Beyond Control (5 page)

Which meant he was only allowed to want what he could get. Easy things. Casual things. Her fingers around his dick, her mouth, sucking him deep.

Not enough. Not tonight. "I want you to take off your panties."

She rose with a shiver, hesitating only a heartbeat before easing her thumbs under her skirt. The fabric rucked up a little, and she dragged her panties down. The skimpy black lace fell to her knees and then her ankles, tangling around the high spike heels on her shoes.

For one breathless moment, Dallas could only stare at her, high on the thrill of this woman's obedience.

"Hell, yeah! Throw me your underwear, Lex!"

Lex started, as if Ace's drunken words had drawn her out of a fantasy, and she threw him a glare that was more flustered than angry as she kicked free of the lace. "You don't deserve my panties, jackass."

When Ace jerked to a halt two steps from the dais, Dallas realized he was glaring at him, too. Belatedly, he smoothed his features, but it didn't diminish his urge to smack the irreverent artist. "You're pushing your luck, Ace."

"I'm too pretty to kill," Ace drawled, full of fake bluster and confidence as he sprawled on the edge of the platform. "But if you two were having a private party..."

"If it were private, we'd go someplace else," Lex said quickly.

She was right, much as Dallas hated it in this moment. Just beyond Ace, Noelle was pinned between Jasper and Bren, their dance a slow grind. She looked blissful under their attentions, her skin already flushed with the slow heat of arousal.

The highlight of any party celebrating a couple taking marks tended to be the couple taking each other, a public consummation played out in loving, explicit detail. This wasn't a time for private moments. It was a time to celebrate Jas and Noelle and their crazy, dirty love.

Telling himself it
was
about them and not the buffer they provided, Dallas grinned up at Lex. "Think we can lure the happy couple back? Or should we start without them?"

But the moment was gone, and Lex's answer was light, breezy, with no hint of her previous intensity. "Why don't we just play it by ear?" she asked as she stepped off the dais and headed into the crowd.

Ace flashed him an apologetic look. "Sorry, boss."

Dallas sighed. "Get lost. Go find some woman dumb enough to let your face between her legs."

"Oh, you mean damn near all of them?" Ace sprawled back on his elbows. "The trick is having a dexterous tongue, you know. If you brooded less and talked more, yours might--"

Dallas raised an eyebrow and
dared
Ace to finish the thought.

"...I think Amira's flagging me down," Ace said instead, coming to his feet in a rush. Before Dallas could say another word, the smartass disappeared into the mass of dancing bodies, vanishing as surely as Lex had.

Dallas tensed to follow, but forced his muscles to relax. He stretched both arms across the back of the couch and sprawled out his legs, every inch the lazy king surveying his court. Dallas O'Kane didn't chase after women who ran. Dallas O'Kane lifted a finger and women came running.

"I don't know how you're still in charge," a quiet voice murmured from behind him.

Craning his head, Dallas met Six's gaze and stilled his angry retort when he saw the honest bafflement in her eyes. As clumsy as the words were, there was a bone-deep need to understand hidden beneath them.

She'd come into adulthood under the brutal hand of a man too weak to hold his people without abuse and violence. Of course she didn't understand the obedience that came from loyalty and respect instead of crippling fear.

So he tried to explain. "This is my family, sweetheart. These are my people. I'm in charge because they trust me to make life a hell of a lot better for them than it would be without me. I don't need to beat them into line, and I don't need to prove I'm the strongest."

She blinked at him, her eyes huge and painfully wary. "Everyone needs to prove they're strong."

"The truly strong only have to do it once." But no comprehension showed in her eyes. Maybe you couldn't explain safety to someone who'd never experienced it. Dallas contented himself with a smile and a shake of his head. "Stick around, Six. We'll revisit the topic every couple months and see if you've changed your mind."

From the way she watched him as she curled deeper into the chair, she thought he was insane. She probably wasn't wrong. As he settled facing forward again, his gaze caught on Lex moving toward Noelle, and his dick strained against his fly.

He was a liar. If he didn't have to prove he was in control, he'd be down there already, sliding a hand under Lex's dress while Noelle writhed against them both.

Strength. Control. Two things he needed more than life. Two things Lex shattered when she was around.

God help him, Six was right. He
was
insane.

"You're in my spot."

Bren laughed at Lex's words and lifted his head from Noelle's shoulder. "Pardon me."

"Lex, you have to share." Noelle's scolding tone was ruined by her smile as she stretched up and kissed Bren square on the lips. "But I've been waiting for my dance with you, so Bren and Jas will just have to deal with it."

"I don't share," Lex grumbled as the men melted away, headed for the bar in the corner.

Except the words weren't true. Share--that was one thing she always did, without fail. It was the secret to maintaining the harmony in their little gang, sexual freedom and pleasure without jealousy. Lex had always excelled at it, getting close but never
too
close.

So what the hell had happened?

She pressed her face to Noelle's cheek. "I'm losing my mind. I don't know if I'm cranky because I'm horny or because Dallas is driving me nuts."

"Aw, honey." Noelle wrapped her arms around her. "What did he do
now
?"

"I don't want to think about him." Lex drew her thumb over the new tattoo framing Noelle's throat. "This is beautiful on you. Did I tell you that?"

She shivered. "Ace works magic. I swear, it feels like more than just ink."

It must, because it seemed to have changed the way Noelle and Jasper looked at one another. "I'm happy for you."

Slender fingers tangled in Lex's hair, and Noelle pulled her down for a long, slow kiss. "I'm horny too," the other woman said against her lips. "You know Jasper's going to spend all night letting me stew before he gets around to fucking me."

"And you'll love every second of it," Lex said. Noelle was already soft against her, open and hungry in a way she recognized.

"Especially if you help him." Noelle dug her teeth into Lex's lower lip. "Are you going to help him?"

The two of them together burned so hot, and it would be easy to fall into them, to borrow a little of that fire for a while. Easy to walk away when it was over, too, secure in the knowledge that Jasper and Noelle had each other to hold.

As simple as it was arousing, as satisfying as it was
safe
. "Help him fuck you?" Lex asked softly, drawing aside the lacy white strap of Noelle's dress, baring her shoulder. "How would I do that?"

Noelle arched her neck, putting all of that gorgeous ink on display. "I was thinking we could be bad girls. Sometimes that inspires Jasper to hurry."

"So I'm a means to an end?" Lex couldn't keep her amusement out of the words. "I see how you are."

"I'm wretched." Noelle teased her hands over the curves of Lex's breasts. "A wicked, wicked girl."

"More like delicious." Lex watched as Noelle's dress slipped low enough to bare one hard nipple, then bent to circle it with her tongue.

"Oh,
oh
." Noelle clutched at her shoulders and moaned. "God, I love your tongue."

"More than mine?" Jasper stepped up behind Noelle, wrapped his arms around them both, and stroked Lex's cheek.

Noelle laughed and raised her arms, curling them around Jasper's neck. "Don't be jealous, baby."

"Oh, I'm not." He cupped her breast and met Lex's eyes. "Suck."

A command, but Lex was already so wound up she parted her lips without thinking. Pleasure thrummed in her body, a quick pulse that left her pussy aching as she drew Noelle's nipple deep into her mouth.

Noelle's soft cry drowned under dark laughter. Familiar fingers slid around Lex's waist, strong hands that found the flare of her hips as if every curve belonged to him. "I love watching you make her writhe," Dallas murmured against Lex's ear.

She shuddered. Her and Noelle, sandwiched between Jasper and Dallas. Lex had been here before, and she knew how it would end--with all four of them naked on the floor.

And she was helpless to stop it, helpless in a way she never was when Dallas wasn't part of the equation. Lex tilted her head back on his shoulder, both making room and inviting him to lick the taste of her mouth from the tight, slick peak of Noelle's breast.

And he did, flicking his tongue over Noelle's nipple. When she gasped, he gave her teeth, more than Lex would have used so soon. But Dallas had a rougher touch, and Noelle seemed to like it.

"Fuck," Jasper rasped. He combed his fingers through Noelle's hair and urged her head to one side, baring her neck for a slow, lingering kiss. "I'll fuck you, sweetheart. Nice and hard, the way you like it--" he glanced at Dallas, "--but only if you make Lex come."

Sleepy eyes met hers. "Do you want that?" Noelle asked, already tracing the neckline of Lex's dress. The words held a breathless undertone, a plea for her to play along with the fantasy, the one where Jasper withheld satisfaction until Noelle satisfied every one of their lurid demands.

Oh, the hunger. Lex swallowed a moan and nodded. "I won't make it easy, either," she lied. "You'll have to be so, so good."

Noelle actually shivered, and Dallas chuckled again as he caressed Lex's cheek. "She'll have to be so, so bad. Put her on her knees, Jasper."

He did it with nothing more than a twist of his hand in her hair, as if Noelle's body had been finely tuned to his touch. He sank to the floor behind her, one hand already sliding the ruffled hem of her skirt up. "Fingers or tongue?" he asked roughly, then swatted Noelle's ass without waiting for an answer. "Tongue tonight, I think."

No straight-faced adherence to fantasy could keep the glee from Noelle's eyes as she eased her hands under the hem of Lex's dress. But there was something else there too--awareness. Noelle bared only Lex's thighs, holding the fabric tight across Lex's hips, shielding the new tattoo on her lower abdomen.

If Dallas noticed Noelle's precision, he didn't understand the significance. He was too busy wrapping a hand around Lex's throat and whispering silky commands. "Part your legs, love. Let Noelle and her sweet tongue at you."

Lex knew she'd fall without Dallas holding her up. She leaned back, sliding her hands into his pants pockets and drawing in a shaky breath when her ass rubbed against his erection. "This makes you so damn hard," she said softly.

"Of course it does." Dallas stroked the top of Noelle's head. "I love watching her bury her face in your pussy. Tonight everyone's going to love watching it."

They'd drawn stares already. Part of it was the attention due Jasper and Noelle, but Lex knew the rest revolved around morbid curiosity. They were watching her and Dallas. Probably had a fucking pool going.
Fifty credits says they blow up tonight.

Lex laid her hand over Dallas's. "You feeling a little wild, Declan?"

He tensed behind her, and the fingers around her throat tightened. "When am I not?"

"Mmm." She eased her legs apart. Noelle was there in the next moment, lips soft on the skin of her inner thighs. A tease, nothing more, sweet kisses that tormented Lex and taunted Jasper with the barest hint of disobedience. When Noelle's gaze met hers, there was mischief there, an awareness of her own power.

Jasper pushed Noelle's dress higher, revealing the bare curves of her hips. His hand slipped past the fabric, up to her hair, and he turned her head, guiding her mouth.

Her tongue grazed Lex's clit, wet and rasping. The sudden sensation rocked Lex onto her toes, arching against Noelle's mouth and Dallas's hand, which was still caged around her throat.

He laughed near her ear, breath tickling heat over sensitive skin. "Look at her, Lexie. Those big eyes aren't so innocent anymore." Dallas's fingers covered Jasper's, tangled in Noelle's hair, and he braced the back of her head before rocking his hips, forcing Lex closer to her tongue.

He was in control. The thought flitted through Lex's mind faster than the helpless zing of pleasure that shook her. And just like the pleasure, it circled around, tighter and tighter. Dallas had the control, and even though she reveled in it, she also wanted to take it.

One day, she would.

Noelle moaned helplessly, and Lex opened her eyes just in time to watch Jasper slide home, his jaw clenched. Noelle's eyes fluttered shut as bliss rolled over her features, and she renewed her attentions, slicking her tongue into Lex with quick, hungry thrusts before sliding up to work her clit with newly inspired dedication.

Dallas flexed his fingers around Lex's throat, but his next rock was more of a grind, rubbing his caged erection against her ass. "They make a pretty picture, don't they? Except..." He moved his hand from Noelle's head to Lex's dress, winding the fabric higher, giving Lex an unobstructed view of Noelle's lust-clouded eyes.