Rules of Entanglement (17 page)

Unable to hold back any longer, she rocked her pelvis to cradle his cock between the slick folds of her sex. He groaned. She moaned. And they both reached for the condom next to them at the same time.

“Reading my mind, V?”

“I doubt it’s your mind I’m reading, Maris,” she said, scooting back a few inches.

“Probably right about that.”

He tore the wrapper, but she took the latex ring from him before he had a chance to do anything. Despite her body’s urges, she moved slowly, using both hands to encircle his thick shaft and roll it down to the base. Jackson sucked in a breath when she let her thumbs graze his tight sac underneath.

Then he loosed his caged beast.

Strong fingers dug into the flesh of her ass as he lifted her up and positioned the head of his cock at her swollen entrance. Between her tightness from already climaxing and his sheer size, Vanessa had a split second of panic that he’d never fit.

“Yes, I will,” he rasped. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m burying myself in this sweet pussy.” Oh, God, had she said that
aloud
? “Ease yourself down, baby. You can take me.”

Jax reached between them and rubbed over her clit. She gasped as more wetness trailed down the inside of her thighs. It didn’t matter if she believed him or not anymore. There was no way anything could take the place of holding him inside her. She needed it like she needed air. He’d been right the night before when he said no vibrator would ever be able to pleasure her more than him. Hell, she had a suspicion no other
man
would be able to, either. But for her sanity’s sake, she couldn’t let herself go down that road. Not now. Not ever.

She spread her knees a little at a time, slowly impaling herself. Down a couple of inches, then back up. Down an inch or so more, then back up. As he stretched her more and more, her insides tightened and her breaths shortened. Finally, she grabbed onto his shoulders for purchase and took him in to the hilt.

Pressing his forehead to her sternum he ground out, “Ah, fuck. Hold still, baby. Gimme a sec.”

But holding still was the very last thing she wanted. She wanted to move.
Needed
to move. So she did.

Vanessa circled her hips once before pushing up, almost completely unseating herself. Jax made a sound like he’d just gotten kicked in the gut. His eyes snapped up to warn her. A warning she couldn’t heed.

She began to move, up and down, back and forth, combinations of the four that she wasn’t even sure were legit moves, but they felt so good with him she let instinct take over.

Suddenly, she heard a loud
smack!
a split second before she felt the sting on her left ass cheek. She gasped over a squeal and jerked up hard from the shock. But he’d apparently been ready for that and held her in place to prevent an escape.

“What in holy hell was that for?” she demanded, leaning back all of the three inches he allowed her and trying to ignore how the pain melted into a warm heat between her legs.

“What, that?” A wicked gleam appeared in his eye as his hand now rubbed the sore area in a soothing manner. “That was the first of several punishments I owe you, princess.”

She thought back to the several instances he’d warned her of punishments. Shit, how many were there? She couldn’t remember. But she’d bet her lingerie collection he remembered every one of them in detail. What she
did
remember was that her mouth, or sarcastic comments, had always been the trigger. Which was why she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she wasn’t careful to temper the sarcastic tone in her response.

“So what, now you want to break out the whips and floggers, is that it?”

His hands roved over her back, her sides, her breasts. The roughness of his fingers and palms ignited her skin and reminded her body of where they left off seconds ago. As if it needed reminding.

“No, I’m not into the hardcore stuff. Besides,” he said with a quick nip on her clavicle. “All I need to make your ass red and your pussy wet are my voice and my hands.”

And with that she received a crack on the other side, causing an identical reaction to the first.

Vanessa mentally counted to ten while her insides stopped vibrating, then prayed her voice didn’t sound just as shaky. “I don’t like it.”

She lied.

He licked the shell of her ear. “You lie.”

She did.

“Now move, V,” he ordered with a squeeze of his hands. “Ride me and I’ll show you just how good a punishment can feel.”

With a shudder racing down her spine, she let her lids drift shut and she began to move once again. Her mind dulled, her conscious thoughts fading fast in the wake of her body’s more potent visceral demands.

Vanessa had never felt so torn during sex before. Jackson made her feel lost and found all at once. Lost to the intense desire he incited within her. Found, as though there was no other place she belonged more than in his arms. And both feelings scared the ever-loving hell out of her.

It would be so easy to ignore the facts and blame it on the alcohol. But even with the booze-induced carnage surrounding them as evidence, she couldn’t make that argument stick. No, this…
whatever
it was, made no sense on any logical plane of existence. It just wasn’t possible to have such strong, passionate feelings for a man she barely even liked. A man who made her want to throttle him as soon as kiss him.

Kiss him.
Excellent idea.

Grabbing the sides of his face, she attacked his mouth, plunging her tongue past his lips to lick and twirl and drink in the taste of salt, lime, and Patron. This was a true body shot, and one for which she’d gladly suffer any mental hangovers she might incur.

He met her urgency ounce for ounce and then poured a hell of a lot more on for good measure. The kiss became a devouring. Their hands groped and clawed and tugged. It was fast and hard and utterly amazing. The tingling vibrations gathered in her center, pulsing their way up in quick succession like her climax was gasping for breath.

Somewhere in the physical din, she knew Jax continued to slap her ass every ten seconds or so, but she couldn’t separate the sensual stings from the rest of the pleasure coursing through her. Every taste, every touch had woven together to create one exquisite sensation.

“Fuck, you feel so good on my cock, baby.” Jax let his head fall back on the couch. The tendons in his neck stood out and the muscles jumped above his jaw. “So. Fucking.
Good
.”

She wanted to let him know how amazing it felt to be stretched and filled by him, but words failed her. All she could do was ride the massive wave hurtling her toward her release merely seconds away…

“V.”

What?
Great. Now her voice had failed her, too.

“Vanessa,” he said, this time with a little more force. “I’m not giving you permission to come yet.”

The blurred edges of her vision came into sharp relief as her eyes widened. He couldn’t be serious.

“Prove to me how strong you are,” he continued as he plunged his fingers into her hair and held her face close to his. “Not by taking what you want, but by holding yourself back from the very thing you want the most.”

Her movements had decreased to shallow pulses, leaving the majority of her empty and aching. She swallowed hard, trying to create moisture where a desert had taken up residence. “Jax, please…”

“I’m not asking you to beg this time, baby.” His thumb caressed the edge of her lower lip. “You’re in the position to do what you want; I won’t stop you. But I want you to feel what it’s like to
own
your submission. To
choose
it.”

“And if I don’t?”

Disappointment flashed in his hazelnut eyes, and then it was gone as though it never was. In a firm tone he answered, “Then I’ll take back my condition from last night. We’ll finish out our fling without the control stipulation.”

Clever man. Before, she’d told herself she agreed to his condition because she wanted the fling, even knowing it was merely a convenient veil to hide her taboo curiosity behind.

But now he’d given her the option to choose how they proceeded from this point on, forcing her to admit her desire to submit to his will…or choke on her pride and miss the opportunity to explore a side of her she’d never known existed until him.

“Okay,” she whispered.

He gripped her hips hard, his fingers sinking into the meat of her ass, and held her still. “Okay what, Vanessa? What does that mean?”

Taking a deep breath, she clasped her hands behind her back. She wasn’t sure what protocol was in this situation, but it seemed like the right gesture to support her words. “I want to give myself”—she dropped her gaze to his chest, the deference seeming both a betrayal to herself as well as an awakening—“and my orgasms over to you.”

A quiet growl rippled from his chest and over hers, puckering her nipples. He must have noticed, too, because he brought his hands up to cup her curves and swipe his thumbs over the sensitive nubs, causing her to jolt.

“I can’t lie, V. Those were the sexiest words I’ve ever heard. And the way you look right now—hands behind your back, pressing these beautiful breasts toward me, lips red and swollen, eyes downcast and ready for instruction.” He gave her nipples a light pinch, causing her to jerk from the bolt of sheer pleasure. “It’s the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever
seen
. You just might be my undoing.”

Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he thrust up in one smooth motion, burying himself balls deep before ordering her to finish what she’d started. She wasted no time, easily finding her rhythm and the angle that allowed him to hit that glorious spot inside. When her hands came up to his arms, he circled her wrists and held them behind her again as she rode him to the edge of her climax.

“Jax?” she whimpered.

“Not yet,” he rasped.

She ground her teeth together as sweat ran in rivulets from her temples and between her breasts. Holding herself on the sharp precipice of an orgasm was a sweet anguish she’d never be able to describe. How could something so torturous feel so totally amazing? Maybe this was like the sexual version of the Stockholm Syndrome, and Vanessa would find herself needing and loving the pleasure/pain only he could give her.

A minute longer and she’d die, no doubt in her mind. Thankfully, Jax must have felt the same way, because he spoke the words that released her at last. “Now, baby,” he said against her neck. “Let go with me now.”

And so she did, praying he’d hold onto her tight enough to prevent the cracks he’d made from breaking her wall into a million pieces.

…

Swaying gently in the hammock with Vanessa tucked under his arm, the soothing sounds of the ocean waves in the distance and the stars shining overhead, Jackson felt more at peace than he remembered being in the last decade.

Oh, he’d been content. Happy, even. But underneath all that had always been a sense of unease with himself. The mystery of who his real parents were—of who
he
was—had weighed on him since the day he found those papers and learned he’d been living a lie.

But something about Vanessa quieted the fray of unanswered questions inside him. The way she curled into him with her leg intertwined in his and her hand resting over his heart was surprisingly comforting. Not at all stifling like usual after he’d been with a woman. Not that he was the type to cut and run right after sex, but he liked his space in bed and wasn’t much for cuddling in the afterglow.

However, tonight he’d gathered her up in his arms, grabbed the sheet from the bed, and settled them into the hammock with the bed sheet around them just enough to cover their nakedness.

Jax kissed the top of her head and continued stroking her arm with his fingers as he thought of his newest revelations about his faux fiancée.

The sex had been mind-blowing, to say the least. He’d had a taste of her last night, but it hadn’t prepared him for what she’d be like completely unbridled.
Passionate
didn’t even begin to describe her. It was like she’d been lit on fire from the inside, desperate for something—or some
one
—to put out the flames before they consumed her.

And as much as she fought for control, it wasn’t what she wanted. Or needed.

Five minutes into meeting her, he’d pegged her as a total control freak. She organized her life and the people in it like feng shui enthusiasts organized their living spaces.
A place for everything and everything in its place
, his mom had been fond of saying. For as carefree and fun as she was on the outside, she was as rigid as any soldier on the inside.

She was one hell of a strong woman, used to taking the lead and giving the orders. It was probably one of the reasons she and Lucie were such great friends. Lucie wasn’t a mindless sheep by any means, but she’d always been more comfortable letting others forge ahead so she could stay comfortably in the shadows.

Well, that was until Reid got a hold of her. Though she still didn’t enjoy being the center of attention as much as Reid, she’d definitely broken free of her cocoon. When he’d seen her a few months earlier she’d been absolutely radiant, finally comfortable in her own skin, and very much in love.

But his sister was the last person he wanted to think about right now. What he really wanted was to know more about the enigmatic woman in his arms. A woman who lived by a set of strict rules. A woman who could flirt and tease one minute, then shut down completely the next. A woman who needed control and yet so desperately wanted it taken from her.

More of those opposites that continued to draw him in as much as they’d possessed him on the first day to make up the crazy shit that put them in this scenario. As her soft breaths feathered across his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to regret the lies. After all, without them he wouldn’t be holding her like he was. What he
did
regret was that as soon as he told her the truth, she’d probably never speak to him again. And kick him in the junk for good measure.

“Hey, V?” he asked softly.