HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series) (11 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Bethany’s mouth dried and fire
flashed through her belly as she watched his wide, sculpted chest slide into
view.

Heaven help her, he was as
breath-taking as ever. She caught sight of one flat bronze nipple and her
thighs began to tremble.

“Do I get a say in any of this?
At all?” she asked.

A taut smile slashed across his
face. “You can decide whether you want to be fucked from behind, on the floor
or up against the wall. I’m fine with whatever surface you prefer. As long as
I’m inside your tight cunt inside the next five minutes.”

He moved towards her and she
slammed out her hands.

“No!” Her cry was hoarse and
agony-filled.

He stopped immediately, shock colliding
with the lust on his face. “Jesus, Bethany, what’s wrong?”

“You overwhelm me, Zach. I can’t
think straight when you do this. I don’t want to hate you for it but I don’t
like this…this out of control feeling when you brush my feelings aside and carry
on regardless.”

His jaw clenched tight and he
frowned. “I’d never force you to do anything you didn’t want. You know that,
don’t you?”

She laughed, the sound scraping
her throat raw. “We both know it’s not that simple.”

Sizzling eyes pinned her in place,
searching, assessing. “Tell me how I can make this work. Would it help if you
were in charge?” he rasped.

Her breath jerked out. She noted
the distinct lack of his agreement to her
no
.
“In charge?”

He nodded. “Wait here.”

Striding to the farthest door in
his bedroom, he entered the room he’d just spoken about. Dark, tormenting
curiosity warred with the need to stay sane in this furiously escalating
sensual ride that she’d once again found herself.

There were so many things wrong
with her presence here in Zach’s bedroom. But for the life of her, Bethany
couldn’t move, couldn’t lift a single finger to halt what she knew was coming.

A part of her wept with just how
overpowering Zach’s will was over her. He smothered her protests with just a
look. When he touched her, her brain ceased to function. She loved it and hated
the unique way he could command her emotions.

She was silently shaking her head
in despair when he returned. He walked slowly to where she stood, his throat
moving in a swallow. As impossible and unconscionable as it seemed, Bethany was
shocked to realize he was nervous.

She guessed why when she saw what
he held in his hands.

“I know my silence hurts and
frustrates you. And you're well within your rights to punish me. Tonight you're
in charge. You can do whatever you want. As long as it involves my cock, your
tight cunt and hot, wet, vigorous fucking. Do it to us, baby. No matter how
angry you are with me, you can't deny we both need it.”

Her eyes widened as he held out
the large silver handcuffs to her.

“Zach—”

He pushed them at her, his breath
shuddering out of his chest. “Take them, Bethany. God, please use them. I’ve
been without you for far too long.” He raked a hand through his hair, his eyes
dark with tortured heat. “I won’t survive another day. If this way makes you
feel a little bit in control, then I’m okay with it.”

She took the handcuffs and slowly
turned the key in the tiny lock and watched the cuffs spring open. They were
made of solid steel, well able to withstand Zach’s imposing strength. Dark
excitement fizzed into her bloodstream. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll abuse my
power?” she enquired huskily.

His dark laughter sent fresh
tingles dancing down her spine. “Fuck, I’m hoping you will.”

“God, even in this, why do I get
the feeling you’re getting exactly what you want?”

Abruptly, he knelt at her feet
and slid one shoe off. “I like to think we’re both getting what we want.”

He stared up at her, gently
caressing her instep before setting her foot down and doing the same with her
other foot. Memories of their first meeting sliced across her unguarded senses,
making her breath catch roughly.

His bold hands crept up her ankle
to her calves. He squeezed them, using the action to draw her closer until his
mouth was one hot inch from her pelvis.

Slowly, he shut his eyes and laid
his cheek against her belly. Warmth from his skin seeped into her, rose to
cradle her heart.

“I’m on my knees, Bethany. I’ll
beg if you want me to.”

A powerful shudder rocked her.
She was certain it would’ve propelled her from her feet had he not been holding
her.

She stared down at his dark head
resting against her and trembled against the feelings cascading through her.

In Marrakech, she’d told this man
she loved him. Although those feelings were buried beneath the pain still
residing like a hard stone in her chest, they were there nonetheless, eating at
her, demanding she acknowledge them one way or the other. She hated that she
was too afraid to look too deep into her heart right now. The probability that
she would accept anything Zach chose to offer loomed far too large in her mind.

But this…what was happening
between them right now, she understood.

She had no idea what tomorrow
would bring but the sex between had always been honest and true. It was the one
thing that held no ambivalence whatsoever. Ironically, it was the one thing she
could count on when it came to Zach.

“Are you going to take that shirt
off or do I need to rip it off you?”

His head jerked up. A second
later, he surged up to tower over her, his shirt a useless heap on the floor.
Up close and intensely mouth-watering, his broad chest just begged to be
touched.

She slid the thin side of the
handcuff over his skin and felt his deep shudder as the cold steel grazed his
nipple. “Fuck!”

Power surged through her. She
repeated the action on his other nipple and bit her lip when his flesh puckered
beautifully.

Starved for him, she lowered her
head and tasted him.

Desperate fingers speared into
her hair, holding her to her task. “God, yes, baby!”

Exercising the prerogative he’d
handed her, she bit him, glorying in his hissed, guttural response. “Let me go,
Zach.”

He released her immediately, his
chest rising and falling agitatedly as he stared down at her. Deep excitement
flared in his eyes as he watched her trail the handcuff down between his pecs
to his waist.

She paused just above the rigid
swell in his pants.“I own you tonight. Will I need to remind you again?”

His nostrils flared and he licked
his lower lip. “You’ve owned me since the second I saw you. I don’t need
reminding.”

Her breath faltered. Tears
brimmed her eyes and threatened to fall. He cupped her cheeks and started to
brush them away.

She turned away abruptly and
walked to the huge, imposing bed. Taking her time, she removed the key from the
cuffs and dropped them on his bedside table. With one finger, she dangled the
handcuffs in front of her. “I’m going to have a lot of fun with these.”

A hint of uncertainty crossed his
face but it was gone a second later. “Tell me what you want me to do, baby.”

Her eyes devoured him from head
to toe and back to his crotch. Hunger clawed through her belly with a
viciousness that made her wonder if this was how addicts felt when confronted
with their favorite drug. She could barely think straight, never mind speak
through the need that pounded through her.

“Undress for me. I want you
naked.”

He complied with a fevered
enthusiasm that would’ve made her smile had she not been caught up in a similar
overwhelming turmoil of need.

Zach shucked out of his clothes
and roughly kicked them aside. Without waiting for permission he strode to
where she perched on the edge of the bed.

The handcuffs slid off her finger
onto her lap, unheeded. She breathed him in and fought the heady scent of his
heated body and unique scent of his arousal.

His huge cock bobbed with each
heartbeat. Unable to resist, she grasped him in both hands. He was rock hard
and hot, thick and so incredibly tempting, she wetted her lips.

“Shit!”

She glanced up him through drowsy
eyes and saw flared nostrils and high color slashed across his cheeks. Power,
sweet and potent surged through her. But at the same time she recognized that
she was equally enthralled by him, equally at his mercy.

But wasn’t about to give up her
power just yet. She caressed him harder, watched his face grow more taut, more
tormented. “Do you want me to suck you, Zach? Do you want to feel the back of
my throat?”

“More than I want to breathe,” he
replied tersely.

She tilted her head and blinked
slowly. “What if I wanted to do something else first?”

A thicker wave of tension washed
over him. “Something like what?” he croaked.

“I don’t know. I’m thinking…” She
slid her tongue over her lips once more and felt him shudder in response.

“Torture, Peaches?”

“Not necessarily. It may be
something you enjoy immensely.”

“Or I could be dead by the time
you make up your mind. Then we both lose. Think about that.” The gravelly plea
didn’t diminish the determined bite in his voice. Her answering smile was as
tight as the need knotting inside her.

She caressed him again from root
to tip, then cupped his heavy balls in one hand. Deliciously sensitive to her
touch, he groaned deep but his eyes remained fixed on her, watching every
single thing she did to him.

Leaning forward, she trailed her
lips above his groin, nipping and licking her way up his pelvis. She saw his
hands twitch at his side, knew he was resisting the urge to spear his hands
into her hair and keep her locked against him.

“You want to do something with
those big hands?” she teased.

“Hmm,” he rasped.

She tongued one nipple and nearly
passed out from the pleasure overload. “Undo my zipper,” she managed to
instruct.

Unsteady fingers eased her long
zipper. Cool air washed over her heated skin, exposing her bra and the top of
her matching thong.

His heartfelt, “Christ,” told her
he’d noticed the color.

She withheld the urge to tell him
every piece of lingerie in her underwear drawer had been changed to indigo, the
impulsive online shopping madness having struck her that day he’d been caught
up in meetings all day in Marrakech.

Hearing him now, she was glad she
hadn’t resisted the urge to return every scrap of lace and satin the day she’d
returned to New York.

“Let me take off your dress,” he
requested.

She nodded against his chest and
let go of his cock long enough for her arms to free her dress. It slithered
over her hips and dropped to the floor.

Eagerly, she grasped him again as
her mouth drifted up his strong throat. Feeling his pulse underneath her
tongue, she licked the strong flutter, then bit him hard enough to leave a
mark.

Dark laughter rumbled through his
chest. “Marking your territory, Peaches?”

She didn’t respond. His mouth was
too close. Too tempting to resist. Rising on tiptoes, she kissed him.

Strong hands closed around her
immediately, holding her tight enough to strangle her breath. With her hands on
his cock, locked between them, she felt every pulse through his hard erection.
Wet heat oozed between her thighs as her clit pounded with need.

His tongue invaded her mouth and
she flicked hers against it, earning herself a deep groan. Fused and desperate,
they devoured each other, stopping every few minutes to breathe.

Her bra came off somewhere along
the process and she just managed to pull back when his hand knotted in her
panties, ready to rip them off.

“No,” she protested raggedly.

Hard, demanding eyes clashed with
hers and his hand tightened in her thong, pulling it tight against her heated
sex. “Baby, you know that’s not my favorite word.”

“What happened to me being in
charge tonight?”

His mouth firmed into a thin line
of displeasure. Slowly, he loosened his grip and closed his hands over her ass
instead. He squeezed the tight globes and his clenched jaw told her he was
reaching the end of his rope. She stemmed the urge to appease him and gripped
his cock harder.

With a sustaining breath, she
stepped back and picked up the handcuffs. “Lie down,” she instructed.

His hand tightened on her ass for
a few seconds before he let go. He levered one knee on the bed, his body sleek
and predatory as he drew back the sheets and discarded all but two pillows.

With his eyes on her, he arranged
himself in the middle of the bed. One hand gripped the steel and wood carving
of the headboard, the other rested on his groin, just above his thick erection.

Looking at his sculpted
perfection made her throat dry and her heart pound with incessant need. She
swallowed and forced herself to concentrate.

“Both hands up, please.”

Releasing a rough breath, he
raised his other hand to grip the headboard.

The high expansive bed meant
Bethany had to get up and close to secure the handcuffs. Which meant bringing
her body close to the predatory beast beneath her. She barely managed to secure
one wrist before his head surged off the pillow and his hot, hungry mouth
closed over her tight nipple.

She gasped as pleasure shot fiery
darts through her. “Zach!”

He rolled her nipple in his
mouth, groaning deep and long as her flesh puckered tighter. Then he bit her
flesh and sucked some more. Her hands shook so badly, she gripped his wrists to
steady herself.

He was unapologetically derailing
her every intention. And she was letting him. With a pained groan, she pulled
back. He lurched for her other breast and caught the second peak just as she
slapped the second cuff in place. He laved her once, twice, before she found
the strength to move away and scoot down the bed.