Masters 01Bis Doms of Dark Haven (17 page)

He watched as she considered it. He waited, watching the emotions flow over her open face. He'd been right earlier—spanking was her hot button.

“No, Sir.” She still didn't move, so he waited. He counted her breaths. She was gathering her courage, one deep breath at a time, stifling her outrage and humiliation. She took a step to his side and carefully lowered herself over his knees. When she was settled, Eva's cute little bum was offered up to him like twin peaches on a plate, and he couldn't resist stroking her smooth, fine skin. The pink had faded. Even if he'd marked her with the cane, she'd have healed by now.

Alluring as she was, Harte recognized this as a critical point in their evening. He rubbed her ass, feeling her stiffen.

Crack!

“That's one.” The skin on her arms pebbled. If she'd been in her wolf form, she'd have her hackles up.

Crack!

“Count for me.”

“T-two.” Her voice was raspy. She exuded fear, panic, and fury. He gently rubbed the pain away. Normally he'd move this up an erotic notch, but not this time. Eva's emotional state was too precarious.

“I'm going to ten. Keep counting.”

By the time he reached seven, her voice was tremulous. At ten, the tears began. She lay over his lap like a limp rag, the skin of her bottom pink and rosy.

“How many times did you swear at me?”

“I don't know.” Her voice wavered. “Four… I think four.”

“Count them.” He spanked quickly, pausing just to let her get the words out. He leaned down and kissed the rosy skin on her bottom. He hadn't spanked her that hard, just enough to sting and bring up color. Harte gathered her in his arms and cradled her like a child.

Gently he kissed her forehead, and the real storm began. Sobs racked her body; tears ran freely down her face. The spanking had brought her to a state where she could free herself in a cathartic storm. This had been his goal the entire evening. As a dom, Harte's goal was always to push his sub into an emotional as well as a physical experience. Until Eva unburdened herself, she'd be unable to see him with the eyes of her wolf.

He wondered when she'd last cried.

He rocked her a bit, stroking her hair, not minding in the least that her crying was noisy, that her tears were wetting his chest. The panel on the door slid open as a DM checked on Harte and Eva. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, her face buried in the crook of his neck.

“It's okay, Eva. Let it out. You're safe now.” Carefully he rose and settled her among the pillows and silks that mounded the floor, smiling when she clung to his neck. “Sh… I'm not going anywhere. I just want to get you a tissue. Or maybe two.”

She covered her face and laughed a tiny bit. He returned with the box and handed it to her, then settled onto his side as she wiped her face and blew her nose. Finally she lay to face him.

“Why'd you do that?” She was inches from him. Her blue eyes were reddened with tears, but she was beautiful. So beautiful. He reached up and stroked her full lips, then leaned in for a kiss.

“Your emotions were all bottled up. You were frightened, and that fear goes back years, doesn't it?”

Her lips trembled, but she didn't look away. “I can't remember not being afraid. Ever.”

“Grief. Anger. Something terrible happened. Did you cry then?”

She shook her head. “No. Never. I could never show any weakness. If you're weak, you're a victim.”

“Will you tell me what happened?” He waited, wondering if he'd truly managed to break down any walls tonight.

“They took my mother—Abraxas. I was just a kid…” She didn't cry as she spoke, but grief throbbed in her voice.

Another kiss. A tiny smile. She could tell him more later.

“How do you feel?”

She continued to study his face, and he wondered what she saw there. Did she see the worry lines from the fine line that he walked with his pack? The never-ending fears about the danger of exposure? Her eyes grew dark with knowledge. She saw the loneliness that ground right to his bones. He was humbled before her.

“Euphoric. I feel…weightless.”

“That's exactly how you should feel.” He ran his hands over her body, marveling at how she fit him.

Love.

That was the wolf. Things moved fast for their kind. His human side wasn't so quick to concede, but the wolf was already gone on Eva. If he took her body and she left him, there would never be another. There would be lovers and bodies, but never another who completed him.

“I whipped you pretty hard out there. I put you up for public display. I made you come to me on your knees and service me. Why did the spanking set you off? It surely didn't hurt as much as the cane.”

She moved closer then and curled into his body.

“I didn't remember this till just at the end. When I was little, I ran off. We were living in a crappy old studio in some city—probably back east. I was just a little kid and didn't know any better, but Mom caught me talking to strangers. They were men in black suits. She was so scared… I smelled it all over her. The men were just young Mormon missionaries, and they were asking if I was lost. She didn't know that. To her, they were dangerous.” Eva paused and bit her lip. “She took me back to the apartment and made me lie over her knees. She told me what I did was wrong, and then she spanked me. The entire time I didn't cry. When she was done, she got up and turned on the TV for me, and then she went into her bedroom. She cried and she cried.” Eva's eyes watered up again. “I never ran off again.”

He wrapped her in his arms and held her until the emotional storm passed. He kissed her forehead and then her nose, her eyes. He kissed her lips. She kissed him back.

“I was so good after that. I always did what she told me to do, but she left me anyway.” She curled up tighter, tucking her body closer to his.

“It wasn't your fault, Eva.”

She shook her head. The words registered, but it would take time for her to release the guilt that had taken root in her soul so long ago.

“Who am I, Evangeline?” he whispered in her ear, praying that she understood what he was asking. She did.

“You're my mate.”

Harte closed his eyes hard, feeling the magic of the moment sweep over him. A true mating. He'd never thought to experience it.

“When this night is over and done with, where will you be?”

“With you. I'll be with you.”

He sighed, and the terrible knot that had been in his chest for so very long suddenly loosened. Harte felt his heart beat freely for the first time in years.

“Do you promise?” He'd asked for her trust; now he needed to trust her.

In answer, Eva leaned in and kissed him—fully and deeply.

Chapter Seven

Eva rose to her knees, straddled his hips, and leaned forward, then ran her hands over his chest, playing with the flat disks of his nipples. She didn't ask permission. He didn't bother to stop her. She'd earned her time on top. She leaned down, her dark hair trailing over his skin as she licked him. Her tongue etched a trail from his belly to his chest. He lay back with his eyes closed, content to let her play.

He was achingly, painfully hard, but that was a small matter compared to the sudden understanding that had blossomed between them. She explored his arms, running her fingers along the distended veins under his skin. She tasted the insides of his elbows, then finally moved to the side so she could unfasten his pants. He toed off his boots, then settled back to let her finish undressing him. Once he was nude, Eva bent toward his groin, but he clasped her hips and rolled her to her back. Her eyes were wide as she watched him go down on her.

She was uncomfortable with the act, and he exerted all his skill to send any remaining inhibitions out of her head. She was propped on her elbows, her legs draped over his shoulders, and when he looked up at her, she was watching uneasily.

Clearly he wasn't doing his job right. Harte slid a finger inside her channel and pressed up into her G-spot. When she slithered bonelessly from her elbows to her back, he grinned against her swollen flesh. He brought up her arousal, reveling in her transparency, cherishing her honest response. He moved away and stared down at her newfound abandon. This time, he stopped before she climaxed. He wanted to feel the grip of her flesh around his cock when she came.

Eva moaned when he drew away, then opened her eyes as Harte moved up and knelt with his cock arrowed at her entrance.

“Yes?”

“God yes. Please.” She smiled a bit coyly. “Sir.”

He couldn't hold back the grin. Harte reached to a low table that held a bowl of condoms, then quickly opened and slipped one on.

“You don't need—”

“Rules are rules. That's why they're here.” They were immune to human venereal diseases and carried none of their own. Eva wouldn't get pregnant this time, but just the same, they were in Xavier's house, and his word was law. Harte gently pressed against her swollen flesh before sliding his cock through her folds, making it slick with her cream. Once again, he pressed with agonizing deliberation.

She was groaning, fighting to impale herself on his shaft, but he backed off, only to return slowly. He wanted to savor every second of this first time with Eva.

She lay back in a mound of velvet and silk, her pale skin gleaming in the dim light of the room. Her hair tumbled around her flushed cheeks, and when she opened her eyes, they were dreamy with desire.

“Please, Harte… Inside me…” She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him to her body. She reached her hands out to him, but he was too far away. He grinned wickedly and pulled his hips back.

She groaned in frustration, and when she was unprepared, he thrust, sinking deep into her body, lifting her hips to meet his. She gasped, and Harte let his eyes slip closed, cherishing the moment with every fiber of his being. After a long moment, he opened his eyes and moved forward into her waiting arms.

He remained braced above her body, so Eva was able to look up into his face and watch the fascinating play of his eyes in the dim light. Like a wolf, his eyes caught the light, reflecting it back with a green glow. It was eerie and wild and so beautifully Harte.

Wanting to feel more of his weight, she tugged at him, but he remained above her, his hips rocking against her with a slow, sure tempo. His cock cleaved her in steady, deep strokes. Damn, the man had stamina! She ran the soles of her feet up the backs of his legs, then dug her heels into his hard, muscular ass. That brought him a bit closer, but he stayed rhythmic as a machine, giving her only part of what she wanted—needed. When she felt ready to throw her head back and scream, he varied his movement, rotating his hips in a circle.

That froze her in place and choked the sound in her throat. A flutter of quick, short thrusts threw her over the edge, and her head arched back, her body locked in rigid ecstasy. The climax was unexpected and deep, rippling down her back and rocking right into her womb. He held very still as she used his body to reach her fulfillment.

Afterward she collapsed under him, her body a loose puddle. He didn't stop. Harte began to move once again, leaning away just a bit to avoid contact with her sensitive clit. He returned to his knees, his face a smooth, focused mask of pleasure. Soon Eva was recovered enough to participate once again. She began to rock her hips, meeting his thrusts.

He smiled, and the expression on his face took her breath away.

It was true. He was her mate. A freakish circumstance had brought her into this place and set her right into Harte's path. He was the one man in the world who instinctively knew how to rule her, how to read her, and more importantly, how to find and heal that wound made so long ago to her heart.

She hadn't lied when she told him she felt weightless. Eva knew enough about submission to understand the high that came from giving control over to the dom. But the catharsis that came from letting go of her emotions had been painful and shattering. She'd been devastated—destroyed—and a new woman had risen from the destruction. That woman looked at Harte and saw more than a handsome, desirable man. She looked at him with the eyes of the wolf as well as those of the woman, and she saw forever. She saw her mate.

The power of that emotion overwhelmed her, once again bringing tears to her eyes. Harte saw and leaned over her. He kissed her lips with delicacy and sweetness. She caught his head and brought him closer, willing him to dominate her with every inch of himself.

He finally succumbed. His long, powerful body covered her completely, trapping her with his weight. He buried his face in her throat, nipping, sucking, making her his. His pace increased; she heard the slapping of his skin against hers and felt the sudden dampness of sweat beneath her palms.

“Come!” Her voice was fierce. “Come for me!”

He groaned, rising from her body. His cock powered into her fast and hard, and she met him stroke for stroke. An unexpected climax coiled through her, and Eva fought it back, willing him to surrender before she set it free. She reached down and clasped his ass in her hands, her nails sinking deep, drawing a fine line of blood.

The pain was the last straw for Harte. He cried out, plunging into her wildly, his tempo ragged and unsteady. She felt him go tense even as she teetered at that brink herself. They came together, struggling and cursing, their bodies locked in a virtual battle and then in perfect synchronicity. They clung to one another and shivered out the last gripping spasms before Harte's full weight settled over Eva's body.

When she felt tears trickling down her cheek, she blinked with surprise. The tears were not her own.

* * *

They lay together like two shipwreck survivors. As she slowly roused, Eva became aware of an ache on her neck. She reached up to find a bite.

“You marked me.” Her voice held a trace of wonder. Harte struggled upright and blinked.

“I did.” He looked at her a bit warily. “Do you mind?”

She rubbed at it idly. “Does it mean what I think it means?”

He couldn't hold back a grin. “Probably. It means I won't have to worry about Kevin flirting with you quite so much.”