OnlyatTheCavern (21 page)

For several seconds he held her gaze, then gave her a slow
wink. She blinked in surprise as he backed away from the doorway.

“You do drive a hard bargain.” He withdrew the key for the
handcuffs from his pocket and stepped behind Smithwick. As he unlocked the
cuffs, he leaned forward to speak into his ear, “I choose option three. Justice
dealt by the hands of those you have wronged.”

He shoved Smithwick into the cell. The blonde released a
battle cry then jumped upon the man’s back, driving him to the ground.
Emboldened by their cellmate, the other girls dove into the melee with fists
and feet flying at Smithwick’s huddled body.

Pandemonium erupted as the women in the other cells shouted
and banged against the walls with their encouragement, drowning out the sound
of their tormentor’s screams of pain.

Marco unlocked the next cell and the moment the door swung
open, the women inside rushed into the adjoining cell to aid in the punishment.

“Marco! Marco!” Jasmine’s voice echoed above the din.

He turned to see her round the corner with Coulter and Kirby
leading the way.

The moment she was within reaching distance he pulled her
into his arms. “What are you doing down here?”

“Did you really think I’d stay away if I heard you were
involved in a shooting? No one knows how to save your ass better than me.”

He smoothed his thumb over her cheek, then looked over her
head at Coulter. “Took you long enough to get here. How far down the hall were
you?”

“I came as soon as I heard the shots fired. A brunette ran
into me saying you had shot a man, then collapsed at my feet in hysterics. I
had to pass her off to someone else before I could continue.”

“Where’s Smithwick?” Kirby asked.

“In there.” He pointed to the pile of writhing bodies. “I
was just about to pull him out.”

“What the hell are you waiting for?” he shouted.

“What? Oh…right. Coulter, let’s get in there.”

Coulter shook his head with his lips pinched together then
joined him in the fray, pulling girl after girl away to get to the mass at the
bottom of the pile. Kirby released the rest of the women from their cells while
Jasmine directed them down the hall to waiting officers.

When the last girl was dragged away with blood staining her
hands, Jasmine fell to her knees besides the quivering form and began assessing
Smithwick’s injuries.

The once elegant and dapper man looked as if he had been
stung by a million bees as his face swelled to the size of a pumpkin, and one
of his arms was bent at an odd angle.

“Holy shit.” Coulter ran his hand over the back of his neck.
“Is he alive?”

“Well, he has a pulse,” Jasmine replied and searched for a
vein to prep for an IV. “We need to get him out of here now, and that staircase
is going to be impossible to traverse. What’s on the other side of that door?”

“I’ll go check.” Coulter disappeared through the doorway.

Marco watched as the woman he wanted to protect from the
horrors of the world worked to save the life of one of the vilest humans on the
planet. His hands clenched in an effort to withhold the urge to spirit her away
to someplace safe. She’d break his legs if he tried to stop her, and he really
wished it were any doctor other than Jasmine covered in the slime bag’s blood.
For that alone, he’d feed Smithwick to the angry masses all over again.

A better man might have felt sorry for being the instigator
of an act that caused so much physical damage. But the only thought running
through his mind was that it was about fucking time.

Kirby clapped him on the shoulder. “Care to explain how our
suspect was found in the middle of a donnybrook?”

“Donnybrook?” Marco snorted. “You’re showing your age there,
Lieutenant.”

The SWAT lieutenant folded his arms over his Kevlar-covered
chest and encroached on Marco’s personal space.

Marco shrugged. “While I was cuffing Smithwick, one of the
girls reached through the bars and took the keys from the victim’s belt. By the
time I saw the movement, the girls rushed us.”

Kirby’s brow made a slow glide to his hairline. “That’s your
story?”

“That’s my story.”

“Good luck explaining that one.” He scoffed and continued to
secure the scene.

All around him controlled chaos swirled with men, woman and
equipment battling for space. The calm in the center of the storm was Jasmine
working away calmly, efficiently, as if she were in the middle of an operating
room and not in the dungeon of a mansion, doing what she did best. Giving
people exactly what they needed.

She looked up and caught his gaze. With a soft smile and a
tiny nod, she stood and bellowed, “Where’s my transport? We need to move.”

Marco wanted to laugh. As with everything, Jasmine was rock
solid with her laser-like focus. Completely in control while he felt his
emotions wavering like strips of tattered cloth in a hurricane.

More medics arrived from the doorway Coulter had gone
through to explore, and assisted her in strapping Smithwick to a stretcher. His
lieutenant appeared right after the medics and joined him.

“The tunnel leads to a boathouse about a hundred yards away.
We found a vessel ready to depart. The driver’s detained. Captain? Captain?
Hey.” He waved his hand in front of Marco’s face. “Are you all right?”

“What?” He blinked. “Yeah. Just comprehending that it’s all
over.”

“Phase one anyway. Next comes the cleanup.”

He mumbled an agreement and kept his gaze on Smithwick’s
body as the medics wheeled the stretcher past him. Only Jasmine’s tug on his
hands garnered his attention.

She cupped his face between her palms. “I’ll keep you posted
on his condition. As soon as I’m able, I’ll come to you. Promise you’ll do the
same?”

He placed his hands over hers and absorbed her ability to
focus through her touch. With her as his beacon, he’d always be able to find
his way home.

“Promise.” He risked delaying her for the second or two it
took to brush a kiss to her lips then sent her on her way.

“Right.” He slapped his hands together and turned toward the
men left in the hall. “Let’s wrap this up, boys. Our work has just begun.”

The scent of beef and rosemary stopped Marco in his tracks
as he entered his home. “Abby? Are you here?”

“It’s just me.” Jasmine’s voice came from the kitchen, and a
smile spread across his tired face. He dropped his bag and coat on the floor
and made a beeline toward the delicious smell.

Jasmine stood before the sink looking like a domestic wet
dream dressed in a purple bustier and his favorite black miniskirt. Steam rose
from the rushing tap water and formed a halo above her head in defiance of her
devilish attire.

He sighed and leaned against the doorjamb, weakened by her
beauty. “Are you really here or am I dreaming?”

“You did give me a house key. Or was that only for
emergencies?” She laughed and turned off the water to dry her hands on a dish
towel. “Do you have to hurry back to work?”

“I’m officially on administrative leave for at least three
days. You?”

“Me too.” Her smile grew and she crossed to his side to hug
him around the waist. “How ever shall we spend the time?”

“Trust me, darlin’, I can think of lots of things.” He
nodded at the project she had going on the stove. “Can that wait?”

“Those are dirty pots I was about to wash. I put everything
in a slow cooker, so it will be ready when you are.”

Could she be any more perfect? “Holy hell, woman. Are you
really mine?”

She stepped back and the cool, in control dominatrix mask
fell over her features. “Am I yours, Captain?”

Absolutely.

Without the slightest hesitation, he dropped to his knees
and placed his hands on his thighs and lowered his gaze. The sight of her bare
feet sent a jolt of electricity to his cock. Immediately the exhaustion caused
by thirty-six straight hours of questioning, reports and more questioning
evaporated.

“How may I please you, Mistress?”

After all they had been through, she was still his Mistress.
That hadn’t changed because she agreed to take their relationship to the next
level. If anything it only strengthened his conviction to be the man she needed
him to be whenever she wished.

“Good boy.” She circled him once and dug her fingers into
his hair, drawing a groan.

After another rotation she cupped his face in her hands and
lifted his chin. As she gazed into his eyes, she stroked his lips and cheeks
with her thumbs, and he melted like whipped cream on hot skin.

“What, oh what, shall I have my boy do for me?” she asked as
she feathered kisses across his forehead.

“May I make a suggestion?”

“You may.”

“I’m calling in my favor.”

She drew back with a puzzled frown. “What favor?”

“You owe me for letting you come on the raid.”

“Ah…that favor. Are you certain you want to cash that in
now?”

“Positive.”

She straightened with a smile. “And what is this favor you
will have me do?”

He shot to his feet and pulled her against his chest.
“Whatever I want.”

The struggle as to whether she’d concede all control swirled
in her dark eyes. He held his breath and allowed her the chance to decide
without his influence if she’d acquiesce.

She blew out a long breath and softened in his arms. “What
will you have me do? Master.”

Heat raced from his head to his toes as the power of those
words ignited powder kegs of lust in his veins.

Anything and everything was his initial response, but at the
top of his list was to confirm the fact that she was there in his arms, and for
one solitary moment there was nothing and no one to interrupt them for the
foreseeable future.

He captured her lips in a deep, bruising kiss and cupped his
hands under her butt, lifting her against his pelvis and the erection she
created. If he had been a professional Dom, he’d probably have some smooth
moves to slowly crank up the heat until they both couldn’t take it any longer,
but he wasn’t that guy. All he wanted was to immerse himself in his woman.
Taste and feel and take what he wanted for as long as he wanted. Debonair and
suaveness could jump off a cliff.

Not that Jasmine appeared put off by his caveman handling.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to climb up his body, only to be
stopped by the tight skirt keeping her legs from parting.

“I’ve got you, baby,” he muttered against her lips and
lifted her into his arms.

“Is calling me baby part of the deal?”

“I’m going to call you all sorts of things. Baby is one.” He
carried her into the bedroom and dropped her onto the mattress with a little
bounce.

With the control in his hands, he realized he now had the
opportunity to say all of the things she forbade when they were in her dungeon.
Man, he only hoped he could maintain the brainpower to form a coherent
sentence.

He brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. “Mine
is another. You’re mine, Jasmine. Your mouth is mine. Your pussy is mine.” He
reached into the cup of her bustier and pinched her nipple. “Your breasts are
mine too. Now, be a good girl and show me my tits.”

Heat flared in her eyes as she sucked in a breath at his
vulgar language. Yeah, his girl liked it naughty, even when she wasn’t the one
leading the charge.

Her hands shook as she worked the catches of her bustier and
pulled the sides away. The soft mounds of her breasts pooled into his waiting
hands where he rolled the soft flesh in his palms.

“I love your breasts.” He bent down and alternated taking
the hard buds into his mouth. “The first time I saw you in the club, and you
were wearing that sheer top, my God, I’ve thought of these babies every day
since then. You don’t share them with me enough, you tease.”

Judging by the sly chuckle she tried to hide, the little
witch knew exactly how much she tortured him. In retaliation, he sucked the
skin on the inside of her left breast between his teeth until a purple bruise
formed. By morning he’d make sure she bore more of his marks on her flesh.

“Lie back and take off your skirt,” he instructed and
tackled the buttons of his shirt. “Look at you with no panties. Damn, that’s
sexy.”

“Aren’t you Mr. Chatty.” She smiled and tossed her skirt to
the side.

“You never let me talk. I’d be talking nonstop, if you gave
me a chance.” His pants joined her clothes on the hardwood floor.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that. Now, get on your knees.”

With a sensuous roll of her hips, she moved to her hands and
knees and offered her backside with a playful wiggle. Her teasing laughter
ended with a gasp as his hand landed with a hard whack to her right butt cheek.

“Ow.” She glared at him over her shoulder. “What was that
for?”

“That was for all of the times you’ve teased me until I lost
my mind.” Smack. “And that one was for making me like it.”

He alternated smacks, loving the way her flesh rippled and
turned pink. “And this is for asking to be placed near danger. And that’s for
thinking I would want to change anything about you. And this one is for pushing
me away.”

“Marco,” she cooed and arched her back.

He kneeled behind her and rubbed the length of his cock
between the slick lips of her sex, then he popped her on the butt again. “And
that one is because you love it this way.”

“Please, Marco,” she panted and wiggled her reddening ass.
“Please. Fuck me.”

“I don’t know.” He worked two fingers into her drenched
sheath. “Maybe I should tease you like you tease me. Keep you on edge until you
scream.”

“No, no, no. Please don’t. Please, please.”

“You beg so prettily.” He leaned down and bit her hip. “I
want to hear more.”

His fingers plunged and rubbed, teased and tormented,
drawing out her cries and a hot gush of cream from her beautiful pussy with
each stroke. He leaned down and ran his tongue down her spine as his free hand
stroked her body from neck to clit. With each cry and moan, he absorbed the
sounds of her pleasure until his teeth ached.

When her cries became sobs and her sheath fluttered around
his fingers, he withdrew from her body. His legs trembled as he crossed to the
nightstand for a condom. With the foil-wrapped packet in his hand, he turned
his attention back to Jasmine and froze.

She waited for him on all fours, her cheeks a lovely shade
of pink and her eyes glowing with fire as she stared up at him with so much
passion, she about burned him alive. Her breasts swayed as she shivered and her
lips were puffy from his kisses. She was a bitch in heat. His bitch.
Impatiently waiting for him to claim her.

As the cream from her pussy cooled on his skin, he realized
that aside from their shared bath, this was the first time they were completely
naked with each other. There was no cloth separating their skin. They were
stripped to their core, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He held her gaze and set the condom onto the nightstand,
then stepped away. She watched him as he climbed back onto the bed and settled
the bare knob of his cock against her entrance and held his breath. Her
expression shifted from confusion to understanding. Her tongue swept over her
lower lip then she lowered her shoulders to the mattress and lifted her hips
into the air.

He dug his fingers into her flanks as he set his jaw and
rammed his cock home. “Fuck, baby,” he groaned and his eyes crossed as her wet
heat enveloped him in a tight grasp. “You undo me. You absolutely fucking undo
me.”

Any thoughts of going slow and steady dissipated in a
heartbeat. His pelvis took over and set a punishing pace as his body weight
drove her into the mattress. Jasmine responded by grinding against him, her
moans and grunts encouraging him to take her harder, faster.

“Fuck, you’re so wet and tight.” He fisted the sheets near
her head and bore down. His lungs burned as he panted in her ear. “You drive me
crazy. Out of control. Can’t. Get deep enough. Inside you.”

“Marco.” Trapped beneath his punishing lunges, she bucked
and rolled and gazed at him with wild eyes framed by strands of her dark hair
that stuck to her sweaty cheeks. “Marco.”

“That’s it. Say my name. Me. I’m the only one who can give this
to you. I’m the only one that can take away your control. And keep you safe.
Admit it.”

Her pussy tightened around his cock as she gasped and her
body stiffened beneath him. As her breath hitched, tremors rolled through her
body as she gazed up at him with unseeing eyes. And still he continued, lunging
into her spasming sheath with brutal thrusts, riding the wave of her orgasm and
drawing out her pleasure even as his own release pounded in his veins.

Jasmine moaned, low and sultry as her muscles went lax and
she melted beneath him, struggling for breath. A slow smile curled her lips and
she mouthed the words he didn’t expect.

“I love you.”

The declaration zapped the remaining energy in his arms, and
he pressed her deeper into the mattress. He rubbed his forehead against hers as
his heart felt as if it were about to explode. “Damn, baby. I’m wrecked.”

“That’s why I love you.”

Nothing else mattered at that moment but to submerge himself
in his woman. He gathered her in his arms and felt the fire of release burn
down his spine as his cock swelled in her sheath. Between biting kisses and
gasps for breath, he grunted, “Love you.”

Jasmine’s eyes widened before she screamed into the mattress
as she came a second time. Her sweet pussy squeezed his turgid length in hard
draws, sucking the cum from his cock as he flooded her sheath with his seed.
His entire body was aflame, leaving him deaf, blind and a quivering mass of
flesh and bone. Even if he wanted to move, he lacked the coordination to do
anything more than twitch with residual adrenaline.

“I love you. But. Can’t breathe.” She slapped at his head
with a weak hand.

“Sorry,” he mumbled and managed to roll to his side, keeping
his arms wrapped around her until their breathing slowed to normal and the
sweat cooled on their skin. Goose bumps erupted across her arms as she shivered
in his hold.

By then he regained enough of his strength to drop kisses
across her shoulder and around to the curve of her breast. She watched him with
a sated gaze as he continued with a line of kisses down her torso and the soft
pad of her belly. Her thighs parted with the slightest nudge, revealing the
ripe fruit of her sex. He saw her hold her breath then release it in a rush as
he touched his tongue to her clit before moving lower to lap up their combined
release. She giggled and worked her fingers into his hair.

He took his sweet time building her up into another orgasm,
soothing her swollen flesh with the flat of his tongue and soft caresses. He
worshipped at the altar of Jasmine. Paid homage to the woman who made him want
and hunger in ways he didn’t know were possible. Who cut him to the bone with
one look and the sound of his name from her lips.

When he had asked, with all of his naivete for her to take
him on as her submissive, he sensed that she’d be able to provide him with that
intangible something he sensed was missing in his life but didn’t know what to
name. Not only did she deliver on her promise in spades, but he in turn learned
how to be the man she needed. The man who’d cherish her drive to be in control,
but give her the safety and solace when asked to lower that hard-won guard.

Their combined flavor burst across his tongue in a savory
cocktail that made him smile. He’d eagerly lap up his cum from her skin every
time just to watch her head toss back and forth on the mattress and her hips
roll, trying to move his mouth against her sweet spots. She stroked his scalp
with one hand and plucked at her nipples with the other in a wanton display
that brought the steel back to his cock.

“You are so sexy.” He thrust his fingers into her sheath in
a smooth, steady glide. “You’re even sexier when you come. Will you come for me
again? Please?”