Trouble with a Capital T
Dante
My body reacted before I was fully awake. One second there was weight beside me and the next, my hand had clamped around a wrist.
I twisted, yanking my attacker off balance. They hit the floor with a sharp cry, and I went with them, driving them onto their back. My knee landed across their hips, while I pinned their arm to the floor. My other hand closed around their throat.
Pressure. Control. Eliminate the threat. The mantra came to me easily in my groggy state.
She bucked beneath me, trying to unseat me.
Then I caught the scent. Vanilla. I felt the warmth of her skin beneath my hand.
Blinking, I registered copper hair spread across the hardwood.
Ophelia.
I recoiled so fast it was almost violent.
Jesus Christ.
She sucked in a ragged breath, one hand flying to her neck as she stared up at me with wide, frightened eyes.
For a second, I couldn’t move. I’d acted on autopilot, responding to the imminent threat before I’d realized who was underneath me.
In Afghanistan, hesitation got men killed. We’d been trained to react first and ask questions later. Most of the time, there wasn’t time for both.
The only thing that had saved her was that somewhere between my hand finding her throat and my grip tightening, I’d recognized her.
One heartbeat later, and it would have been too late.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I demanded, still kneeling above her.
She’d been leaning over me while I’d been sleeping. God only knew what she’d been about to do. I looked for a weapon, but there wasn’t one.
Instead, my keys lay on the floor.
My gaze hardened. “You were trying to escape.”
“No—I wasn’t—” she stammered, before fading off.
Her eyes betrayed her. They were everywhere but on me.
I took in her tousled hair, rapidly beating pulse, and skin so pale it might be sculptured from porcelain.
Her teeth gnawed at her lower lip, reddened like a strawberry, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to taste them. To crush them under mine.
Fuck.
I bit back a groan. I did not need to be thinking about kissing her right now. Except she was lying on the floor in front of me in a fucking T-shirt that was bunched up around her waist, and not much else.
As my sleep-addled brain slowly processed the sensual curve of her waist, her thighs parted around my knee, her breasts heaving like she’d just run a marathon… my body instantly responded and I went rock hard.
Goddammit. I’d managed to keep my baser instincts under control until now. But seeing her like this, spread out in front of me, ready for the taking, it was beyond even my control.
“You weren’t what?” I growled, using anger to distract her from my enormous erection.
The rapid rise and fall of her chest told me adrenaline was charging through her veins too. But was it fear—or something else?
I leaned forward and gripped her arms, pinning them to the floor. “Answer me.”
“Okay, okay. I was going for your keys, but it was a stupid idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
At least she hadn’t been going for my firearm.
It was hidden under the couch, inches from her knees, but seconds from my fingertips.
If I’d gone for it, she’d been two or three seconds from eating a bullet and I’d have more innocent blood on my hands.
The thought shook me to my core and I blamed her foolishness.
“I could have killed you.” We were barely a breath apart. It wouldn’t take much to lower myself onto her and show her the consequences of her actions. I was mad enough.
Her voice was a whisper. “I know.”
“Don’t ever do that again.” I kept my eyes locked on hers. I refused to stare at her chest, at the way her breasts rose and fell as she breathed, at the hard, pointy nipples that jutted out, tempting me. Fucking taunting me.
Christ, the woman was begging for it. How the hell was I supposed to not react? I swallowed hard.
“I won’t.”
My dick throbbed painfully, pressing against the fabric of my pants. Her skin felt soft under my fingers, the pulse in her wrist racing along with the thrum of my own heart, but I was so angry, all I could think about was punishing her.
I had to get it together before I did something really fucking stupid. With superhuman effort, I released her wrists and pushed myself back up so I was sitting on the couch.
Slowly, she sat up. I got an eyeful of white panties and… I blinked.
Holy shit. Was that a wet patch between her legs?
I stared at her, unable to fathom how she could be turned on right now. Me, yes, but her? I’d nearly killed the woman.
My gaze hardened. Could it be my foolish captive enjoyed a little role play? Did she get off on the violence?
I suddenly wanted to slide my fingers over it, feel the dampness of the cotton. Feel her. She saw me looking and shut her legs with a snap, color flooding her cheeks.
“Are you enjoying this?” I asked quietly.
“Of course not. You’re crazy.” But she couldn’t look at me. “I want to go home. You don’t need me anymore, so you can let me go now.”
I tore my thoughts away from that wet spot. “If you’d been at home, you’d be dead now.”
She swallowed as the truth of what I’d said landed.
“If you’d done what your family wanted you to, I’d be dead too,” she shot back, putting a hand on the couch to push herself to her feet. “You’re as bad as whoever the hell they are.”
I was worse. I didn’t have to know who they were to know that.
My hand closed around her arm and she froze. I felt the heat radiating off her body, the warm scent of her skin. Every part of her, from her trembling lips to her hardened nipples, told me how aroused she was.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To bed.”
“I don’t think so.”
I pulled her forward so she landed on top of me, her breasts flattening against my chest. I gripped her hip while my free hand slid between her legs.
“I knew it,” I murmured, as my fingers connected with wet panties.
She gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Sweetheart, you know exactly what I’m doing. What you wanted me to.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But she was shaking. Her whole body trembled at my touch, which only spurred me on more.
She let out a breathy moan and I almost groaned. That sound was for me. My cock strained against my pants, but I ignored it. Now wasn’t the time.
I slid my hand from her hip, over her ribcage, and up to the nape of her neck. Holding her there, I finally crushed my mouth to hers.
God help me, she tasted every bit as good as I’d imagined.
For a brief moment, she tried to pull away, but I wasn’t letting go. It was my turn to show her who was boss. I’d allowed her too much leeway. Time to turn the tables.
She gave an angry moan, which I absorbed with my mouth, swallowing the sound. My fingers stroked the outside of her panties. She was so wet I could feel the outline of her lips. The angry moan changed to one of pleasure and she gasped, opening her mouth.
I took the opportunity and delved in, thrusting my tongue inside and kissing her so hard that her knees buckled and her entire weight collapsed onto me. I leaned back against the couch to accommodate her but didn’t break the kiss. Nor did I stop stroking.
I felt the moment she succumbed. Her body relaxed, her lips softened, and her thighs spread wider, giving me better access. A surge of triumph spread through me, and I fought the urge to escalate, to dominate. My own release would have to wait. This was about showing her who was really in control.
I curved my fingers under the elastic edge of her panties and felt her gasp again, but she didn’t pull away. Not this time. I slid a knuckle along her slit and felt her shudder. Christ, she was wet for me.
She moaned again, and the vibration against my lips sent my blood roaring. A surge of desire so strong it caught me by surprise uncoiled in my chest and spread downwards to my loins.
If I wasn’t careful, I was going to lose it and come right here on the couch.
I focused on her instead, sliding a finger between her delicate folds.
“Oh God,” she murmured against me as I grazed her hard little bud with my thumb. “Oh God, Dante.”
My name on her lips. It shocked me how much I loved hearing it.
I applied more pressure, feeling her thighs part even more as her body melted against mine. She thrust her hips against my hand and made a small, whimpering sound at the back of her throat.
I could tell by the way that she trembled above me that she was close.
Unable to focus on the kiss, she broke away, panting hard. Her eyes were bright like emeralds, her hair like flames as she gasped for breath. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Clutching my shoulders, she writhed against my hand. I released her neck and lifted her oversized T-shirt to cup her bare breast. It felt heavy and full, the nipple tight and needy as I gave it a soft pinch.
“Oh God,” she gasped, closing her eyes.
I loved the effect I was having on her. Wanting more, I ducked my head beneath the loose fabric, capturing one perfect breast with my mouth.
She moaned as I sucked hard, at the same time sliding a finger inside her smooth, hot depths.
She cried out and I felt her begin to spasm around me. I sucked harder on her nipple as I fingered her, marveling at the tight wetness of her pussy. What I wouldn’t give to bury myself in all that heat.
I remembered why I was doing this and fought to get a grip on my own need. This wasn’t the start of something, this was a lesson. I didn’t want to do it, but it was necessary. Evelyn needed to know who was in charge.
I withdrew my finger halfway, knowing I was leaving her hanging.
“No,” she moaned, thrusting erratically above me. “Move. Dante, I need you to move.”
“Be a good girl and say please,” I murmured, breaking away from her breast.
Her eyes were glazed, her face flushed with longing as she gazed down at me. I could still feel her insides fluttering around my finger.
“You bastard,” she whispered, but she was so close. I controlled her now. One more thrust and she’d go flying over the edge.
“Say it,” I murmured, recapturing her nipple with my mouth. I grazed it lightly with my teeth and she trembled, then thrust forward with a desperate sob.
“Please,” she whispered faintly.
It wasn’t good enough. I needed more.
“Louder,” I demanded, squeezing her breast as I licked her sensitized nipple.
“Please,” she begged, biting down on a sob.
I knew then that she meant it.
Satisfied, I pulled my finger out, then drove two into her, feeling her lock down around me. She was so goddamn tight, I could barely move them, but I did it again, and again, sucking her engorged nipple, until she cried out and shattered apart on my hand.