Mister Black: A Billionaire SEAL Story, Part 1 (In the Shadows) (8 page)

“That’s a matter of perspective.” Lifting his mesmerizing dual gaze to mine, he holds our aroused bodies together like critical game pieces waiting to be played. My body clenches in anticipation as he slowly slides his thumb along the curve of my ass. “Since I’m in a sharing mood, there’s one more thing you should know about me. I’m a man of my word.”

“I don’t doubt it.” I’m not exactly sure where he’s going with this, but with each leisurely stroke of his thumb along my skin, my body temperature rises. I’m getting wetter by the second.

“Give me a word that means safety to you. Just one word,” he says.

That’s an odd request.
Without thinking, I blurt out the first word that comes to mind. “Rainbow.”

His thumb stops moving and his eyebrows shoot up behind the mask. “Interesting choice.”

That was stupid, Talia!
I immediately tense and hope he doesn’t make the connection.

He palms my ass once more, his expression serious. “Use it if you need it. Got it?”

Need it for what?
I’m so relieved he doesn’t make the connection, I start to nod, then gasp in outrage when he moves with lightning speed, landing a resounding smack against my butt cheek.

“What the hell! My thin dress and underwear did nothing to soften the sting. I try to jerk free, but he’s immovable.

“That’s for ditching me earlier,” he grates, then says in a quieter tone, “Say your safe word, Scarlett, and I’ll end this now.”

“Let go!” I grit out, shocked that my bolting bothered him, but also by my own response to the hot fire on my ass zinging its way through me. When his hand traces the curve of my ass, his fingers sliding under my panties, I freeze. He strokes away the pain, kneading my flesh tenderly. Time seems to stand still, my heart thrumming at the sensation of his thumb sliding the edge of my panties back, exposing my cheek fully. I’m so turned on, yet I can’t decide whether to punch him or kiss him.

Another smack. “That’s for lying to me.”

My anger quickly ignites once more. This time I hammer my fist on his muscular arm, trying to break free, but he’s just too strong. “I haven’t lied to you,” I hiss.
I don’t know you. I don’t trust you. I don’t trust anyone. I wish I did. I wish things were different. I wish my past was different.

He grabs my ass like he owns it, massaging my skin with enticing, possessive strokes. When he slides his hand lower to the back of my thigh and along the curve of my ass, teasing the edge of my panties, his fingers so close, but not touching me, I fight back the moan rising in my throat. As the sting fades, his sexy voice sends shivers down my spine. “You can call this quits whenever you want. Just say the word.”

Safe word.
I get it now. His comment is so seductively intriguing, it’s hard to know if he’s seducing me, challenging me, or prepping me for more punishment of some other transgression. Sure I can say, “Rainbow” to make him stop, but there’s a part of me that wants to know what
this
is between us. What else have I done to elicit such heated intensity from him? Instead of playing by his rules, I decide to give his frustration back to him in my own way. Grabbing a fistful of his hair, I yank hard. “Screw you!”

Exhaling a harsh grunt, he digs his fingers into my rear, his piercing gaze narrowing to a sharp edge. I squeeze my eyes shut and tighten my butt muscles, preparing as he bends close to speak in a steely tone against my cheek. “And this is for waiting until fucking
now
to walk into my life.”

I gasp in shock when his mouth captures mine in a bone-melting kiss. The second he jerks me impossibly close, molding me to him like a second skin, my adrenaline spikes, setting me on fire.

His sensual spanking must have revved me up. Or maybe it’s just everything about Sebastian, from his seductive words, to his intense stare, to his thrilling, territorial hold on my body.
What did he mean by that last comment? And why does he sound furious and regretful at the same time?
I shake off my jumbled thoughts and clasp his neck, tugging him as close as I can. I’ve had eight years of build-up thinking about this glorious man, and I’m not letting him go yet.

Sebastian groans against my mouth, then slides his tongue aggressively against mine, provoking a response. Its electrifying effect zings all the way to the bottoms of my feet. Just as I twine my tongue with his, he starts to delve deeper, but then he pulls back, his face tense with frustration. “Give me something. Anything.”

The plea in his voice speaks to that same desperate feeling I’ve carried around with me since I was a little girl. Crossing paths with him when I was thirteen shined a tiny ray of hope in a life that was crashing down around me. In my heart and mind, he’s been “the one” for eight years, a fantasy I never expected to happen. I’d given him many names in my past imaginings, but Sebastian makes my insides burn.

I love it. The name fits him so well.

And now that my life is in an upward trajectory, I want the one man—whose brief appearance in my life meant more than any other—to be the person who helps me hold onto the belief he’d started all those years ago—that I was worth the effort. Until I met him that day, I’d always felt like no one cared. My aunt was the only one who loved me, because she had to. No one else had. Not my mother, not my father, not Walt, not Hayes. No one.

“Tell me your name,” he rasps against my skin, trailing warm lips down my neck.

I know tonight is all we’ll have, so I’m going to make the most of it before he disappears from my life again. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I press against him and shake my head. “No names tonight. Remember.”

He fists his hand in my hair, tugging slightly so I have to meet his gaze. “You know mine.”

“I didn’t ask you.”

He scowls, hating that answer.

Pressing my lips to his neck, I trail them up his jaw. “I’ll give you something better.”

He grunts and captures my chin with his thumb. “I want your name.”

The sconce lights flicker, then die out completely, shrouding us in darkness. Thunder booms, shaking the room.

I lick my lips and offer him a choice. “You can either have my name or me.”

With his back to the window, his face is in the shadows. Mine flashes in and out with the lightning, but I feel his fingers flexing on my hip and hear his sharp intake of breath. He wasn’t expecting that.

Heart pounding, I make it perfectly clear what I’m offering. “My name or my body. You choose.” Once it’s out there, I hold my breath. I don’t know if he’ll take it or toss me aside, he’s so freaking domineering and hard to read.

Tilting my chin higher, he feathers his fingers down my throat, then tugs the bow, unraveling the cape from around my neck.

When it whooshes to the floor at my feet, I exhale slowly, relieved that he’s chosen not to ask.

M
y skin prickles as he traces his fingers across the curve of my breast above the corset, then dips a finger between my cleavage, a territorial smile tilting his lips. “In giving yourself to me, you’ve agreed to let me do anything I want to you. I’m not tender, Scarlett. I’m demanding. I like control. I’m all about the physical…and the release.”

“So you’re saying you don’t make love.”

“I fuck…” he answers in a matter-of-fact tone, then slowly traces a finger along my jaw, “But always with pleasure as the ultimate payoff. In exchange, I promise you’ll come until you beg me to stop, and even then I just might not.”

Lightning flashes along the side of his face, reflecting a quick, wicked smile.

While he promises a rough romp, he gently slides his thumbs across my breasts, then slowly begins to unhook each of the corset’s hooks from its matching eyelet.

“And my safe word?” I ask breathlessly.

He pauses, glancing up from the hooks. “Use it if you must.” Holding my gaze, he takes his time freeing the last few hooks. “But you won’t.”

Is that a challenge or a promise?
My belly flutters in excitement, while my mind tries to reconcile his aggressive sexual statements with his tender attentiveness. It’s such an arousing contrast, my insides feel like they might combust. The second my corset falls to the floor, a flood of arousal swells my freed breasts, slamming straight to my nipples. I hold back the whimper at the near painful pressure, not wanting him to know just how much he affects me. Even the cotton dress is chaffing the hard pink tips; they’re that sensitive.

I gasp when he steps right up to me, his voice a sensual rumble vibrating against my chest. “I’ll have your name by the end of the night,” he says, confident, assured. “I just wanted you to offer it willingly.”

Does that mean he thinks I’ll give him my name
unwillingly
? Good luck, bud. I don’t get a chance to wonder as he slides his hands up my waist to capture my nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. The dress does little to dull the effect as he pinches with enough force to make me cry out in a haze of pleasure/pain. When he doesn’t release me right away, but continues to apply steady, frustrating pressure, I began to throb deep in my core. It’s an achy, painful, I’ll-need-a-release-soon kind of throbbing. I grip his hard biceps and begin to pant, my legs trembling.

When I try to press my legs together to stop the torturous pulsing, he quickly slides his knee between mine, breaking my thighs apart. The barest tease of his hard thigh muscle brushes against my aching center as he dips his head to whisper huskily in my ear. “There are so many other ways to punish.”

The second I move close to his thigh, hoping to apply pressure where I need it most, he pulls his leg out of my reach. I bite the inside of my cheek and quickly realize I’m in way over my head.

“So beautifully fucking responsive,” he murmurs, rolling his thumbs across my nipples. “Your name,” he commands.

I shake my head, then gasp hard when he drags his thumbs down the front of my nipples. Even through the material, unimaginable pleasure sweeps through me.

“You’re going to come while standing. I won’t touch you anywhere but here. You can’t move. Don’t touch anything but my arms. Got it?”

“But I don’t think I can—” I exhale raggedly as pleasure shifts to pain, radiating throughout my chest. He’d only applied the slightest pressure at a different angle, but the effect is enough to cut me off.

“Don’t think. Just take direction.”

I frown; I don’t like being told what to do, but his voice softens to a silky purr. “The payoff will be worth it.”

When I slowly nod, he smiles, and I finally see the dimple on his cheek for the first time. It’s barely there, but still perceptible. What changed in his life since I met him that night? I don’t think the man before me has looked for rainbows in a long time. He’s too focused, too intense, too…dark.
Black as sin
, he’d said. I want to ask him so much, but I can’t, not without revealing myself. Damn him for being this sexy and seductively intriguing.

He moves his thumbs once more, doing something new that makes my legs feel boneless and my eyes shutter to half-mast. This time I can’t hold back my moan. I’m shocked to feel my inner muscles flexing, coiling, ready for release. I take a quick breath through my nose.

“Not yet.” He shakes his head.

My eyes widen. “Why not?”

Desire flashes in his eyes, swift and heated. “I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do to you first, then when I let you, you can come.”

When he lets me? Screw that
. My mind instantly plans a revolt, while he bends close to my ear, his warm breath rushing across my skin, his voice beautifully rough. “Are you wet for me right now? It makes me harder just thinking about you dripping with want, soaking through your clothes.”

When I don’t answer, he tweaks my nipples and a shudder overtakes me. I shake my head, too stubborn to tell him how much I want this.
Two can play at this game, Mr. Black.

He nips my earlobe. “I can’t wait to taste you. My mouth is watering just thinking about rolling you across my tongue, savoring your flavor…lapping you up. Every last drop.”

My stomach clenches and moisture gathers, intensifying the steady throb between my legs. I’m so freaking turned on, I bow my head and inhale steady, even breaths trying to hold out longer than him.

“Tell me, damn it!” he demands, his thumbnails brushing across the very tips of my nipples.

I whimper, then bite out angrily, “Yes, I’m
sopping
. Are you happy?”

“Miss Scarlett, I’m raging,” he admits, his voice gruffer than it was a second ago.

His honest admission makes me smile, so I turn the tables on him, lifting my head to whisper in his ear, “I’m tighter than you’ve ever had. That I can promise you.”

“Fuck me,” he utters, his head snapping up, eyes blazing with lust. Rolling my nipples between his fingers, he tugs just enough. “I’m going to pound into your sweet body over and over, filling you full of what you want most. Me. Come
now
.”

The sexy words are barely out of his mouth before I’m screaming through the orgasm roaring through me. Pulses of hot and cold tremors slide up and down my body, taking away my ability to stand through the all-consuming experience.