Maya Banks (26 page)

How long she had practiced, relentlessly perfecting her method, so she would never disappoint him. He was safe in her hands.

The first lash landed against his skin with a deafening crack.

He jerked but quickly righted himself and went still, waiting the next. She flicked her wrist again, exerting just the right amount of force, and placed an identical stripe across from the first.

She forced herself to relax, to not allow the welling emotion to bubble up. Calmly and methodically she kissed his back with the lash, watching as he jumped and bowed under the whip.

Sweat glistened on his back, dampened his hair until it fell in limp curls past his neck. Still she continued, sensing he needed more. She striped one side then the other, working a path down to his waist.

As she worked her way back up, blood beaded and shone in the low light. Finally. Release. Lightly, like a lover's kiss, she whispered the whip across his shoulders until they were slick with blood.

It was like making a cut in a festering wound. The relief was profound as pressure—and pain—escaped the seething cauldron. His hands clenched in their bonds, his wrists flexing as he raised his head, looking upward as if he was seeking redemption.

With every stroke, she lavished him with her love. It was bizarre to someone who didn't understand. An unacceptable outlet for many. But this was his way. She accepted it as she did him.

A heavy sigh escaped him, the only sound he made the entire time. His shoulders drooped and she knew it was enough. She let the whip fall and walked around to face him.

His eyes were closed, but his cheeks were streaked with tears. Her own eyes clouded with moisture. He'd never cried for them. Not at the funeral. Not at the graves. Not afterward when he'd driven her home. And then he'd simply disappeared, dealing with his grief as he did everything else. Alone.

She ached to hold him, to tell him it was all right, that Hannah and David loved him too. That
she
loved him. That he didn't have to be alone any longer.

Instead she stepped forward and cupped his face lovingly in her hands. She pressed a kiss to his forehead and whispered in a husky voice he'd never recognize,
"Vaya enpaz"

Go in peace.

He looked up at her as she stepped away with glazed, unfocused eyes. Another tear slipped down his cheek, marking a raw trail on his face.

"Thank you," he said in a husky voice.

She simply nodded, knowing that even if she dared, she wouldn't have been able to speak around the knot in her throat. She kissed the shaft of the whip and laid it carefully at his feet.

She left the room on shaky legs, knowing Mama Rose waited to free Micah and to attend to him in whatever way necessary. She also knew he'd refuse the older woman's attentions and would be gone within minutes.

She shed her mask, for the last time. It was all she could do not to run back down the hall and throw her arms around him, beg him to take her with him. Letting him go instilled her with a fierce ache. Because this time he wouldn't be back. With that realization, she knew that it was now or never for her. She'd given Micah the time he needed to heal. Now it was up to her to go after him. Show him it was okay to love again.

He might not be coming back to Miami, but there was nothing to stop her from going to Houston. She had to go. She couldn't stay here. It wasn't safe, and Micah was all she had to run to.

Chapter 29

Julie awoke to the smell of warm, masculine goodness. She inhaled without opening her eyes, because if it was a dream, she wanted to make it last a little longer.

Spicy. Yum. Just yum.

She finally cracked open one eye and collided with the hard wail of a sculpted chest. She knew that chest.

Shifting just enough that she could crane her neck, she looked up to see the chiseled outline of Nathan's jaw, roughened slightly with an overnight beard. Mmmm, she'd love to run her tongue over it.

His right arm was thrown carelessly over his head while the other was tucked firmly around her, his fingers splayed over her ass. The innate possession in his touch sent a decadent thrill up her spine, rebounding and arcing through her body. Her entire ass tingled, and she shifted restlessly to alleviate the burn.

Inspiration struck her right between the eyes, and she sucked in her breath as she weighed the possibilities. He presented her the perfect opportunity. Just perfect. If she could just get out of bed without waking him, she could retrieve the handcuffs that Faith had given her from her dresser drawer.

Then Nathan would be all hers.

She was tempted to rub over him like a cat, but she could always do that later. After he was at her mercy.

Barely containing her gleeful smile, she began the slow, agonizing task of slipping away. After every movement, no matter how slight, she studied him for any sign that he was waking. He never even stirred.

When finally she slid out of bed, she hurried over to get the handcuffs, fumbling with the clasps in her haste.

On his side of the bed, she studied how best to accomplish her goal. Ideally she'd like both hands cuffed to the iron headboard. One would be easy, and if she could get the right wrist secured without waking him, then she could possibly get the left one done as well.

Bottom lip between her teeth, she stealthily moved in, securing the cuffs to the headboard first and then carefully easing the bracelet around Nathan's wrist. When it went together with a slight snick, she held her breath, waiting for him to awaken.

Mentally doing a fist pump, she hurried around to the other side. Now here she would have to forgo stealth and make a mad grab for his wrist. Again she attached the other set of cuffs to the headboard, her eyes darting back and forth between his hand and the cuffs.

Well hell. No guts, no glory, and no one could ever accuse her of being gutless.

Holding her hand an inch above his wrist, she sucked in her breath and struck. She grabbed his wrist, hauled it upward and, about the time his eyes fluttered open, she snapped the cuff shut around his wrist.

Victory!

"What the fucking hell?"

He looked blearily at her and then at his wrist and then back at her again. When he tried to move his right arm, the cuffs clinked against the headboard and he yanked his head around in surprise.

"Julie, what the hell are you doing? Have you lost your mind? Let me out."

She slid to her knees on the bed, far enough away that he couldn't pin her with his legs, and smiled at him in satisfaction.

"Oh no, Nathan," she said softly. "I've got you just where I want you."

He lifted one eyebrow. "And what do you intend to do with me?"

He didn't look overly alarmed, just confused and a little annoyed. She didn't think he'd be annoyed for long though.

With a saucy smile, she backed off the bed and stood at the end, her gaze never leaving him. The covers were bunched at his hips, but his dick was straining at his underwear in a very noticeable ridge.

She gripped the hem of the T-shirt and looked down, realizing it wasn't hers. Nathan must have given his to her. Slowly she raised it, pulling it over her head and then tossing it aside.

Nathan's breath sucked inward in an audible whoosh. Clad in only her panties, she sauntered toward the bed, gratified to see that ridge getting a lot larger between his legs.

She hooked her thumbs under the thin straps of her thong and eased it downward, watching as Nathan's gaze tracked the progress all the way to her ankles. Then he returned to her pussy, his eyes flickering with lust. And need.

She reached for the covers and yanked them away until they gathered at the very end of the bed, nearly falling away from the mattress. She reached and smoothed her hand up his hair-roughened leg. Thick, muscular and so very warm.

She hoisted herself onto the bed, straddling his legs. The muscles jumped and trembled against her thighs, telling her without words just how much he wanted her. It was hard not to get a thrill out of knowing a man like Nathan was out of his skin with desire. For her.

Leaning forward like a wanton on the make, she slid her hands up his lean torso, over the scattering of hair on his belly and higher where the hair grew slightly thicker. She came to a stop when her head was nearly level with his.

"Let me free," he said huskily. "I want to touch you so damn bad I'm about to explode."

She shook her head, smiling. "Oh no, Nathan. This is my show. My turn. You had your fun. Today you're mine. All mine."

"God help me," he groaned. "I may not survive you, woman."

She leaned down to nip at his neck and then she nibbled a path to the shell of his ear. "You may not," she whispered. "But I guarantee it'll be a hell of a way to go."

She laced her fingers behind his neck and worked her way up over the smoothness of his head.

"Have I ever told you how hot you look with that bald head?" she murmured.

"Glad Faith talked me into keeping it, then."

"And your earring." She nipped playfully at it, holding the ring between her teeth. "Not all guys can wear an earring. It just makes you look like a badass. I love badasses."

"Mmmm. I'm afraid that around you, I'm one big pussycat."

She grinned. "You have the hottest body." She sat up, feeling his rigid erection in the cleft of her ass. It was all she could do not to moan as she remembered how delicious he felt deep inside her ass. "Perfectly muscled. You don't look like a steroid poster child, but it's obvious you take care of yourself."

"You're gonna give me a big head in more than one place," he said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Oh come on, Nathan. You have to be used to women throwing themselves at you. Some of them probably make downright fools of themselves. Sorta like I did," she said ruefully.

"Now wait just a damn minute."

"Shhh," she said, placing a finger over his lips. "You're ruining my revenge."

"Revenge?"

"Well, yeah. I owe you one."

He scowled at her, his eyes glittering with annoyance. "That anonymous threesome was your idea, honey. If I'd had my way, your eyes would have been locked on me the entire time and there would have only been two of us in that damn bed."

Oooh, there was a lot in that statement she wanted to explore, but she'd be breaking her own rule. Damn it. She wanted to hear more of this and, more than that, she wanted to know why he went through with it if he was opposed to pretty much everything on her wish list.

"Later? I want to have this conversation. Much later. Right now I want you to shut up while I fuck you."

"I've always said speech was highly overrated," he murmured.

She leaned down again and kissed his belly, flitting her tongue out to circle the shallow indention of his navel. He quivered in response and flinched. She smiled. Ticklish, was he?

Deciding that his underwear had put up with enough strain, she dipped her hand inside the band and pulled his cock free. Oh man, he was built. Beautiful, and she'd seen enough cocks that it was not a word she assigned freely when it came to that portion of the male anatomy. Some of them were downright ugly.

But Nathan . . . Ah, what a man. His natural skin tone was a light tan, and the hair around his cock was light brown, not too bushy. She hated overly hairy men, but he was just right.

He watched her every movement, his eyes glittering with excitement. In her hand his dick twitched and pulsed with impatience.

Part of her wanted to mount up and sheathe him with no workup or preamble, but the more devious part of her wanted to work him into a frenzy. She wanted him to beg again. She wanted to make him so crazy that by the time she took him, his control would be shattered.

She slid down his legs, her pussy clenching as it brushed over his skin. Unable to resist, she slid her free hand down her belly, between her legs and to the soft folds.

Nathan groaned when she closed her eyes and threw back her head, her fingers gliding over her clit, rolling and circling as pleasure worked through her.

"God, I love to see a woman pleasure herself," he whispered. "There's nothing more beautiful."

Tucking that piece of information away for later, she grinned and leaned up, offering him her fingers. He sucked them into his mouth, licking every inch that had delved into her pussy.

Slowly, she pulled them away and returned her attention to his erection. When she let it go, it leaned heavily toward his belly, stiff, the bulging vein on the underside calling to her tongue.

"You have one beautiful cock," she said as she lowered her mouth to the tip. "I've wanted you since the minute you walked into my salon with Faith. Do you know how many nights I've lain awake fantasizing about taking you every conceivable way there is for a woman to take a man?"

"Christ," he breathed. "If you don't stop, I'm going to go off like a damn fire hose."

"Then I'd have to start all over," she taunted.

"Suck me," he pleaded. "Goddamn it, Julie, stop teasing and put your mouth on me."

Instead she stuck her tongue out and stroked one of his balls, weighing it on her lips, absorbing the puckered texture. Then she lapped at the other, rolling it then sucking it into her mouth. He bowed upward, his buttocks leaving the mattress as he followed her mouth.

Enjoying the quiver of his flesh against her tongue, she blazed a trail up the engorged vein, curling her hand around the base of his shaft when the tip danced out of reach of her tongue.

Deciding to end his agony, she let her lips hover over the crown for one long moment before swallowing him in one quick movement.

He cried out, his body arching and convulsing underneath her. The handcuffs clanked against the iron of her headboard and his head thrashed from side to side, his eyes squeezed shut. She smiled and lowered onto him again, tasting him, sucking and swallowing him as he stabbed deeper.

"God almighty, woman, I'm going to come!"

She pulled away, cupping him with her hand and leisurely rolling him up and down as she stared into his passion-glazed eyes.

"Not yet," she murmured.