Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

O bnoxious, beast! An animal that seemed intent on bending her to his will. Well, she wasn’t about to be bent. She could hear him moving around the cottage. She should be trying to figure out how to get away from him, how to feign sleep so he’d let her be, but her nipples ached for his touch, and her pussy was pulsing in anticipation of being possessed by him again. And that was the real problem—Noah Taylor didn’t just spank her, fuck her, or fig her, for that matter. No, what he did was possess her. When he stroked her with his cock, it wasn’t just the physical sensations that overwhelmed her, it was the emotional and mental ones as well.

There was no question in her mind, she needed to get away from him. Not only did he seem bound and determined to keep her from getting the story on Fariq’s operation and the hostile takeover being precipitated by Springer, Zara was fairly sure he meant to dominate her life.

When Damian died, she told herself she would never let another man have that kind of power over her. What Noah was already exhibiting made what she had with Damian pale in comparison. If she let herself become emotionally entangled with Noah, he would destroy her carefully resurrected half-life and force her to accept her place at his side. Who was she kidding? Noah didn’t want her at his side as his equal. What he wanted was her writhing beneath him and always a step behind him. He would lead, and she would be relegated to follow. When she didn’t, he’d give her reason to wish she had.

The floorboards creaked as he made his way around the cottage, then returned to the bedroom. She kept her back to the door and tried to ignore him as the bed sagged when he sat on the opposite edge. His hand was warm and reassuring as he reached under the covers and ran it down her spine before gently fondling her derriere.

“I know you’re awake, Zara. Even if you weren’t, I’d probably wake you up to fuck you again before we go to sleep.”

She flipped onto her other side, so she could glare at him, a strategic mistake. He really was magnificently made—his bronzed and broad shoulder bore an elaborate, tribal tattoo, the intricacy, and the way it sculpted his muscles made her catch her breath. His back was heavily muscled, as was the rest of his physique. He smiled as he watched her and gently lifted his finger to trace up her throat to her lips before leaning over to kiss her.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he said in a voice full of awe.

“I’m not.”

“Don’t argue with me. You are gorgeous.”

“Don’t,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Don’t be nice. I won’t be able to stand it if you’re nice.”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her again. This kiss wasn’t like any of the others, not harsh or demanding, comforting or sensual, but full of feeling and caring, coaxing her to embrace what she was feeling—trust it was real, and he could make her whole again. If she wasn’t careful, it would be her undoing.

Zara didn’t even know a tear had started to slide down her cheek until he brushed it away with his thumb and kissed her again.

“It will be all right, Zara. You don’t have to fear anything.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she challenged softly.

He threw his head back and laughed. “No, sweetheart, you don’t have enough common sense to be afraid of me. You’re afraid of yourself. You are the proverbial moth to my flame.”

She nodded. “If I get too close, I’ll get burned.”

“That won’t happen. I may clip your wings to keep you from flying away, but I’ll keep you wrapped safe and warm in my arms.”

“No, you won’t. You’ll beat me or fuck me whenever you choose… use me in any way that suits you.”

He smiled again. She couldn’t seem to get a rise out of him—though technically, that wasn’t true… his cock was becoming more rigid by the minute. That, too, was impressive—he had both length and girth, and she could vividly recall how it felt when it was enclosed in her cunt.

“I have not, nor will I ever beat you. I will spank you when you need or deserve it, and the last time I checked, you seemed to get as much pleasure from our fucking as I did. The way your pussy spasms all along my cock when you come and continues to pulse against me even after I’ve spent myself in you is quite possibly the most amazing feeling in my life. I doubt I will ever get tired of that. And yes, I will have you whenever and however I please, but I’ll make sure you get just as much from the encounter.” He grinned. “Whether you want to or not and whether it is completely pleasurable for you is another story altogether.”

“You’re a prick,” she spat at him.

“Careful, Zara. As you can see, my prick is well primed to take you right now. I would think at this point, you’d want me focused on taking you gently, but you keep giving me snark, and I’ll figure you have yet to learn your lesson. For the record, I have plenty of ginger here in the cottage.”

“Do you and your buddies often fig your victims?”

He shook his head. “No, I may well be the first, but if you aren’t careful, that won’t be the only time it happens. Ginger has a lot of health benefits and keeps easily, so we keep it on hand. For you, though, my guess is it’ll be used mostly for object lessons.”

Noah reached for her, but she pushed his hands away.

“Keep away from me, Noah.”

“Knock it off, Zara. Come here to me.”

She tried to scramble away from him, but he quickly had hold of the nape of her neck to prevent her retreat. Lifting the covers, he smiled when he saw her stiff nipples and her body flush with desire. Noah tossed the covers off them both. As he climbed the rest of the way into bed, her eyes were riveted to his cock, now fully erect.

He pulled her toward him and tilted her hip away from him, so she laid on her back. Zara started to struggle, mostly with her feelings and reaction to Noah. He smiled, not friendly or even sensual, but feral. He was the predator; she was his prey. She squeaked as he knelt on the mattress with her legs on either side of his. Grasping her thighs, he slid her along on her back and buttocks toward his staff.

“Shit, Noah, that hurts,” Being dragged on her ass, even on something soft, was painful. She kicked her legs as much as she could, but Noah continued to pull her to him so he could impale her sheath on his sword. She was incredibly aroused and knew the wet evidence of that glistened at the mouth of her sex. He said nothing but slowly drew her up his thighs and onto his cock.

“No,” she whispered, feeling every inch of him claiming every inch of her.

Once his cock was buried to the hilt, Noah splayed his hand and ran it up from her mons to palm her breast, tracing lazy circles around her areola before flicking her nipple with his thumb.

“Wrap your legs around my back, Zara.”

She shook her head and tried to find some kind of purchase that would give her any kind of leverage to push off him. Noah used one hand to play, tug, and pinch her nipples and his other to treat her swollen nub to the same. Her hips started to undulate in response.

“Good girl. Now, lock your legs around my waist.”

Zara knew she couldn’t trust her voice to speak, so shook her head.

“Yes.”

Noah increased the attention he was giving to her nipples and clit but laid completely still within her, his cock pulsing and her sheath responding to his invasion. Arousal surged through her, sparking all her nerve endings. Her pussy spasmed all along his length as the onslaught of a powerful orgasm hit her, and her body trembled in response.

“Noah,” she cried in one long wail of desperation and desire.

She opened her eyes and searched his face. She could tell he was determined to make her capitulate to his mastery over her body and soul. He continued to play—no, that was wrong, Noah wasn’t playing, he was toying with her—taunting and challenging her to accept his dominance. The same way a maestro coerced a reluctant prodigy to surrender her will to his. She felt as though she were a Stravinsky instrument—strung tautly with the strings just this side of snapping.

“Cradle me between your legs, sweetheart. You aren’t going to get what you need until you yield to me.”

“No,” she whispered as another climax possessed her, and she shuddered.

“Have it your way.”

He lifted her legs, so they rested against his chest as he raised them over his shoulders. He rocked up onto his knees, so only her upper body remained in contact with the mattress. Zara pounded the bed and tried to clutch at anything that would provide her with some means of evasion.

His response was two staccato swats to her exposed backside.

“Enough, woman.”

Noah thrust powerfully, pulling out almost completely before driving back into her to the depths of her channel. Zara twisted and thrashed, trying to wrestle some measure of resistance to his control over their coupling. She surrendered and laid back as he hammered her pussy, ensuring she felt his prowess and strength.

Zara tried to focus on something, anything, other than Noah’s complete rule of the carnal act—there was something liberating and terrifying in it. She had no concern he would actually harm her, but her fear she wouldn’t be able to fight him and his need to dominate her was real. She needed to find a way to break free of his physical and sexual thrall.

He groaned as he stroked her, his face revealing he reveled in her response to him. He kept her legs pressed to his chest, restricting her movements and increased the speed with which he rode her. Zara screamed at the exquisite torture he demanded she endure and came again.

“Once more,” he whispered seductively.

“I… can’t,” she stammered.

The intensity of the day’s events descended on her. The threat to her life by those who had attacked her home should have been overwhelming, but it was nothing compared to Noah’s demand that she abandon the woman she had fought so hard to forge from the embers of Damian’s death. The thought he wanted her to do so, only to be claimed once again by a dominant alpha male, was far more disconcerting.

“You can,” he said, pummeling her core. “You will.”

Before she could respond, another tidal wave of need for him to find completion and send his seed deep into her core overtook her, and she orgasmed—her pussy clutching at the ramrod pistoning in and out of her. Noah surged forward one last time and flooded her cunt with his cum.

He held her pinned against his torso as she was freefalling from the heights he had taken her. He lowered her legs halfway, ensuring he remained between them with his cock submerged within her wet heat.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he said again.

She had nothing left to fight with, convinced he could force nothing more from her than he had already taken. Zara made a pathetic whimpering sound but complied.

Gently, he laid her down, stretching out alongside her, resting on his forearms and tenderly brushing the hair from her face. He brought his mouth down to hers, and her lips parted, her tongue welcoming his as he coaxed her to return his kiss. Once she sighed, relaxed, and her tongue danced with his as he murmured against her lips, he completed the kiss, then withdrew from her, rolling to his back. Zara tried to move away from him, but his arm snaked out, wrapped around her, and pulled her hard against him.

“You stay next to me,” he growled.

Noah snugged her up to his side with her head in the crook of his shoulder, then reached for her thigh and pulled it over one of his, so his thigh rested between her legs. Nuzzling the top of her head, he inhaled deeply, then soothingly stroked her thigh from hip to knee.

“I’m exhausted and sore, you bastard,” she whispered.

There it was again, that damn self-satisfied, completely masculine chuckle laced with a heavy dose of lust and testosterone.

“When I tell you to wrap your legs around my back, do as you’re told. I guarantee you, the next time, I won’t be as lenient.”

“For your information, battering me with that weapon you keep between your legs is not my idea of lenient.”

He kissed her forehead. “Trust me, sweetheart, my fucking your pussy is the least of your worries.” He reached across her and grabbed one of her butt cheeks, causing her to wince. “The reason you’re sore is you haven’t had a man to hold you accountable for your headstrong foolishness or ride you hard enough to keep you sated. That isn’t going to be an issue for you going forward.”

She pushed against his side with both hands and received another hard swat for her trouble.

“Stop that,” she cried.

“Just as soon as you settle down. Knock it off, Zara, and behave. Go to sleep. We’re going to have a conference call sometime tomorrow, and I think it would be helpful if you participated.”

“I’ll be damned if I’m going to share any information I’ve learned with you.”

“At the risk of really pissing you off, if it’s on your laptop or stored anywhere, our tech guy, Thom, already has it and is compiling it with what we know and what Fariq is telling us.”

“You have an open line to Fariq?”

“He’s currently our guest in Mesa.”

“You’re holding him hostage, too?” she accused.

Noah’s hand descended on her rump.

“Keep it up, Zara, and I’ll put you back over my knee for another discipline session. And, no, he is there at his request.”

“And me?”

“You are here at mine.”

Zara made a fist.

Noah never opened his eyes, but, somehow, he seemed to know—perhaps he’d noticed the tension in her hand change.

“Follow through with that thought, sweetheart, and we’ll have that conference call with you naked and kneeling at my feet. Relax, put your head on my shoulder, and go to sleep. We should be secure at this location. If you behave, we can go for a walk on the beach in the morning. It’s really very pretty here.”

“I despise you,” she seethed.

“No, sweetheart, you don’t, and therein is your biggest issue. You don’t hate me at all. In fact, you’re pretty damn happy the right kind of man has come back in your life to put you over his knee when you need it and give you a good ramming each night before you go to sleep.”

“You’re an arrogant prick.”

He laughed. “You may be right, but it doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Close your eyes, beautiful, and go to sleep.”

Zara could tell when he’d fallen asleep but could also tell it wasn’t a deep slumber, and any bid she might make for her freedom would be quickly shut down. She didn’t want to contemplate his response to an action of that nature. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t risk it, but she wouldn’t do so without at least a fairly good chance of success.