Masks of a Tiger (9 page)

"It looks as though
it should hurt." She whispered the words, and
Grisha
used his free hand to cradle her face. A slight shiver went through her at the
contact, and her heart rate sped up again.

"So, let me get
this straight? You've just seen the man you thought at your mercy get out of
his restraints, shift into a tiger, and back into human, and your only concern
is whether it hurts when I do that?"

A slight flush crept
over her cheekbones at his husky words. She worried her bottom lip with her
teeth and shrugged her shoulders. Again her gaze briefly darted to his hardening
cock, and his heart clenched with the rush of affection swamping him at that
moment. She looked utterly adorable in her confusion, and good enough to eat.
The fading mark on her shoulder called him, and he gave in to instinct and
licked that spot. She gasped, buried her head in his neck and sniffed. His half
erect dick roared into life, and his tiger roared.

"Does it work like
in the books? Is that why you smell so good?"

"Do I?" He
chuckled when she pushed against him, and he let her go. Her green eyes
sparkled in anger.

"You know damn well
you do. What I want to know is whether you can turn that on and off at will and
whether you've used it to lure me into here and do goodness only knows
what?" She scooted back as far as she could before the door stopped her
and pulled her knees up again. "Because I don't know why I'm here, and
that would explain why you get me doing …"

Her voice trailed off,
and she flushed all over as she scanned the room behind them.

"Got you doing
what, sweetheart? We haven't really done anything,
yet.
"

That blush of hers
deepened, and she attempted to glare at him, but quickly dropped her gaze, when
he straightened up to his full height and simply looked at her, one eyebrow
raised. Her breaths grew shallow, and he sensed her need to fidget, yet she
didn't move under his silent scrutiny.

He bent down and tapped
her knees.

"Kneel on those and
put your hands behind your back, girl." She flinched at the hardness of
his tone and threw him another of those cock-hardening, defiant glances, but
she complied immediately. God, he hoped she never lost her inherent sass.
Taming her was such fun, even when she grumbled under her breath.

"I'm no fucking
sub, I'm not."

"Of course you're
not. That's why even now you're doing exactly what I ask of you. That's why you
got so wet when I spanked your ass that my jeans are soaked through with your
juices. That's why I can smell your arousal, and if I chose to take you right
now, I bet you're so fucking wet, my cock would slip in right to the hilt, filling
you, pushing you. Is that what you want, my sweet not-sub? Or do you want me to
punish you by tying you up and leaving you hanging?"

She bit her lip hard
enough to draw blood, and the keening sound she couldn't quite stop making was
music to his ears.

"Or do you want me
to tie you down and let you feel the sweet burn of the fire, let it dance over
your skin, until you beg me to come, until you tell me why it has such a hold
on you?" He knew he was pushing her, testing her reaction, and he was not
disappointed. Her whole body tightened at the mention of fire-play. A shiver
went through her, of fear or need, he couldn't quite determine. And even though
the mere thought had bile rising in his gut and he had to force the words out
past his lips he had to ask. "Or, perhaps you'd like me to get
Trikus
, so we can take turns fucking you, using you we as
we see fit until you can't see straight? Would you like that? Is that what you
came here for?"

Grisha
bit back a
curse as she went as still as statue.
Fuck it all to hell and back.
Why
had he said that? He didn't want to share her.
Grisha
was no stranger to ménages. They were a fuck-load of fun with the right people,
but the thought of another man's hands on his woman, made him want to gouge his
eyes out.
Grisha
shook his head in disgust at
himself. Did he need any more proof that his tiger had made his choice? He was
so fucked. When had she become this important to him?
 
And what the fuck was he going to do about
it?

His tiger snarled his
anxiety, and he almost didn't hear her whispered denial.

"No, Sir, please. I
don't want
Trikus
?”

****

Blood rushed in her ears;
her cunt clenched; her muscles coiled in anticipation, and every fiber of her
being was drawn to the timbre of his voice like a moth to the flame. The cold
stone floor dug into her knees, reminding her of the ridiculous position she
was in, but she could no more not listen to those, deep, accented tones than
she could breathe. Some part of her, that strange part that craved his approval
like a drowning man craved, needed, air to survive, made her say those words.

No sooner had they left
her lips, than
Grisha
yanked her to standing. He
slammed her body against the door with such force that had it not been padded,
she would have been bruised all over. She swallowed nervously at the fierce
expression in his eyes, as they bled to his tiger’s and his claws ran out on
his hands. They dug into her skin as he held her up by the shoulders. His
nostrils flared, and he looked every inch the lethal predator.

A flutter of fear made
her stomach tighten in need and anticipation. The fact that he looked so close
to losing control shouldn't really have her so excited that wetness trickled
down the inside of her thigh, should it? The tiny pinpricks of pain where his
nails dug into her skin, the heavy musk of aroused male, the heat of his cock
digging into her lower belly, the knowledge that she was at his mercy, mixed
together with the wicked images his growled words had created in her mind, had
her more turned on that she had ever been.

He was a shifter. He
could crush her in an instant, and no one would be able to stop him. Yet, the
fact that he turned into that beautiful animal had reassured her instead of
frightening her. The control it must take to shift had been a miracle to
witness. His dismissal of it all, and the tender way he'd made sure she wasn't
frightened out of her wits, had made her feel cherished and protected. Even
now, pinned against the door, she knew instinctively that he would never hurt
her. How she knew that she couldn't even begin to explain to herself. From the
first moment she'd met him, he'd kept her on edge, her body responding to him
in a way her rational side just couldn't explain.

"What did you
say?" The barely concealed emotion behind those simple words took her
breath away. She lost herself in his gaze and gave him a tentative smile.

"I said
,
I don't want
Trikus
… Sir."

Grisha
blinked
once, and said something in Russian that sounded suspiciously like a curse, and
Neeve's
impish side took over.

"I would prefer
someone else, a woman perhaps?" She suppressed a grin at his incredulous
look. "Of course, if you're not man enough to handle two women, then maybe
I should find
Trikus
after all…" She let her
words trail off, and excitement curled low in her belly at
Grisha's
tiger's answering growl. It vibrated through her, and every female cell in her
body sighed in submission at the possessiveness of that sound.

He ran his claws slowly
down her sides, digging in just enough to hurt, and her knees buckled when he
reached her soaked thong. She clung to his shoulders for support and spread her
legs automatically to give him better access. He murmured his approval and took
her mouth in a branding kiss of possession that left her breathless and
wanting.

"Not man enough you
say?"

She swallowed hard at
the determined expression in his dark eyes. With a wicked grin and the flick of
one clawed finger he ripped the delicate fabric of her underwear. His other
hand settled on her throat pinning her against the wall. He lifted the remnants
of her underwear to his nose and inhaled deeply.

"Sweet, I can't
wait to eat you."

Her stomach clenched,
and a renewed gush of moisture coated her pussy at the whispered threat?
Promise?
His fanged smile was her undoing, and she would have
slid to the floor had he not pushed his thigh between her legs.

"Oh no, you don't,
and that sassy mouth of yours needs to be occupied." He slid his hand up
to her lips and pushed his fingers inside. She sucked the digits, loving the
feel and taste of him under her tongue. He groaned and withdrew them only to
replace them with her thong.
Neeve
gagged and tried
to spit the fabric out, but he grabbed her jaw and forced her mouth open with a
growl. She had no choice but to accept the gag, and her mouth full of her own
taste, mixed in with his, she glared at him.

"Don't even think
about spitting that out, or I'll use a ball gag. Do you understand me,
sub?"

Damn the man!
Why was she
putting up with that? But even as she thought that, her body betrayed her with
another gush of wet liquid between her thighs. He rubbed his hair roughened leg
over her cunt, and she ground her hips to deepen the contact.

He stopped moving
immediately, and she moaned her frustration.

"I asked you a
question, sub."

She nodded and dug her
fingernails into his skin, and
Grisha
laughed.
A deep, dangerous laugh that pitched her arousal sky high.
He stepped away and yanked her with him by her hair. The sharp pain zinged
along her nerve endings, and she blinked away tears. Everything focused on him,
and she whimpered when he tied her wrists together with the length of rope
she'd been admiring earlier. It cut into her skin, and with one swift tug her
arms were raised high above her head until she stood on her tiptoes.

"Eyes on me,
sub."

She complied immediately
with the harsh command, and she shivered when
Grisha
showed her his once again clawed hand. Using just his index finger he traced a
path from her nose over her lips and chin, down her throat into the valley of
her breasts. With a few quick flicks of that clawed digit he freed her breasts,
and bits of her bra fell to the floor like lace confetti.

He circled her slowly
admiring his handiwork, and her skin heated under his quiet assessment.

"Wriggle your
fingers for me, and make a fist."

When she did so, he
smiled, and stepped so close his body heat branded her. She leant into him as
far as she could, and he ran his hands slowly down her arms. He massaged her
shoulders and then cupped her breasts, flicking the nipples with his thumbs. She
moaned and yanked on the ropes holding her up. The swat to her ass stung, and
Grisha
shook his head.

"Don't try and rush
me, sub. Or I will leave you hanging there for a long time indeed. I may even
get Mistress Scarlett to come and join us. I do believe you've seen her in
action when you came in."

Shiiiiit
!
The mere
thought gave
Neeve
palpitations. The heavily made up
raven haired
Domme
she'd seen fucking the sub over
the spanking bench? Sweat broke out all over her body at the thought of being
at the other woman's mercy, and she frantically shook her head, imploring
Grisha
with her eyes.

"No? Did you not
say mere minutes ago you'd like another woman?" His grin was sin itself
when she shook her head again so fast she felt dizzy.

"Did you think I
would bring in another sub?" He stepped closer again and traced a figure
of eight over her quivering abdomen with the end of the rope. A shiver went
through her when he threaded the rope through her legs and pulled it tight
against her slit. He repeated the action until she was spread wide, with her
legs lifted off the floor, the rope sitting either side of her clit, exerting
delicious pressure. Looped around her thighs and waist it helped to take the
strain of her shoulders.

"Hmm beautiful,
sweetheart, but we need to do something to show off your tits. Just like
this." He fastened another length of rope around her breasts like a
harness, until they were squeezed together, and jutting out. Her nipples ached
and puckered, as the wicked burn spread across her skin. Like the lick of a
flame, the familiar rush spread through her veins. Fear of the unknown
heightened the experience, and her muscles went slack. Her breathing
deepened,
and she shut her eyes to give herself up to
sensation. The rough feel of his tongue against her aching globes made her
whimper, and she could feel his smile in the butterfly kisses he delivered
along her skin down towards her cunt. He pulled on the piercing there and blew
his hot breath across her labia.
Neeve
moaned long
and hard around her gag, and
Grisha's
tongue created
more sweet magic. She
gushed
her juices, and he lapped
them up, tunneling into her core with animalistic growls as his hands dug into
her ass cheeks.