Mastered: Ten Tales of Sensual Surrender (42 page)

“I told you not to lie to me. Don’t you think I know how important this is to you?” Noah twisted and seized Ty’s chin. “Things can never go back to the way they were. I won’t let you lie to me or to yourself. I’m not going anywhere, but don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Ty reached up and grabbed Noah’s wrist. “Let me finish.”

Ignoring the flash of warning in Noah’s eyes, Ty forged ahead. “No matter what happens with Tasha, I’m not going to ditch what we have. I never planned to.”

For a full agonizing minute, Noah held Ty’s gaze, studying him intently. Noah wore an expression of uncertainty and vulnerability that Ty had never seen in him before, and that shook Ty to the core. Noah wasn’t a man who declared his love, leaving much of the force of his feelings unsaid. Tonight, those emotions sang loud and long. When Noah’s mouth claimed his, it wasn’t a kiss from a Master to a pet. It was lover to lover, heart to heart. The desperation Ty tasted on Noah’s lips was gut wrenching. Ty returned Noah’s kiss with demands of his own, needing his lover, wanting him.

Noah gripped Ty’s hair and pulled his head back, breaking the kiss. Their breath mingled, both of them laboring to inhale. His Master smiled and Ty’s heart rate pounded at the sensual lift of Noah’s mouth.

“Alright then,” Noah said, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat and pressed his lips to Ty’s throat making him shudder. “I want proof.”

Ty opened his mouth and Noah shook his head sharply. “Wait here.”

He crossed the room and opened one of the myriad drawers housing tools, scraps, and more intriguing items Ty alternately dreaded and craved. Turning, Noah held up a metal cock ring. Fuck. Ty narrowed his eyes. The silicone one would have been more comfortable. Noah really wanted to torment him.

And Ty’s dick was hard as a rock at that thought.

Noah held Ty’s gaze as he returned. Ty stood motionless while Noah unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Almost motionless. His cock strained for Noah’s touch.

”Master.” The word was a groan, raw in Ty’s throat.

“This is mine, isn’t it, Ty?” Noah palmed Ty’s erection. “Every inch of your body is mine, whether you explode inside Tasha’s sweet mouth or spill all over the floor. Mine. Say it.”

“My body is yours,” Ty rasped.

“Your dick is mine. Isn’t it? And you’d better start calling me ‘Sir’. You’ve been disobedient enough, don’t you think?” Noah reached into Ty’s underwear and gripped his balls in a vise-like hold that made it hard to breathe.

Staring at the ceiling, Ty dug his fingernails into his palms and fought the urge to thrust against Noah’s hand. “Yes, Sir.”

“You look at me when I’m touching you,” Noah demanded, his tone sharp.

Ty jerked his gaze to Noah’s face. The dark desire written there making his pulse scramble. Satisfaction curved Noah’s mouth as he stroked Ty’s cock with long, strong pulls that sent all the blood from his head to his dick in a rush, leaving him breathless and lightheaded.

The metal of the ring was cold and it tingled as Noah slid it over Ty’s engorged flesh. The ring’s strangling hold was familiar, painful, arousing. Ty drew a deep breath, trying to control the raging need that would only make the damn thing tighter.

“You know the rules,” Noah reminded him. “You wear this for thirty minutes and then take it off for thirty minutes. You don’t come. For every orgasm you have without my permission, you’ll receive one strike from the paddle in front of Natasha. I’ll know if you lie to me, so don’t even think about it.”

Noah’s words were enough to make Ty’s cock swell and the ring’s cold metal cinched tight, warming with his flesh. He had difficulty thinking around Noah’s expectant words and deliciously punishing hands, but mention of Tasha anchored him and jogged his brain back on its rails. In his wildest dreams, Tasha would derive as much pleasure from this as Ty and Noah did, but the reality… Christ, the reality. “I’ll scare the fuck out of her with this hard on, Sir.”

His Master grinned, the bastard. “I doubt it. She doesn’t seem to scare easy.”

A moment later, his smile vanished. He yanked Ty closer to plant a hard kiss on his mouth. “This is to remind you that what belongs to you is mine.”

“Including Tasha?”

“Especially her.”

Chapter Three

Startled awake, Tasha jerked off the heavy blanket that some thoughtful person had draped over her. After a moment’s disorientation, she remembered the flight. The kiss. The wound she’d dealt Noah, who had retaliated by making sure she was warm while she slept. She wasn’t sure when he covered her. She’d crashed on the couch the minute her butt hit the cushions, and dreamt fitfully.

Now, hours later, she rubbed her eyes and peered into the darkness of the house. A light glowed weakly from the kitchen, but she didn’t hear anyone moving. Something made her whip around. She froze when she spotted a shadowy figure seated in a nearby armchair.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” Ty’s voice sounded strange.

She wedged her back against the arm of the couch and stared at him, unsure how she felt about seeing him now.

He seemed to expect her to say something, so she latched onto a meaningless thing. “How long have you been sitting in the dark?”

“About twenty minutes.” He leaned forward, made a strangled sound, and sat back as if physically uncomfortable.

Tasha frowned. “What’s wrong?”

He waved his hand through the air. “Something between me and Noah.”

“Noah. Right.” She bit her lip, unsure how to handle this. According to her seamless, carefully-thought-out plan, Ty should be overcome with excitement to see her by this point in their reunion. Instead, he acted like a wall stood between them.

Well, someone would have to do something, or they wouldn’t get anywhere. She took a deep breath and jumped in with both feet. “He kissed me.”

Ty didn’t miss a beat. “I know.”

She waited for him to say more. And started to get angry when he didn’t. “That’s it? I thought--”

She stopped. What had she thought? That he’d be upset knowing his lover of seven years had made a pass at her? And who had she expected him to place in the wrong, Noah for pursuing her? Or her, for tempting Noah?

Head pounding, she rose and brushed her hair away from her face. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

What she really needed was a do-over, but failing that, a minute away from reality would have to do. She was confused, angry and hurt and she didn’t know why. Despite sleeping the entire day, she was still tired from the flight. Her head was fuzz and her body ached with tension and arousal.

Noah had left her bags beside the couch. She bent and rifled through her purse in search of her cosmetic pouch, struggling not to cry. How could she have been so foolish to think Ty wanted more than a friend from her, when he had Noah?

The chair creaked and Ty suddenly loomed over her. She lowered her chin and rounded her shoulders, but he refused to let her hide. Gripping her upper arm, he lifted her to her feet and turned her to face him. “Something’s wrong. Talk to me.”

She tried to pull away. Ty let her go as long as the end of his arm, but she couldn’t break his hold. Pride stiffened her spine and hardened her voice. “It doesn’t matter. Let me go. I need to pee.”

“You flew all the way from California to talk to me, and now you’re going to, even if I have to follow you into the bathroom.”

“Fine! You want to talk? Let’s
talk,”
she shouted, but when she drew another breath to blast him, the words came out on a sob.
“
I thought you wanted me. I thought you wanted me to come here.” She stopped fighting his hold, but she couldn’t look at him. Ty’s rejection had the power to break her. Even if he didn’t say it, she would see it in his face, and she was coward enough to hide from the truth.

“But you don’t think that now?” He reeled her closer.

Tasha would like to say he forced her, but she lifted her feet and placed them one in front of the other of her own free will. Noah’s kiss--her response to his kiss--had confused her, but hadn’t erased what she felt for Ty. That kiss had just complicated things, twisted them up so much, she didn’t know where to even start working the knot.

Miserable, she finally looked up at him. “I don’t know what to think now, except that I think I’ve done something really stupid.”

Ty bent her arm behind her back and the distance between them vanished. He was hard against her belly, so hard, her eyes widened in surprise and a puddle of heat settled between her legs. She strained even closer, memorizing the sensation of his body against hers. This was the first time Ty had held her like a woman he wanted to claim, and her heart cracked as she acknowledged it might be the last time, too.

Swallowing, she whispered, “Say something.”

His lips brushed her temple. “I do want you.”

He said it with such ease, with not a hint of apology, and her anger came rushing back. Yeah, he wanted her. That much was obvious, a stiff brand surging between them. But she’d recently learned want wasn’t enough, because it wasn’t just Ty and Tasha anymore.

“Where does Noah fit into this, Ty?”

Ty didn’t miss a beat. “Where do you want him to fit in?”

“You don’t get to put this on me.” She jerked against him, needing space, unwilling to tell him about all her assumptions, about how she’d thought Ty was unhappy and unfulfilled. That she’d planned to swoop in and make Ty’s life better because she just knew she was the right person for him.

“Let me reassure you on one point, Tasha. The way you feel about me isn’t one-sided. And I have permission from Noah to do anything to you and with you that you let me do.” His mouth was close to hers, his minty breath warm on her cheek.

She started to speak, but his next words chased the thoughts from her head.

“The only thing I can’t do is come. If I do, I’ll be punished. But other than that?” His lips brushed hers and heat flashed through her. She was made for this, for him. Why had she never gotten this close before? She wanted closer, and Ty seemed to know her desire. Releasing her arm, he wrapped her ponytail around his fist, much as Noah had, and pinned her to receive his kiss.

Groaning, she reached up to touch him but Ty was lightning fast, capturing her hands and locking them together behind her back. He held her gloriously helpless, his hard cock pressed against her soft flesh and she shuddered, desperately wanting him this way. Rough and uncontrolled. Inside her.

But Ty didn’t take her there. He broke their kiss and stared at her, his expression hidden in the dark. His voice was wickedly low and commanding. “For so long, I’ve wanted you on your knees, mine to touch, mine to own. But you weren’t ready, and neither was I. I need to know if you’re ready for us now.”

Us.
Her body flashed hot at the possibilities but she couldn’t help but balk at what Ty proposed. Needing a minute to think without Ty’s nearness influencing her, she turned her face away and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Tasha.”

“I can’t…this is so unfair, Ty. Did you and Noah have this planned? For how long? You couldn’t, I don’t know, talk to me first?” She felt like a fool, like Ty and Noah had combined forces to become something she was too inexperienced to see coming at her. And all at once, she’d had enough. She jerked against Ty’s hold. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. Let me go.”

Finally, he released her. Tasha put half the room between them. The space barely helped. She still felt stupid and manipulated but now all that was confused by the pain she could hear in Ty’s words. She wanted to go back to him and fix the hurt. Backing away, she walked to the window and pressed her face against the glass.

Noah’s house was in the same neighborhood as her sister’s. The same street, of all the coincidences. In a few weeks, as the holiday season got into full swing, bright, garish light displays would set the sidewalks ablaze and draw crowds of pedestrians and motorists. Now, however, traffic was sparse with the businesses closed for the night and neighbors locked behind their doors for normal things like dinner and prime time TV. None of them were trying to figure out whose bed they wanted to end up in or whether they belonged at all.

Or maybe…maybe she wasn’t the only person in the world going through this. When Kat explained her new situation as a member of a triad instead of a member of a couple, Tasha hadn’t asked questions. Now she wished she had. It would have been reassuring to know how Kat worked through this same tangle.

As if he sensed she was calming. Ty moved to stand behind her. He combed his fingers through her ponytail and kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t talk to Noah either, and I’m sorry for that. I didn’t know how to bring it up to either of you, let alone both of you. But I think this is more than just what I need or want. Noah…well, you should learn him for yourself. Let him learn you. Will you think about it? Stay with us and consider the possibility that it might not just be me that you want--need--in your life?”

Noah.

Her lips tingled with the memory of him, but her stomach knotted as she acknowledged the pain she’d dealt, coming to Baltimore. Seven years of love and care hadn’t meant shit to her. Only Ty. Only her needs.

But around the guilt, was heat. God, just the thought of being with both Ty and Noah made her thighs clench and need pulse between her legs. The very possibility awakened desires she’d never had before.

Clamping her knees together, she fought to ignore her body’s cravings. “I can’t help thinking this is going to go really, really wrong.”

“Anything can go wrong. That’s always a risk. Even if Noah didn’t exist at all, even if it was just you and me, something could go wrong.” Ty backed away and turned on the lamp on the side table. For the first time in forever, she could see his face. Her breath caught at the hungry expression he wore.

“I don’t even know Noah,” she said, but it was the weakest protest in history because she wanted to know this man Ty loved. This man who had set her on fire, mind and body, within minutes of meeting him. In retrospect, she could admit that fighting him had been a hopeless waste of energy, and now she wished she’d allowed herself to sink into Noah’s passion.