Dauntless (Sons of Templar MC) (14 page)

“Take me,” I rasped. The meaning was clear—I wanted him to take me, and not just against the wall.

His mouth claimed mine once more, his hands going to my ass and lifting me. I didn’t hesitate to wrap my legs around his waist. My tee rode up and my entire body shuddered when the thin film of my panties rubbed against his hardness with a ferocity that bordered on insanity, needing the friction, the release, more than my next breath.

My back slammed against the wall, hard. The tingle of pain that came with the impact only made me burn hotter.

Gabriel’s hand moved to my arms, yanking them up my body and holding both my wrists together in his iron grasp. He moved his mouth from mine and I glared at him for the loss.

His smile was that of a predator, his eyes midnight.

“Don’t stop,” I commanded, rubbing my body against him.

I didn’t think it was possible, but his eyes turned darker and his hand circled my neck so my legs and the wall were the only things keeping me attached to him. He exerted a small amount of pressure, a whisper of what he was capable of, but enough. “You’re not in charge here, firefly,” he growled. “That spirit makes my dick harder than marble. But here?” He pressed his torso into me so he rubbed against me in the most delicious way. I let out a strangled moan. “This? I’m in charge of this. You get it when and how I say. And you’re going to fucking love every minute of it.”

I already was. Every fucking second of it. Of him taking control. Of him taking over everything and me being at his mercy. Despite everything I was outside of that moment, it was something I craved, something I didn’t even know I wanted.

Domination.

He flexed his fingers once more. Then his hand at my neck moved and I could breathe easy. He grasped the bottom of my shirt, his other hand still at my wrists, and rolled it up. I stayed where I was thanks to the fact I was used to gripping poles. The shirt went over my head and up my arms. I expected him to let go of my wrists in order to discard it, but instead he did some sorcery and turned my tee into a binding, fastening my arms together above my head. Both hands moved back to my ass, sinking into it and plastering my body even closer, rubbing every inch of my naked torso against him.

“You’re going to keep those arms precisely where I put them,” he ordered. “They ain’t gonna move until I say so. You aren’t allowed to come until I decide that pussy is going to get its release.” His hands tightened, bordering on pain, and he captured my nipple between his teeth.

I cried out at the pleasure of the pain they inflicted, the perfect cocktail, bringing me to the edge of oblivion without even paying any attention to my soaked core. I itched to bring my hands down, to rake my nails down his back, to clutch him closer to me.

I didn’t because Gabriel was in charge, not me. That knowledge was not only hot as shit but a relief that made it possible to embrace every inch of the pleasure.

“Fuck, Becky, you’re fuckin’ soaked. My girl likes this,” he growled in my ear as his expert fingers delved into my panties.

“I love it,” I hissed, my voice little more than a rasp.

He found the magic spot in an instant and I slammed my head back against the wall, my arms coming down of their own accord.

His hand was at my wrist in an instant.

“I didn’t say you could move these,” he rumbled. He kept my hands in his viselike grip while he worked me with his other hand, capturing my mouth roughly. “You gonna be a good girl now?” he asked against my lips.

I couldn’t speak, could barely breathe with the fire he was building. I could only nod.

He moved his hands from my wrists to circle my neck once more. “Open your eyes, Becky.”

I snapped them open at his command, unaware I’d even closed them. His were liquid and intense on mine. “You’re not going to come, are you, Becky?” he murmured, rubbing his thumb against my collarbone.

I let out a groan as he quickened the pace between my legs.

“Because I didn’t say you could do that either.” He nuzzled my neck, his stubble scratching the skin on my cheek. “Not until I’m inside that sweet pussy and I can feel it tighten around me. Then you can. Then you’ll do it again. Later I’ll taste your fuckin’ climax on my tongue. Now, you will not. You get me?”

All I could do was nod.

“Good,” he growled.

Then his hand was gone, as if he could sense I was teetering on the edge. I was half insane with need, widening my eyes at him in a silent plead. He grinned hungrily, like a predator. “You’ll get my dick soon, firefly.”

One hand went back up to my sagging wrists while the other went to his shorts. The few seconds he took to free himself yawned into forever. The overwhelming craving for him, for release, took every cell in my body hostage.

Then I got it. What my empty body screamed for. Filled to the hilt.

It was a magnificent mingling of pleasure and pain as I got used to his considerable size.

He mistook my cry for pain, and his entire form froze, the cords in his neck pulsing. “Becky, you okay? Did I hurt you?” His mask slipped, the hunger and domination mingling with concern.

I nodded rapidly. “I’m good. Only if you move.”

I barely got the last word out before he heeded my command. Boy, did he heed it.

All concern was gone as he slammed into me, brutal, unyielding, fucking beautiful.

“You’re gonna come now,” he rumbled in my ear.

I wanted to whisper that I was going to come when I was good and ready, but I was too far gone for that shit. My body was at his mercy, and it obeyed his order.

Everything exploded into a thousand different colors, better than any high I’d ever ridden. Cleaner, purer.

Right.

He didn’t stop as I came down. If anything, he quickened his pace, building me up before I even had the chance to come back to earth.

He captured my mouth to taste the last of my cries. Through stars dancing in my vison, his midnight gaze penetrated. “I’m far from fuckin’ done with you, firefly,” he growled, slamming into me.

Oh, he was far from done with me. He fucked me into oblivion, taking me to the stars and away from any coherent thought for hours to come.

* * *

“
T
hank you
,” I whispered against his chest, trailing my fingers along the ink of his pec.

He turned me so our eyes met. “You don’t have to thank me for every orgasm I give you. I plan on giving you many, many more. It’ll get exhausting to thank me every time. A blow job would suffice.”

I smacked his pec and he grinned.

“It’s impossible to have a conversation with you.”

He bundled me in his arms. “Sorry, firefly. What are you thanking me for?”

“For bringing me here. For putting your entire life on hold. For Scrabble, chocolate chip pancakes. For the peace. For giving me something I couldn’t give myself. A space to get clean. A second to breathe.”

He was quiet for a long time, his body rigid. The only thing telling me he hadn’t drifted off to sleep was the back and forth of his fingers on my spine.

“Why are you thanking me now?” he asked finally, his voice thick. “You plannin’ on runnin’ off in the middle of the night now that you’ve had your wicked way with me?” His words were teasing but his tone held something else.

Fear.

I moved to meet his eyes, and not a hint of humor twinkled in them. “No, I’m not planning on that. Sneaking around in the dark isn’t really my style. It’s just… I thought I’d tell you now when I’m mellow and not irritated at you. Which I’m sure I will be approximately twelve hundred times between now and when we leave. And I don’t want the fact I’m stubborn and a bitch when irritated to stop me from letting you know how much this means to me. So I’m thanking you now to cover my bases.”

He blinked at me a couple times.

The silence started to make me uncomfortable. “You know, it’s customary when a person thanks another person to say you’re welcome.”

Gabriel squeezed me. “You’re welcome,” he whispered, pulling me up his body so my delicate flesh rubbed against his concrete abs. I let out a hiss as my sensitive nipples stood to attention. His face darkened with desire.

“Though I’ve got to admit, my actions weren’t exactly pure in bringin’ you here, babe. In fact, they were downright selfish. You see, I want you.” His hand moved to cup my bare ass. “I want this,” he said against my mouth. His other hand moved to stroke my head. “But I also want this,” he murmured. “And I kind of wanted both in one piece. So I brought you here to find the pieces. Get you put back together so I could have you for myself.”

I paused my stroking, not eager to give up the moment for reality. But I had to. “You can’t,” I whispered.

His eyes hardened. “Can’t what?”

“Have me for yourself.” I silenced his protest with a hand on his lips. “Because I don’t even have myself. Don’t own myself. So I can’t jump into something like this. Not until I’ve gotten to know the stranger whose body I’ve been living in for twenty-three years.”

He frowned at me, moving my hands off his lips. “I’m not givin’ you up,” he said, voice firm.

If now’s the time to be candid, I guess I better do it right.
“Me neither. I can’t,” I admitted. “I just can’t give you everything.”

He yanked me to his front, cupping my face. “I’m happy with what I got, for now,” he murmured.

I swallowed against the promise—and warning—in his tone. Before he could capture my mouth and take me away from reality once more, I pulled back slightly. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He grinned. “I’m not exactly getting the raw end of the deal, babe. At least my cock isn’t. He’s not feelin’ sad at all.”

I didn’t grin. “No. For Sofia and Camila. Alexis. And for Gabriel. I’m sorry you lost them.” My voice was a soft whisper I didn’t recognize.

He stiffened at the mention of their names. “I didn’t lose them. They’re still here.” He glanced around the room. “I hope not now,” he joked with light eyes. “I hate that they’re gone, but that anger, that fuckin’ rage that ate me up, killed the boy I’d been. I had to let it go. To survive, you see?” His finger trailed my temple. “I don’t think Gabriel is lost either. I think he was just waitin’ for someone.”

And then, luckily so I didn’t have to respond to that, he kissed me.

And more.

From that day on, he was Gabriel to me.

* * *

“
I
don’t like this
,” Gabriel declared, frowning at the house in front of us like there was a bomb inside.

I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Well, thanks for offering that little gem. But it does nothing at all to change reality. It often goes on whether you like it or not.”

He moved his gaze back to me and it rooted me to the spot. I actually froze in place. Ever since I’d let him in, really let him in, body and soul, I gave him power over me. It scared the shit out of me. I didn’t even have power over myself.

Which is why I needed distance. A lot of it. Despite the fact my skin itched at the thought of it, my heart hurt at the prospect.

My fucking heart.

What was he turning me into?

He leaned forward to capture my neck in his hands. My stomach dipped at the contact.

Yes, I so needed to get away from him.

“I want you to come home with me,” he mumbled. “I want you in my bed.”

I scowled at him. “Yeah, like I said, the world doesn’t spin the way you want it. Nor do I do what you want.”

He regarded me. “You want it too.”

“No, I don’t,” I lied.

He yanked me closer so our mouths almost touched. “You’re a liar. You want it. You’re just too fuckin’ scared to admit how much.”

I pulled back, which was a herculean task considering how addicting those lips were. What came out of them? Not so much.

“I’m not scared,” I argued. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

Lie.

That was a great big lie. I didn’t used to be afraid of anything. When you’ve been in a foster home where a kid held a knife to your throat for taking their seat in front of the TV, you learned that fear helped no one. Especially not the little girl who met monsters in the dark, the real kind. I wasn’t afraid of monsters, or anything for that matter.