Rippled (10 page)

“Please,” I whimpered. I didn’t care if I wasn’t supposed to speak. I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Please…let me…let me come.”

“No.”

Brian’s response was terse, and just as he said it, everything he was doing stopped. Icy panic swept through my veins. I’d done something wrong. Instead of letting him keep me on that edge, I’d spoken up.

He was a Dom in a past life, remember?

How could I have forgotten? But I’d never agreed to this. I’d never wanted… No, that wasn’t true. I did want this. I did want to lose control. But then why was I so angry?

“Have you lost your mind yet?” Brian whispered against my ear.

“If I told you I lost it long ago, would you help me find it?” I asked, my entire body shaking with need.

“I could. But first”—his voice trailed off as he knelt between my knees—“I want to fuck you.”

I tried to hide my relief as I looked down at him. “Whatever you want.”

He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes at me.

Master. You’re supposed to call him master.

Was I? Were those our roles for the night? “Master.”

“Good girl.”

With that, he scrambled off the bed and fished through his jeans’ pocket for a condom, returning with it moments later. With hands that probably shook too much for his liking, Brian tore the foil wrapper and rolled the condom on, positioning himself between my legs.

“How do you like it?” he asked, a sly grin spreading across his face.

Like you don’t know. Fast
.

Slow, say slow.

If I said fast and hard, he’d probably do the opposite. “Slow.”

“Mmm.” He kissed me on the lips. “Slow it is.”

God damn it.
I couldn’t have got it right even if I tried.

He’s a mind reader.
He has to be.

He’s a Dom. It isn’t a life you can forget.

I’d followed his logic and still he’d been two steps ahead of me.

“Kris, I asked you a question.” His voice was soft then, the backs of his fingers caressing my cheek.

“Hmm?” I hadn’t even heard him speak.

“I asked if I was frustrating you.”

“Not really, no,” I lied.

“Tell me the truth. Am I frustrating you?”

I averted my eyes. “Yes.”

Ten thousand times, yes
!

“Am I hurting you?”

“No.” If anything, he was being too gentle.

“Good girl.” He brushed a hand through my shoulder length hair. “We’ll do it your way this time. But next time, you have to do exactly as I ask, is that clear?”

“With safe words?”

He’d mentioned them once before. Safe words were used to keep the submissive safe. And while we hadn’t actually spoken about me personally being his submissive in bed, it sure beat having plain vanilla sex.

He nodded. “Yellow to slow down. Red to stop.” He held himself up with an arm and used the other hand to guide his cock to me, pressing it against my pussy lips. “You can move your arms now. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Have sex with you, or be your submissive?”

“I was hoping both. Especially having sex now. Otherwise, I’m going to feel really dumb in the morning.”

“Why in the morning instead of right now?” I tried to hide my smile.

“Because I’d actually walk away.”

“Well, we can’t have that.” I held a hand against the base of his neck and drew him into a kiss.

He kissed me back, parting my lips with his tongue. I was vaguely aware of his touch against my skin, his cock against my pussy. But in that moment, nothing else mattered except for his kiss. His insatiable hunger. And how soon this would all be over.

After we were both dizzy and breathless, Brian pulled away, pressing a hand on either of my hips.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his eyes begging me to say yes.

I couldn’t speak, so I nodded instead, wrapping my hands around the back of his neck to pull him in for yet another kiss. All the breath I had rushed out of my lungs from his first thrust. He didn’t go slow like he’d promised. He drove inside in one fluid stroke. And God, if it didn’t feel amazing. Every stroke after that hit in just the right spot, at just the right pace.

I was already close when we started, and it wouldn’t take long before I was right on that edge again. Chills ran up and down my spine, and my grip on his neck tightened. I clawed at his skin, which resulted in a growl against my lips and a hard thrust between my hips.

Our lips broke apart, and he quickened his pace. His hips bucked against mine, his shaft hitting against my far wall and stroking my G-spot. Just like that.

“You’re there, aren't you?” he breathed. “Wait for me, baby. Don’t come yet.” His thrusts faltered, and he groaned as he tried to get back to a steady rhythm. “So fucking tight.”

I dug my nails into his back and worked my Kegels to make his thrusts even harder, tighter.

Hold it. Don’t let it go.

I tightened my Kegels as far as they would go, clenching my jaw as white specks crowded my vision.

“Fuck…” He almost sounded as if he was about to cry. “Do that, baby. Keep doing… Christ.”

His head fell back, and he shut his eyes. I’d seen that look on him before. He was losing control. He’d lost control. There was no getting it back. Not with how far along he was.

“I’m gonna…” He shook his head and looked me right in the eye. “You there?”

I wasn’t sure how I did it, but I managed a nod, all the while keeping my orgasm at bay. Fire radiated from my clit as it throbbed against my need for release.

Soon. Just a little further.

“I’m right there…” Brian whimpered. “So fucking…” His words were strained, and I wondered if he’d ever speak again. “Come for me, baby. Come now.”

I let my Kegels go and gave into the orgasm, murmuring as it raced through my body. My pussy tightened and released around Brian’s cock, pushing him over the edge moments later.

When we finally came back down to Earth, Brian got up to get rid of the condom before joining me in bed.

“I always thought you’d make a good submissive,” he said, propping himself up on an elbow to face me.

I rested my arms on my stomach. “Oh? That good, huh?”

“I had no fucking idea…how did you do that?”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Do what?”

“You kept squeezing me.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded.

“A sub…no woman’s ever done Kegels with you before?”

“Is that what that was? Christ. I didn't even know that was possible—”

“What? While having sex?” I smirked. “It takes practice, but any woman can do it. It’s just hard as hell.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“To take my mind off what you were doing for a little bit, and to get you to go faster.”

He gave me an incredulous look.

“What? It worked, didn’t it?”

He drew in a breath and pulled me up against him before kissing me on the forehead. “It most certainly did.”

Sub…one. Dom…zero.

Chapter Nine

Krista

When the few drugs left in my system and my trip into orbit had subsided, Brian was still beside me, his eyes closed even though he was still awake. I lay there for a long moment, watching him take those even breaths, as if nothing outside my quarters mattered. And while I knew this wasn’t true, I let him ‘sleep’ to forget the virus and the overwhelming task of destroying it for another day.

It has to be done.

If what I’d seen earlier was any indication, Malcom had taken things too far. But getting rid of the virus wouldn’t happen right away. I wasn’t sure how many of the shifters were aware of the virus, not to mention the fact that Malcom still had some on hand and probably planned on using it again. The only question was when and on whom? Did he regret what he’d done to that poor woman? Did he even care? Given what Brian had told me about the virus, it wasn’t supposed to have gone as far as it had. Not as far as I’d experienced earlier in the day.

I frowned. Out of all the things I could remember about the virus, Malcom and our quarantine,
I didn’t know a damned thing about the life I left behind. Brian insisted that was because of the drugs. They’d made me forget. Kept me quiet.
Not anymore.
Once I was off the drugs completely, maybe then all of this would make sense. And if not, I always had Brian around to answer my questions.

Not all of them.

Still, looking at him now, everything about the virus could wait. This was about the only time he stood still. As soon as he stopped playing possum, he’d be on the go all day.

Between the virus and checking on me, it was a wonder he could move at all. And his mind was just as active. When we weren’t talking about the virus or the time we shared together, he was working out whatever plans he had on getting us out and what we’d do once that had happened.

A man with a plan.
That was what he’d said. And while I was grateful for his continued effort, I couldn’t even imagine doing half the things he did. Shifting, running, staying, helping, fucking… They must’ve given him superpowers in addition to the virus.

I was about to run my fingers through Brian’s hair when he stirred. Biting my lip, I hugged my arms to my chest.

He turned his head to face me and cracked open an eye. “You’re staring.”

“Sorry.” I didn’t look away. I was still there, right beside him. My mind, on the other hand, was somewhere else entirely. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“You didn’t.” He rolled onto his side and shoved an arm under his pillow. “How long have you been staring at me like that?”

“A while, I guess.” Blood pounded in my ears, and I tried to calm my nerves.
Damn those eyes of yours.
Brilliant blue orbs looked right back at me. “Just thinking.”

“And admiring.” He smiled and raised his eyebrows. “You’re blushing.”

“So what if I am?”

“You do realise it’s the guy’s job to stay up and watch you sleep, right?”

“I didn’t see you doing it.”

“I was just waiting for the right moment.”

“Oh, and when would that be? Before or after we get out of here?”

“Okay, I guess I deserved that.” He laced his fingers with mine. “What were you thinking about anyway? How are you feeling?”

I drew in a breath, relieved when my chest didn’t tighten or rattle.
Keep it simple.
I was pretty sure he wasn’t asking about my mental state. “A lot better than I usually am after a day in the clinic.”

“No headaches? Chest pain?”

I shook my head. “Neither one. No nausea, either. Tired and still a little lightheaded, but that’s about it.”

He nodded. “It may take a day or two until the drugs are completely out of your system. We can work on your shifts after that.”

Shifting? So soon?

He’d mentioned it once before. He needed me both to shift and be able to control it. As of right now, I couldn’t do either one. Granted, I wasn’t sure what working on my shifting entailed, but I was pretty sure it would involve some very long nights…and nothing like the one we had just shared with one another.

My clit throbbed at that. We were still in the same bed together. We could always—

No, you can’t. You wanted to ask him something, remember?

It was hard to think of anything at all when he was right there in front of me. Those eyes. That smile. Even his salt-and-pepper hair turned me on.

Damn it, Krista. Pull it together.

I closed my eyes, but it didn’t help. I could still feel him. Smell him—his earthy scent permeating the room.

A chill ran down the length of my spine, and Brian drew the covers up over my shoulders. He was so attentive. Endearing. It was hard to think of anything else when he was in the same room, let alone the same bed as me. That, of course, would cause an even bigger problem once we went after the virus. My body associated him with sexual activities because about seventy per cent of the time, that was exactly what we did…and when we were in bed together, that percentage jumped another thirty.

“What’s on your mind?” Brian asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“About you. Us. In bed…” I trailed off, but it was too late.

His lips were on mine in a heartbeat, and, as my mind screamed at me, insisting I had other things to do, every nerve ending in my body said
yes.
Need won over reason, and I pushed all of my questions to the side for the time being.

Having sex now means you’ll be able to think better later on.

All I needed was one good orgasm to get me back on track, and given how aggressive Brian’s kiss was, sex wasn’t far behind.

Hugging my middle, Brian rolled onto his back, taking me with him. My body tensed when his erection pressed against my leg. We hadn’t even bothered getting dressed last night, so clothes were the least of our worries. I was still very naked. We both were. All it would take was one solid thrust from either one of us, and that’d be it.

I straddled his legs, cupping his face in my hands as I leaned in to kiss him again. His lips were soft, and his tongue set fire to whatever nerve endings I had left. Forget reason and responsibility—I’d be lucky if I could ever breathe again.

Strangled by need and a hunger I’d thought we’d come to terms with the night before, I couldn’t kiss him deep enough. Touch enough of his skin. Be close enough to him.

If you get any closer, you’re going to become him.

I wanted his chest on mine. His arms to never leave me. His cock inside me—thrusting, taking me higher…

Brian rested both hands on my hips and guided me to him. There was no foreplay this time. No slowing down. Just unstoppable need. And I loved every ounce of it.

Moving a hand down to my pussy lips, I parted them, moaning against the twitch of pleasure coming from my clit.
Soon. Just a little longer.
It took whatever control I had left not to thrust down on top of him. But God, did I want to! I was on top. In control.