It really didn’t
matter what she looked like, except for some reason Alex seemed concerned that
Dan be kept in the dark about what just happened. Hell, she was in the dark
about what just happened.

She took off the nipple clips
and pulled her sweater over her head, trying to be rational. What the hell was
she doing? Alex was right. They could not get involved. Insane as it seemed,
this was best. Stop before it gets any worse.