Chapter Lexi
LEXI
Grayson caught her again, which was fortunate, because otherwise she’d have been on the floor. No one had ever bitten the back of her neck, but holy shit, this was incredible. It didn’t feel like getting a hickey, it was definitely just a hard bite… except there was no ‘just’ about it.
The heat radiated down her spine and into every limb; every muscle; every cell of her body. She’d do whatever he wanted if he kept making her feel this way; wired and drugged at the same time.
“Stand,” he told her as he drew away.
She managed, barely. Every muscle in her body was rubbery, so she braced herself against the wall and faced him, almost entirely standing. Her gaze landed on the front of his slacks, where he was clearly more than ready to go, but he made no move to take off his pants.
“Sex?” fell out of her mouth as a question, though even she wasn’t sure if she was asking for sex or asking if sex was an option. Her mind was a little fuzzy. It occurred to her that she was still fully dressed.
Grayson was staring down at her, emerald eyes on full intensity. His mouth was set in a straight line, and her eyes caught there. Dammit, she wanted him.
Those lips, that stare, and good god, those cut arms around her. Above her. Holding her down. She was working herself up just looking at him, and all he was doing was staring.
“I’m going to take that as a curiosity question, Alessandra, and not a formal request,” he said, and the bastard turned away from her.
Ire spiked, and she straightened up against the door. But then he was at the couch, moving things - papers? - off the cushions. His steps were measured and slow as he walked back towards her, and held out his hand. The edges of his mouth turned up.
“No yanking, no leash.”
Lexi placed her hand in his and walked across the room with him to the couch.
“At least not tonight,” Grayson said, as he kept her hand and twisted her arm back behind her, using their clasped hands at the base of her spine to pull her towards him and hold her captive all at once. His mouth met hers brutally, and hers opened in fast response.
This part, she could do. He could be in charge of the kiss, and damn, was he good at it.
Not too much tongue, but enough to play with hers before he bit down, startling her.
He held her still against him with one arm, while his right hand drifted aimlessly from her face, directing her head this way and that, down to pinch each nipple through her shirt.
She moaned into his mouth, and apparently he liked it, because he did it again. And again.
Pulling, pinching, twisting - fuck she wanted him.
Now. As if he’d heard her thoughts, he separated their entwined limbs before throwing her shirt over her head and somewhere behind him.
Lexi didn’t even have time to consider being shy before he pulled her flush against him again.
Deep green stared into her as he brought both hands behind her back, holding them with his left.
“Up,” Gray said.
Lexi could almost taste his gravelly voice on her tongue. But up where? Tiptoe again? She raised up, her calves twinging a little, but he shook his head.
“Couch.”
Oh. She was supposed to climb up on the couch? She hesitated, looking from him to the couch next to them. He was still holding on to her wrists behind her back. A small smile lifted his lips, and his free hand came up to her throat, squeezing.
“If you’re not sure of something, Miss, you have to ask.”
Oh. Duh.
“Up how?” she asked, and didn’t recognize her own voice. It was soft and breathy. Grayson’s eyes warmed as she waited for his answer, and it occurred to her that although he was playing with her, he was enjoying this. Telling her what to do, making her wait… making her want.
“Stand on the couch, Alessandra. Feet together, for now.”
Well that was good, considering her pants were still on.
Why were her pants still on? Since she didn’t have the energy to focus on that, she focused on balancing one foot at a time as he kept her arms behind her.
The deep grey couch was low, so she was only a few inches taller than him when she steadied upright.
Looking down at him felt uncomfortable, and it must have shown on her face.
“Is something wrong, Miss Alessandra?” Grayson asked, and standing above him she was struck by how beautiful he was. The green eyes dominated her attention, as always, but the new angle let her see different angles as the light played against his cheekbones, and the light scruff along his jawline.
“Being above you feels weird.”
He smiled, but said nothing, and to her surprise she didn’t get impatient. She wasn’t annoyed. She just… waited.
“Do you know why that is, Miss?” Grayson finally asked.
He wanted her to think now? He’d turned her into a willing puddle of mush and now he was asking psychology questions.
“Can I just say no so you tell me?” Lexi was staring directly at his mouth. For the first time since she’d met him, he full-out laughed, and watching it lit her up. She smiled. He leaned in and tugged her down for a kiss, and said,
“Never mind. We can talk about it later.”
She was happy to oblige. Despite being topless, she felt overwarm, and now she wondered if he’d ever get around to taking the rest of her clothes off. Grayson broke the kiss.
“Now stand up straight. And don’t move,” he whispered.
Lexi stood upright and steadied herself on the couch. He gazed up at her quietly.
“This is going to be intense, Alessandra. If you don’t like it, or anything hurts, you will tell me.”
She waited, eyes wide. He seemed to be waiting for something, so she nodded. His grip on her wrists tightened enough to be painful, and pulled downward so she was forced to backbend.
“Yes what?”
“Yes I’ll tell you!” she said in a rush.
Then she was upright, and his mouth was placing hickies on the underside of each breast. The pressure was fine, even when he used his teeth, and she relaxed a little into the more customary foreplay.
He used the tips of his fingers to brush over her nipples, then returned to twist or pull.
She jerked sharply when he pulled her right breast straight up by the nipple, almost knocking herself off balance.
“What is your job right now, Alessandra?” he asked.
As she regained her equilibrium, he froze in place, with her nipple drawn up high between his fingers. While she was figuring out how to breathe, he pinched. Hard.
“What is your job?”
She stared into a deep green turned brutal.
“Stand!” she cried. The pressure lessened a bit.
“And?” he encouraged.
“And-” She remembered. Shit. “Don’t move.”
“We’re going to try that again, Alessandra. Brace your legs, and your ass, and relax everything above the waist.”
With a deep breath, she tried. She must have done it right because he resumed teasing and sucking.
His mouth was fastened on one nipple and she closed her eyes into the sensations his tongue was causing.
Relax, relax, relax, her mind panted along with her, so although she was unprepared as her other breast was jerked into the air, she didn’t move.
Her only available response was to moan, except it came out much more like a scream.
It was cut off as his hand wrapped around her throat. She opened her eyes and looked into his. What was he doing to her?
“Am I going to hurt you, Alessandra?”
She tried to shake her head, but the pressure from his hand wouldn’t let her. His fingers stretched the entire front of her neck, past ear to ear. God, he was strong.
“No,” she whispered.
“Who is in charge here, Alessandra?”
The hand at her throat was moving slightly, increasing and decreasing pressure to move up and down the column of her throat. It threw a hum of awareness all over her scalp.
“You’re in charge.”
“And do you like this, Alessandra?”
She hesitated, and he caught it. He immediately withdrew his hand from around her throat.
“You promised to tell me. What do you not like?”
Lexi narrowed her eyes.
“You gave me one second to think! I didn’t know if you wanted a summary of general liking or a specific one.”
He stared at her for a moment, weighing her answer for truthfulness. One side of his mouth swept up into a grin.
“I see. Then allow me to be more specific.”
The hand was back at her throat, pushing harder than before so her head was lifted by her jaw. In contrast, he drew her hands further down behind her, and she knew she couldn’t move even if she did want to.
“Do you like what I’m doing to you right now?”
“Yes,” she said, though it came out a little garbled. She couldn’t see his face, since her head was tilted to the ceiling, but she would have sworn she felt his smile.
“Do you like that I’m choking you, controlling the oxygen and blood flow to your brain?”
She almost didn’t want to say it. What did this make her? But she’d promised.
“Yes.”
“Do you like that I’m completely in control, and you’re not?”
Thank God this one was easy.
“Yes,” she said, confidently. He let her down, releasing the pressure at her throat. She licked her lips and swallowed.
“Stay,” he snapped, and strode away, leaving her standing half-naked on the couch, panting. His stride took him quickly across the office into the kitchen, where he grabbed a bottle of water. He uncapped it and took a healthy swallow before raising the bottle to her lips.
“Drink,” he said, more softly.
She took the edge of the bottle and drank steadily, not looking away from him.
It was oddly sensual, watching him watch her drink, just because he wanted her to.
When more than half the bottle was gone, he lifted it away to take another drink himself, before capping it and tossing it to the floor. She was still out of breath.
Grayson snagged her wrists again, where she’d been holding her own hands behind her back.
Because he said stay. Because it was her job to not move.
With his right hand he trailed pressure from her sternum, between her breasts, down to her pelvic bone.
She wanted to squirm, but she wanted him more, so she panted. Relax, relax, relax.
“I need you to push towards me, Alessandra, with your hips.”
She shifted forward until he raised a hand.
“Right there. Can you stay there?”
“Yes.” She hoped so. Leaning backwards was a little uncomfortable, but she’d try.
“You’re going to want to move,” he said, looking up at her as his hand lazily trawled above the edge of her pants. “Your knees are going to want to buckle, probably. But I need.”
His fingers stopped moving to press into her abdomen, right at the cusp of her pubic bone. He was right. The pressure was intense, and uncomfortable. She debated saying something when his fingers shifted down, and her vision blurred with pleasure.
“You.” Pushed. Withdrew.
“To.” Harder.
“Stay.” He pressed and held.
Lexi couldn’t see straight anymore.
“Still.”